Clean Cars

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

enterprise dries its cars in most markets? Are you kidding me? I bet you cannot even find one enterprise that dries its cars. Unless you mean driving them from the wash bay to the lot really fast so some of the water flies off them. Notice too that in the article one customer gripes about renting a car that had 20,000 miles on it. It is a good thing he doesn't rent from Erac where most cars have about 40-60k on them. Not to mention bald tires, scratched to hell, dented to hell and smoke out like crazy.

In any branch I was ever in in 09 we dried our cars.

[voice of truth]

Originally Posted by Unregisteref8

My favorite thing about customers has to be how much they will complain about a dirty car yet there the scum bags who bring them back looking like shit and don't want to be charged for a detailing fee. At my branch we dry all our luxury cars and also the windows...probably why we have a 96 esqi.

This is a good point. Which one's worse? The customer that absolutely trashes the car before they return it or the rental branch that doesn't clean it before it goes back out? You can make a case for both.

It's absolutely pathetic that a customer can rent a car and return it absolutely filthy. I'm talking about the ones who smoke inside the car even when they're told it's non-smoking. Then there are the customers that bring their pets in the car even though no pets are allowed. Then there are the customers that live in the car. These are the ones that use it as a dining room, living room, bathroom and home office all rolled into one. These are the cars that are returned with food wrappers, used tissues, and other assorted garbage. Do people actually treat their personal cars like this? Enterprise should hold customers accountable for this but they are too worried about their beloved ESQI. Everyone who has worked at or is currently working at Enterprise knows who I'm talking about. Even you, Mr/Mrs. Customer know who you are.

The bottom line is Enterprise (and all rental companies for that matter) offer a service. That service is to provide a fundamentally reliable, clean, and well maintained car for a price. So even if the customer returns the vehicle in the aforementioned conditions above, it is the rental company's duty to correct those conditions for the next customer.

[group12tpc]

Originally Posted by Car Prep 57

Although no longer prepping (now fleet manager), I had 10-15 minutes TOPS to clean these cars inside and out, often not even that long. Bookings so tight that new customers were already waiting in the office when their reserved vehicles were returned dirty with no gas. Oh, did I mention I was also responsible for fueling them before they went back out?

The point is, these customers have to realize the tremendous amount of stress rental employees are forced to work under, including the prep. While most people take the better part of a Saturday afternoon to clean one vehicle, these same customers expect their rental to look like it's come from a two hour detailing....and have it ready and full of gas before the ink's dry on the contract. And hand drying each one??? You've got to be out of your effing mind.

Cry me a river. Try being an MT for 3 months and then see how bad car preps have it. Your job is a cake walk.

[FREEEEE]

Not only did my branch not dry cars, we didn't even have a car wash facility. We were suppose to take our cars through the wash at the gas station, but my manager was too cheap to order more washes. INSTEAD he told the car preps to wipe them down by hand! He first told us that corporate would not order us more, but then he then changed that excuse around. We had to go to another branch to wash them or get creative. I tried to tell my area manager and that quickly got to my manager who questioned my email. I use to pretend that the car was fine, but inside I was just so frustrated and pissed off. Soon I got so fed up I just give my customers free gas to make up for the dirty cars. " Im sorry, I know this car is dirty... we ran out of car washed today (yea right, we haven't had a car wash for 3 months), so to make up for it here is a free half tank of gas."

[superman123]

The problem stems from Enterprise not placing a high enough priority on cleaning cars. My experience at the SLC airport proved this to me.

1) During the day we had enough car preps. During the evenings and weekends, we we always understaffed on car preps. This led to cutting corners. We rented cars with dirty interiors all the time.

2) The car wash would break down ALL THE TIME.

3) When push came to shove, management would always rent a dirty, lofr, or damaged car rather than pass the deal.

[wash bay blues]

Originally Posted by group12tpc

Cry me a river. Try being an MT for 3 months and then see how bad car preps have it. Your job is a cake walk.

I think you're missing the point. He's not whining about his job, he's saying it's absurd to think we have time to dry the cars.

[wash bay blues]

Originally Posted by Car Prep 57

. . .

. . .these customers have to realize . . .
. . .

Have you been drinking the kool-aid?

I agree with the rest of your post, but not that part. Customers aren't under an obligation to understand how ANY company operates. Quite the contrary; a business needs to understand the customer, and then deliver what that customer wants. (Within reason.) It may be silly for a customer to expect us to dry the cars, but it's NOT silly for them to expect a clean car, on-time. That's the very essence of this business. And it's where ERAC "fails" miserably, over and over again.

[32AATopIPEandDub]

Originally Posted by wash bay blues

Have you been drinking the kool-aid?

I agree with the rest of your post, but not that part. Customers aren't under an obligation to understand how ANY company operates. Quite the contrary; a business needs to understand the customer, and then deliver what that customer wants. (Within reason.) It may be silly for a customer to expect us to dry the cars, but it's NOT silly for them to expect a clean car, on-time. That's the very essence of this business. And it's where ERAC "fails" miserably, over and over again.

Exactly, that's what customer service is all about.

[Car Prep 57]

Originally Posted by wash bay blues

Have you been drinking the kool-aid?

I agree with the rest of your post, but not that part. Customers aren't under an obligation to understand how ANY company operates. Quite the contrary; a business needs to understand the customer, and then deliver what that customer wants. (Within reason.) It may be silly for a customer to expect us to dry the cars, but it's NOT silly for them to expect a clean car, on-time. That's the very essence of this business. And it's where ERAC "fails" miserably, over and over again.

You missed the point of that statement, perhaps I didn't explain it clearly enough.

Of course the customer has the right to expect their vehicle to be clean with a full fuel tank. But if it isn't, the customer (naturally) will assume the car prep isn't doing HIS job properly, without realiziing that many other factors out of the prep's control likely caused the service failure. For instance, the MT (covering his own ass) will tell the prep to just "hose off" the outside of the vehicle instead of taking the time to do a proper friction wash. Sure looks great, dripping wet and shiny for the customer at check out, but after a couple of miles' driving the vehicle's exterior has dried and looks like sweet hell. The customer realizes it wasn't actually washed, and will naturally blame the prep for not doing so, rather than consider the possibility the MT was hanging the prep out to dry (please excuse the bad and intended pun) to make himself look efficient in the eyes of the waiting customer. Not the customer's fault, I just wish they could realize what really goes on.

[wash bay blues]

CarPrep57:

The only thing I disagreed with was the phrase I quoted. (Out of context, I know.) Changing it to "I wish they could realize" works fine for me. Sorry if I seemed to be jumping down your throat, that wasn't my intention.

I know exactly what you mean about being "hung out to dry." Besides pay, one of my biggest complaints at Enterprise was not having time to do my job. I wonder how many customers drove away thinking I was either lazy or incompetent?

Oh well. Time marches on. Andy will have to struggle along without me. I have my memories, and my toy car.