Reservations???

It kills me that this site was created...basically because a few reservations weren't honored. To you arse-hole ex-employees that come on here and bitch about dealing with pissed off customers all day...don't you realize that admin is that very guy? He's the reason you hated going to work every day.

Here's a shocker for all you non-business minded folks....and I'm still amazed admin doesn't get this....you can't run a rental car company (or ANY rental company for that matter) and have 50% of your inventory producing revenue at any given time and expect to stay in business. I don't care if your Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, Uhaul, or Rent-A-Wreck. Inventory costs money, facilities cost money, people cost money. If you don't rent your inventory to produce revenue...you have no profit. And yes, I'm dumbing it down for you.

If any given rental agency was able to honor every single reservation, every single car class, every single time they would need an exhorbitant amount of inventory on hand....and would be renting it about 50% of the time. Do you think a hotel could stay in busines with 50% occupancy all the time? Same idea. We have to be able to work around that to make it work. Have some common sense.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It kills me that this site was created...basically because a few reservations weren't honored. To you arse-hole ex-employees that come on here and bitch about dealing with pissed off customers all day...don't you realize that admin is that very guy? He's the reason you hated going to work every day.

Here's a shocker for all you non-business minded folks....and I'm still amazed admin doesn't get this....you can't run a rental car company (or ANY rental company for that matter) and have 50% of your inventory producing revenue at any given time and expect to stay in business. I don't care if your Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, Uhaul, or Rent-A-Wreck. Inventory costs money, facilities cost money, people cost money. If you don't rent your inventory to produce revenue...you have no profit. And yes, I'm dumbing it down for you.

If any given rental agency was able to honor every single reservation, every single car class, every single time they would need an exhorbitant amount of inventory on hand....and would be renting it about 50% of the time. Do you think a hotel could stay in busines with 50% occupancy all the time? Same idea. We have to be able to work around that to make it work. Have some common sense.

No moron, it's customers like Melony LaRue that we all hated. Customers like Admin I hated facing because we were 100% in the wrong and the customer was right. "Book don't look" was a common phrase said to me by my Area and Branch manager. Enterpises' logic is to get the customer in the door and for us to "sell them" into why a F-150 or a Dodge Ram is just as good as the compact car they reserved.

Then please explain to me, in all your wisdom, a better way to handle reservations. I'd love to hear it so maybe I can go out there and one day run the greatest rental agency of all time.

Two questions and/or challenges on two threads (see Business Mgmt Prolems)....and nothing. So when the rubber meets the road, there is no arguing with truth (or sensibility) I guess.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Two questions and/or challenges on two threads (see Business Mgmt Prolems)....and nothing. So when the rubber meets the road, there is no arguing with truth (or sensibility) I guess.

I agree that having the exact make and model of car for every reservation is impossible, but don't act like ERAC has nothing to do with screwing over people for reservations. I can name many ways ERAC screws over the people who made reservations.

-There is only one standard car on your lot and it's 1:30. You have a standard car reservation at 2:00. Some walk-in customer comes in and instead of telling him that the car is reserved, you rent it and hope to sell the guy coming in at 2:00 into an F-150.

-You have a million SUV reservations for Friday and so does every other branch in you region. A customer calls and wants a SUV for Friday afternoon. Instead of being upfront with the customer and telling him the chances of getting an SUV are slim to none, you say "Sure come on in" in hopes of getting the cusomer into a minivan or a Grand Marquis.

-It's 3:00, you have no cars on your lot, and the chances of gaining one (a car, not a truck or a cargo van) from another branch are zero. A customer who has a 3:30 reservation calls and wants to confirm his car will be ready. Once again, instead of being upfront with the customer, you say "your car is here and ready to go."

Don't act like this doesn't happen on a daily basis at ERAC. Yeah it is impossible to have a specific makes and models. But ERAC doesn't book specific makes and models. The first thing they tell you in training is never do that, just tell them it will be in a certain class: compact, full, standard.... But unfortunately ERAC encourages the "book don't look" mentality. ERAC is never upfront with customers.

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It kills me that this site was created...basically because a few reservations weren't honored. To you arse-hole ex-employees that come on here and bitch about dealing with pissed off customers all day...don't you realize that admin is that very guy? He's the reason you hated going to work every day.

Here's a shocker for all you non-business minded folks....and I'm still amazed admin doesn't get this....you can't run a rental car company (or ANY rental company for that matter) and have 50% of your inventory producing revenue at any given time and expect to stay in business. I don't care if your Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, Uhaul, or Rent-A-Wreck. Inventory costs money, facilities cost money, people cost money. If you don't rent your inventory to produce revenue...you have no profit. And yes, I'm dumbing it down for you.

If any given rental agency was able to honor every single reservation, every single car class, every single time they would need an exhorbitant amount of inventory on hand....and would be renting it about 50% of the time. Do you think a hotel could stay in busines with 50% occupancy all the time? Same idea. We have to be able to work around that to make it work. Have some common sense.

This attitude amazes me. Basically, you're saying that of course you don't honor reservations because that would cost too much. But you also continue to offer reservations because that's what brings the customers in. You're intentionally pulling a bait-and-switch and now mocking your customers because they're too stupid to figure it out.

This is unethical, illegal, and precisely the way to earn a website like FailingEnterprise.com. I see we're engaged in a battle of ideas here, as to whether your customers will put up with being lied to and mocked for it. FailingEnterprise.com gets 8,000 page views per day, and traffic grows at 15% per month.

I'm enjoying this battle and my side gets stronger every month. Where do you think this is going?

Admin

JERRY: I don't understand, I made a reservation, do you have my reservation?
RENTAL CAR AGENT: Yes, we do, unfortunately we ran out of cars.
JERRY: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the reservation.
RENTAL CAR AGENT: I know why we have reservations.
JERRY: I don't think you do. If you did, I'd have a car. See, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation and that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them.

http://www.stanthecaddy.com/sounds-j...servation.html

Look...it's not just Enterprise. It is the whole industry. There was a reason why Jerry Seinfield made that episode mocking the car rental industry and a reservation not really being a reservation. Customers that do not realize this are not educated consumers. I would bet a dollar to a doughnut that Enterprise does a better job fulfilling it's reservations than most companies.

Also, consider this. Does every commercial take off on time? Does every hotel give you the correct size bed that you reserve. (Bleep) happens.

Originally Posted by PhantonSellUp

Look...it's not just Enterprise. It is the whole industry. There was a reason why Jerry Seinfield made that episode mocking the car rental industry and a reservation not really being a reservation. Customers that do not realize this are not educated consumers. I would bet a dollar to a doughnut that Enterprise does a better job fulfilling it's reservations than most companies.

Also, consider this. Does every commercial take off on time? Does every hotel give you the correct size bed that you reserve. (Bleep) happens.

I work at ERAC and we are encouraged to tell people to "come on in" when we have no cars or we don't have the car they asked for. If I wanted to reserve a hotel room and the hotel was completely booked, guess what, the hotel employee will tell me there are no rooms available. If I wanted to reserve a table for 15 at a fancy restaurant, but they couldn't accommodate me, guess what, they won't do the reservation. ERAC is never upfront with the customers. My ARM tells us to "get them in the door" and we'll find some car for them. You're absolutely right, (bleep) happens, it just so happens (bleep) seems to heppen everyday at Enterprise.

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

This attitude amazes me. Basically, you're saying that of course you don't honor reservations because that would cost too much. But you also continue to offer reservations because that's what brings the customers in. You're intentionally pulling a bait-and-switch and now mocking your customers because they're too stupid to figure it out.

This is unethical, illegal, and precisely the way to earn a website like FailingEnterprise.com. I see we're engaged in a battle of ideas here, as to whether your customers will put up with being lied to and mocked for it. FailingEnterprise.com gets 8,000 page views per day, and traffic grows at 15% per month.

I'm enjoying this battle and my side gets stronger every month. Where do you think this is going?

Admin

What "attitude?" I'm just trying to educate your mind. Chances are, if you have a reservation, you're going to get a car. Maybe not the color or identical size you wanted but you're going to get a car. Do you think we would want to put a renter in a full size car for the price of an economy car? We do our best to honor reservations for the correct car size...but that is impossible. Simple as that, impossible. If you think it could be done better, please share. I know you probably have the most thought out and eloquent answer to that, but it's just not that simple or cut and dry.

Also, news flash FailingEnterprise Hero....it's not 8,000 customers visitiing this site. And what battle? Are you nuts? I'm worried for you, quite frankly.

Where do I think what's going...this web site? Seriously, or should I humor you? It's a site of pissed off ex-employees who didn't quite make it and/or current employees the company is probably trying to get rid of because they suck at their job....why would I be concerned about that?