What is it with Bad Customer Service at National Car Rental?
Some customers are more troublesome than others. I'll be the first to agree on that point. But they're still customers, and unless you have something truly unique and compelling that they can't get anywhere else, you don't have the luxury of making things difficult for them.
This week, I need to use some free days, and coupons, with National Car Rental. I'm Executive Elite with them, which means I rent a lot. I'm in a National car at least 2-3 days per week. Every week. And they had some good promotions, so I racked us some coupons for free days, and then also accumulated some free days. However, they have a really crappy website, which doesn't let you use more than 3 coupons per rental (and each coupon I have is only for 1 day).
The email from me below pretty much explains what I need:
| Customer By Email (Dmitry Kagansky .) | 06/14/2012 06:13 PM |
| I have 3 itineraries right now:
376xxxxxx Atlanta Intl Arpt (ATLT01) Sat, Jun 23, 2012 02:00 PM I need to combine them all into a single itinerary, so I don't have to go Thank you, |
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So you can see, this is not some exotic, ridiculous request. I just need a car, for a week, and using all the points/coupons/rewards I've accumulated.
It took them close to 48 hours to respond, and here's what they sent:
| Response Via Email (Prestigue) | 06/16/2012 02:31 PM |
| Dear Dmitry Kagansky,
Thank you for your email. If we were to combine the reservations into one, the coupons would be voided out. It will not work that way, we can either combine them and take some of the coupons off, or leave it as it is. I apologize for any inconvenience. Sincerely, |
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My response back to them spells it out:
| Customer By Email (Dmitry Kagansky .) | 06/16/2012 04:31 PM |
| So you're telling me I have to drive back to the airport twice during the rental period? And that I really don't need to do anything there except say, "I'm taking this same car again under a new agreement?"
That's really screwed up, especially since your closer location in Atlanta closed up. We're talking about a location that is 60 miles away from where I'll be the rest of the week, and huge inconvenience. You're saying that I have to take 2-3 hours out of my day --TWICE-- to do this, just to use my coupons and days? Do you really think that's an appropriate answer? Can you explain to me why I shouldn't switch to Hertz or Avis? I've used both in the past, and have never had this sort of problem. Regards, |
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Someone really needs to give me a good reason not to switch to Avis or Hertz. Avis I'm indifferent to, but I've loved Hertz for years. My company prefers National, so I don't buck the trend, but if I can't make use of my rewards, why be in a loyalty program? In fact, why be loyal? After more than 25 rentals this year alone, this is what I get back? I don't think so. I've already cut Hilton out of my life. National doesn't look to be too far behind unless there's a satisfactory answer here.