How The Law of Supply and Demand Affects Service
1 December 2006Overall business is good for the airline and rental car industry. Let’s take a look at how passengers are treated on a typical day at an airport and rental car counter. Now before I continue, I am a frequent flyer and carrying gold club member of Hertz.
(Air Travelers - there are valuable lessons in my experiences. Learn from my experience. You do not have to go through the same thing in order to learn. Read on:)
For the Sunday after Thanksgiving where I had to leave my home at 7 AM to catch a flight to Dullas since there were no seats available into Baltimore (BWI) everything worked out well. No issues getting through security and boarding the plane. I had space because on top of my late booking full fare fee on United I decided to spend the $34 for “extra legroom” and get a window seat. Now you may think I have a problem with that - I don’t. I had a very nice plane ride. That is where it ends.
Dullas at Washington D.C. is terrible. You have to take a shuttle to get to the main terminal in order to board another shuttle to the rental car parking facility. All of that adds 45 minutes to your trip minimum and that assumes you carry on you luggage. Do I have any tips? Yes - avoid Dullas if you can.
Hertz - people working at the car rental agencies have some of the best jobs in America. They are paid to listen to you concerns and then do nothing to solve them. I think the staff ought to have earphones plugged into their Ipods so at least you would not expect them to be actually doing something about your questions and concerns. Specifically what happened to me is that my schedule changed and I needed to extend the use of the car and return it to Philadelphia rather than Baltimore. So when I told them that the rate I confirmed on line doubled - yes Doubled. Tip- any changes to travel with rental car companies should be handled as follows: 1. cancel original contract 2. book a new contract. On top of all that I discovered when I reached my destination there was damage to the rear of the car (broken taillight and scrapes on the bumper) Did I do this? No. Do they think I did this? Yes How can I be sure? All I did was drive and my first stop was for gas and then when I walked to the rear to pump the gas I noticed the damage. I emailed customer service - no comment from them on any of these issues. Major mistake - not personally inspecting the car before departure. I know better.
I am running out of time for this story. In summary I talk to what appear to be live people on these issues. I can assure you I have no success having anyone from a rental car agency help and this includes Hertz and Avis which is another story.
Be well and prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting
Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve now consults personally with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Most projects are self-funding within 90 days. The client then experiences a very high return on investment. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting http://www.stevepohlit.com or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly.
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