I have written about a few bad experiences and the learning from these. Here is an example of a good experience and the learning. Last weekend I was in Sarasota, Florida. I rented a car from Hertz. As I drove to my hotel I stopped to go into a store. I had put my wallet in my jacket which I had placed in the boot (the English word for trunk). I opened the boot/trunk, collected my wallet and then closed the boot/trunk with the keys inside! Doh! What an idiot
So what do I do now? I had images of paying $100’s to get road side assistance. When I rent from Alamo they always try the scare tactics to sell me additional insurance. I looked around and tried to figure out how to open it from inside the car without success. I looked at the contract Hertz gave me. The first phone number is the 24 hour emergency assistant.
I was feeling reticent to call them as I didn’t want to pay huge amounts of money due to my stupidity, but my plight overcame this and I called them. I was answered by a person immediately. What do you think was the first question they asked? Was it What is your contact number? What is the License plate?
No. Their first question was “are you in a safe place”. Wow! I was surprised! What a great question. I told them I was. I told the agent of my situation and she empathized with me. She asked me for details of my contract number. “I see you have a Mustang” she said. “If you go into the back seat you will see a cloth tab, which if you pull it will flip down the seat and allow you access to the boot”! Wow! I hadn’t thought about that! I was looking for a button or leaver to flip in the car. “I’ll wait while you try and locate it”. I climb into the back of the car, this is a difficult enough task if you are as large as I am and the Mustang is not renowned for a large back seat area! There it was within minutes I had my keys and I was on my way.
So well done to Hertz. A good Customer experience. My expectations were exceeded. They had the chance to pursue “bad profits” as I have outlined in other items on this blog by not telling me to pull the tab but sending out a breakdown truck and forcing me to pay $$$$ for this. Instead, they understood that they needed to put the emergency number at the top of the list of numbers, they answered with a person, asked me if I was safe and gave me the info to get me on my way. Great stuff!.
By COLIN SHAW | Published: NOVEMBER 27, 2008