I’ve been experiencing the same customer service issue with the Avis rental car company since last November. It’s not a particularly outrageous issue, but the fact that it’s still unresolved after four attempts makes it worse and worse. My options at this point are to choose another rental car company or to use my blog to chronicle my last ditch attempts to resolve the problem. C’mon! You know which option I choose!
I encourage you to follow this experiment like you would a favorite sports team or a soap opera. You can get email updates or follow along on Twitter.
Background
It all started last year when I had to rent a car in Portland, Oregon. Avis has a program called “Avis Preferred” where you can skip the rental counter and go straight to the car. On a previous trip, it had taken me awhile to get through the line and get my car rented, so I thought this would be a great perk. Unfortunately, on my first 'Preferred' rental, my car wasn’t ready and waiting when I arrived and I had to go to the rental counter anyway. What was worse was the rental agent did a fairly poor job of trying to resolve the problem. (See my previous post: Avis service recovery.)
Since then, I’ve rented with Avis on three occasions. Each time, I feel like I’m in that old Bill Murray movie, Groundhog Day, where the same day keeps repeating over and over. I arrive expecting my car to be ready and it’s not. I go to the rental car counter and the agent tells me I had to go to the counter because it’s my first time renting a car as a Preferred member. I explain it’s not the first time, but the agent shrugs and says, “It should be OK the next time.” Of course it won’t be. And on and on.
By now, I’ve rented four times and have been disappointed four times. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s really annoying that this problem can’t be fixed.
My Experiment
I’ve decided to use my blog as a platform to resolve this issue since face to face contact with company representatives hasn’t done the trick. It will be fun to see how Avis responds. I really hope they do find a way to resolve it. Whatever happens, I'll be sure to shed some light on the types of trouble small issues can cause companies if they don’t have an effective way of identifying and resolving customer complaints when they happen.
I’ll start with the usual phone calls and emails and take it from there. Of course, I’ll also leverage other platforms like Twitter to see what happens. It should be fun!
Follow It
You can get email updates or follow along on Twitter. And, I definitely take suggestions, so please post a comment!