We had been traveling all day. We get into Ft. Lauderdale at 10pm where you have to take a shuttle bus to a “Rental Car Pavillion”. Once there, all of the other counters are empty and of course there’s a big line at Hertz. Mostly because there is ONE PERSON WORKING THERE and NONE OF THE ELECTRONIC KIOSKS WERE IN SERVICE.

Okay, there were actually two people working there but one of them was at the part where the Hertz Gold Club members check in and wasn’t helping the rest of us, even though there were NO GOLD CLUB MEMBERS waiting in line. And the one kiosk that looked like it was working allowed you to spend 10 minutes punching in all of your information and the options you wanted before, you guessed it, bringing up a screen telling you to talk to a customer representative. 

So we waited and waited… and waited… about 15-20 of us… and the line is not moving. We’re there for over a half hour by the time I whip out my video camera to document what’s going on. 

And that’s when the one lady working there disappears behind a door for a moment, then comes back out and SALUTES US… yes, salutes us like “SEE YA, SUCKERS!” and then SHE LEAVES. 

So as you can see, I chase after her and well… I guess her response is just Hertz’s lousy customer service in action. 

Call me crazy but maybe, just maybe I think she could have said “You know what, I have to leave, let me go and find someone to help you…” but no… 

So, being amazed at her actual response to the camera I popped the chip from my Sanyo and sent the clip to CNN iReports right there while we were waiting in line thanks to the miracle of 3G wireless. And by the time we actually were helped by someone some half hour later, I had the clip uploaded. 

The next day someone sent me a link to a story that Hertz was laying off 400 people because their business was in trouble. That person suggested that’s why this employee was such an asshole. 

I disagree. I think it’s the other way around. I think Hertz’s business is in trouble because they employ assholes like this and their customer service is HORRIBLE. 

As I wrote on the CNN website, in this economy, with times being tough and companies being in trouble, I would hope that people choose to spend their money at businesses that actually have decent customer service. No longer should the customer settle for being treated like crap by companies like Hertz because they can afford to do so. If you’re like me, you take your business elsewhere. 

If you don’t mind being shit upon by Hertz, then by all means rent from them. But for me, I’ll never use Hertz Rent a Car again. 

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Blog, Not Making This Up . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.