Tuesday, October 06, 2009

My car rental agreement here in Phoenix required me to fill my tank before returning the car. No problem. I was in Scottsdale, about 30 minutes from the airport, so I hopped on the freeway, got off at the airport exit and started looking for a gas station. The rental car facility is a good haul from the 202 exit, but are there any gas stations between the exit and the rental car facility? Nope, not a one. Had I topped off in Scottsdale, I still would have had to pay for the gas used between there and the airport. Next time, I’ll know to get off the freeway near the airport, fill up, get back on the freeway, then get off the freeway to return the car. A warning from the rental car agency (Advantage) that this stop was necessary would have been nice, though. If you fly into Phoenix and rent a car, be forewarned.

If you work for an oil company, let the powers that be know that a fortune is waiting to be made with a service station near the rental car facility.

Posted by Shel in • Rental cars
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Monday, March 10, 2008

After a long stretch with nothing much to say about my travels, here come two posts, both arising from my current trip to Jackson, Mississippi. I’m here to visit my son, who is stationed at nearby Ft. Shelby and has a short pass before redeploying to Iraq.

My wife and I landed on time (thanks, Southwest) and got our baggage. Then I headed over to the Alamo Rental Car desk; I’d booked an online reservation with Alamo. The line was 10 people long and not moving. There was not one other person at any of the other rental counters. Only one employee was working the Alamo desk and, as it turned out, was also handling the National desk. Everyone in line, as far as I could tell, had made a reservation that included information on when their flights were landing. Alamo knew there would be a surge of customers at that time, yet made no plans for additional personnel to handle the load. I stood in line for 30 minutes—during which two customers completed their transactions—before deciding to pay an extra $100 for our four-day trip and got a car from Budget.

Question for Alamo: Have you ever heard of this concept called “customer service?”

Posted by Shel in • Rental cars
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