Note the time of your call and the representative's name and identification number, if any. Let's take a look at my recent experience renting a car from New Zealand-based Ace Car Rentals for a case study on good customer service practices and complaints. Low customer satisfaction seems to be the new normal among car rental companies, and car rental companies for customers are simply another necessary travel evil. The car rental company encourages Cathy to tell them about her experience by sending her a text message asking for her opinion.
In this case, Estelle from Ace Car Rentals made sure to improve its performance in managing complaints. While it's understandable to get upset after a disappointing interaction with a car rental company, avoid picking up the phone or sending an email to vent until you've taken some time to identify the specific problem and determine what you would consider a satisfactory solution. While the process is extremely inconvenient for customers, it's also harmful to the reputation of car rental companies. By not recording or measuring every interaction with customers and relying solely on customer complaints, post-experience surveys, and feedback from company managers, car rental companies are missing out on a promising opportunity.
Once you've decided what the core topic of your complaint is, the best thing to do is to contact the car rental company directly through their main customer service phone number. As consumer advocate Christopher Elliott points out, it's worth using your manners and being specific about your request if you want car rental companies to take your complaint seriously. Social networks are a powerful tool for sharing your comments with car rental companies, especially if you need immediate help or if you hear crickets after visiting official channels. What set Ace car rentals apart was the email I received shortly after hitting “send” from my customer service advisor (yes, the same one).
While it's never fun to file a complaint about booking a rental car, following these tips will help ensure that the process goes as smoothly as possible. Improving the customer experience in car rental companies can be easily achieved with business feedback management that includes these three action points. However, most car rental companies still don't realize that they are implementing an incorrect methodology and using outdated technology (e.g.
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