National - ELP El Paso Airport - Miserable Operation

Picked up a car at National this week in El Paso. What a mistake! First off, no Emerald Aisle, only counter service. Then they didn't have the contract ready, so had to wait for that. I asked for a car with XM and was told they had cars with XM but they don't activate the radio.

The agent asks if I want "one of our new Impalas". To me new generally means under 5K, mileage, although generally when other locations refer to a car as "new" it still has paper plates on it and you are the first or second person to rent it, or that is my experience. Generally Executive VIP gets you the new cars, or at least some of the better cars on the lot.

He then presents one of those damage slips on the car, and he has checked "No Damage" on the car. I don't like to sign anything until I see the car, and usually when your Emerald you don't have to do this.

At any rate, the "new" Impala had 16K miles on it and can best be described as "beat to hell" with hail damage. We are talking so much damage that most people wouldn't even drive this thing even if they owned it. I showed it to co-workers and they could not believe National would actually rent a car in this condition.

I go back to the counter and tell them of the damage and I get this song and dance about how all their cars were damaged yesterday in the great hailstorm of 2009. When I ask why didn't they note this on the damage slip he told me "don' t worry, we know about the damage". Uh huh yeah, right. I have to argue with the guy to give me a slip showing there was damage. In retrospect I probably should have just refused the car and gone to one of the other counters of a reputable chain.

So I get a new slip with the damage noted, as I am told there were no other cars available, despite the fact that their full lot showed another story.

Did call National and had them note the extreme damage to the car, took pictures of it, and kept the damage slip so when they try to scam me, er I mean blame me for the damage I'm covered. I'm concerned that since our corporate contract includes the loss damage they saw it as an opportunity to get someone else to pay for the damage.

El Paso is a Licencee location, so let the buyer beware, I know the next time I am in El Paso I will stay as far away as I can from them. The whole counter atmosphere was similar to what you get when you go to the little airports that only have one car rental counter, and they know they can do whatever they want to you without recourse.

Seemed to me to be a seedy operation that should not be allowed to use the National name. Hope I am wrong and National monitors their Licencees, but I know my next car rental in El Paso won't be with these people.

How did you know El Paso was a licensee? Did you ask, and they told you? Perhaps things like this are the reason why National, unlike the other companies, does not disclose which locations are corporate and which are not. Letting out this "big secret" might make a few renters think twice about going there.

I found out they were a Licencee after the fact by asking National specifically. Also on the key fob it showed they were a Licencee. National will tell you if you ask, but they don't volunteer the information.

I was surprised El Paso wasn't a corporate location, as it is a fairly good sized market. Other tipoff you are at a licencee location is no Emerald Aisle, or they have an Emerald Aisle, but it is a special counter where you must go and they assign you a car. Sort of defeats the whole purpose of the Aisle when they pick out the car and then you have to find it. It also defeats their whole advertising campaign of avoiding the counter.

Licencees are also where you find such lovely things as crank windows and high mileage vehicles, as well as some very strange cars, although these things are starting to crop up at corporate locations.

I agree with you they ought to put something like "National Rent-A-Car provided by CrappyCarRentalInc of El Paso, TX" on the reservation, in the same way American puts "American Eagle" so you know you will be on a regional jet, and everything else that makes Eagle so special.

Of course if National would police their licencees better, and have stricter standards all of this would be unnecessary because service between stations would all be the same.

It could also be that National doesn't disclose who is an independent licensee for another reason: They don't want to deny one-ways involving franchise branches, the way the others would. If you select a one-way involving a franchise office: Budget says, "We don't allow rentals between those locations." (ex DSM franchise to ORD corporate) Hertz says, "Due to the location type, this rental can not be booked online." (Ex Jackson Hole WY franchise to Cheyenne WY corporate) Etc. The logic with the others is that it's a pain to send the specific car back where it came from, so they decide not to bother allowing such a rental. National may view this as a competitive advantage, as time-consuming as trying to capture this type of business is.

Interesting what the airlines voluntarily tell you: Northwest Airlink, operated by Chattaqua Airlines, etc.

While I agree that National franchises are less "policed", they're not all bad. Here in Victoria, I would wager that the National franchise is run better than some corporate stores. Generally their cars are well-equipped and low mileage. They do feature cars you don't regularly find at corporate stores (VW Jetta, Honda Civic, Subaru Impreza/Forester) because they have the ability to negotiate their own purchasing agreements with local dealers rather than relying on corporate cars. They don't have an Emerald Aisle at the airport, but at counter locations they'll usually let you pick what you want within the category you booked, sometimes even printing the contract off and then walk you through the options parked out back.

As far as franchises and one-ways, I've found with National it's easy to book a one-way TO a franchise, but not the other way. I guess the franchise would gladly take in an extra car, but doesn't want their own car to end up in a random location.

Interesting, that's also true about one-ways to a franchise with other companies. Ex: Budget, OMA to ORD = "we're sorry yada yada yada..." But, ORD to OMA = $160/day, albeit a limited car class selection. I don't think their Omaha "Licensee Operated Location" is allowed to use O'Hare's corporate car, the way, for instance, Midway certainly can. But there may be some other, closer corporate store that can come retrieve it.

I've been flying to El Paso weekly for the last 6 months and renting from National when I can for the rewards. Agreed that their cars and car selection are subpar, but I don't believe there is any scamming going on. They may just be a little more relaxed being a licensee. I've never had any troubles with them. That being said, you were smart to make note of the damage. Budget car rental at ELP is much worse, requiring a gas receipt from within 3 miles of the airport and often times having the customer wait 10 min after signing the contract for a set of keys to be run in from the parking lot. Something to note if you're flying into ELP and renting from Natl, their car selection is limited to Impalas, Malibus, G6s and Vibes. I personally go with the vibe which is actually a toyota matrix in disguise.

Interesting what the airlines voluntarily tell you: Northwest Airlink, operated by Chattaqua Airlines, etc.

A bit off-topic, but I believe that info is specifically required by the Department of Transportation -- i.e., the airlines aren't necessarily giving those details out of the kindness of their hearts.