ElmhurstNick
Feb 15, 12, 3:27 pm
I had a rental from TPA very late Friday night (actually Saturday morning). The ES was full of sedans and no SUVs, so we managed to get a 2012 Impala LTZ with leather seating and only 45 miles. After we picked up a late night Cuban dinner, I drove to our hotel.
As I was turning the corner a block from the hotel, the entire electrical system took a header... and I managed to coast the car to a stop in a left turn bay to an office building. Completely dead, couldn't even get the key to come out of the ignition. (Seemed like a bad computer chip.) At 2:45am. Fortunately, a half block from the hotel where we were staying.
Now, let's ignore for the moment a car with 45 miles on the odometer completely dying, and ignore the issue of what would have happened if I had been on the Causeway headed to St. Petersburg. The car had 45 miles on it, I was probably the second renter ever, the mechanical problem was with Chevy, not National. The question is: when faced with a bad situation, how does a service provider handle it?
I was very pleased with how National handled the situation:
1. Their 800# service was prompt, courteous, detailed, and efficient.
2. The rep on the 800# established communication with the station, determined that at that time of day there was no spare employee who could drive the three miles over to the hotel and take over possession of the car - there was only one person babysitting both National and Alamo and both the counter and the garage.
3. Given that I was both in traffic and with no electrical system, the rep arranged for the Tampa police to be called. The officer came over and noted the situation, and told us to stay out of the car and go into the hotel until the tow truck came. (I was mostly wanting the officer to verify that I wouldn't be able to do much if another car plowed into mine, and to acknolwedge that it was ok for me to leave the scene.)
4. The tow truck driver was very responsive, but about 30 miles away. Once I explained that I was a block from my hotel and that the key wasn't going to be leaving the ignition, he told me to go to bed and that he'd call when he made it there and finished loading the car - he was going to need a flatbed as the car was stuck in Park after I managed to get it out of drive. I received a call both when he was a few minutes away, and when he was leaving. I didn't have to go back out to the car - I was able to see the area from my hotel window.
5. The 800# rep offered to have the TPA station bring me a car in the morning, but I opted to go back to the airport as the hotel had a shuttle and I could pick my own time.
6. It took a little cajoling for the agent at TPA to get the manager, but in the end, they gave me compensation of 1 free day, 3 days of free extra driver, and an upgrade to a fullsize SUV (a trusty red 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, the mainstay of the 2011 Fullsize SUV fleet). The staff at TPA was very friendly, and the manager knew about what had happened the night before.
While I hope that National will pursue the situation with Chevy, I can say that this was a situation where my loyalty to National was definitely rewarded. (Which I can't say about the hotel... but that's a different post.)
As I was turning the corner a block from the hotel, the entire electrical system took a header... and I managed to coast the car to a stop in a left turn bay to an office building. Completely dead, couldn't even get the key to come out of the ignition. (Seemed like a bad computer chip.) At 2:45am. Fortunately, a half block from the hotel where we were staying.
Now, let's ignore for the moment a car with 45 miles on the odometer completely dying, and ignore the issue of what would have happened if I had been on the Causeway headed to St. Petersburg. The car had 45 miles on it, I was probably the second renter ever, the mechanical problem was with Chevy, not National. The question is: when faced with a bad situation, how does a service provider handle it?
I was very pleased with how National handled the situation:
1. Their 800# service was prompt, courteous, detailed, and efficient.
2. The rep on the 800# established communication with the station, determined that at that time of day there was no spare employee who could drive the three miles over to the hotel and take over possession of the car - there was only one person babysitting both National and Alamo and both the counter and the garage.
3. Given that I was both in traffic and with no electrical system, the rep arranged for the Tampa police to be called. The officer came over and noted the situation, and told us to stay out of the car and go into the hotel until the tow truck came. (I was mostly wanting the officer to verify that I wouldn't be able to do much if another car plowed into mine, and to acknolwedge that it was ok for me to leave the scene.)
4. The tow truck driver was very responsive, but about 30 miles away. Once I explained that I was a block from my hotel and that the key wasn't going to be leaving the ignition, he told me to go to bed and that he'd call when he made it there and finished loading the car - he was going to need a flatbed as the car was stuck in Park after I managed to get it out of drive. I received a call both when he was a few minutes away, and when he was leaving. I didn't have to go back out to the car - I was able to see the area from my hotel window.
5. The 800# rep offered to have the TPA station bring me a car in the morning, but I opted to go back to the airport as the hotel had a shuttle and I could pick my own time.
6. It took a little cajoling for the agent at TPA to get the manager, but in the end, they gave me compensation of 1 free day, 3 days of free extra driver, and an upgrade to a fullsize SUV (a trusty red 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, the mainstay of the 2011 Fullsize SUV fleet). The staff at TPA was very friendly, and the manager knew about what had happened the night before.
While I hope that National will pursue the situation with Chevy, I can say that this was a situation where my loyalty to National was definitely rewarded. (Which I can't say about the hotel... but that's a different post.)