Tedgrrrr

I have rented over 150 or 170 days this year, mainly in the $$$ NYC market. The treatment I get is 1st class all the way, no complaints when I'm renting a car regardless of branch.

My problem is the odd time I try to swap a car at another branch and get treated like a third rate customer... sometimes I am transferring the cars because of a problem with the car but other times it is a great car that I simply do not like.

Example. I recently had a 2015 Toyota Rav 4 with very low mileage (less than 5k) that I simply did not like as I drove it up to Albany. I went to the airport where they had a great selection and tried to swap it, and they blatantly lied and said some of the cars were already rented but they let the customers park them there during short business trips (b.s.!!!!), or the other cars were reserved for their regular customers.

And I always try to explain, "look I am bringing you back a perfectly good car that most people would love" and they give me a blank look as though I have three arms and four heads and direct me to the crappiest car on the lot.

I just don't see why the individual branch employees care who gets a nice car and who doesn't - especially at an airport with a relatively captive market.

BugsyPal

Usually within NYC (Manhattan) when needed to swap out something (low fuel, damaged, only thing left but not what was reserved, etc...) counter reps make phone calls and clear the way so to speak. That being said they most always ask if the location has inventory to spare. If they don't then things become interesting. Sometimes they will others it takes a manager getting involved.

Regardless of airport or other location places only have so much inventory and they must keep that supply balanced with reservations.

Don't know what you mean by a "captive market", but airport locations have reservations same as those in say Manhattan. If I reserved a mid-sized car then that is what I probably wanted. Have been stuck with SUVs many times from National because of this or that inventory problems.

You had your chance to speak up when you took the RAV4. If you didn't like it then the time to say something was before you left the location and or shortly afterwards. Not driving out of the City then deciding you want to make a swap.

There is also the situation where certain vehicles within National's system are only at airports or urban locations, that or vice versa. I've seen some nice vehicles sitting at local National locations in Manhattan only to be told it couldn't be rented because it belong elsewhere and was waiting for a hiker to take it back where it belonged.

This last bit could be another issue; logistically the vehicle (your RAV4 for instance) "belongs" in Manhattan at the location you rented it form and not upstate. Unless this was a one way rental the location you took the vehicle from is expecting it to return when you said it would. If or when it does not then the location in question may have a problem. What about the person who reserved a SUV and National is counting on your rental to make that quota? Leaving all this aside there is the question of how the Albany location (or whatever outside of the City) is going to get the thing back down here. If they must use a hiker that incurs a cost which was not necessary because if you had done what the contract called for it would be returned on your dime.

If the RAV4 was not functioning properly or something major was wrong don't think many locations would refuse a swap. But for you to just swan in there saying "I don't like it" is another matter.

Doc Savage

If you are swapping a car that has a mechanical issue, the place you take it to has to deal with the hassle of getting it fixed. The renter really has no other option, though, so it's part of the service the company is paid for.

Swapping a car for no good reason like you did causes the company logistical hassles for no good reason. Try not to do that to the company; it's really just not cool.

In each case I can empathize with the employees who have to deal with the extra hassles. I can even empathize with a little white lie or two when the customer is causing a problem for no good reason.

BugsyPal

Rental agreement/contract stipulates one shall return the vehicle to *location where it was rented from* unless prior arrangements were made such as a one way rental. That is an end of things.

Obviously if there is an accident or malfunction exceptions can be made. Otherwise merely showing up at another location wanting to swap is not only wrong but a violation of contractual agreement.

Auto Enthusiast

I think I recall another thread saying that National/Alamo/Enterprise uses a relatively lean fleet in part because unlike some competitors, they count expected returns as available inventor. Avis and Hertz have been described here as more easily doing swaps due to customer preference. This might be why.

It might be ok if you swap an SUV or midsize for another in its class, but if not, when you get back, the next customer might be screwed.

piper28

Personally I've only ever had one issue when trying to swap at a location other than where I picked the car up. That said, it's definitely generally easier to swap at an airport location that has aisle service rather than a location that's only counter service.

(The one exception to this was when we had a 35 day rental, and tried swapping on day 30. Nationals months are 30 days (ironically, even though 31 days counts as a monthly rental when reserving, the month still splits at 30 days). Because of the way the contract gets split up, and the timing involved on the day, that became a real mess. Ironically, we were doing that one because we were trying to be helpful with getting the car back to them close to the preventative maintenance mileage on the sticker).