RichMSN

That's pathetic. Remember my note to self: Rent from someone else at CMH.

Mspot

For sure. I've always had good luck with Hertz at CMH.....as much as I hate to deviate from National.....but in this city, I would say it's worth it.

TVCMH

The people working at this location have improved leaps and bounds and the cars are slightly better since new management took over a year or two ago - but overall it's the same old Midwest Car Corp "we're a licensee and operate under a different set of rules and standards" mentality. This location has started capping miles at 200/day. Check your reservation carefully.

From three recent visits:

EA: If you're coming to town to attend a Chevy Cruze convention you're in luck! The EA is 100% Cruze. Every car is a Cruze. Cruzes as far as the eye can see. Bypass the counter and select ANY Cruze you want. Thanks for your loyalty, and enjoy your Cruze.

ES: Expect your choice of a Malibu or under-powered GM SUV. Malibus (most 2LT, few LTZ) and Captivas dominate. An occasional Buick Regal in the mix and sometimes the Equinox or Terrain fill in for the Captiva. A handful of Subaru vehicles - I believe Outback and Legacy - but I've never rented one. Haven't seen an Impala since the 2014 model got re-classified as a PXAR. Bottom line, you're unlikely to find a true "full sized" sedan here.

hughc99

Rented here December 13th:

EA: 14 Chevy Cruzes. Nothing else.
ES: Exclusively Malibus except I saw an SUV in the distance, looked like a Captiva but I can't confirm.

In any case, worst selection I've ever seen. Scratch that... first time I've seen a National without selection.

RichMSN

I'm glad this thread popped up -- I'm going to CMH this weekend. I will not be renting from National even though it's the only company I have status with.

brendog

The selection last Tuesday at 7pm was exactly zero in the ES and 1 Chevy Cruze in the EA. I was not particularly happy with the outcome, and was about to walk over to Avis, but the manager gave me a list of what was coming up from the wash and promised me whatever I wanted. I ended up with a Craptiva, as it was the only offering with AWD.

Hot Pocket

This is my home location and I rent here quite a bit. Weekend rates are incredibly low. I just returned my 25th rental for the year so I should be good for EE. That all being said...it is by far the worst National location I have come across. It's a franchise owned by a local GM dealer, so wall to wall Cruzes in EA, Malibus and the occasional Equinox/Terrain/Captiva in ES. They own a handful of Buick Regals and crappy Subaru Outbacks (ES). That's pretty much it. If I wasn't doing weekend rentals to make status at $15/day with one day free, I would never set foot in this embarrassingly bad location.

hughc99

Honest question, at what point can the National corporation (or Enterprise Holdings) step in and say that a location, like this one, has to meet a minimum standard of quality or they lose their franchise licence? I wonder how many complaints the corporate National folks have to deal with because of this lousy location. Overall it is not good for their brand perception.

TVCMH

I think the problem is that they do, at least on paper, meet the minimums. They don't ever exceed minimums, unlike most corporate locations. Technically, a Malibu meets the criteria for Executive Selection and a Cruze is a qualified Emerald Aisle vehicle.

The franchisee here, Midwest Car Corporation, operates National locations at SLC, BOI, MKE, ROA, ICT and probably others. Do a search on FlyerTalk and you'll find it's the same routine at all of their locations. My proposal to National, which was ignored, was that at the time of booking they should disclose that a particular location is operated by a franchisee, similar to the airline requirement to notify the customer when a regional airline operates their flight: "Operated by ExpressJet Airlines dba United Express".

hughc99

I think this is where it gets ambiguous. For example, the Emerald Club Marketing material says stuff like "Where all members can choose from a selection of vehicles starting at midsize or better and only pay the midsize rate."

I would argue that there is no "selection of vehicles" when I am only allowed, time after time, to get only a Chevy Cruze. But maybe "selection" applies to the color of the car, rather than the make and model, in which case I suppose they do meet the minimum requirement.

sts603

Beware of doing one way rentals from here. I arrived and the ES/EA aisles didn't have a great selection but it was certainly a selection including SUVs. However, I was asked if I was dropping the car elsewhere. I said yes, and was told I couldn't use ES and had to use "corporate cards" parked in an adjacent aisle. The selection was much worse - a smoky 200, a Corolla and a Charger. Made a huge fuss but to no avail, they would not honor my confirmation that confirmed ES. I took the Charger but will be complaining to National and will likely just tell AMEX not to pay the bill on the rental since I wasn't given what I was confirmed in writing (ES service).

Coastercameron

Haha! You want to do a chargeback because you couldn't pick your own car? That might be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. The issues with one-ways from this (and other franchised locations) is well known and documented. I think it is a shame that National doesn't control it's franchises better, but I don't think you have any right to initiate a chargeback.

RichMSN

Why? It's part of the deal, isn't it?

Coastercameron

He still took a car didn't he? National doesn't accept prepayment for reservations, so he could have always walked to another provider if he was not satisfied with the selection.

As stated in my prior post, I wholy agree that National's franchise system is flawed, but he still accepted services from the company, what give him the right to choose not to pay for it just because he didn't get his way?

Auto Enthusiast

Many of us would actually like the Charger, and/or its Challenger sibling.

How could National "control" its franchises better for one-ways, besides going the Hertz route and making almost all locations corporate-operated, and hence able to share a nationwide fleet?

Also, part of the "choose your car" issue sometimes extends to corporate stores, for one-ways between the US and Canada. When I pointed out the diversity of license plates at Union Station, the lot attendant said he's also gotten one-ways from Canada. But in that case, since it's a different country, he's supposed to send it back, either one-way to Canada or as far north as possible. So if you're a National customer going one-way to Buffalo, you might not get the promised choice.

At larger airports, your reservation might say EA or ES. But National's policy is that if the pickup location has a car registered in the destination country, in your reserved category, they should give it to you, unless you are returning in a border city. The only "solution" to "ensuring" the customer gets the "promised" EA/ES would presumably be to restrict which one-ways can be booked deep into the US and Canada. Then many others would complain about the removal of this one-way choice.