potcake

After a less than satisfactory rental with Dollar at the Dayton Airport for a number of reasons (no kiosk, no Express line at counter, indifferent counter help, unclean vehicle, damage with no way to document, plus more), I was sent the usual email survey. Instead of deleting it I took the time to submit it, mentioning the difficulties I had. Has anyone worked for Dollar, or had a close enough relationship to someone who has, to know whether specifics actually make it back to the station, or whether this is metadata only?

SinglePapa2

AVIS executive emailed me: "...How can we make it up to you..." I mailed back explanation that amounted to $15. Never heard back from AVIS

u be the judge

Peoriaman1

I usually answer the surveys because if I recall, they are good for a small savings on the next rental. But there seems to be no difference if the survey is good or bad. I've reported cars with litter in the map pockets or bald tires; no response.

On the other hand, I've had hotel surveys where any deficient item I've noted nets me a quick email response, usually from an employee at the property I was reviewing. IE, not some corporate guy at their call center.

randix

Responding generally, not specifically to Dollar, my answer is "no", surveys are less about getting feedback, more about getting you to feel that "they" "care"...

SinglePapa2

Well, in my AVIS case, they went further to show they "care". Net result: they just gobbled up more of my time

randix

Only time I get any "results" for expressing my dissatisfaction, is when I reach out to the corporate office with documentation of my negative experience, two such instances stand out in my memory over the years...

1. Re Budget, I complained to the corporate office about each location having a different deposit policy; within a few days I was invited on a conference call with several Budget executives who eventually ended up deciding to standardize the deposit policy...

2. Re Alamo, at Reagan airport I encountered an employee who amazingly honestly confessed that their manager had instructed them to turn off their kiosks and put an out of order sign on them. Within a very short time of my complaint to the corporate office, the regional manager in charge of purchasing and placing those kiosks reached out to me, and was not happy...

Related, I'm tired of being told I'll receive a $25 certificate (in the case of Hertz/Budget) or similar, only to find out after finally receiving those certificates sometimes after months, that they contain restrictions, eg must rent a midsize car, for X number of days, etc. I no longer waste my time responding to car rental company surveys...

TheAud

I filled out the survey after a similarly bad experience at Hertz in Rochester, NY. Few weeks later the manager of the Rochester location called me up to talk about my experience. I told him honestly and politely what happened. He appreciated the feedback and mailed me a $200 voucher good on any future rental worldwide at Hertz.

I have no idea if the service at that location improved, but filling out the survey helped me for sure.

sdsearch

Someone just posted this in the Avis forum:

potcake

Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like it's pretty much across the board in terms of company responsiveness. FWIW, I didn't ask to be contacted, largely because I figured either I'd be given an apology or a cents off coupon and I didn't need either one.

@Peoriaman1, seems like hotels, generally speaking, are somewhat more responsive to problems than car rentals or airlines, probably because there's still some competition left in their industry.

storewanderer

Hotels seem very responsive to surveys.

I have found Budget to be pretty responsive both corporate and franchise (LAS specifically...) locations...

Brighton Line

Had a car checkout time with Budget Fastpass that listed the time I assume they created the paperwork for the reservation. 5 hours before my reservation start time and 6 hours after before I picked up the car and was charged an extra day rental.

My fault I didn't look at the paper work leaving or the receipt returning.
When I called the the location and 800 number I was told that I should have reported it before I left the property (unclear at start or finish of rental).

Filled out the survey with that as the reason for low marks, and I got contacted via email by the manager of the location and refunded the extra day.
YMMV

SixAlpha

I'd have to search the Hertz forum for it, but I seem to recall someone dinging Hertz on a survey a few months back. They were a frequent renter at that particular location, and on their next rental there was something crazy like a Porsche in their stall with a handwritten apology note inside.