Appropriate Compensation?
Feb 10, 2020, 9:36 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 295
Appropriate Compensation?
Thoughts on this?
Used Avis. Picked up a brand new (less than 10 miles - never been rented) SUV from a major US airport two days ago at 11pm. Get not more than ten minutes out of the airport and the car totally dies. All lights go dead, engine stops, something obviously not hooked up correctly when it was built, this car was 100% dead in the water. Against my better judgement I decide to deal with Avis roadside assistance program over just taking an Uber back to the airport. Fiasco number one right there ... I'm told I'll get a text alert when the tow truck is on the way. 30 minutes later ... nothing so I call back. I'm on hold listening to the "your call is important to us, please continue to wait" message when I get an incoming call and it's the tow truck driver. He has no idea where I am (roadside assistance doesn't give that information to the drivers??), I tell him my location, he says he'll be there in 10 minutes. 20 minutes later, we're now into the 1am hour and the driver shows up in a tow truck reeking of marijuana .. he takes one look at the car and says he can't move it because it's 4WD and you need a flat bed for that (something even I know - apparently Avis roadside assistance does not however). I now just go back to the airport with the keys to the car to get a new one. I can handle this, my thoughts though are now "what if this is my mother or someone who would be terrified in a scenario like this, especially well after midnight in a strange city." Avis at the airport has no idea I'm coming so its a new booking from scratch sort of scenario. 20 minutes later I'm on my way with a new car. I'm back at the hotel and getting text alerts up well past 3am saying the tow truck driver is on his way. This is 90 minutes after I've gotten a new car.
I bullet point this in a customer feedback submission on their website. Yesterday I get an email acknowledging the inconvenience with a discount code for $20 towards a future rental. $20 ... National credited an entire day towards my rental when I returned a car last month with an automatic lift gate that wasn't working. Am I wrong to feel like a $20 coupon is a bit on the low side?
Used Avis. Picked up a brand new (less than 10 miles - never been rented) SUV from a major US airport two days ago at 11pm. Get not more than ten minutes out of the airport and the car totally dies. All lights go dead, engine stops, something obviously not hooked up correctly when it was built, this car was 100% dead in the water. Against my better judgement I decide to deal with Avis roadside assistance program over just taking an Uber back to the airport. Fiasco number one right there ... I'm told I'll get a text alert when the tow truck is on the way. 30 minutes later ... nothing so I call back. I'm on hold listening to the "your call is important to us, please continue to wait" message when I get an incoming call and it's the tow truck driver. He has no idea where I am (roadside assistance doesn't give that information to the drivers??), I tell him my location, he says he'll be there in 10 minutes. 20 minutes later, we're now into the 1am hour and the driver shows up in a tow truck reeking of marijuana .. he takes one look at the car and says he can't move it because it's 4WD and you need a flat bed for that (something even I know - apparently Avis roadside assistance does not however). I now just go back to the airport with the keys to the car to get a new one. I can handle this, my thoughts though are now "what if this is my mother or someone who would be terrified in a scenario like this, especially well after midnight in a strange city." Avis at the airport has no idea I'm coming so its a new booking from scratch sort of scenario. 20 minutes later I'm on my way with a new car. I'm back at the hotel and getting text alerts up well past 3am saying the tow truck driver is on his way. This is 90 minutes after I've gotten a new car.
I bullet point this in a customer feedback submission on their website. Yesterday I get an email acknowledging the inconvenience with a discount code for $20 towards a future rental. $20 ... National credited an entire day towards my rental when I returned a car last month with an automatic lift gate that wasn't working. Am I wrong to feel like a $20 coupon is a bit on the low side?
Feb 11, 2020, 5:25 am
#2
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 3,704
TheAvisGuy - you can build some credibility on the forums if you help this gentleman out.
OP - You can try a BBB complaint or PMing them on Twitter. They're usually more responsive there than through the website.
OP - You can try a BBB complaint or PMing them on Twitter. They're usually more responsive there than through the website.