The rental-car industry faces “an enormous user-experience problem,” according to Ron Lieber in The New York Times. “Every time I’ve traveled since Lyft and Uber achieved near ubiquity…I’ve tried my level best to avoid renting a car.”
Behavior like Lieber’s may have contributed to a 23% drop last month in the share price of Hertz after it reported a disappointing third-quarter profit, as described in Bloomberg. The company attributed the results to both a decline in revenue and a drop in the value of its cars.
Lieber cites the standard list of rental-car customer gripes. At most airports, you’ll have to wait for a crowded bus that runs on an unknown schedule to get you to the rental car center. Once at the center, if you’re not a preferred customer you’ll have to wait in line. When you reach an agent, you’ll have to endure “a scary insurance upsell” and choose among a variety of “Faustian refueling options.”
Once at your car, you’ll need to inspect it for damage, often in the dark and perhaps with rain or snow.
When you come to a toll plaza, you won’t know whether your rental car has a transponder, and if it does, how much in addition to the toll the rental company will charge you. If you are on a business trip, you’ll probably receive a bill for the tolls plus service charge weeks after you’ve submitted your expense account.
When you return to the airport, assuming you “dodged the refuel upsell,” you’ll need to find a gas station to top off the tank—often just a gallon or two if you’ve spent more time on your trip working than driving around. (Google Maps has made finding a convenient station much easier.)
When you return your car, you need to peruse the receipt carefully to make sure you weren’t charged for any of the upsell items you declined. If you were, you’ll need to wait in line to try to get it fixed.
You then wait for the crowded bus that runs on an unpredictable schedule to take you to the terminal.
Like Lieber, I avoid renting a car if at all possible. It would be nice to think that if people turn to alternatives like Lyft, rental-car companies might up their customer-service game.
I’m not optimistic, though. Poor customer service might not be causing financial problems in the industry. Bloomberg, for example, reports that despite Hertz’s recent poor performance, Avis beat performance estimates in its most recent quarterly report, and its stock has risen 7.5% this year.
Unfortunately, when it comes to airlines and rental-car companies, travelers seem resigned to putting up with anything.
