Interesting that yesterday mornings  ”Thought for the Day” post was about being upset by small things and yesterday evening I was!  Those who follow me on Twitter know this all happened after 10pm … at a deserted Car Rental Terminal in Phoenix AZ.  Present were 3 Hertzful Agents and me the soon to be Hurtzing Gold Customer.

OW!  That Hertz!   -Sparing you most of the tragically familiar play by play details of being treated rudely … I do want to share a bit of the conclusion of very Hertzful interaction.  After I concluded the Hertzful Agent was much more interested in continuing her conversation with her co-worker than actually getting up to help me - I pointed out that I was not being served and that she was not responding to my requests or my needs.  Being reminded of her basic duties to serve a customer seemed too much for her to handle… she told me I would need to call back in the morning to close my account - there was nothing she or her 2 sitting co-workers could or would do for me tonight.  I pointed out that we were all here doing nothing - so why not now?  NO GO!

Hertz Like HELL - Taking Condescension to the Dark Side.

As I walked away she said, “Have a nice evening.”  choosing the right words so as to cover herself and sound like she was taking the higher ground.  The problem was her words were delivered on a tone of such false sincerity & sarcasm combined masterfully with a bit of superiority & condescension so as to communicate a triumphant, ”Ha, I got you”. It was almost evil.  (I suspect a Sith Lord in the Hertz Hiarchy)

It was such an accomplished bit of disrespect that I suspect she has taken advanced classes in how to be rude.

Hertz Takes a Hitz  -  To be fair to Hertz - I have done business with them many times before and never had an experience like this.  But then that’s kind of the point isn’t it?  One Hertzful experience like I received was enough to erase any previous positive ones and to leave such an awful taste in my mouth that Hertz immediately moved to the “Last Resort” Rental Car company at the absolute bottom of my list, easily replacing the company who previously occupied that spot.  A company whose offense at this moment looks much less National in scope and appears to be a far more Thrifty option for future rentals than Hertz does.

It Could Hertz Worse -  It only takes one bad experience to Hertz your reputation.  And in a bad economy, with so many other options…. we not only should know better…. weneed to do better.  Or your already Hertzing business may Hertz even worse.

Make it a Great Weekend… and Not one that Hertz!