OW, that HERTZ!
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! 
July 24th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Hello Kirk,
Is Mihai Ciotinga here from Help Desk BC in Vancouver, beautiful British Columbia. I was never a help desker, I was always in the shadow of the help desk and I have a huge amount of admiration for these people that show incredible restraint and diplomacy when dealing with adverse situations. I know that you are the CMO for HDI and a Christian, and looks like you got caught here in a bit of reverse psychology, that is being the customer that deals with a rude help desker (is usually the other way around? or maybe not!).
I have three questions for you:
1. Did this event affect your testimony, even if it did not show on the outside, verbally or otherwise?
- Who you are?
- What you think?
- What you teach / preach?
2. What was good for you in all of this?
- This question is coming from Carla Rieger, the author of The Artistry of change
3. Would your decision of not working with this company in the future be fair for the thousands of Hertz employees who wake up and go to work each day with the determination to be useful and helpful and friendly?
With non dissimulated admiration and brotherly Love,
Mihai Ciotinga
MY Response to Mihai
Thanks for your wonderful e-mail… my response is below.
I would love to say it did not show on the outside for me…but it did. I was definitely affected by her tone and attitude. Still it didn’t affect my testimony… who I am – how I think – and what I teach, preach and practice…other than to inspire me to more committed to live it, walk it and talk it. I considered that she was having a bad day. We all have those…and I can forgive her for that easily. BUT…but did she consider how her treating a customer in such a lazy and unprofessional manner would affect the thousands of Hertz collegues of hers who got up on tie with a determination to build loyalty and serve the Hertz Brand? Was she able or willing to look beyond her self and put others, and her brand first? Evidence says…NO
3. Would your decision of not working with this company in the future be fair for the thousands of Hertz employees who wake up and go to work each day with the determination to be useful and helpful and friendly? A good question but not, in my opinion the most correct or relevant one. I have many other choices… A better question might be. Is it fair to the thousands of employees of other companies that I stay loyal to a brand that does not stay loyal to me… and thus deny them a shot at providing the service that will allow their spirits to shine and soar?/
July 24th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
You should put your thought to music on You Tube. Don’t know if you caught the fellow singing “United throws guitars” after his experience with a broken guitar on a United filght….I understand they are now using it to train employees in better customer service.
Hey maybe there’s a client here?
Jane
July 24th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Kirk,
I had a similar poor experience with Hertz after many years as a Number One Gold customer. My solution: I went to Enterprise, saved about 40%, and will avoid future Hertzful experiences at all cost.
Have a great weekend, heading out for 2 weeks on the Outer Banks of North Carolina (and driving my own vehicle). :>)
Ron
July 24th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I like AVIS myself…
I still am shocked that despite the bad economy so many vendors refuse to respond with even a modicum of customer service. We’ve lowered the
bar so far when it comes to customer expectations that we are generally grateful for any sort of warm fuzzy…In his book Raving Fans, which we read in our company book club, Ken Blanchard says “if you really want to ‘own’ the customer, if you want a booming business, you have to go beyond satisfied customers and create raving fans.” Having raving fans means that you have achieved the kind of service excellence that turns a customer into a lifetime customer.
A raving fan is an advocate of your products or services in the marketplace, and is created by giving what Ken calls “Legendary Service”. Ken describes it thusly: “Legendary Service is defined as consistently delivering ideal service that keeps customers coming back and results in a competitive advantage for the organization. The program uses the concept of “I CARE” to teach employees the essentials of providing Legendary Service.” Your kind of service at Hertz was “legendary” now too… not the kind of legend you want however. :-O
dick
July 24th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
The first time I went to summit in Colorado Springs, I traveled with a bunch, Dan Wilson, Phil Avery, Carrie Powers, Kim from Taubman and blah blah blah. So we get to the airport in Denver and Dan says get us a rental from Hertz. I had called and made arrangements. Went to the desk in the terminal and spent 45 minutes getting the paper work done and blah blah blah… was told to take the bus to the Hertz corral and get our car. WRONG. Took the bus to the corral and spent another hour in line going through the same stuff we covered in the Terminal. Then they would not take my credit card and make Dan the primary driver until I asked that all the guys be made drivers and was told they could only be made drivers if they were relatives. I told the fellow, who was a manger whom I had demanded we see, that these men were my sons. They were all made drivers, on my credit card, with about six of us suddenly having grossly weak bladders and giggles like a bunch of girls. I have not used Hertz since… more trouble than they are worth. enjoy the weekend… ella
July 27th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Kirk,
Funny, as you know from my webpage I own a Hospice in Phx also www.heartsforhospice.com I changed to Avis due to the same issue. They try to suck me in with this GOLD membership that is really a read the board and get the car yourself. They are rude and now I use Avis.
Thank you,
Shaw Phillips
CEO- Owner
July 27th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
G’day Kirk,
I could only suggest the Fred would have done better. However, it getz worse because when we have a bad experience, we tell all our friends about it. In this digital age the message spreads very far & wide very quickly and can easily stop new business from coming in & that really hertz !
Cheers,
Marcel….
July 27th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Kirk,
Sorry to hear about your bad rental experiences. I really enjoy your thoughts for the day. I pass them on to my team and relate them to our business. My managers will get a kick out of today’s note. I’m an Area Manager with Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Wichita, KS. Your notes have inspired me and my team for a few months now. If I can do anything to help your travel needs, don’t hesitate to ask. We are number #1 in customer service for a reason.
Attitude is everything…
Tim Huels
July 30th, 2009 at 8:25 am
[…] Hertz-ful post a couple days ago was a real comment grabber as many of you shared your own painful customer […]
July 30th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Probably the best comment to this Hertz story could be the title of a previous T4D: ‘Upset by small things….”