Hello readers! Once again, I apologize for the lack of posts in the last two months. Summer is here and it has kept me very busy.
First, let me start off by saying that my experience with AVIS started off great, and there was one employee that was amazing during my frustration, but as a whole they really missed the mark when it comes to customer service. Let me walk you through my experience with the AVIS car rental location at the San Diego International airport. Ultimately it took me over an hour to get my car which caused me to miss an appointment that I had.
After waiting in line for about 15 minutes I finally got to the counter. The gentlemen that was helping me was in training and was extremely helpful. As he was trying to call the lot via intercom to ask them to bring my car, they were non-responsive. I watched as three other agents were able to successfully call cars around. He was extremely apologetic and ultimately found somebody to help him get somebody to bring a car around. He gave me my paperwork and sent me out to get my car.
My paperwork showed that my car was parked in a certain stall number so I walked out to find the car. When I noticed that the row ended before the number listed on my paperwork, I asked an employee that looked to be a manager standing in the lot. He took my paperwork and looked very confused, he looked briefly but then asked another employee to find the car (the manager made me feel like he didn't have time for me).
Once the other employee took the paperwork, he seemed genuinely concerned with helping me find the car, he told me to stay right where I was and he would find my car. After about 15 minutes he came back and told me that he couldn't find it anywhere and asked me to have a seat in the shade while he continued to look. After another 10 minutes or so, he said that he thought somebody may have taken the car that was supposed to be mine on accident. Rather than just telling me to go back to the desk, he personally walked me into the office. The gentleman that helped me was named Kassim, and he was the definition of an excellent employee. He went out of his way to help me, when nobody else there was willing to do so.
Back inside, I was surprised that the agents at the desk basically ignored Kassim as he tried to assist me. He was trying to be polite and wait for somebody to acknowledge us before walking up to the desk, but the employees behind the desk were too involved in their personal conversations to help another employee trying to assist a customer. Finally he was able to get the attention of a desk agent. The agent confirmed that another customer had taken my car on accident.
At this point, I had been there for an hour trying to get my car. The desk agent blamed the error on the security guard for allowing the car to leave without checking the plates, but offered no apology for my time and hassle. He simply ordered a new car and sent me back out, I was very unimpressed. Kassim stayed with me and made sure that the car came this time. It is unfortunate that Kassim wasn't the guy behind the desk, I can tell you that customers would leave much happier.
Believe me, I shared my experience with everybody I talked to in San Diego. Being delayed for an hour because of faulty checks and balances with no apology was extremely frustrating. I was asked by several friends if I received any upgrade on my car for the hassle, and the answer is no.
AVIS needs to evaluate how they treat their customers. This was my first time renting from them, I typically use Alamo, but I found a great deal online for AVIS and gave them a shot. I can tell you that with management and desk agents like they have, I wouldn't be back. The only reason I would consider going back, is for somebody like Kassim. As a side note, Kassim was there when I returned my car and asked how my trip was and apologized again for my poor experience.
Kassim gets customer service, it is too bad that AVIS doesn't.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Precision Time - Should Have Listened To Online Reviews
You would think that companies would recognize that providing poor customer service consistently will ultimately drive them out of business, but clearly companies like Precision Time haven't learned their lesson.
Today I noticed that my watch battery had stopped working. Typically, I would visit Nordstrom to have the battery replaced, but I decided to look for something closer to my office so that I could stop on my lunch break. I searched online and found that there was a Precision Time inside the South Towne Mall that is relatively close. I noticed that they had been SLAMMED with their online review, but decided I would give them a shot anyway.
When I walked into the store there was one employee behind the counter. He was working with a customer that I could tell was very upset. I overheard her expressing frustration over the service that she had received. She mentioned that she had purchased a watch that was defective and the employee was telling her that it wasn't his fault. I felt like I was in a sleazy used car salesman's office.
I waited patiently for 25 minutes without even being acknowledged. A simple "I'll be right with you" would have been appreciated. During my 25 minute wait, another customer came in to pick up a watch at the time she had been told it would be finished. The employee mentioned that he hadn't gotten to it yet; no apology, and no timeframe as to when he would have it finished. The second customer looked frustrated and said she would be back after eating lunch.
Once the first upset customer left (without having her issue resolved), the employee came over to help me. He didn't offer an apology for my wait, but rather just asked what I needed, and acted as if I was a nuisance. I let him know I needed a new battery as well as to have a link taken out. He said, "Well, I have at least four watches in front of you". I asked how long the wait would be and was told it was 45 minutes, which wouldn't have been a problem at all, had he been friendly.
When I asked if I could be there when he sized the watch, he said that wouldn't be necessary. I wanted to be there because I wanted to make sure it was sized correctly. With everything that had happened in front of me with the other customers, I decided it would be best to shop somewhere else. When I said I might stop by another place, he walked away and showed complete indifference. Way to win customers over.
Needless to say, he lost a potential customer. I asked for his card thinking I would let the management team know how customers were being treated. Imagine my surprise when I learned HE was the "General Manager". At that point all of the online reviews made complete sense, if that is how the manager treats potential customers, how could you expect any more from the employees.
Lesson learned, online comments are very telling. I could have avoided this entire situation if I had listened to the warnings online.
Today I noticed that my watch battery had stopped working. Typically, I would visit Nordstrom to have the battery replaced, but I decided to look for something closer to my office so that I could stop on my lunch break. I searched online and found that there was a Precision Time inside the South Towne Mall that is relatively close. I noticed that they had been SLAMMED with their online review, but decided I would give them a shot anyway.
When I walked into the store there was one employee behind the counter. He was working with a customer that I could tell was very upset. I overheard her expressing frustration over the service that she had received. She mentioned that she had purchased a watch that was defective and the employee was telling her that it wasn't his fault. I felt like I was in a sleazy used car salesman's office.
I waited patiently for 25 minutes without even being acknowledged. A simple "I'll be right with you" would have been appreciated. During my 25 minute wait, another customer came in to pick up a watch at the time she had been told it would be finished. The employee mentioned that he hadn't gotten to it yet; no apology, and no timeframe as to when he would have it finished. The second customer looked frustrated and said she would be back after eating lunch.
Once the first upset customer left (without having her issue resolved), the employee came over to help me. He didn't offer an apology for my wait, but rather just asked what I needed, and acted as if I was a nuisance. I let him know I needed a new battery as well as to have a link taken out. He said, "Well, I have at least four watches in front of you". I asked how long the wait would be and was told it was 45 minutes, which wouldn't have been a problem at all, had he been friendly.
When I asked if I could be there when he sized the watch, he said that wouldn't be necessary. I wanted to be there because I wanted to make sure it was sized correctly. With everything that had happened in front of me with the other customers, I decided it would be best to shop somewhere else. When I said I might stop by another place, he walked away and showed complete indifference. Way to win customers over.
Needless to say, he lost a potential customer. I asked for his card thinking I would let the management team know how customers were being treated. Imagine my surprise when I learned HE was the "General Manager". At that point all of the online reviews made complete sense, if that is how the manager treats potential customers, how could you expect any more from the employees.
Lesson learned, online comments are very telling. I could have avoided this entire situation if I had listened to the warnings online.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Enterprise Car Rental (via Hotwire)
Wow, I am sorry that it has been so long since my last post. 2012 has been an extremely busy year so far, and I haven't had a chance to update the blog. I will make a better effort to keep posts coming.
If you have been reading my blog, you know that it was first inspired by a horrible experience with Hotwire.com. I did a follow up blog about them making an effort to correct the situation, and they really won my business back. This post is about my experience with Enterprise Car Rental which I booked through Hotwire.com.
Booking with Hotwire.com was easy and by far the best deal that I could find for a weekend rental for a recent road trip I took with some buddies. I found several options and decided to pay a little extra to go with a bigger car so that we wouldn't be cramped on the trip.
When I arrived at Enterprise to pick the car up, there were a few people waiting for cars, phones ringing like crazy, and one guy behind the desk trying to run around and help people. Eventually more employees showed up and began to help. Both employees were very friendly initially, and one offered to show us our car options while we were waiting.
That is where the problem happened, he gave us two options; a Chevy Aveo (TINY) and a FIAT 500 (TINIER). Being that I had paid more to reserve a bigger car, I let them know that neither of these were in the class that I had booked. The agent told me that these were the only cars available and they were my only choices.
I pulled up my email confirmation from Hotwire.com, that clearly showed I had booked a car from a higher class. Rather than offering to find a solution himself, he said I would have to take the problem up with Hotwire.... In my opinion, Hotwire had nothing to do with it at that point. It was clear that Enterprise was just trying to put me into something that they had available on the lot.
When I voiced my concern and mentioned that I had specifically paid more for the larger vehicle, he offered to put me into a Dodge Charger, but wanted to charge me an additional $20 a day. I didn't feel like it should be my responsibility to pay for their lack of cars, so I asked him to find a car on another lot.
Ultimately, they were able to find another car for us, but only because I insisted. The hassle of finding something got us on the road close to an hour after our planned departure, which is frustrating. The employee that drove us to our car was really great and helpful and mostly made up for the inconvenience.
At the end of the day, I would definitely use Hotwire.com again, but I would be very reluctant to use Enterprise again. It seemed very dishonest to me that they tried to put us into a smaller car despite the fact that I had a confirmation very clearly showing the class of car I had paid for. If I hadn't stood my ground, they would have put me into an inferior car for the price of a superior car.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Jamba Juice - 400 South SLC, UT
Happy New Year to my readers! I hope that 2012 is a great year for everybody. My first post of 2012 is about Jamba Juice.
A couple of weeks ago I stopped by Jamba Juice on my way up to Park City. It was a Sunday morning and as I pulled in, I noticed that there were quite a few cars in the parking lot. When I entered, there were several people in line and several people waiting for their drinks. There was only one employee behind the counter, trying to take orders in between making the drinks. She was very friendly but moved EXTREMELY slow.
After we ordered, we sat at a table and I began to watch as many of the people that were waiting seemed extremely anxious. As the employee finished a large batch of drinks, I found myself confused by the fact that she didn't call anybody's name to pick them up, but instead placed them to the side.
Sitting at the table, I watched a total of five people walk in, and after waiting some time, walk out without purchasing anything. The employee didn't acknowledge them or apologize and offer to help them in just a moment, but instead continued making the drinks at her slow pace.
After 25 minutes, my drink was finally made. After purchasing my drink, somebody came in to pick up the order that she had set to the side, so it had apparently been a call ahead order. In my opinion, it may have been wise to complete the orders of the people that she had waiting in front of her before proceeding to complete that order.
I really enjoy Jamba Juice and will continue to visit, but I was shocked at the fact that they had one employee scheduled at a time that there was clearly a demand for more. If management has based their staffing on the amount of purchases, they should take a harder look and realize that sales are literally walking out the door. The unfortunate part is that these people may never return as a result of their brand interaction.
A couple of weeks ago I stopped by Jamba Juice on my way up to Park City. It was a Sunday morning and as I pulled in, I noticed that there were quite a few cars in the parking lot. When I entered, there were several people in line and several people waiting for their drinks. There was only one employee behind the counter, trying to take orders in between making the drinks. She was very friendly but moved EXTREMELY slow.
After we ordered, we sat at a table and I began to watch as many of the people that were waiting seemed extremely anxious. As the employee finished a large batch of drinks, I found myself confused by the fact that she didn't call anybody's name to pick them up, but instead placed them to the side.
Sitting at the table, I watched a total of five people walk in, and after waiting some time, walk out without purchasing anything. The employee didn't acknowledge them or apologize and offer to help them in just a moment, but instead continued making the drinks at her slow pace.
After 25 minutes, my drink was finally made. After purchasing my drink, somebody came in to pick up the order that she had set to the side, so it had apparently been a call ahead order. In my opinion, it may have been wise to complete the orders of the people that she had waiting in front of her before proceeding to complete that order.
I really enjoy Jamba Juice and will continue to visit, but I was shocked at the fact that they had one employee scheduled at a time that there was clearly a demand for more. If management has based their staffing on the amount of purchases, they should take a harder look and realize that sales are literally walking out the door. The unfortunate part is that these people may never return as a result of their brand interaction.
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