Edition 540 – Compare The Pair

I hand the keys to our Ford Mustang hire car back to the chap that’s checking me in.

“Full of fuel” he asks.

“Yes, and here’s the receipt, if you need it” I reply.

As he shakes his head, I mention there’s a knock in the steering, and the electronic safety sensors are misreading when you do and don’t have your hands on the steering wheel.

“I’ll note it down” he says, but proceeds to not note anything down.

Inside the lounge at the Gold Coast airport 30 minutes later, an email arrives. The final receipt. For $500 more than the agreement.

I flip my lid. I may have used an expletive out loud. I’m really annoyed. It’s one of the hire car giants. Let’s say, that when you hire something from them, it “hurts”!

You can’t phone the office direct. The so called customer service number is a recorded message. They’re only staffed weekdays, so if you have an issue with your hire car, send us as email and we’ll respond in three business days. Except, today is Saturday, so that’s at least five days in total, that my lid remains flipped.

Wednesday afternoon, my patience runs out. I phone the customer service number. Eventually, a human comes on the line, apologises for the delay, then advises the matter is being dealt with as we speak. Inside 10 minutes, an email is received, apologising again, and refunding the overcharge.

I’ve re-attached my lid, after five days.

Next morning, I phone Touchdown Car Rentals on the South Island of New Zealand. I’ve booked a hire car for December this year. I’d hired a Subaru Outback, and whilst the online booking suggested it would be a ’25 or ’26 model, the photo on the reply email is of an older generation. I’m wanting to double check, as the hire fee was very competitive and I’ve noted previously that sometimes, that’s because the cars are a fair bit older than new.

“Good morning, John speaking” is the greeting I receive when I ring the toll free number for Australian customers. Except, John sounds like he’s in a car, which he is. He’s off to collect the mail in Christchurch, that most beautiful of cities on New Zealand’s South Island.

I mention my booking and he confirms, en-route to the post office, that the vehicle will be a ’25 or ’26 model. He further confirms he’s arguing with the graphics people at the moment to put the right pictures for the right vehicles on all future email confirmations.

It turns out John is a car nut. He confirms my enquiry is not the first of its type. He’s had to placate others that have booked Toyota Hiluxes, and they are using old pics for that as well. We discuss the merits, or lack thereof, of the design of the current gen Subaru Outback. We each agree, there was an illicit substance consumed inside the art studio that day.

Two minutes. Query resolved. Happy customer. Spoke with a real person too.

The vast difference between how you’re treated by a large corporate, and how you’re treated by a small business, cannot be more stark. The one that “hurts” really couldn’t be faffed, right from the moment we landed on the Gold Coast a week earlier and they said at the desk, upon my enquiry, that there were no cars to hire. Except there were, when you check on the website. It’s just they don’t want to engage with you.

And then there’s John from Touchdown. Brilliant. Resolved my query. Eliminated my concerns. Was pleasant to talk to. Loves cars too. All inside two minutes.

Which experience best represents how your business is portraying itself to the world, right now?

This Week’s Tip

“I will always…..always, search out a small or family business over a large corporate,
no matter what I’m looking for.”