[mchannon]

It’ll never happen, but the first car rental company that abandons the timeshare presentation model of make-the-customer-wait-an-eternity-while-we-try-to-upsell-them will make all their competitors abandon it.

Because once I hear Hertz, or whoever, isn’t going to make me wait an extra half an hour to rent a car anymore (while enduring high-pressure salesmen trying to get me to get the “extended coverage” which is overpriced at best and useless at worst), I’m thrilled to go with them exclusively, and perhaps even if they’re substantially more expensive. Other companies will be forced to follow suit.

But executives don’t get paid to abandon tried and true customerphobic business models in favor of one where you lose upsells and save on staff, but you more than make it up in volume.

Business travelers like me hate hate hate rental car counters at airports. They’re the seventh level of hell. I’ll take Ubers for about the same overall cost, and Turo as plan B. It’s been like this for the past 5 years.

I don’t doubt your sincerity in wanting to improve the car rental experience, but Sinclair’s law applies.

[cxmcc]

Thanks for the comment.

You can use Hertz today without going to the counter. Just sign up "Gold membership". Maybe the first time you go you need to verify your ID and credit card but after that you can skip counter. We are working on making it even more applicable to other customers too. Is this the condition for you to go with "Hertz exclusively"?

I sensed that you may not be very familiar that this is possible today. It's probably also something we can improve.

[mchannon]

I’m aware of gold membership and don’t want to deal with it, because it sounds scammy.

I’ll book Hertz through Priceline or another travel site solely based on price and end up in a situation where if being a gold member applied, I see no indication I could skip the counter anyway. Maybe that’s strictly a messaging area for improvement.

If your company was honestly trying to improve, you’d make everybody a lifetime member with their first rental purchase, not call it a membership at all, and make renting a car as easy as getting an Uber: through the phone, over the internet, silent, and almost zero people to slow the process.

[m1abcd3]

I work for another rental car company and can assure you that the counter does not exist to upsell you. It is there as a convenience to customers that want to rent a car without a complete rental agreement in place (think travel agents, tours, third party discount sites, etc). Frequent renters have a much simpler experience akin to Uber via the loyalty programs and company apps.

[mchannon]

You're lying to at least one of us. Of course the counter exists to upsell. That may not be its sole or even primary reason for existing, but since the business exists to upsell, by attempting it every single time, how could the counter not? Tell you what, I'll believe you just as soon as your company stops all upselling everywhere. You don't even have to say which company. I'll notice, I promise. I'll start holding my breath now.

This "it is there as a convenience" is also embarrassingly intellectually dishonest. How convenient is it if I can't do business at all without it? Way more convenient for me than you, I'll just go to your competition, which I do, and I'm not the only one.

The rental car industry needs a Southwest analog. One that still plays the patronage games with airports in order to actually be where the customers are, but cuts out industry standard BS practices that all the incumbents keep imposing on passengers simply because they can.

My rental car should be waiting for me with the rental car agent IN the driver's seat, AT THE CURBSIDE PICKUP LANE, where he or she then drives to the rental car center to drop him- or herself off and hand me the keys. You've already lost me when you make me ride some loud smelly dirty bumpy overloaded community rental car shuttle that adds 15 minutes minimum to my trip, especially when I get to now wait another hour in line behind your counter and am basically captive in a bad neighborhood if I don't like the terms of the deal because you changed them at the last minute.

BTW, ever been upsold by a NASTY agent, happy to lie to you about what you're giving up by saying no to a size upgrade or extra insurance, and turning derisive for the inevitable rest of the 15 minute encounter? I have, too many times, too many companies. A smart tablet or smartphone isn't going to make me feel bad or unsafe for not giving you extra money you didn't earn.

My message to the car rental industry as a whole: stop lying. You're not as good at it as you used to be.

[cxmcc]

You can't believe how bad car rental companies what to reduce reliance on counter. It's real. We want that to happen. But it gonna take some time. Upsell is just one of the reasons, but there's also fraud, car availability, etc. What holding the industry back isn't the profits, it's bad technology. No one is lying, it's just horrible execution.

[m1abcd3]

Ha, lol. I just sling code, man. I was just trying to give you some insight into how things work.

[cxmcc]

Yeah it's basically a profile for you to log in and provide payment info etc. Just like your Uber login it's free. Maybe we can make it clearer.

[et-al]

Back when I used to travel for work, National's Emerald Club was amazing for this reason. You just go to the special lot for members, pick the car you want, and drive to the booth with no upsell.

Emerald Aisle: https://www.nationalcar.com/en/emerald-club/services/emerald...