What’s it like on the other side of the car rental counter? The answer may surprise you. I’ve been corresponding with a former car rental employee, and he’s shared some remarkable insights into the business that might help you make a more informed decision the next time you rent a car.
The first thing you need to understand, he says, is that agency employees aren’t in the customer service business. They’re salespeople.
I’m judged almost solely on a number. It’s determined by the number of times I sell our products per given opportunity.
Every customer who walks up is an opportunity to sell a number of different services. For me, I can sell the damage waiver — that’s the most popular — liability insurance, personal accident and effects coverage, and the pre-pay fuel option.
Upon returning a customer’s vehicle, I can charge a fee if the tank is not filled up to the level it was rented at. For customers who have reservations, I can upgrade them to a better vehicle. That’s six different opportunities to sell to each customer.
As a car rental employee, your goal is to sell “every one of these products to every customer,” he adds. And if he can’t? Then that all-important number by which every car rental employee is judged is lowered.
So even though you may sell, for instance, the liability insurance, you have failed to sell four to five other services and thus your number will be docked. This number is very important because we get paid a commission on it according to a pay scale and the dollar amount we’ve brought in each month and quarter.
There is a floor and ceiling to this pay scale. If your number is below a certain level you aren’t eligible for a commission.
If our numbers remain consistently high, we can be considered for promotion. If our numbers are low, we hear about it from umpteen different managers in e-mails, by phone, and in person.
The numbers game is played at the highest level. Managers are judged based on their location’s cumulative number — an aggregate of all employee numbers — so they’re likely to encourage more aggressive sales strategies.
“I saw all kinds of tactics to increase these numbers,” he says. “Some higher managers turned a blind eye to questionable and unethical methods.”
How does this affect you?
Keep in mind that you’re dealing with overworked, stressed-out employees from the moment you walk up to the counter to the moment you return your vehicle. At one point, this ex-employee was working 12-hour shifts without a break. Also, remember that they see dollar signs the moment you walk through the door. So they will do anything in their power to sell you insurance, a fuel purchase option or an upgrade.
How to get around this racket? Here are six tips from my insider.
1. Always inspect the car you are renting with an employee before signing anything. Car rental offices should have a vehicle inspection form that’s signed by you before the car leaves the lot. This limits the possibility that you’ll get blamed for damage that you didn’t cause. “Unfortunately, from my experience, many customers were blamed for damage they did not cause,” he says. “As a tired and busy employee, the last thing I want to do is walk around the car with you and make notations about the small scratches on the rear bumper. I could care less. But you should be adamant that this is done before you sign for anything.”
2. Off-airport locations are often cheaper than airport locations. The vehicles at airport locations typically cost more because of airport fees, which cover the car rental agency’s rental and transportation costs. “The cost difference can be great,” he says. “You may want to reserve a car at a location nearby the airport. You should see a difference.”
3. Make multiple reservations and play the system. Most reservations can be canceled without penalty. My insider suggests making multiple reservations. “Look at rates online or call in for them,” he says. “If you’re not too picky, make a reservation for one of the small, cheap cars. Make another for a nicer car that you might like to rent. When you show up, use the reservation for the smaller car. Ask the rep how much it costs to upgrade to the nicer car you want to rent. If they rate ends up being less than what you reserved the higher-class car at, then do it. If not, use the other reservation. They have to honor reservation rates.”
4. Negotiate your upgrade. Upgrade rates don’t exist. They’re made up by salespeople. “If you come in with a Ford Focus reservation and were interested in a larger car, I’ll charge an upgrade for you to get into a Ford Escape,” he says. “If you have a Ford Escape reservation and are looking for something more fuel-efficient, I’ll charge you an upgrade to a Ford Focus. This actually happens!” The “fee” is entirely at the salesperson’s discretion, and is entirely negotiable.
5. Timing is everything. The largest expense incurred by a car rental company is depreciation. Basically, these companies are leasing all the cars in their fleet. They’re charged different rates for different types of cars. “It is very important for car rental companies to have as many cars on the road as possible, as any cars that are sitting are not making money, and are actually costing the company money in depreciation fees.” A customer who shows up after a busy holiday weekend can more or less name the price for a rental car. “They should be begging for you to take cars off their lot,” he adds.
6. Complain and you shall receive. Car rental companies often go to great lengths to make customer happy — even when their grievance are not legit. “Like most companies, we want you to use again — and again and again,” says the insider. “Even some of the most ridiculous complaints that I’ve seen have been resolved by one of my managers. They offered a full refund and a free rental to a customer I knew was full of it. But we want you back so much that an occassional hit is fine.”
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having worked for a broker and therefor having dealt with most of the major car rental company’s i absolutely agree.
apart from point 6 “Car rental companies often go to great lengths to make customer happy” they certainly do not….
and they love scamming people, they do not just try to sell you some insurance you never need, once they have your credit card details be prepared to find on your next statement money missing for things you have not even signed up for….
I worked for enterprise rent a car right out of college.
We were never given a commission on selling upgrades or damage waivers, however we were given our rating based on sales..
Often times the prepaid gas can work out in the customers favor, I have seen it many times. Also from my experience the insurance is not a rip off.
And yes everything except for the insurance rate is negotiable.
Sometimes if we were running low on a particular type of car we would upgrade people to a better car for as little as a dollar a day!
Join every car rental company’s frequent rental program. All of them have dedicated lines and get in your car much more quickly with a great deal less pressure. Some allow you to walk directly to your pre-assigned car without speaking to a representative at all.
I have found rental car agents at airports to be among the over-worked, harried, and impolite service employees in any arena of the travel industry. It seems as though there are never enough agents to handle the crush of renters at peak times. I ususally feel sorry for the counter agents, but I can’t imagine what the excuse is for the poor attitude that I frequently encounter. I have signed up for use the various companies’ “premier” services (like Budget’s Fastbreak) for the sole purpose of being able to avoid the unfortunate souls who are staffing these airport rental counters.
It’s couldn’t care less, not could care less.
Good post Chris.
What you mentioned has been pretty obvious from my side of the counter for a long time. Even when you have profiles with companies, they now usually try to push the options you specifically said you didn’t want.
Just like in a department store (to many people’s surprise), most things in life are negotiable and that is so true here.
Aloha,
Jeff
Just say No!
If you lack car insurance and are not a preferred credit card person, then loss / damage waiver may make sense. But then if you lack your own vehicle your auto rental rates will be pretty high – they know.
The guy from Enterprise above . . . what r u smoking? Prepaid gas works in peoples favor so well that almost all of corporate America bans the practice. ‘Insurance’ is nothing but profit – since they still try to bill customers for the damage even with the waiver – I’ve had several clients see charges on their credit cards for ‘damage’ even with CDW checked. ‘Upgrade’ for a dollar a day? Why? I rented a car in Class C. If you do not have a car in class C and I have a confirmed reservation why should I pay to ‘upgrade?’ Is it really worth wasting a customers time over a $1 a day?
It is really too bad that a business that is in the service industry has morphed into a situation where the employees are hounded to upsell people stuff that they don’t want and don’t need and generally harass you.
One way around the issue is to join the frequent renter programs that let you presign up with credit card info and drivers license – this way sometimes you can bypass all the counter and sales efforts.
Whenever I encounter one of these operations, and they are in every industry, I just be very blunt, I think sometimes it comes across as rude but I tire of the constant sales pitch from every corner:
When they start in on the patter its: “Excuse, I do not mean to be rude, but please just give me what I [asked for, bought, reserved] I am not upgrading, selecting options or anything else. Please lets complete this transaction as quickly and simply as possible. I will not waste you time if you do not waste mine.”
Sometimes they cannot do it. I then ask for the supervisor, who is generally even more harried than the sales staff and i’m ‘look, I just want to buy this TV, stop trying to upsell me stuff, I do not want the warranty or the extra overpriced cable or anything extra, or I walk out.”
Since EVERYONE is judged on closed sales or completed transactions in ‘x’ period of time, once they clearly understand that you are not adding to their profit they just want to get rid of you at that point. It is so tiring being hit on everywhere from car rentals to restaurants [fries with that? or offers to add things that cost money but its not disclosed the peppers and onions $5 to the sandwich] to an appliance store. ‘Yeah, sure, I’ll take the $50 dryer power cord that is $8.99 in Home Depot right next door, oh wait, I already have one on my existing dryer.”
The thing that drives me absolutely NUTS is the retired couple who are in front of you, and they carefully consider all of the upgrades and upsells, and talk it over, ask the person their opinion and you can tell they don’t want it but don’t want to be rude and eventually take something to not feel bad and its 11.30pm and ALL you want to do is just get your room key and get to sleep. That drives me nuts. I’ll need 37 seconds to check in and I’m standing there for 20 minutes.
I have submitted your article to http://www.autocar-live.com which is a social site about cars where users submit articles they like and vote for articles that others submitted and they like.
I agree that the constant attempts to sell upgrades/options is irritating. However, I would recommend that everyone think twice before refusing the collision damage waiver/loss damage waiver “insurance.” Simply because you have personal auto insurance does not mean that your personal insurance will fully cover you in the event of an accident. Your personal insurance may cover damage to the vehicle but will likely not cover loss of use or diminution of value.
For those that do not know, loss of use is the time the vehicle is unavailable to be rented because it is being repaired – and we have no control over how long the rental company keeps the car out of service.
Diminution of value is the difference between what the car was worth when you rented it and what the rental company chose to sell it for instead of repairing the vehicle. If you are in an accident and the rental company chooses to sell the vehicle instead of place it back in service, you are on the hook for the difference between what the company sold the vehicle for and what it was worth before you were in the accident. Your personal auto coverage will likely not pay for this (diminution of value) nor will it pay for loss of use.
Also, if you do not carry collision coverage on your personal auto policy, your personal auto policy will not cover damage to a rental car if you are in an accident.
I am certainly not advocating that everyone purchase the CDW/LDW – just trying to provide some information. Many credit cards will provide this coverage if used to pay for the rental. Also, if you have access to USAA and rent through the links on its site, the CDW/LDW is automatically included at no charge. At the very least, I would recommend that everyone read their personal auto policy so you know what is covered when you rent and what is excluded – do not simply rely on the assurances of your insurance agent.
I recently used the prepaid gas option for the first time.
1. because it was offered to be at an attrative rate (3.29)
2. I was driving 1000+ miles where gas was 3.49+
3. I thought I was going to be rushed on the return
Stupid me. The charge for the full tank at the “lower” rate exceeded several fill ups made on my own at prices in excess of $3.29 plus I of course never wait to dead empty to full. I was charged for more gas than the tank could hold!
I drove the last 50 miles (at highway speeds) in First or Second gears make sure I used every drop possible…
@Joshua
Wow, that’s great. You really showed the rental car company by going out of your way to waste the remainder of the fuel in your car. I want to personally thank you for spewing even more chemicals into the atmosphere just so you could make sure you got full value for the prepaid gas option. Well done.
CDW/LDW really is a waste of money no matter what!
You used a credit card to get that rental, right? Well, read what the credit card offers foe CDW/LDW. Plus, if you have a gold card or higher (platinum or titanium) even lost revenue is covered.
I rented a car in Hawaii and accidently backed over a chunk of lava that shredded that stupid plastic bumper that they put on today’s cars…When I returned the car, I told them about that, then when I got home, I called the credit card company and that’s it…never heard anything back…everything was handled between the car rental company and the credit card…All I had to do was supply the rental contract copy I had to the credit card company and that was that!
I have several platinum and titanium cards…I never get anything less…it pays to have good credit for instances like this!
Ed
web/gadget guru
The full tank charge is based on the fuel tank capacity as listed in the owners manual. To use up the full tank would require running until the engine sputtered so it’s a suckers bet if you’re trying to return the car with the tank completely empty.
The best I’ve done is to return it with the low fuel light on. That usually means there’s less than 2 gallons left. If it was a 20 gallon tank, then only 10% remains, about the same as their discount price over the street price. The rental company doesn’t make a profit and it’s worth the 10% to me to not have to refuel on the way to the airport.
“Secret” #1, while good, can be difficult to accomplish if you belong to one of those “easy on, easy off, credit card and prefs on file” clubs like National’s Emerald Executive or Avis First. As one of the posters here has already mentioned, there may be no representatives to see or paperwork to sign, which circumstance is found very agreeable by the weary traveler who just wants to get to his/her hotel.
“Secret” #6 is highly subjective. As a discriminating traveler, I have complained to managers and executives at several major rental brands when the service level demanded a complaint. Most would offer their heartfelt apologies and nothing more.
car rental companies offer many different products and services that change as time goes by, they are not for everyone but they are there for those who need it
I have rented cars for the past 10 years and have seen many counter agents get abuse by customers who just want to get something free. counter agents are there doing their job just like you and me, they offer product and services just like many different types of companies. I happen to totally disagree with this article, as I said I have been renting cars for 10 years mostly in Hawaii and I have found which ever company I use (normally Thrifty ) the agents, yes offer all types of services (its there job) but are the most friendliest and helpful people you could ever meet at Thrifty they seem to love there job!!! I am never forced or harrassed to buy anything, Remember all services are optional its your choice to buy it or not, just please let these people do their jobs, would you want someone to come and make frivilous complaints at your job??????
The counter woman at my local Hertz advised me to take the pre-pay fuel option, warning me that they would charge me the fuel fill-up surcharge whether or not I brought the car back full. I decided to take my chances and passed on the fuel option. I brought the car back full.
Sure enough, when I saw the Hertz charge on my Amex bill, they had added on a $30 fuel surcharge. I had had the good fortune to charge my gas fill-up that night so I had a record of the purchase and got Hertz to drop the charge, but it sure left a bad taste in my mouth.
It’s disgraceful that formerly reputable companies rely on these kinds of shenanigans to stay in business these days. I now rent from zipcar. They have been 100% honest with me, and I recommend them highly.
Number 6 needs a correction: managers of rental car franchises are interested in keeping you happy if, and only if, you are renting as an employee of a large corporation that might withdraw its patronage if they don’t handle complaints properly. My experience with rental cars (15 weeks a year and dropping) is that franchises are completely indifferent to my dissatisfaction. So I would propose a different number 6: Rental car franchises are desperate to find someone to pay for damage and depreciation to their fleet, and you’re nominated. Don’t just look over the car you rent : photograph any existing damage in such a way that it is obvious that you are still in the lot. Too many people have complained that a car returned in perfect condition mysteriously acquired damage that the rental car franchise insisted they pay for months later, so better photograph the car on its return too. Be sure you’ve got a copy of the damage form, because otherwise you’re trusting the rental car company to honestly record the pre-existing damage, and their incentive to do so is that you don’t end up paying for damage you didn’t cau…oh wait. They don’t have an incentive to record that information honestly, in fact, they have every incentive to lose your damage form and pretend that the damage wasn’t already there. You need to photograph your car on return even if you got the rental car company’s outrageously expensive insurance and had an accident, because plenty of them charge a deductible or they simply go right ahead and bill you even though you had the LDW/CDW or they bill you for repairing damage you didn’t cause along with the bill for the damage you did.
The new business model among U.S. corporations. is “nothing for something.” The new ethical and legal model is “make us.” Do you believe that a rental car franchise won’t do something illegal or unethical? Can you make them stop if they do? Can you issue an arrest warrant for their CEO on charges of fraud if they try to scam you into paying for the dent that their own employee put in the car? Is the state’s Attorney General in the state where you rented sitting around bored, waiting for an opportunity to help out a resident of another state deal with a business in his state? If not, assume the rental car franchise will go right ahead and do whatever they can to get money out of you, the more the better. Upselling is the least of it.
I actually do think most rental car franchises are honest, but my dealings with the occasional stinker has demonstrated to me that the rental car companies care nothing about the dishonesty of some of their franchisees, that the cost of getting scammed can be in the thousands, and that you will find it impossible to get help from the legal system in any way. So beware.
I rent cars almost every week and found that by pre-paying for the rental (usually through Hotwire) the agents just rush me through without all the sales hassles. twenty years ago I found that my regular insurance company offered rental car coverage as part of my policy and upgraded it for a whopping five bucks per renewal. This included all the usual coverages plus loss of use coverage. I always pay for the rentals through my corporate AMX who also provide lots of coverage and better yet, artillery when dealing with the car rental companies. One phone call to them removes the “charges” posted by Budget and Hertz in “error”.
Very interesting secrets!
I might suggest the addition of a 7th secret that I know of that happens in Hawaii. Many rental cars are roach infested. We are frequent visitors to Hawaii and at least twice that we know of, we drove roach mobiles. I’d like to emphasize the phrase “that we know of”, because we had been driving our last rental for 10 of our 14 day stay before we saw the first roach pop out in daylight. Then we began looking for them and we’d easily find them every time. It was particularly bad when we would open the car door at night, we’d see at least a half a dozen scamper away from the interior light. Imagine how creepy that drive was!
If you do find roaches in your rental car, take it back to the rental company if convenient and ask for a newer model, one that’s not had enough time to build up a roach kingdom. Alternatively, get a roach bomb and use it overnight. Keep your receipt and request reimbursement when you return the car.
I should say that the rental car companies aren’t completely at fault. When visitors snack in their cars and leave the windows rolled down, they are inviting the roaches in.
I do think the rental car companies need to implement some sort of proactive approach to eliminating/reducing the problem. They could begin by having an acceptable standard for cleanliness. Our last car had some candy wrappers in it when we got the car. It had dirt and “gunk” in it , too.
I’ve written a bit more about this problem at GoVisitHawaii. If you’d like to read about it, just enter the word “fumigate” in the Find box and the article should pop up.
As a former airport employee and a current airport economic consultant, I have vast experience in dealing not only with rental car contracts, but also with customer service issues; and as a consultant, I travel a fair amount.
If you are ever seeking entertainment of the Roman Colleseum variety, watch rental car companies negotiate. They are always best friends until they see a way they might snatch an advantage over a competitor, then they will turn on them in a second. I have always likened it to watching sharks feed…all is fine until one shark gets a nick or a cut, and then the others feed on the injurred shark. Then there was the time that a MAJOR rental car company told an airport executive that they could not possibly sign the contract tendered, and that they would leave the airport. The airport executive said “good bye” and the rental car firm signed the agreement.. Finally, there was the contentious meeting between rental car firms and an airport (one of the 25 largest in the US) where the representative of that same MAJOR rental car firm stood up and said “Of course, people fly into this airport only because this MAJOR rental car firm is here.” After we finished laughing, negotiations continued.
Given that background, is there any reason to think that the front line personnel are going to have attitudes any better than their corporate bretheren? The sad part is really, all the rental car companies are essentially the same. You may get lucky and find a good franchisee, or you may encounter a nice customer service agent, but basically, you know what you’re buying when you rent a car, and if that’s your option, gird yourself for battle.
Also, watch the surcharges that the rental car firms add to your bills. The “concession recovery fee” is my favorite…how many other companies expressly charge you their rent on your invoice? Rental car firms now try to get airports to MANDATE that they charge that fee, but its really just a way for them to blame the airport for what is a normal business expense for every other company in the world. Vehicle licensing was always a cost of doing business, but now its a direct charge to you (and how much does it cost to license a vehicle, cause they’re collecting a fee on each day of each rental?) And yes, it is often the government that adds taxes and fees over the objection of the rental car firms, but don’t get them wrong, they really don’t care what you pay, they’re just afraid that higher taxes and fees imposed on the renter will mean they have to charge less.
I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the issues from the back rooms and guts of the airport rental car business.
First, look for the rental car company that will suit your trip the best. Major rental companies are your best choice for short trips, plus they usually come with support services such as roadside assistance for when you come upon an accident. When it’s a long trip however, go with the local rental businesses, since they’re rates are usually cheaper. Be warned though, they might not have extra support services that big rental companies have.
Thanks for the insights. I’m dealing with Budget from the other side. My daughter and a friend rented a car to drive to Cleveland from NY but my daughter neglected to add herslf as an additional driver. During the trip, the driver who was the renter, got very tired and my daughter took over driving for a short distance.
Unfortunatley, it was winter, she hit a patch of ice and slid into a guard rail causing $14,000 in damages. Thankfully, no one was injured. The renter had signed up for all of the insurance but of course Budget is not honoring that because the car was driven by an unauthroized driver. They gave them a new car and added my daughter as a Driver.
They now want to collect the full amount and because the young ladies, both sturggling teachers in NY, don’t have cars or insurance, they appear stuck. They both do have valid licenses.
Budget won’t budge and wants the full $14,000 from the two girls. I would have thought they would have an umbrella policy but they say no.
Any advice?