Avis Car Rental at PHL airport - 4/7/09 at 1248PM.
This was the worst car rental experience I have ever had from Avis. Let me enumerate the problems:
1. No Cars - As the bus was pulling into the car rental lot, most of the spaces were empty. The driver told the non-preferred people to walk to the counter. He told the Preferred members to stay on the bus. After about 10 minutes, a staff member walked over to the bus and handed the driver a stack of Preferred Service Rental Cards. The driver handed them out to the customers and told us to walk to the Space # as noted on the cards.
2. Gas not full - My car was down about 1/8 tank, but the rental agreement said the tank was full. I had to walk back inside the Preferred booth, find someone who wanted to help me, and asked if they could fill the tank.
3. No Maps - They had no road maps available
4. No Remote on key - The car came with one key, and no remote. The passenger side of the car had no keyhole, so I always had to unlock the drivers door, then walk around to help my elderly passengers in.
5. Satellite radio not working - The radio had a "SAT" button, but the radio only received the satellite radio emergency station.
6. Bad smoke smell - When I first got in, the most obvious smell was the deodorizer. But after a day, the deodorizer faded out and it was obvious that the car had been used by heavy smokers.
7. On return, I had to wait 15 minutes for the bus, even though there seemed to be several buses idling in the lot.
8. Bus on return had incorrect time showing on display inside bus - The time showing inside the bus on the panel over the windshield was reading 11:00 AM, and the time was 5:00 PM. Travelers depend on accurate time displays in and around an airport. Now this is not a major problem, but it demonstrates the widespread disregard for good customer service at the Philadelphia Airport Avis location.
I have had bad car rental experiences with Avis at the Philadelphia airport before, but this was the worst. It is obvious that there is extremely poor morale among the staff. There is no attempt among any of the staff members to please the customer. They're just barely meeting the standard of customer service.
If this problem report gets to the Avis regional manager at the Philadelphia airport, I would like to suggest a course of action - Check out Enterprise Car Rental. I once rented a car from the Enterprise location at the Philadelphia airport. That company had very good customer service. The staff members who dealt with customers were all dressed in suits, and they took personal interest in every customer. This proves that good customer service is possible, even in Philadelphia. Perhaps it's time for a change in management, or for staff retraining to update customer service skills.
I work for a major aerospace and defense contractor. We constantly strive to achieve the best customer service possible for our customers. Avis, as our only preferred car rental agency, should do the same.
