What would you do if this was you?

[PhotobearSam]

Just got back a few days ago and thought I would let you guys know what I got...


We arrived at MCO at 12:30 at night (flight was late)on Sunday November 30th and headed out to the isle...We had a reservation using Carlson code and a $15 dollar off coupon so the total for EA for 3 weeks was $508.94 all inclusive.

There was NOTHING on the isle....and I mean nothing...3 small cars that my DH could not stetch out his bad leg in at all...We drive a Cavalier at home and it had more leg room...We found an employee and he said we could take a full size(nice I know)...Not much to choose from there either...3 Malibu's and a Camry and the ONE Dodge Intrepid that we took...THAT WAS IT!! but very happy we got a full size.

Our Intrepid had New Jersey Plates and had 17 000 miles on it. It was not washed on the outside and the inside of the windshield was dirty. No frills either...There was no keyless entry...but again it was a full size so that is ok.

When we got to the gate, the attendant was new and had to call over another to help her. She then turns to me and says..."Your VISA did not go through..."

While I was trying to call VISa on our phone the 2 agents treated us like the scum of the earth. One asked if the card was good when we left home, if there was enough room on the card for the rental and they spent the next 30 minutes laughing with each other. They commented on how the line behind me was getting long and I would have to figure this out and find a way to pay...


I freaked...We paid for everything ahead of time and we had cash for spending...I had paid off that credit card before leaving and had called to confirm the balance. The limit on that card is only $1000 canadian but that was more than enough to cover the car rental. I was floored.

They wanted to take my MC but that was my only buffer and I did not know if my MC payment had gone through on the card because I had made the payment only 3 days before we left. They said that it is possible that the VISA did work but they could not tell...They ended up calling VISa and VISA ok'ed it on the phone but I was shocked that they could not tell if the first one had worked. All of this took over an hour and we were panicked the whole time.

(just an FYI...$508.94 US is $676.89 Canadian)


It was 1:45 am before we left the airport...I was pissed.

The next morning I called my credit card and they said there was 2 identical $508.94 charges just minutes apart but one was from Alamo and the other from National...They gave me a number for the agent from National to call to fix it. We needed to check out from our one night motel and needed that card to work. Our budget was set in stone and I could not use my Canadian Debit card because they only work at major banks in the US. at least this is the way my card works.

The card has a $1000 Canadian limit and the 2 charges of $508.94 US made the total go to $1353. Canadain and that is why it refused it when they tried a second time. (Once I got home I called VISA and they said that if I was not a good customer who always pays on time, they would have not let the charge go through and I would have been sitting there at MCO with no way to pay till 8 am Monday morning.)


I called National and the agent was really rude. She said she would get to it in an hour or 2 and I said no, NOW!!!! I told her that we were heading for the coast and I needed to pay for my motel and since this was their error that she needed to do this right away. Annoyed with me she said..."Just give me that number... in a really rude way.


I got a call back 35 minutes later and she said only " I took care of you..." I asked how this could happen and why...She said again..."Mam, I don't know what you want from me...I took care of you..." I said that this and last night's service was the worst and I want to know how this could happen and she bluntly cut me off and in a loud voice said "Mam, I TOOK CARE OF YOU!"

I was practically in tears and I hung up and ran to the bathroom so my DH takes the phone and calls her back up and she was even more rude to him after he said "I want to know why my wife is here in tears because of you...She said " SIR, I took care of you and that is all I can do..." He said he wanted to talk to a manager and she said she was the senior person on duty and said she had to go...

The car was fine but the treatment was horrible. It spoiled 1/2 a day before I could let it go and cost us a night's sleep because we were worried...I don't know if I would be able to rent from them again...What a bad first impression.

Is there an address that I can write to so I can let them know how bad their customer service is?

 

[DebbieB]

National Car Rental
Customer Service
Department
208 St. James Ave.
Charleston, SC 29445

You can also hit contacts from the National Car Rental home page, you could send an e-mail through there.

One thing I ran into - make sure when you get a renewed credit card that your update your expiration date on your Emerald Club profile. They were able to correct it on the spot when I gave them the new credit card but it could cause a problem with someone who didn't know what they were doing.

 

[Buckleybunch]

I"m sorry you had a bad experience.. Not the way to start a trip..
I do hope your trip got better.
I truly hate renting cars for this reason. We had a similar experience and it was 6 kids and 3 adults all waiting on a selfish rep to help out..

 

[CarolA]

Personally I would let it go.

It sounds like it is already taking up a lot of your energy and I am not sure what you want to get in return. Yes, they should have apologized, but they did fix the error before you had any other major issues with your credit card.

This type of thing happens more then you may realize with credit cards, lots of times the CC companinies internal computers will "fix" a duplicate charge before you ever see it on your bill. (I have a friend who audits banks and he says this happens LOTS of times at busy seasons when systems are backed up.)

 

[PhotobearSam]

I really don't want anything in return except an apology for the rude behavior of the agent.

We own a motel and chalet business in a popular area of Canada, and I would appreciate knowing that one of my employees treated a customer like this. Management cannot act to improve service unless they know about it.

As I said in my post...I had let it go after 1/2 a day. The thing is I make it a point to tell managers of REALLY good service and I think the same should be true of BAD service.


We did end up having a great trip. We had wonderful service at Restaurant Marakesh and I told the manager there that his staff was top notch. Being in customer service myself, I feel it's a responsibility.

Thanks for the address DebbieB...I will write them.

 

[bunnyfoo]

Oh-no I'm so sorry that your vacation started out that way PhotobearSam. I have had the limit problem on my credit card and most merchants are pretty understanding about it, even though it makes me really flustered.

If you do write a letter, I would send it by registered mail to the president of the company. That usually gets their attention. The couple of times I have called or written to a company's customer service department, I haven't gotten a response back.

Anyway, I hope everything works out for you ... keep us posted

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by PhotobearSam
I really don't want anything in return except an apology for the rude behavior of the agent.

We own a motel and chalet business in a popular area of Canada, and I would appreciate knowing that one of my employees treated a customer like this. Management cannot act to improve service unless they know about it.

As I said in my post...I had let it go after 1/2 a day. The thing is I make it a point to tell managers of REALLY good service and I think the same should be true of BAD service.


We did end up having a great trip. We had wonderful service at Restaurant Marakesh and I told the manager there that his staff was top notch. Being in customer service myself, I feel it's a responsibility.

Thanks for the address DebbieB...I will write them.

Hey Sam!!!
I already told you what I would do, so, I won't repeat myself.
This is the email address that worked very well for me when they caused me great angst on a rental in Sept.
consumeraffairs@nationalcar.com

 

[juniorbugman]

I had a problem with National a few years ago, before I stopped flying to WDW and started driving down. My family of two younger sisters and one nephew flew into MCO and went to get our car from National. We had purchased our car voucher from C AA/AAA in Canada, all payed for right, not!

We get to the counter the youngest sister drives but does not have a credit card, older sister has licence but does not drive, but has credit card, I also do not have credit card. The rep says that all who drive car must have a valid credit card, we are here for two weeks. National reps say that no matter what local TA says we need two cards. We complain but too no avail.

The rep asks my sister with card and I if we are married, same last name same address and I say no, too bad no car.
Then she asks if we are living commonlaw, I don't know whether she was leading into this or not but I say yes. That's okay then only need one card, here is your car sir.

We had a great vacation and I have never flown to MCO since.

 

[wenabre]

Sam,
I was sorry to hear that you had such a hard time with National, I have had a great expierence with them and one not so great. The annoying thing is today is that when you prove its their mistake and then you have to fight tooth and nail just to get someone to say, SORRY !! It so seldom happens these days. I also know you and Richard very well and know how sensitive you both are to other people's needs so I am sure its frustrating to be treated so differently then you would treat a client.
My best advice to you is that the three of us go back at the end of Jan, if your Dad's better and home from hospital and I don't get picked for Jury duty on the 19th, and we go right back there and we just march up to the rental car company ......and .....rent from someone else!!
Miss you guys,
Wenabre
PS the kid got a 99% in Calcus her fisrt semester!!!!