The Integrative Stream

Businesspundit: YOU should pay ME – 9 Companies That Don’t Get It

Along the same line as my recent T-Mobile discussion, BusinessPundit has ”
YOU should pay ME – 9 Companies That Don’t Get It“.

Although I’d change his rental car entry from “Every Company But Hertz” to “Hertz”. Hertz has a policy where they won’t rent to people under 25, without a corporate arrangement. I had to rent a lot of cars when I was under 25, and my company wasn’t big enough to strike (or bother striking) a corporate deal. So I developed some loyalty to companies, like Enterprise, that solved my problem. Hertz really lost me when I went down to New Jersey (I must have been 24) to do some consulting for a major pharmaceutical company. The customer had arranged the travel for the trip, which meant a rental car from their preferred agency – Hertz. But since my business card was not issued by the pharmaceutical company, I ended up in a twenty minute negotiation to get the car, which included a condescending lecture from the local manager. Not what you want at 11pm with a long drive in front of you. Rob suggests not treating customers like idiots, and that’s good advice. I’d also suggest not treating them like children. The best customers will remember.

The one time I did try Hertz after I passed the quarter-century mark I was unimpressed; the line to get my car at LAX was longer than any rental car line I can remember.