Living A Seinfeld Episode
For those of you who were fans of Seinfeld…do you remember the episode about the car rental fiasco?
Jerry: I don’t understand. Do you have my reservation?
Car Rental Assistant: We have your reservation, we just ran out of cars.
Jerry: But the reservation keeps the car here, that’s why you have the reservation!
Car Rental Assistant: I think I know why we have reservations.
Jerry: I don’t think you do. You see, you know how to *take* the reservation, you just don’t know how to *hold* the reservation. And that’s really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them.
Well this week…I lived this episode. I was on a business trip to Toronto and had exactly that conversation (it was a very surreal experience). In addition, I had to wait 45 minutes for them to find a car (turned out to be a van), and the customer service agent says, well sir at least you did not have to wait as long as some people earlier today who waited for 1 1/2 hours. This was not consoling me. In addition, this according to the agent, apparently happens “all the time” with this company. Through all the tension, I was trying not to take it out on the airport desk clerk as it was not really her fault. The best she could do was give me a phone number for “head office” customer service which was in Utah. I just wanted to talk to someone in Toronto who could help me.
Clearly, this particular rental agency (which I will leave un-named), has a logistics problem and a customer service problem. Flying and travelling are stressful enough without having an issue like I had this week. I think it is important for us to remember that when we provide our customers with a service, we should endeavour to deliver. Don’t needlessly frustrate your customers…it leaves everyone in an awkward situation and is ultimately not good for future business!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4jhHoHpFXc]
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http://sharemarketing.wordpress.com Matt Hames
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http://sharemarketing.wordpress.com Matt Hames
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