Customer Service, Part II

In a recent article, Christopher Elliott said: "Hertz showed its commitment to customer service when it offered to drive a key out to your location. If it had continued to show that high level of customer service, it should have allowed you to return the car after you had it towed back to the dealership." He was referring to a replacement of a key stolen out of a rental car.

As a rental agent (not Hertz) who very much values happy customers and good customer service, I have to ask: what is the definition of customer service?

Over the few years I've worked in customer service, I've come to the conclusion that excellence in customer service is swiftly, completely and gladly taking care of any problem that is the company's fault. Excellence in customer service should be expected of any company.

But I've begun to think that good customer service doesn't necessarily extend to righting problems created by the customer. These are things in which a company can "go the extra mile," but you can't hold anything against a company if they don't do these. You can certainly pledge your loyalty to them because of their willingness to work with you and take care of you, but you can't accuse them of poor customer service because they won't throw money at you.

Let me make this more concrete. I'll use the Hertz rental car incident, since that's the industry I'm familiar with and that's what started this whole thought process.

The customer lost the key. She should not have left it and her purse in the car. She could have (and should have) prevented the whole mess by keeping the key in the house with her.

So, Hertz should not be expected to spend their money and their agent's time to provide a new key. The fact that they did surprises me. Maybe the office had nothing else to do that day. For them to come out to the house for no charge was an act of service that goes above and beyond. But they would have been perfectly within their rights to inform the customer that she would be responsible for all charges.

Can the rental agency really be expected to write off a tank of gas, a door ding, or $20 because the renter forgot to fill it up, accidentally bumped into a pole, or couldn't find the airport? I've had people swear never to rent from me again because I wouldn't do the above. If we refunded everyone's gas tank who simply forgot to fill it up, never charged for damages because "it was an accident," and gave $20 to every person who complained about their inability to read a map and find where the rental returns are (when they're clearly marked, too!), we'd never turn a profit. (As it is now, we barely turn a profit--the rental industry is like the airline industry--extremely competitive and therefore unable to raise rates without losing business--except without the government subsidies. That's why they push the insurance sales so much--sometimes that can make or break the bottom line.) If we dispatched one of my agents every time someone called and said their keys got locked in their car or their tire got flat and they need help putting on the spare, we'd have to raise my rates by a few dollars per day. We'd need to hire an extra person whose sole function was to drive around town and help these people. He may even have to spend several days on the road driving out of town to help people stuck in rural areas. After benefits and taxes, that's upwards of $50,000 per year.

Sure, it's nice when a company is understanding about incidents, and I know it's never an easy time when stuff gets stolen from you, you run into a tree and your car won't drive, you get a flat tire or you lock the keys in your car, but those are all things that YOU can prevent. You really have no right to get mad at the rental agency for charging you for their services or even leaving you to deal with the situation on your own.

If they choose to be nice and help you on their dime, then be grateful! As I said before, you can surely pledge to rent from them for the rest of your life. Companies can (and do) use this "above and beyond" as a strategy to gain customer loyalty. But again, it's not fair for you to complain and pledge to boycott a company because they wouldn't pay for your mistake. That's unethical and un-American. And unfortunately, that's what society has become: most people don't like taking responsibility for their actions.

Let me use a comparable example in the airline industry. An airline customer service agent once told me that she was sick of people getting mad at her because *they* missed their flights or got to the airport too late to check in. Should the airline put these people on another flight--or even worse, another flight on another airline, costing them upwards of several thousand dollars--at no charge, just because it's "good customer service"? Sure, when the airline overbooks or is delayed because of mechanical problems, these actions are appropriate--because they are preventable and correctable by the airline. Bad or spoiled food, poor attitudes, faulty equipment, careless baggage handlers--these are all things that the airline should own up to and compensate customers for. But if it's out of the airline's control--late customers, security snafus, or even weather-related delays, the airlines can't be expected to take on that financial burden. If they do, great--pledge your loyalty to them because they do that sort of thing. But they're not contractually and ethically obliged to do it.

Last, back to the rental industry: if something happens that clearly IS the rental agency's fault, then by all means, the company SHOULD right the wrong swiftly, gladly and completely. There are many times when this does happen, and when it does, we try to take care of the customers. Sometimes engines break down due to faulty construction. Our warranty with the manufacturer covers these incidents, so we gladly take care of customers for no charge. Even if we rented old cars that were out of warranty, we'd still shoulder the responsibility for mechanical breakdowns, because our maintenance procedures are responsible for determining the reliability of the automobile. If we give the customer faulty directions to the car or forget to give them their keys, then they're perfectly within their rights to ask (nicely, though, please! We're much more willing to work with you when you're pleasant.) for a discount for their lost time. If we run out of cars and have to make you wait, that's on us: we should have planned our reservations better. (Even though the need for overbooking comes from the high percentage--30%--of people who make reservations but then never show up, so in a way, that's society's fault as well.) That's where free upgrades come in if they're available. But if your reservation was for 10 a.m. and it's now 8 p.m., you can't expect us to (and get mad at us when we don't) give you a free upgrade because your vehicle's no longer available.

In summary, a good company should take responsibility for its actions. They should swiftly, gladly and completely right any wrongs that they're responsible for. But they can't be held to pay for things that are the customer's fault. If they do, then bonus: that company should be rewarded with more business. But if they don't, then no one has a right to complain.