In a recent study by J.D. Power and Associates, the car rental industry at the moment is doing very well when it comes to customer satisfaction compared to many other travel related industries, especially the hotel industry. According to Vice President of Travel Practises at J.D. Power, Stuart Greif, if the businesses concentrated a little more on training employees on over the counter interactions then the customer satisfaction level would go higher. They have also observed that business customers are more likely to come back to the same provider compared to personal customers, and that the satisfaction levels are significantly higher in business customers.
Car Rental Customer Trends
According to Ramen Faza, Senior Manager of Travel Practice at J.D. Power “Business customers tend to rent more frequently, so they are more aware of what to expect and they are often pressed for time, thus speed and efficiency are critical to their satisfaction. Therefore, business customers tend to be tougher graders. Leisure/personal customers tend to shop around more and search for the best value, leaving them oftentimes more satisfied with cost and fees than are business customers. These insights are somewhat counterintuitive, because business customers are not paying out of their own pocket, whereas leisure/personal customers are spending their own money.”
Car Hire Companies
Let us now take a look at who is the best according to their list:
- National (www.nationalcar.com) – National was founded in 1947 by a group of car rental companies in various locations. Today, National operates from more than 2000 locations globally.
- Enterprise (www.enterprise.com) – The car rental company has been operating since 1957 and have about 6500 locations all over the globe. It is essential to mention that in the past, Enterprise has received high praises from J.D. Power for exceptional customer service, and has also been mentioned in the top ten by Business Week’s top 25 in the same category.
- Alamo (www.alamo.com) – Founded in 1947, Alamo has become the third largest rent a car service provider today. Alamo was the first service provider in the industry to offer unlimited mileage and online check-in system. Alamo has also received the ‘Extra Mile Award’ by Budget Travel magazine in the past.
- Hertz (www.hertz.com) – Hertz was founded by Walter L. Jacob in the year 1918, in Chicago. Right now Hertz is the largest service provider with operations in over hundred and forty five countries across the globe.
- Avis (www.avis.com) – The second largest in the business, Avis was found by Warren Avis in 1946 at the Willow Run Airport. The company created the very first computer based reservation system called Wizard, and also the tracking system named Advanced Vehicle Identification System (AVIS).
It is interesting that according to the report, when it comes to service, it has been seen that people who hire car rental for vacation or leisure purposes are more inclined towards getting cheaper deals and end up getting less satisfaction out of the experience; however, business customers are less likely to go for cheaper deals and tend to be returning customers often get better service out of the service providers.
Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/car-rental-satisfaction-rise/story?id=17666766
