May 4, 2004
Nine ways NOT to rent a car
I now understand why people pay travel agents. Since the birth of online reservations, I have been convinced that any half-witted person with a mouse-clicking finger could book a trip. But jazzy Javascript dropdowns and popup calendars are hiding reservation systems that cannot get you from Point A to Point B.
My feeling is that when you advertise your company on the Internet, (especially if you are named National), you're promising service in my area of the country. But what I found is that many companies slap a Web-enabled interface over a spotty local service network and call it "worldwide."
Last week, I tried to send Dave from one end of Connecticut to the other in a rental car. I visited eight car rental sites and one all-in-one travel site — all of which resulted in exactly 0 reservations. Apparently, all you need to do to call yourself a rental car provider is stick a dropdown list of random locations and a Javascript calendar on your front page. Having physical locations and actual cars is optional.
Hertz, you lose.
All I wanted was a rental quote, but Hertz sent me in circles.
First, they gave me text boxes in which to type my pickup and dropoff "city names", but (just for kicks) those boxes don't actually accept city names. They require Hertz rental store names — like Bob's Main Street Getty. How am I supposed to know that before stumbling through the process and getting this error message?
Pick-up city name or airport/OAG code is invalid. Please try again
At first glance, it appeared as if Hertz doesn't rent in the city I typed. A less persistent person would have left, the punishment of awful usability. I go back for more.
I find my store locations with the help of a poorly-labeled store selector, choose the type of car (I'm getting somewhere!), when I'm hit with this gem:
RETURN NOT ALLOWED THIS LOCATION - SELECT ALTERNATE RETURN
You see, Hertz, I have to return the car to Mystic, because I'm going to Mystic. If I have to drop it off in another city, I have to rent another car to get back to Mystic. Is that a ploy to get repeat business?
National, just not in this nation.
National Car Rental offers four pickup locations in the entire state of Connecticut. Which means there is one location for every 1,300 square miles of state. Highly convenient. Goodbye, National.
A winner? Maybe not.
Enterprise stumbled only once when I wanted to return their car after closing. (I could have sworn they allow after-hours dropoff.) They shuffled me onward to choosing a car (with thumbnails of models and prices in bold). They were also quick to remind me that, "We pick you up!" which is always helpful for someone without a car.
I was surprised to find myself at the checkout screen within two minutes of starting my quote; however, there was a problem. They had never given me an option to return the car to a different location than the pickup spot. I was about to rent a car without being able to go anywhere. I backtracked, but there was no spot to choose a dropoff. I was stuck at the credit card information screen.
Try just a little harder.
Avis ushered me through the time, date, pickup and even asked if I was dropping off in a different city. But we hit an impasse at the drop off city again. (Why is this always a problem?)
We are unable to find an exact City match, please try again.
Try what again, exactly? Try to reroute my trip around your locations? The city where I'm dropping off is no slouch. It's a tourist city with major attractions, yet I can't seem to get there with a rental car.
We're so Thrifty, we've removed some cities.
At Thrifty Car Rental, I couldn't get past the first page. I'd like all residents of Bridgeport, CT to know that their "location does not exist." Or so says Thrifty.
Three more strikeouts
Alamo could neither find my pickup, nor my dropoff location. Same for Budget and Dollar. Done, done and done. It's getting to the point where I'm considering renting a vehicle, then leaving it by the side of the road at my destination.
Orbitz, my last hope, was a disaster of trip planning. It offered me the same pathetic deals that Hertz and Avis had cobbled together. And in their itinerary, I'm dropping off ten miles from where I'm picking up. Useful.