Customer Service Fail

I've had some "not great" customer service experiences in my life. Today may be the first all out fail.  So bad, that I feel it necessary to call them out for their terrible service.

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you - Avis (the car rental agency).

This morning, my husband texted to tell me that he'd accidentally left his keys (car, house, etc.) in his rental car, which he'd just returned to the Little Rock Airport.  He knew this because the Avis agent called him, but he was already on the plane and didn't get the message until he landed for his layover. He was having trouble with cell service, so he asked me to call.

No problem.  Right?

Wrong.

I called about a dozen times, but was never able to get through.  I got service errors, busy signals, and a couple of times, it almost seemed like someone picked up the phone and then hung up on me.  I tried hunting for an online chat feature or an email address.  No luck.  I even tried the Avis online Lost and Found feature, but kept getting an error.

Then I called the national Avis customer service line.  This is where things go downhill.  After spending a few minutes in the hold queue, I got an agent:

(To make this conversation easier to read, I am in red, the agent is in blue)

Hello, Avis customer service, how can I help you?

Hi.  My husband just returned his rental car at the Little Rock Airport and he left his keys in the car.  I've tried calling the local office, but their phone seems to be out of service and I can't get through.

What seems to be the problem?  You're supposed to leave the keys in the car.

No.  Not the car keys.  His keys.  House keys.  Work keys.  He needs his keys.



Oh.  I'm sure they will find them when they clean the car.  

They did find them.  They called, but when we called back, the phone was out of service.  I was hoping you could help.

They are probably just busy.  Try calling again.

I have called a number of times.  I think the phone number is wrong or the line is broken.  Can you help me reach them?

It's not broken.  They are busy.

No.  There are multiple reports on the internet that the phone for the office is broken and they cannot receive phone calls.  Do you maybe have another number?

I can try.  Where did you drop off the car?

The Little Rock Airport.

Where?  Where is that?  In the United States?



Yes.  Little Rock.  Arkansas.  At the Airport.

Say that again.

Little.  Rock.  Arkansas.  Airport.

I'm not finding that in my computer.  You said Lion Rock?



What?  No.  Little.  Like big and little.  Little Rock.  Arkansas.  The Airport.

No.  That's not a place.  




Yes it is.  I've been there.  

Maybe it has another name?



Bill and Hillary Clinton Airport.  Little Rock.  Arkansas.

No.  That's not a location.



Yes.  yes it is.  It's the capital city.  There are a million people living there.  I am very certain it is a place.

If you know where it is, maybe you should just go back to the office.


I'm not there.  It's an airport.  

Where is it again?  Maybe I can give you a phone number.



I have told you five times now.  Little Rock.  Arkansas.  Airport.  

Ok.  I found it.  

Good.

I have a phone number.  It's 850-433-5641.  Is there anything else I can help you with?

I immediately recognized this was not an Arkansas phone number and googled it quickly to see what popped up.  

Wait!  This is wrong.  You gave me the phone number for the Pensacola Airport office.  

It's the same thing.



No!  No it isn't!  It's in Florida!

It's nearby.


For the record -- 508 miles

What?  No!  It's in Florida!  It is NOT nearby.

That's all I could find.



I'm going to admit that at this point, I got a little angry.  I raised my voice, but I did my best to keep my temper in check.  I think I deserve an award.

Pensacola is not Little Rock!  Florida is not Arkansas!  Can you please transfer me to someone else?  Clearly you do not understand me.

No.  I cannot.

Look.  I don't care who I talk to.  I don't need a manager.  I just want to talk to someone that understands geography.

I cannot transfer you.  Maybe you should just call the local office.


I did call them.  They didn't answer.  That's why I called you.

Call them again.  If they aren't answering, it is because they are busy.


They are not answering because the phone is broken.

Try again tomorrow.

Ok.  How about this.  If I try again tomorrow, and every day for the next 30 days and still no one answers, what am I supposed to do?

Just go back to the office.



I don't live there.  Do you expect me to spent $1000.00 in airfare flying to Little Rock because they don't answer the phone?  Is there ANYONE else I can talk to?  Please.  I want to talk to someone else.

Then hang up and call back.  Maybe you'll get another agent.

What?!  You're kidding me.  Your solution is for me to hang up, call back, wait on hold again and HOPE I talk to someone else?  Can't you just transfer me?

No.



Yes.  Yes you can.  Transfer me to someone else.  Anyone.  I don't care who.  

Fine.

<click>

He then blind transferred me back into the customer service queue.  I had already been on the phone with Agent #1 for 13 minutes.

I waited about 2 minutes on hold for another agent that had no idea what was going on and assumed I'd just called in.  I don't blame this guy.  The second agent was nice and tried to help me.  He explained the Little Rock Airport Avis (which, amazingly does exist) is not a corporate owned store, so they had limited ways to communicate with them.  He gave me the same number I had and offered a fax number.  I tried to send a fax - unsurprisingly it did not work either.

19 Minutes.  

So... 12 hours later... still no way to contact them.  I'm legitimately going to have to mail a letter to request my keys.



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