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Car Hire Company Reviews (Part II)

Hello Car Hire Seekers!!!

This is another car hire company review list. I will be doing a lot of these because I want to get some discussions going about the car hire companies out there. If you read the last post, you will know that I did a comparison of the most commonly used broker companies. At the end of the story, I warned everyone that it is more important to read reviews about the individual car hire companies than the larger brokerage firms. It is because you will not be renting directly from the broker, but from the individual car hire company. Here are some brief overviews about a few well-known car hire suppliers.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Review

Main Website : www.enterprise.com
Year Started : 1957
Parent Company : Enterprise Holdings
Subsidiary Companies : National Car Rental, Alamo Rent A Car

Overall Ranking = 5 / 10

Company Overview ? Enterprise Rent-A-Car is headquartered just outside St. Louis in Clayton, Missouri, USA. They have almost 7000 locations around the world but mostly in the United States. Although the company will rent cars to anyone that wants, they main target market are people that are involved in accidents that need replacement cars.

Pros ? The most common positive report about Enterprise is that they are punctual. Almost every person that made a Enterprise review either said they were on time or did not mention this aspect at all. That leads me to believe they are a timely company. Another positive response is that Enterprise will pick you up. This is a lot better than going to the rental desks, especially if you need a replacement car for a few days. And although there were mixed reviews for customer service, one repeat customer had this to say in an Enterprise Rent-A-Car review, ?From the time they pick me up to the time they drop me off at home, all the employees are extremely friendly. ?

Cons ? Most of the complaints I found we in regards to insurance problems. Many of the customers felt they were treated unfairly after being in an accident with the car. Furthermore, the customers found it extremely difficult to get a straight answer from the company. One user was duped into taking the extra insurance from Enterprise and then was forced to pay from his personal insurance when there was an accident. He said, ?I purchased the supplemental insurance at $14.99 per day, but Enterprise opted to go through my primary insurance to pay for the damages to the rental rather than using the supplemental insurance I had purchased.? That is why you need to be careful and make sure you do not buy the additional insurance if you are already covered by your plan. But, do not bank on the Enterprise staff telling you about this. It is their job to push the insurance, it is your job to know your own insurance policy.

Avis Rent a Car Review

Main Website : www.avis.com
Year Started : 1946
Parent Company : Avis Budget Group
Subsidiary Companies : Budget Rent a Car

Overall Ranking = 6 / 10

Company Overview ? The company has roughly 5000 locations all around the world. In Europe, the company is referred to as Avis Europe plc. The USA headquarters is in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, USA and the Europe chapter is headquartered in the United Kingdom. The website for Europe is www.avis-europe.com.

Pros ? The Avis reviews were all over the board. One of the best things about Avis is that they regularly change their fleet of cars so that they are relatively new and always in good working condition. Unlike some of the other companies, I did not read one Avis review that stated the car broke down. One customer claims that, ?Avis don’t like to take the mileage on their cars much over 13,000 (miles),? that is around 21,000 km. If you are looking for a top quality car, Avis is your best choice.

Cons ? About 99% of the complaints were of poor customer service. Most people felt as though they were treated very unfairly and not respectfully. Another common negative response is that no one seemingly had any authority to solve the customer problems. Even though some of the Avis employees acknowledged that the customers were incorrectly charged, they said they could not fix the problem. Here is a quote from an Avis review, ?Customer service was awful. Everybody admitted that I had a problem, nobody was willing/able to help.? If you only care about the quality of the car, go with Avis. If you care about customer service, find a different company. Avis gets 6 out of 10 because their cars are in top working condition, not because of customer service.

Hertz Rent a Car

Main Website : www.hertz.com
Year Founded : 1918
Parent Company : Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.
Subsidiary Companies : Advantage Rent-a-Car

Overall Ranking = 8 / 10

Company Overview ? The Hertz Corporation was founded in 1918 and has its headquarters in Park Ridge, New Jersey, USA. They are a publicly held company with the New York Stock Exchange symbol of HTZ. They have worldwide rental offices in over 7,500 locations. They claim to be the largest car rental company in all the world.

Pros ? Many of the people said they enjoyed the quality of the cars they were given and also liked that they had options to take a different car upon arrival. This is a really nice response compared to the other companies where a lot of people said they did not receive the car they were promised. Many people that made a Hertz review also said they liked the convenience of the pick up locations. Hertz also got some good remarks about the value for the car received. One person that made a Hertz review said, ?they offered the best price for weekend rentals & are in the most convenient location for pick-up. The vehicles have all been rather new and in good condition (the oldest of them a 2008 ford fiesta).? Of the three companies in today?s post, Hertz has the best remarks by far.

Cons ? It wouldn?t be a car hire company review post if there were no disadvantages to Hertz. But seriously, the only real problems I found was people complaining about foolish mistakes they made themselves. Of course there is the ever present lack of customer service comment, but here is what one customer review said that I found rather amusing. It goes like this, ?I was asked did I not want full insurance? I said I only want the usual basic Theft & CDW cover. Lady processed document & I signed. What I did not notice in my hurry that I was now signing for a 4 day car hire deal at ?221.90! – I became aware of this when I got my CC bill.? Apparently, this person decided to just sign the agreement without even taking a look at the bottom line. I am quite aware that many of the companies are trying to rip people off, but this can often be easily avoided by READING WHAT YOU ARE SIGNING. I do not really have an sympathy for someone that signed for a certain price, then is upset with that price. The bottom line is that you should always read what you are signing for, and if nothing else, make sure you read the price. Some people that complain should be writing negative reviews about their common sense, not about the car hire company.

Conclusion
It seems there are not too many companies out there that are providing high quality customer service. The best way to combat this is to be as friendly as possible. Maybe it will rub off on the employee. Furthermore, you need to take these reviews with a grain of salt. What I mean by that is many of the reviews are for a specific location and do not necessarily reflect the company as a whole. Just because there is a bad review at Heathrow Airport, does not mean the service will be bad at Gatwick.

Furthermore, it is up to you (the customer) to know what you are getting yourself into. I cannot stress this enough so I will write it in bold? DO NOT SIGN THE CONTRACT UNLESS YOU READ THE CONTRACT!!! Save yourself a lot of trouble and headaches later by knowing what is going on at the moment of the rental. It will greatly improve your chances of having a positive experience.

Happy Traveling!