When Customer Service isn't Customer Service

Consider this a bit of venting post, but I think there is a lesson underneath all of this for those of us in the customer service business (which really ends up being all of us, in one way or the other.)

Twice in the past two weeks I have had reason to contact the customer service department of AVIS, the car rental company. To set the context a bit, I rent from AVIS fifty plus times per year and on virtually every rental, enjoy unlimited kilometers for a reasonable daily rate. Hence that is has become my working assumption when I make a rental.

The first followed a rental picked up in Chicago and dropped off in Grand Rapids. In investigating the various options as to how most economically to travel one-way between these two cities, I called the Avis customer service office to find out the drop charges that would be incurred. Pleasantly surprised that there were none, I recall confirming with the representative with words to the effect, "So you are telling me that I can pick up the car in Chicago, drop it off in Grand Rapids, for $X?" I thanked her, checked my other options and ultimately booked on-line. The surprise was mine when I returned the car to discover that on bookings of this nature, there is no drop fee but there is a mileage fee applied and so the bill was a few hundred more than anticipated. When I called customer service to register my displeasure, I was given a polite lecture as to how I obviously did not read the fine print in the contract they emailed which, as they quite rightly pointed out, did specify the fee.

A second incident occured this past week when I rented, drove less than 125 km, and find out that I am being charged a minimum rate $35 more than I anticipated because I cannot produce a receipt that I filled up with fuel. Again, I had asked the agent how much the rate was for the rental and was quoted a rate, without any reference to the 125 km rule. When I returned the car, I was rushing to catch a plane, put in just over $6 of fuel and rather than wait for the receipt (catching my plane was worth more to me than the $6 of expenses) on. No sympathy from the Customer Service Agent on this one either - the fine print says that on rentals of less than 125 a receipt is needed or a minimum fuel charge is issued.

I readily concede that as per the fine print, Avis is quite right in collecting the $200 or so that I feel they are unjustly taking from me. Yet, in both cases I received quotes from their authorized representatives indicating amounts to me without reference to the fine print details I overlooked. I don't really expect to be given all sorts of special privileges simply because I am a frequent customer yet one would think that the customer service agent would, given the unique circumstances of either/ both of these cases, have some discretion to make adjustments. Apparently they don't.

At the end of the day, I feel misled by Avis and am in the process of checking out the competition in booking my next rental. In trying to sort through in my own whether my resentment is justified or whether I am simply being self-justifying, it seems to me that as a customer, it is reasonable to expect that communication from a representative indicating that the cost is X should be reliable enough a basis to proceed without having to read fine print. It seems to me that this is a case where customer service is not really customer service.