I didn’t say it outright, but in my blog on September 28th, I implied that I’d consider a Camaro convertible more similar to a Mustang convertible than the Chrysler 200 I received when the rental car company said they offered Mustang convertibles or similar. I’ve educated myself a little more and while I don’t consider the Chrysler and the Mustang very similar, I can see one key factor that makes the rental car companies regard the Mustang and the Camaro convertible to be dissimilar. The Chrysler is a little less costly than the Mustang: the Camaro is more expensive than the Mustang. If you were the car rental company, which one would you consider similar to the Mustang? Yeah, if I was the car rental company, I would too.
I’ve got to say also that in that price range you can argue none of the few convertibles made are very similar to each other.
I didn’t single out the car company I rented from, because I consider the dissimilar-similar exchange an industry-wide problem. If you searched my blog for the term, “or similar,” you’d see I’ve ranted about that before. However, I did post on the rental-car company’s Facebook page that while there was nothing wrong with the Chrysler, I considered it inferior to the Mustang, not similar.
Did you know that if you post on a merchant’s Facebook page and they respond, you have to go back to look for the response? Facebook didn’t tell me that the company had responded, so it took me a while to realize it had. Their social media team invited me to email details which I did on Friday.
On Saturday, I heard from a manager for the company. We had a good phone conversation. I didn’t expect any refund or free ride the next time I travel. I did accept the car and drove it about a thousand miles in a week after all. He did agree with some of the points I made and also said that in the future if I’m dissatisfied with what I’m offered I should ask for a manager. He even gave me his contact information so I can ask for him if I travel to Orlando FL again.
My son has a different strategy with car rentals and he worked briefly for Enterprise some years ago. He says when he travels he reserves the least expensive car available. He calls it “four wheels and an air conditioner.” He figures they won’t have many of those and chances are they’ll have to give him a free upgrade.
While I didn’t single out the company that says Chrysler convertibles and Mustang convertibles are similar I was impressed with the way that company’s Facebook page works and with the way I was listened to and treated on the phone by that manager in Orlando. So, I should single out the company that performed the good customer service. It was Alamo. I don’t always rent from the same company, but I have rented from Alamo before in several locations across the country. With the kind of customer service I received this time, I will probably do so again.
