So, first, I will acknowledge that Hertz has made good on my complaint, and settled the dispute to my satisfaction.
Not only did they settle with me, they notified my friends (who took the time to email a complaint) that they settled:
From: EXECUTIVECUSTOMERSERVICE <[email protected]>
Date: January 25, 2013, 16:10:17 PST
To: "Steve Dennison"
Subject: HERTZ FILE HM5210/098
Dear Mr. Dennison:
We resolved Mr. Kornowski's dispute to his satisfaction.
Thanks,
Sharon Rose
EXECUTIVECUSTOMERSERVICE
The Hertz Corporation | 225 Brae Blvd, Park Ridge, New Jersey 07656
[email protected] | www.hertz.com
quick review
I wanted to gather the posts together in one long post, but I cannot figure out how to move or copy posts on Weebly, and honestly, I am too lazy to type it all over again, or cut and paste it all.
I have also linked it together from my TRAVELS page.
lessons: how i did it & resources
No guarantees though.
1. When the situation happened, I started saving receipts and wrote on them what they were for. I started keeping notes right away. For the notes, I actually emailed myself at my home email address, from my "travel" email address, stating what happened. Therefore all my notes were dated and time stamped.
2. As soon as I could I made an effort to contact Hertz (which was unsuccessful).
3. We modified and enjoyed our vacation anyway.
4. I came home and thought for a day about steps to take.
This was the single most time consuming step, and took me about an hour, maybe two.
First, I remembered a link I have bookmarked on Consumerist.com, about emailing corporate executives. An email "carpet bomb."
Second, I did some research to find out the best, highest level Hertz consumer phone number, to cut out all the "passing the problem along." Gethuman.com is a great website for that.
Third, I found out who the executive officers and higher-up people are at Hertz, and the format of the Hertz email addresses. Chris Elliott helped with that (go to his website, look under the "Wiki" button). You can also go direct to the Hertz site and look under Corporate officers, or go to Google, look under Finance, and just do a little "investment" research.
Third, I totaled my receipts, made myself angry again by thinking about what happened, and then decided what I wanted as compensation. I wrote that down.
Fourth, I made myself a list of anyone else who could help me: Kayak.com, Advantage rent a car, BBB, California State Attorney General, friends. I did not have to contact most of these resources.
Fifth, I thought about all the places I could post this story and get it to gain steam, perhaps go viral. I started with my blog and word of mouth, then Gail's Facebook. I thought about starting my own Facebook page and twitter account. Then there was Yelp, TripAdvisor, the Hertz Facebook page, Craig's List (in specific cities), posting to Consumerist, BoingBoing, Reddit, CNN travel, Huffpost Travel, the travel bulletin boards at Rick Steves, Lonely Planet, Frommers, Moon and Fodors (I read these for information about places) contacting the travel ombudsman at National Geographic, Conde Naste, the NY Times and so on, asking friends with blogs to post links and cross post, AND finally I was ready to set up a dedicated email address through mail at yahoo.com to start gathering complaints about Hertz, either to cross post, or for use in a possible class action lawsuit (though I never did mention this at all).
5. I started at the lowest level by calling Hertz customer service, outlining the problem, insisting they record the conversation and basically saying, "Cut through the bullshit; don't transfer me, just tell me who to contact." but in a nice way. Took me 8 minutes. I logged it.
6. I sent an email to the referenced person with a very clear outline of the problem, my demand and a time limit.
7. After they did not respond I escalated it to the next level by emailing the lowest-level corporate executive who I though could solve the problem. I also dragged in Kayak, and they contacted Hertz on my behalf.
8. This step was the key, I believe. I got a couple people to email the same executive, saying they had heard about the problem. This is when the log jam opened up.
Total time invested: about 4.5 hours.
Steps I was prepared to take:
I had an email composed and ready to send to the CEO of Hertz, another to several of the corporate Vice Presidents, and one to the people involved with Investor Relations. I also had a short blurb ready to release to the ombudsmen and several websites, hoping to get just one to publish it. I already posted reviews on TripAdvisor, so I was ready to start in on other sites. And, I was ready to contact as many friends as possible to ask them to email on my behalf.
Eventually I would have filed complaints with the BBB and Attorney General's offices.
Happy ending?
Well, I got what I asked for.
But really, it was a hassle that should never have happened.
I think every corporation should have two levels of customer service: an "immediate attack" team that at least acknowledges that there might be a problem and that they are not just ignoring you, and then the problem solving team. Also, the people on the ground (In this case, the counter help in Mexico) should really work to keep the problem from happening in the first place. I mean, c'mon. Christmas night?