Poor Customer Service Complaints Can Yield Profitable Results

I had a really bad experience at a major chain rental car office at the San Juan airport in Puerto Rico last summer. I reserved an economy vehicle for my week's stay. The gentleman at the customer service desk asked me if I needed collision insurance for the car. I told him that I was using my MasterCard and my Master Rental insurance would cover that. He then stated to me that we were in Puerto Rico (as if I wasn't aware after getting off the plane) and that the "RULES" were different in Puerto Rico. He proceeded to tell me that my Master Rental insurance would not cover damage should the car be in an accident. He said I would be liable to pay for damages.

Of course after saying this, he told me I could buy the Rental Co.'s insurance for $25 a day. YIKES- I thought this was crazy. I know that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and that any of my credit card amenities should apply. I was very skeptical!

Before he made me sign anything, I had some time. I dialed the number on the back of my MasterCard for clarification. The customer support for my credit card provided me with a number to Master Rental. Once I got through, I asked the representative if my credit card rental insurance was valid in Puerto Rico. She replied that Master Rental insurance is WORLDWIDE and that I would indeed be covered as long as I paid the final bill with my MasterCard. The rental agent lied.

My guess is that the rental agents are given incentives when they sell add-ons to customers. This would not be unusual. However, I don't think the agents are told to lie and hoodwink customers.

So when it was time to sign my paperwork, I asked to speak with a manager on-duty. I explained that the rental agent lied to me and I confirmed that my credit card insurance was worldwide. Of course, the excuse was that they don't know the rules of credit cards and they are all different. They also explained that if I opt to use Master Rental that they would not deal with Master Rental all bills would come to me first to submit. I rebutted by saying that I never even gave the name of my credit card and he defintely did not explain it that way. The guy didn't care what I had - he wanted me to believe him so he could get his incentives.

So, I told the manager that I deserved to be compensated because I used minutes on my cellphone to verify that his employee was lying. I asked to be upgraded to a nicer car for free. Of course, the manager agreed and gave me a free upgrade. Yes, score one for me! The ended up renting a Suzuki Fiorenza - it wasn't very powerful. I would go for the mid-size car next time.

When I got back home, I emailed the rental company's corporate customer support and logged my complaint. I thought that the corporate office should know the shady tactics of its Puerto Rico location. Within a few days of my email, I received an email that was very apologetic. It explained it is not their policy to mislead employees. They said because they valued me as a customer, they were sending me a $75gift certificate valid for two years for me to use toward my next rental. My rental was about $230 so this was a nice amount of money to receive back.

The rental company's concern for my customer service experience in the form of a gift certificate for future use will result in me renting from them again. My diligence in making sure that the corporate office knew about my experience led to me getting back money. So the moral is, don't be afraid to ask for something when you feel you have been cheated. And always, email or write (phone calls are not as effective) the corporate office and ask them what they will do to keep you as a customer.