Taking the Hertz $50 challenge

[M_Smith]

Taking the Hertz $50 challenge
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I don?t know about you, but I dread waiting in line at rental-car counters. After every flight, I make a B-line to the counter, hoping to be first on line, or at least ahead of those unprepared travelers who wander over without a reservation and then anguish over their vehicle choice like it was an entrée on the menu at a fancy French restaurant. Couple those annoying people with customer-service clerks who unhurriedly recite the insurance and refueling options like they were reading you your rights, and it?s almost enough to make you yell, ?Taxi!? Notice I said ?almost.?

The sour economy is only making things worse, as rental car companies ? like airlines ? look to slash costs. Just last week, Hertz, the nation?s largest chain, announced 4,000 job cuts. When coupled with previous losses, Hertz?s workforce is 32 percent lower than it was in the summer of 2006. So if you thought the lines at the counter were bad before, brace yourself for possibly even lengthier delays.
With these harsh business realities in mind, it?s hard to imagine Hertz?s ongoing initiative to speed up service isn?t somehow tied to all the financial woes. Whatever the motivation, though, I applaud the company's new self-service express check-in option, which promises to put you behind the wheel within 10 minutes or the company will knock $50 off the cost of your existing rental or a future one. It?s simple and works like this:
You reserve your vehicle by phone (800-654-3131) or online at www.hertz.com, then stay on or proceed to the Web site begin the check-in process To do so, click on the Online check-in tab, and enter your confirmation number, credit card and driver?s license information, and select any options like refueling prepayment. Once you arrive at the airport, all that?s left to do is finalize your reservation at either a dedicated check-in express kiosk or express counter, and click your stopwatch. If you?re not on the road in 10 minutes, you collect.
Here?s the catch. The express check-in program and guarantee isn?t available everywhere, only at the Hertz Rent A Car locations at the nation?s 50 largest airports in major cities.

Nor are you very likely to grab that $50 bonus, which I suppose is a good thing. Since Hertz began the program a few months ago, the company hasn?t had to pay off very often, according to spokeswoman Paula Rivera. ?In the the low single digits,? was as specific as she?d get.
Rivera said speed of service has indeed improved since the program?s launch, with the typical customer having to wait 3 to 5 minutes, on average, for his or her car. Rivera said she didn?t have any comparative data on the wait times for renters who didn?t check in online.
Ironically, just last month, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group announced it was abandoning its pilot program to allow Dollar and Thrifty Rent A Car customers to use self-service kiosks instead of staffed rental car counters.
"While we were pleased with some aspects of the pilot program that we implemented in April 2008 at our Houston location, we have concluded that the use of kiosks in the customer service experience reduced our interaction with the customer, detracting from the high level of personal service that our customers have come to expect from us,? according to a written statement from Scott L. Thompson, president and CEO.
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