Massive @Hertz fail, Twitter must be informed
By HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: Hello, welcome to Hertz Ontario!
SEK: Hi, I have a question about the A/V connection that only a deaf person (like myself) would have about the SUV I’ll be rent —
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: HELLO? (giggling) ANYONE THERE? TURN UP YOUR VOLUME.
SEK: (master volume is already at JITTERBUG) Let me turn my volume up. (pretends to up the loudest setting to ludicrous, but really just starts shouting) IS THAT BETTER?
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: HELLO? (more giggling) WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM HERTZ?
SEK: I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT —
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: SORRY WE CAN’T HEAR YOU.
(click)
SEK: Must have been a bad connection. Let’s try it again from my wife’s phone: 1-909-937-8877. Ring, ring, telephone ring, hope somebody knows, what they’re doing —
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: Good morning, Hertz Ontario!
SEK: Hi, I just tried to call a second ago but I guess we had a bad connect —
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: (to unknown compatriot) Him again. (more whispering) YES WE ARE HERTZ.
SEK: YES IT’S ME AGAIN CAN YOU HEAR ME?
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: (muffled laughter) SIR WHERE ARE YOU CALLING FROM?
SEK: CORONA!
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: (more muffled laughter) WHICH DAKOTA?
SEK: ISTANBUL MOTHERFUCKERS.
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: (shuffling phones and flustering composure) HONESTLY — UNCALLED FOR — WHAT DO YOU NEED?
SEK: SO YOU CAN HEAR ME NOW? I DON’T NEED TO YELL NOW?
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: Please don’t call back.
(click)
SEK: Ring, ring, telephone ring …
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL BACK.
SEK: I know you can hear me. I just need to know whether there’s an A/V outlet on the SUV I rented —
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: (phones shuttled into other hands) SIR WE ASKED YOU NOT TO CALL BACK.
SEK: I just have a simple question about my reservation for Saturday —
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: I’M CANCELLING IT.
SEK: You can’t. You don’t even have my information.
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: WE HAVE YOUR PHONE NUMBER SIR (more muffled laughter in the background) AND WE HAVE CANCELLED YOUR RESERVATION.
SEK: That’s my wife’s number. The reservation’s in my —
HERTZ AT ONTARIO, CA AIRPORT: DON’T CALL BACK.
(click)
SEK: I won’t. That’s what Twitter’s for.
Any car rental companies in the Corona and/or Ontario area that would like to shame Hertz are more than welcome to contact me via Twitter @scottekaufman, Facebook, or scotterickaufman (at) gmail (dot) com. I will return your call within the hour.
UPDATE: Nothing as yet, really, so it’s time to go Full Jew:
Maybe if enough people “like” and “share” the following, some important person will notice their blackberry’s been barking at them for hours now.
Hi Hertz! Remember me? I’m the deaf guy your Ontario, CA employees mocked this morning. I spent the better part of the day talking my way up from one middle-manager to another and was PROMISED that I’d get a call “later” from someone with the authority to 1) answer my very simple, basic question and 2) explain to me why Hertz employees are encouraged to behave as they do. (Do you WANT to drive away customers? Because I don’t see that being a successful long-term business model.)
Point being, I’m supposed to pick up my SUV tomorrow morning, but as I told every rung on your corporate ladder, I refuse to honor my reservation if the people who willfully and maliciously dishonored me today are working the counter. I’ve asked for assurances that they wouldn’t be, but have heard nothing. I’ve asked for an explanation as to why they were allowed to do so in the first place, but I’ve heard nothing.
Basically, I’ve heard nothing except “later,” and now “later” is creeping into “tomorrow.” Should you ever again desire the business of the communities to which I belong — deaf and hearing alike — I strongly recommend that someone with the ability to address my concerns contacts me sooner rather than “later.”