Budget Car Rental Ireland
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If a Budget car brakes in Ireland
I am writing this detailed account, since I believe that Budget Ireland needs to review its operating procedures. This will critically improve the experience of both the customers and its personnel. The problems we noticed and their suggested solutions are mentioned in the points below. 1. PROBLEM: DOCUMENTS. At the time of rent we were assured that a copy of the contract was emailed to our email address but it never arrived (and is not in spam). Moreover, the car contained no documents, whatsoever. We note that this was different from the replacement car (see below), which contained the usage instructions and a log of car inspection which was done as it left the Budget office. We note that neither car contained any proof of the owner of the vehicle. We also had no way to prove that we actually rented the car. SUGGESTED PROCEDURE AMENDMENTS. Given the problems with emails and sketchy web connectivity in remote parts of Ireland the customers need to receive a 1-page printed document with the essential details of their renting agreement when renting the vehicle. We agree with green policies, but in this case, it is just an unjustified excuse. 2. PROBLEM: AVAILABILITY OF SAFETY EQUIPMENT. After morning rental and visiting some smaller places the car lost all power just before the town of Mullingar. It was a clear and obvious case of a clutch failure. So we were in the middle of the road on a the hottest day of this summer. The usual procedure anywhere in continental Europe, US or Australia (in our experience) is to put up a safety jacket and put up the warning triangle. Unfortunately the car had neither of these, and not even a basic first-aid kit. SUGGESTED PROCEDURE AMENDMENTS. We note that safety jacket, warning triangle and first aid kit are obligatory items in the civilised world, simply because they save lives. To much of our surprise, we learned this is not the case in Ireland. Technically, this is not a problem of Budget. No laws are broken but Budget is sending a very strong signal to its customers in the sense that the safety of customers is not a priority. 3. PROBLEM: KNOWLEDGE ON PROCEDURES AT THE BUDGET EMERGENCY LINE. With the car broken at the edge of the road and us perched on the sun we called Budget and then the RSA. The initial call to Budget helpline was made at 14:04, and the call to RSA a few minutes later. The lady at Budget gave us partially wrong information. She said we need to call RSA (correct) and that they will then take us to the budget office at Knock airport (wrong) where they for sure have a replacement car for us and that we will then be able to continue our journey. This information is wrong on several accounts: (i) RSA role is just to remove the car from the road to a nearby safe spot and not to drive it to some Budget office. (ii) The office at Knock airport is closed on Sunday evening. (iii) Knock airport is actually not in a direction we were heading. It is also considerably further from our breaking spot than the Budget office at the airport of Dublin. SUGGESTED PROCEDURE AMENDMENTS. Your clerks need to know the procedure of car towing, they need to know the opening hours of your offices. 4. PROBLEM: RESPONSIVENESS OF THE BUDGET EMERGENCY LINE. At the time of the initial call to Budget we did not realise we were actually were lucky. When we were left sitting on the road for hours we tried to reach them about 10 times but the phone just rang without response in about 80% of the cases. SUGGESTED PROCEDURE AMENDMENTS. You need to understand that a lack of response is the worst thing which can happen to your customers. If your operators are busy with other calls this is no excuse. Anywhere in the business world it is customary to call back and to put such a promise on the automatic response machine. These kind of phones are common since 1990, so perhaps Budget Ireland could acquire such a 30-year old technology. This also avoids critical errors: it is annoying that your operator needs to lose time and ask every customer for the phone number when the phone can simply log the calls. Moreover, if these logs were done automatically the Budget truck driver who at the end of the day brought us the replacement vehicle would not be given a wrong phone number. Finally we got the replacement car around 9pm. A really long day, apparently the hottest of this summer, largely spent on the side of the road. The suggested amendments are done in good faith. I hope that it can help companies as Budget, which rise or fall on the trust of their customers and not only by the profit they make.