I am an Emerald Club member in good standing for 10 yrs - renting a car 1-2x per month when traveling on business. I booked a full size rental car one month prior to a business trip to Toronto during the week / weekend before Christmas. I called the day before the scheduled pickup date to confirm my reservation and that I'd have a Full size car at my disposal. I was assured everything was in order. After arrival at Pearson Int'l. Airport in Toronto & clearing customs I proceeded to pickup my car. I was told to report to the desk inside by the gentleman in the garage (I travel there 6 times a year and this was a first for me). Inside they informed me that they had no cars available and didn't know if / when a car would become available. I asked them for something else besides a full size since it was evening and I had a 90 minute drive to my hotel. They curtly responded "we have NO cars available"... I was stunned. I reminded them that I had made a reservation and I was an Emerald Club member: the surly rep said "so what? " I asked to speak w/ a Mgr. he was less helpful. His response was "it's the week before Christmas: it's not a good time to rent cars .." WTF? Toronto is a city of 4 million and there's not a car to be found at the Int'l. airport? I asked when a car would become avaiulable and was told that he has no way of knowing. I asked him what the point of MAKING A RESERVATION WAS, IF THEY DIDN'T ACTUALLY RESERVE ANYTHING FOR YOU AND WAS GREETED BY A BLANK STARE. His reply was "just because you have a reservation, does not guarantee a car will be available for you ..." OH REALLY? That is good information for future reference. As I left to find a car elsewhere, he yelled out to me "good luck finding another car, everyone else is sold out as well ..." Stunning display of tact, coutesy, and customer appreciation. I walked 10 feet to the adjacent Avis counter and the rep there heard every word. She had already filled out a new contract and toild me she had a ner Chrysler 300 in the garage if I was i9nterested. I gave her my details and was on my way. I e-mailed / called National Car for over a month with no response. It wasn't until I left messages on Steve's voice mail / his asst. in Toronto, that I got someone to listen. The best they could offer was a call from an area Manager (the airport manager's boss) to apologize (this was after a week of me leaving him msgs on his cell - he said he was in meetings all week - clearly they had nothing to do w/ customer service) and ask me to call him the day before my next trip so he could ensure my rental car experience would be satisfactory. That is the best they could do. Sad. Since trhen I traveled to Winnipeg Manitoba and made the same arrangements a month before. I called the National office at the Winnipeg airport 2 hrs before my 10:30pm flight arrived to ensure they had a Full size car on their lot for me. I was told they would hold a Dodge Charger that was on the lot for me. When I arrived on time, I was told they had no cars. I asked where the Charger was, and was told that it "had a bent rim" that had to be sent to a repair facility. Funny - they checked for wheel damage at 8:30pm in the evening on a car parked outside in the dead of winter. I was told I had to take a Hyundai Elantra of there was nothing else. I am 6'4" and 260 lbs - that is NOT a car I want to drive when I spend 10-12 hrs a day driving while on business, plus I would have four customers in the car with me that I had to pickup the next morning. I was embarassed when I was forced to explain to my customers they had to find their own transport since I had too small a car. Again, I was told they have no control over car availability. Sad - this would be the response I'd expect if I was renting a car from Uncle Dave's Cheap Rentals not from a Large multinational Company like National. Not that they care really, but I (will never punish myself again by dealing with these people ever again: this is what you can expect these days after TEN YEARS OF LOYALTY. Fool me once, shame on you... fool me twice...
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