Marcy Schackne is mad.
She recently waited 2½ hours at Los Angeles International Airport just to talk to a car rental agent. After completing her paperwork, she inspected three vehicles that were “beyond dirty” before finding one suitable to drive.
A one-off? Nope.
A few weeks later, when she tried to rent a sedan at Washington Dulles, she waited 45 minutes for a car in her reserved category. The agent’s attitude was “take it or leave it.”
“Both experiences made me feel undervalued as a customer,” she said.
Schackne, a marketing executive from Hollywood, Florida, was understandably upset. And she’s got company.
There’s a new kind of travel fury that’s erupting at counters everywhere: car rental rage. It’s the result of several unfortunate car rental problems, including hidden fees, cleaning charges that would make a hotel manager blush, and service that feels more adversarial than accommodating.
And drivers aren’t just getting mad. They’re getting even.
Why is car rental rage so rampant right now? Three words: frustration, deception and powerlessness.
Thomas Plante, a psychology professor at Santa Clara University, points to the “frustration-aggression hypothesis” to explain what’s happening.
“Anger typically unfolds as a response to frustration and stress,” he said. “Travel has become more and more stressful in many ways. We seem to be getting less and less service for more and more costs and hassles. It’s a perfect recipe for frustration and stress that leads to aggression.”
The triggers are everywhere:
You don’t have to suffer all three to be furious at your car rental company.
One sign that you’re mad: You’re making car rental reservations you don’t intend to keep out of spite.
Car rental companies typically allow you to cancel reservations without a penalty. If you’re angry, that’s how you inflict damage on them. You make several reservations, which tie up their inventory and cost them money. Ouch!
In fact, if you find yourself arguing with a car rental employee after you return your car, it might be a sign of car rental rage.
Sociologist Deborah Cohan, who has researched rage, notes that rental counter staff report “a noticeable increase in hostile exchanges” with customers arguing aggressively over fuel policies, cleaning fees, and mystery charges.
“There’s a lot of anger,” said Alen Baibekov, CEO of the car rental booking platform Economy Bookings.
The anger goes both ways. Rental companies are fighting back with their own arsenal:
If the car rental rage starts to cost companies money, experts predict they’ll invent new fees to make up for the lost revenue. It’s a pattern that repeats itself in the travel industry all the time. But you can stop it.
Don’t get mad. It won’t help. Start by reading the contract – that’s the agreement between you and the car rental company.
“Your arrangement with the car rental company is a contractual one,” explained attorney Danny Karon, who represents victims in consumer fraud cases. “If the company didn’t keep its end up, you could have a breach-of-contract claim, whether individually or as a class action, if your rental agreement doesn’t contain a forced-arbitration clause.”
Knowing your rights in advance can help, too.
For example, you’re not obligated to buy the car rental company’s expensive insurance, regardless of what a car rental salesperson claims. “There’s a common misconception that travelers have to purchase auto insurance offered by rental car providers or even use their personal auto insurance for rental cars,” said Daniel Durazo, director of external communications at Allianz Partners USA. (In fact, travel insurance companies like Allianz sell stand-alone policies that cover rental cars and are significantly cheaper than insurance sold by car rental companies.)
You can also rent from a company known for treating its customers well. Several of the drivers I interviewed for this story said they preferred renting through blue-chip rental companies like Avis or Enterprise. It’s a little bit more expensive, but they don’t play games – and they won’t tick you off.
Finally, take a deep breath. Plante, the psychologist, said if you schedule a little extra time, you can get a little breathing room. And that might reduce the stress that leads to anger.
Car rental rage isn’t going anywhere until the industry addresses its biggest problem: treating customers like suckers instead of human beings.
Louis Ducret, founder of the digital insurance platform Eprezto, said the best way forward is full transparency.
“Show the customer up front exactly what they’ll pay, what they’ll get,” he said. “Remove the guesswork.”
Until that happens, we may be stuck in this cycle of mutual antagonism. Customers will keep fighting back with dirty returns, unused reservations and hostile reviews. Companies will respond with stricter policies and higher fees. And the rest of us will keep taking photos of rental cars like crime scene investigators.
Christopher Elliott is an author, consumer advocate, and journalist. He foundedElliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps solve consumer problems. He publishesElliott Confidential, a travel newsletter, and theElliott Report, a news site about customer service. If you need help with a consumer problem, you canreach him here or email him at chris@elliott.org.
