I just returned from "ski" week with the kids.  It is hard to imagine you could learn much from a week at Lake Tahoe - but hey- I am a blogger.  We planned to leave on Saturday to avoid the masses of people heading up to Tahoe for the long President's weekend.  My girlfriend and I rent a vehicle for this annual trip for two reasons:

1. We both drive sedans and can't fit 2 adults and 4 children into our vehicles
2. We don't have 4 wheel drive.

We arrived at the car rental company to find a very frazzled "Assistant Manager" running the show.  He was wearing a paper thin suit with shoulder pads the size of Texas.  This was clearly his first real job out of college and his first suit.  Our 4 wheel drive, 3 row vehicle had been reserved for more than a month.  We fill out the paperwork, while Mr. Shoulderpads answers a few calls, tells the people behind us they will have to wait, answers a few more phone calls and eventually calls back for our car to be brought up. When Employee#2 brings up the car, Mr. Shoulderpads realizes that it won't work.  We absolutely positively can't take the car.  He switched out cars from our original reservation and this vehicle only had 5 seats.  We have six people.

Apparently car rental companies play a little roulette.  They overbook their cars, assuming a certain percentage of cancellations.  Clearly on this holiday weekend, they overbooked. 

Mr. Shoulderpads had no car for us.  We were understandably not happy.  We had antsy children waiting to depart.  We were expecting 17 children and 20 some adults for dinner in Tahoe that night (Yes, I am not kidding- but that is another story)

"They are screwing me.  They are screwing me."  Mr. Shoulderpads starts saying, quite loudly.  Did he really just say that out loud?  Hands running this his hair, palms sweaty.  Mr. Shoulderpads is not exactly grace under pressure.  He offers us another car.  An upgrade, mind you, with the correct number of seats- but no 4 wheel drive.  "Don't worry," he says, "weather in Tahoe is supposed to be good this week."  Now Mr. Shoulderpads is a weatherman?  Our rental was for 10 days.  Who can possibly accurately predict weather 10 days in advance?  Meteorologists certainly don't do it that well, but Mr. Shoulderpads could?

Mr. Shoulderpads didn't get screwed, we did.  We had no choice at that point, but to take a vehicle we didn't want.  The upgrade we eventually got had all-wheel drive, which was fine for the snow, but it wasn't really big enough.  Six bucket seats, no storage (and I mean NONE).  We had luggage shoved everywhere!

• Customer Service 101- don't mess with your good customers.  Multiple times a year, we rent one of the most expensive vehicles for our Tahoe trekks.  This isn't a weekend rental.  This is a week+ rental.  We won't return to this car company again.
• Customer Service 102- when you are in trouble and things aren't going as planned, show some grace under pressure.  Show some empathy for your client.  It is not about YOU, it is about THEM.
• Customer Service 201- don't be deceptive.  Your clients know when they are not getting a good deal- don't lie to them!  Don't try to talk them in to something they don't want or don't need. 
• Customer Service 202- Mistakes happen.  Find a way to remedy it and make your client happy.  If you don't, they will tell everyone they know, and that costs a lot more than just the loss of that specific client.

Stay Tuned for more "Tales from Tahoe".