Hertz takes on Zip Car (and might be winning)

 

Living in NYC is a pain if you are used to having the convenience of a car parked in front of your house, ready when you need it. The subway system here is great for the day to day but there are so many exceptions and times where getting around NYC is just plain miserable.

The biggest challenge for me is getting out of the city. After being banned from my local Hertz (long story), I've found a different place to rent. But the prices are insane and 3 of 5 times, I've reserved a car online the car wasn't available when I tried to pick it up.  It's a crappy and unreliable system.

Zip Car is the perfect alternative. The model is brilliant and I like just about everything about them but, (and this is going to sound REALLY lazy), it takes 2 weeks by mail to process the Zip Car application or requires a trip to somewhere in Midtown so you can show your ID. And every time I think to get a Zip Car, it is always last minute and I can't be bothered to take the train to fill out paperwork. So, until recently, I've been stuck with the "maybe we will have a car" Hertz in the West Village.

As much as I like the start-up model and ideology of Zip, I'm admittedly tempted by the free online sign-up for Hertz's version of Zip called Connect By Hertz. The site is user friendly, the cars (according to what is online) are good city cars, with lots of hybrids. And if the local Hertz manager doesn't try to have me arrested (more of that long story) and if the cars are available, it seems like a pretty good choice.

Although these sorts of things happen all the time, it does seem a little unfair for Hertz to steal Zip Car's business model. Hopefully Zip will retailiate by improving their application process.

Comments

[Taunter]

Way to be ahead of the Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/magazine/08Zipcar-t.html

[Nancy King]

Looks like I am an early adopter...

From: connectbyhertzmembercarecenter@hertz.com
Date: March 8, 2009 2:49:03 PM EDT
Subject: Welcome to Connect by Hertz

Congratulations Nancy,

Your Connect by Hertz membership has been approved and you can now login as a member to the website.

You will receive your welcome packet including your Connect card in a few days. Once you receive your card you will have access to the fleet of vehicles, whenever you want.

Thank you for choosing Connect by Hertz!

www.connectbyhertz.com

877-654-4400

[Nancy King]

Andrea, While you are right about the post being written poorly, I'm sorry that you have been so misinformed about the incident at my local Hertz. As a member of Hertz Gold and Connect by Hertz, I was incredibly disappointed to have such a negative experience with a volatile employee.

Yes, the Hertz employee did call the police after an extended discussion about why I didn't think I should pay $117/day for a Prius (what I had rented online) if all that was available was an economy car that cost $19/day.

While I didn't think a price adjustment was a difficult request, the Hertz employee chose to yell at me, file a report against me accusing me of racism and then called the police.

When the police arrived and learned the true nature of the incident, the police told the Hertz employee to never call them again for such an unnecessary purpose and dismissed the argument as insignificent.

The police then gave me a ride to a different Hertz location where I rented a car for the weekend as intended.

Should you have any more questions or comments about the situation, feel free to contact me directly at nancy@seechangehappen.com.

[Taunter]

Andrea - is this some sort of Fawlty Towers performance art?

Someone blogs positively about a large company that copies the business model of a smaller competitor. She hopes the smaller competitor improves its product, and urges her readers to pay more attention to the niche. Instead of holding a grudge against a firm for an unpleasant experience, she makes light of it.

You arrive months later and in a mere three paragraphs spread across two posts decide to criticize her:
(a) mental stability;
(b) family;
(c) appearance;
(d) intelligence;
(e) spelling;
(f) automobile preferences.

And here I thought we had to wait until Festivus for the airing of grievances...

[Nancy King]

Thank you Taunter. This reader is now posting horrible comments about me on twitter, friendfeed etc. so I'm trying to figure out when is it appropriate to block a commenter? She has certainly made her point and additional vitriolic posts about my character seem unnecessary. Thoughts?

[Taunter]

I think blocking is appropriate, but my substantive thought is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxxPLDZnqwA