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I work for a car rental company as an escalation agent. Basically when a customer demands a supervisor I take the call.
Now, this will be an interesting story because of the 39+ calls this customer made from August 2020 to April 2021 (yes, you read that right), I only interacted with her two times. The reason why most of her calls were documented is because she normally interacted with the ~~Clown~~ Customer Service Department.
My first interaction with Mrs. Bitch was back in August 2020. Before she was transferred to me, the agent explained me that she wanted to extend her reservation two additional hours. When the reservation was made, both the pick up and drop off times were at 11 AM, but for whatever reason she arrived two hours late. The counter never bothered to update the Rental Agreement, so the drop off time was still at 11 AM.
Our rates are based on 24 hour intervals, so technically she was allowed to return the vehicle 2 hours late without any additional charges. It was a pretty simple task, so I asked the agent why she requested to speak with a supervisor, and he told me that she was being difficult with him. “Most likely a misunderstanding” I said to myself, so I told the agent to transfer her to me.
Suffice to say, she was already upset when I received the call. I tried to explain her that I could extend the reservation for two additional hours at no extra charge, but for whatever reason this customer refused to listen, she was extremely aggressive, yelling at me and accusing me of not listening to her. At one point I told her:
Me: Okay ma’am, I’m going to ask you to tone down your attitude, I want to help you, okay? So I need you to calm down!
Mrs. Bitch: WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!? WHAT IS YOUR NAME?!? I WANT TO SPEAK WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR RIGHT NOW…
*Click*
Me: Crazy bitch.
She called the Customer Service Department immediately and told the agent that the previous person she spoke with “racially profiled her”. Nothing came out of that accusation, but I sure as hell didn’t appreciate the fact that she tried to get me in trouble. That’s when I decided to read her cases, and boy oh boy, she was definitely something.
Her very first interaction was in early August 2020. The agent documented that they tried to assist the customer, but had trouble with her name (to be fair, it wasn’t a common name). When they asked her to repeat her name, the customer demanded to speak with a supervisor. Customer was transferred to a supervisor, accused us of price gouging and demanded a better rate. Of course they gave her a canned apology and told her that if she didn’t like the rate, she could shop around. Unfortunately, the customer decided to rent with us anyway, starting the nightmare.
As soon as she received her vehicle, she called the Customer Service Department and accused the counter at Buffalo, NY of racially profiling her. They rewarded her with a coupon for a future rental.
Rental number 2, this time she calls to tell us that the vehicle is extremely filthy, and demands compensation. Customer Service rewards her yet again with another coupon. You can tell where this is going…
So it’s October 2020, and this agent tells me that the customer hasn’t received a confirmation e-mail for her future reservation. Again, a very simple task, but apparently the customer is very difficult to handle. “Guess it’s a misunderstanding” I say to myself, so I tell the agent to transfer the customer. As you must have guessed, it was Mrs. Bitch! Already with an attitude, she tells me:
Mrs. Bitch: I swear, you guys are the worst company, if there was another company, I’d go with them immediately.
Me: Uh-huh… anyways, you want a confirmation e-mail for the Reservation on (specific date).
Mrs. Bitch: Are you even listening to me?!? I already have a reservation! I just want you to send me an e-mail!
*Click*
Me: Crazy bitch.
Before that call, she was a distant memory (I deal with many crazy fellas), but after dealing with her a second time, I decided to do some research, and unsurprisingly, she always had a problem with her reservation: the counter was rude, the vehicle was filthy, the seatbelts didn’t work, etc.
Now, you must be thinking “well, any customer can call and demand compensation, is there any type of control”, and the answer is **yes**.
**TECHNICAL PART STARTS HERE**
In order to have some sort of control over this, a customer requires to have a profile so that we can provide compensation. For example, the customer claims that they received a filthy vehicle, so we assign them a coupon for a free day. You can only assign one specific coupon per profile, once the coupon has been redeemed, it cannot be used again by that same customer until a new coupon is created (which can take up to 6 months).
There are many coupons worth a specific amount of dollars or free days, but after they’re redeemed, the customer cannot recycle them.
**TECHNICAL PART ENDS HERE**
Apparently Mrs. Bitch was aware of that, so she shamelessly created not one, not two, **but seven fucking profiles**. You’d think that Customer Service would notice that she’s abusing the system, but that would require a certain level of competence, which is pretty lacking in that department.
So in late October Mrs. Bitch rents a vehicle. She decides to extend the reservation for an additional week and, oddly enough, she’s told that the extension is free. I found it pretty odd, so I tested it myself, and surprisingly it was true, there was no extra charge to extend the reservation. She calls again, and is told the same, no extra charge for the extension. Suffice to say, she kept the vehicle for an entire month. After returning the vehicle, she’s surprised to see a charge of like 2,000 USD on her card. What happened there?
Apparently there was a glitch in the system. It had something to do with a 150 USD coupon she applied. She called us for like 2 weeks threatening to sue us, report the charge as fraudulent, that she would be reporting this to the news, etc. In the end they decided to remove the charges. Most customers would be satisfied with this outcome, but Mrs. Bitch is a pretty unique customer. She shamelessly called us to demand compensation because the seatbelt didn’t work well. They gave her a 50 USD coupon.
Then, one day in late December Mrs. Bitch called us to report that she wouldn’t be able to return the vehicle on time due to the severe weather. The agent told her that she could return the vehicle one day later, she would be charged the additional day, but as a courtesy, we would reverse the charge after the contract was closed.
Well, once the customer returned the vehicle, she called Customer Service furious, telling the agent that she was told she wouldn’t be charged an additional day. The agent explained her that the charge would be reversed in a few days, but Mrs. Bitch demanded to speak with a supervisor. Despite the fact that the supervisor told her that the charge would be reversed, the customer demanded compensation for the inconvenience. Surprisingly, the supervisor told her no. Mrs. Bitch threatened to take her business somewhere else. Now, anyone who has worked in customer service knows this is an empty threat, but surprisingly, Mrs. Bitch kept her word… for like two months.
At this point I was pretty tired of Mrs. Bitch abusing the system, so I decided to step in.
So it’s April 2021, Mrs. Bitch wants to book a reservation, but is told that her coupon is only worth **gasp** 2 free days! Apparently she was told (obvious lie) that the coupon was worth 4 free days! After demanding to speak with a supervisor, she’s told that the coupon is indeed only for 2 free days, but as a courtesy, for no real reason, the supervisor will give her a coupon worth 4 free days if Mrs. Bitch promises not to use the 2 free days coupon.
Laughable, I know, but supervisors at the Customer Service Department are known for their incompetence. Suffice to say, when the supervisor tried to book the reservation for Mrs. Bitch, a pop-up appears, explaining that Mrs. Bitch has been placed on the Do Not Rent List and is no longer allowed to rent vehicles.
As I sit here with my vodka tonic, trying to forget another stressful day, I’m reminded of how incompetent the Customer Service Department is. Sure, Mrs. Bitch was a shameless person who loved to demand compensation over and over, but the supervisors in charge chose to give her all those coupons, they chose to turn a blind eye on the fact that she was abusing the system. Alas… sometimes the worst customers are our own creation…
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