The Sweet Service Award goes to Gage Car Hire, a Johannesburg-based company specialising in car rental replacements for cars going into repair via insurance claims, and with it Execuline car insurance, the assessors, as well as our brokers I&DRS. Belinda Jonker at Gage Car Hire assisted in a problem situation with Europcar, and quickly made the deposit payment for the car hire happen without numerous pieces of paper to be completed, as requested by Europcar, taking the card details telephonically for the deposit. Belinda kept me up to date throughout the process. The insurance policy did not require an excess payment for the repair, and there was no charge for the car rental!
The Sour Service Award goes to Europcar, the company that was appointed by Gage Car Hire to deliver a replacement car while my car was in for the repair. There had been no prior contact with Europcar, as the communication had been between Europcar and Gage. When Jeremy arrived, he demanded immediate payment of the deposit via the credit card machine he had brought along, without going through the paperwork, or explaining the clauses and conditions. He couldn’t explain the waiver clauses, and was so irritated that he drove off with the car. John from Europcar returned with the car an hour later, after Gage Car Hire had intervened and done the deposit payment reducing the paperwork requirements. There was no proactive assistance in where to find anything in the VW Polo, a car I’d never driven, John’s only concern being the visual check of scratches on the vehicle. When he left, all I received was a scrappy piece of the form torn off the A4 page I signed, with my surname incorrectly spelt and addressing me as ‘Mr’! I did not receive any copies of the paperwork I had to complete and sign, Lynn the manager telling me that they offer minimal paperwork for clients, based on customer feedback! I had to ask her to fax the documentation. Surprisingly the Vehicle Quality Check form was carbonated, and I was given a copy of that. Additional expenses such as a Tourism levy as well as an administration fee were not mentioned nor signed for! A week after receiving the car, the remote no longer unlocked the boot. I went to the Prestwich Street branch, and asked for assistance. Supervisor Elton Fortune was the most senior person on duty, and had no empathy with the problem I was experiencing with the car and the inconvenience of having to stop by. He initially refused to let me have a copy of our original paperwork, so that I could write the problem on it, but relented eventually. Unlocking the boot with the key manually also became problematical. At one stage the gears were locked in Park mode, and I called the branch manager Lynne, requesting urgent assistance, as I had an appointment in town. She was on the phone, and did not bother to return the call. Luckily my neighbour came to my assistance to unlock the gears, something I was not told when Europcar brought the car initially. When the rain started, we had to endure very poor windscreen wipers which were in urgent need of replacement. The only good service was the speed with which they came to collect the car, not requiring any paperwork nor checks for scratches then!
The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog. Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at whalecot@iafrica.com. Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
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