Economists and talking heads argue endlessly about our economy on a daily basis. "It's back!," "It's almost back!" and "It's never coming back!" seem to be the leaders among the varied viewpoints we hear and read about. One sector that has apparently begun to rebound is the car rental business. Not necessarily in financial terms, but from the standpoint of customer satisfaction, America's rental car companies are returning to to a position last seen in the pre-recession days.
J.D. Power has released its annual North American Rental Car Satisfaction Study, and the results are positive for every company included in the survey. Now in its 15th year, this J.D. Power study examines customer satisfaction with the airport car rental process, and it looks at six specific factors: Costs & Fees, Pick-Up Process, Rental Car, Return Process, Reservation Process, and Shuttle Bus/Van. The highest score possible is 1,000 points and, for the 2010 study, the average Overall Satisfaction score is 750. This is up from 733 in 2009 and 734 in 2008. Every company in the survey has improved year-over-year in the survey.
This year's big winner, however, is Enterprise, which received the industry's highest rankings in customer satisfaction. Enterprise is no stranger to this award, and getting the nod in 2010 makes it seven years in a row for the rental car company. Following behind Enterprise, Hertz and National also performed quite well in the survey while Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Dollar and Thrifty rounded out the results. You can see how each one performed over at the J.D. Power results page.
[Source: J.D. Power]
J.D. Power has released its annual North American Rental Car Satisfaction Study, and the results are positive for every company included in the survey. Now in its 15th year, this J.D. Power study examines customer satisfaction with the airport car rental process, and it looks at six specific factors: Costs & Fees, Pick-Up Process, Rental Car, Return Process, Reservation Process, and Shuttle Bus/Van. The highest score possible is 1,000 points and, for the 2010 study, the average Overall Satisfaction score is 750. This is up from 733 in 2009 and 734 in 2008. Every company in the survey has improved year-over-year in the survey.
This year's big winner, however, is Enterprise, which received the industry's highest rankings in customer satisfaction. Enterprise is no stranger to this award, and getting the nod in 2010 makes it seven years in a row for the rental car company. Following behind Enterprise, Hertz and National also performed quite well in the survey while Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Dollar and Thrifty rounded out the results. You can see how each one performed over at the J.D. Power results page.
[Source: J.D. Power]
J.D. Power and Associates Reports:
Overall Satisfaction with Rental Cars Rebounds Following Challenging Years for the Industry
Enterprise Ranks Highest in Satisfying Rental Car Customers for a Seventh Consecutive Year
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: 16 November 2010 - Overall customer satisfaction with rental cars has returned to pre-recession levels after declining to lower levels during the past two years, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 North America Rental Car Satisfaction StudySM released today.
Now in its 15th year, the study measures overall customer satisfaction with renting cars at airports by examining six factors (listed in order of importance): costs and fees; pick-up process; rental car; return process; reservation process; and shuttle bus/van.
Overall satisfaction averages 750 on a 1,000-point scale in 2010, improving from 733 in 2009 and 734 in 2008. Satisfaction with the reservation process; pick-up process; shuttle bus/van; and costs and fees have achieved three-year highs. Each of the rental car companies included in the study has improved in 2010, compared with 2009.
"Improvement in the rental car industry occurs across all aspects of the customer experience," said Stuart Greif, vice president of the travel practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "By quickly improving their operations as the market started coming back, rental car companies started reversing the negative impact on satisfaction that cuts and deferred investments had during the downturn. Satisfaction snapping back in 2010 is a testament to the industry doing its best to balance the tension between customer satisfaction and hard economic realities during this period."
Enterprise ranks highest in customer satisfaction among rental car companies for a seventh consecutive year and performs particularly well in all six factors. Enterprise is followed in the rankings by National and Hertz, respectively.
Incidence of reported problems has decreased to 9 percent in 2010, compared with 11 percent in 2009. Vehicle pick-up and billing are the areas with the highest rates of reported problems.
"While it's possible to exceed expectations when resolving a customer problem, which could elevate satisfaction levels even above those of a problem-free experience, this situation is a rare exception," said Greif. "It's important to note that 22 percent of problems experienced by customers go unreported, which means there was never an opportunity to resolve them. The bottom line is that prevention of problems is a far better strategy than service recovery for achieving high satisfaction levels."
In addition to increased satisfaction with rental car companies in 2010, customer loyalty and advocacy have also improved from 2009. In 2010, one-third of business travelers and 28 percent of leisure travelers indicate they "definitely will" rent from the same brand again-marking increases of 2 percent and 5 percent, respectively, from 2009. Advocacy rates have increased by 3 percent among business travelers and 6 percent among leisure travelers from 2009. In 2010, 30 percent of travelers in both groups say they "definitely will" recommend their rental car company.
The 2010 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study is based on more than 11,500 evaluations from business and leisure travelers who rented a vehicle at an airport location within the previous 30 days. The study was fielded between October 2009 and September 2010.
Overall Satisfaction with Rental Cars Rebounds Following Challenging Years for the Industry
Enterprise Ranks Highest in Satisfying Rental Car Customers for a Seventh Consecutive Year
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: 16 November 2010 - Overall customer satisfaction with rental cars has returned to pre-recession levels after declining to lower levels during the past two years, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 North America Rental Car Satisfaction StudySM released today.
Now in its 15th year, the study measures overall customer satisfaction with renting cars at airports by examining six factors (listed in order of importance): costs and fees; pick-up process; rental car; return process; reservation process; and shuttle bus/van.
Overall satisfaction averages 750 on a 1,000-point scale in 2010, improving from 733 in 2009 and 734 in 2008. Satisfaction with the reservation process; pick-up process; shuttle bus/van; and costs and fees have achieved three-year highs. Each of the rental car companies included in the study has improved in 2010, compared with 2009.
"Improvement in the rental car industry occurs across all aspects of the customer experience," said Stuart Greif, vice president of the travel practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "By quickly improving their operations as the market started coming back, rental car companies started reversing the negative impact on satisfaction that cuts and deferred investments had during the downturn. Satisfaction snapping back in 2010 is a testament to the industry doing its best to balance the tension between customer satisfaction and hard economic realities during this period."
Enterprise ranks highest in customer satisfaction among rental car companies for a seventh consecutive year and performs particularly well in all six factors. Enterprise is followed in the rankings by National and Hertz, respectively.
Incidence of reported problems has decreased to 9 percent in 2010, compared with 11 percent in 2009. Vehicle pick-up and billing are the areas with the highest rates of reported problems.
"While it's possible to exceed expectations when resolving a customer problem, which could elevate satisfaction levels even above those of a problem-free experience, this situation is a rare exception," said Greif. "It's important to note that 22 percent of problems experienced by customers go unreported, which means there was never an opportunity to resolve them. The bottom line is that prevention of problems is a far better strategy than service recovery for achieving high satisfaction levels."
In addition to increased satisfaction with rental car companies in 2010, customer loyalty and advocacy have also improved from 2009. In 2010, one-third of business travelers and 28 percent of leisure travelers indicate they "definitely will" rent from the same brand again-marking increases of 2 percent and 5 percent, respectively, from 2009. Advocacy rates have increased by 3 percent among business travelers and 6 percent among leisure travelers from 2009. In 2010, 30 percent of travelers in both groups say they "definitely will" recommend their rental car company.
The 2010 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study is based on more than 11,500 evaluations from business and leisure travelers who rented a vehicle at an airport location within the previous 30 days. The study was fielded between October 2009 and September 2010.
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