I ventured to Chicago yesterday. It was only my second time in the windy city.<\/p>\n
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It was a good trip with the exception of a rental car nightmare. Knowing that there are some good suppliers in Chicago that you may need to visit, I thought that I\u2019d share my bad experience so perhaps I could prevent one for you.<\/p>\n
I flew into O\u2019Hare, which had no shortage of rental car companies nearby. I\u2019ve had some pain-free experiences with Thrifty in the past, so they were my choice yesterday. Bad move!<\/p>\n
I arrived in the late morning, ahead of a 1PM meeting. Well, to get a rental car at O\u2019Hare, you need to get a shuttle to the rental car facility.<\/p>\n
So much time \u2013 and countless Hertz, Dollar, Alamo, and Avis buses \u2013 went by before the Thrifty shuttle arrived. Then, it was an unbelieveably long drive to the facility.<\/p>\n
But that wasn\u2019t the worst of it.<\/p>\n
After another long wait in line, I was told to wait outside for a Dodge Avenger. After about 5 minutes, one of the car jockeys asks me what car I\u2019m waiting for and tells me that my car will be next.<\/p>\n
After at least 10 more minutes, another car jockey in an Avenger drives up and\u2026drives past. I approach that car and the jockey tells me it\u2019s not my car.<\/p>\n
Soon after, the jockeys begin arguing over whether or not it is my car. The first jockey tells me that it is and I can get in. I do.<\/p>\n
But when I try to exit the lot, the guard at the booth tells me it is NOT my car, that there is nothing he can do, and that I need to go back inside. I do.<\/p>\n
There, the counter rep changed some stuff in his system, had me sign the new contract (with a $15 discount for my inconvenience, big whoop), and tells me to get back in the Avenger. I do.<\/p>\n
Then I drive back to the gate but\u2026the guard isn\u2019t there! I beeped and the guard walked in virtual slow motion and sent me on my way.<\/p>\n
Total elapsed time between baggage claim and leaving Thrifty\u2019s parking lot: 90 minutes!<\/p>\n
So I was late for my meeting. Fortunately, my clients were very forgiving.<\/p>\n
Getting back to Thrifty was not much better. They are more off the beaten path than the others \u2013 the Rental Car Return signs at O\u2019Hare don\u2019t even have their name on them.<\/p>\n
Overall, it definitely seemed that Thrifty didn\u2019t understand the business traveler. Shouldn\u2019t their associates be trained on how people need to be places?<\/p>\n
Perhaps I should have known by their name that they aren\u2019t geared for us road warriors.<\/p>\n
I also have a reservation with Thrifty when I go to the \u201cProcuRiba\u201d Empower conference next month. My first inclination was to cancel it, but I think I\u2019ll keep it to see if it is just their Chicago location that is so pathetic. A quick googling didn\u2019t turn up any ATL-specific Thrifty complaints.<\/p>\n
But if you\u2019re visiting a supplier in Chicago, don\u2019t use Thrifty! I know I won\u2019t when I go back!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I ventured to Chicago yesterday. It was only my second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-procurement"],"yoast_head":"\n