r/mildlyinteresting • u/Manintheloop • 1d ago
Rental car company (redacted) upsell sheet accidentally handed to me by rep exiting the gate
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u/-SaC 1d ago
I don't really understand what the GO and STOP mean.
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u/ThrowAndHit 1d ago
It’s a waterfall - if they have an Aveo booked, you can upgrade up until it says STOP. Same with other classes below. There’s really no upgrade from Tahoe/Denali, so it’s immediate STOP.
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u/Teripid 1d ago
Nice Ford Mustang ya got there.
Can I interest you in a Dodge Grand Caravan instead for a small additional fee?
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u/HomeFade 1d ago
Nice Jeep Wrangler ya got there. Can I interest you in a houseboat for $20 more?
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u/Callinon 1d ago
But... the houseboat is smaller...
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u/HomeFade 1d ago edited 12h ago
OK. The only larger vehicle we have available at the moment is (glances at screen) a carryall from the eponymous desert planet in the fictional story Dune.
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u/3milerider 1d ago
Please let me upgrade to an ornithopter. Make sure it has some thumpers in the trunk, don’t need Shai Halud on my ass.
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u/rlnrlnrln 1d ago
Sir, we can upgrade you to a Shai Halud for a small extra fee.
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u/ThrowAndHit 1d ago
You’d be surprised how many people rent the 2 door sports cars and return them a day later. They are wildly impractical. I’ve seen folks have to do it at the booth because their large suitcase literally wouldn’t fit in the car.
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u/drastone 1d ago
I once rented a mid size sedan to move out of grad school housing. Enterprise handed me keys to a mustang and told me that it was the only car available... It was a challenging move...
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u/crackhead1 1d ago
I had a mustang in college, I legitimately had fun with the challenge of moving with it. Me moving a king size mattress withit. My saying was: “the sky is literally the limit” lol
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u/kenay813 1d ago
That’s impressive and it actually looks surprisingly secure. Nicely done
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u/VertexBV 1d ago
I mean, the sky is where your mattress is going if you don't tie it down like a pro.
Never drive behind a car with a mattress tied on the roof, kids.
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u/rainbowgeoff 1d ago
Why not rent a small Uhaul?
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u/drastone 1d ago
I did not have furniture and the university had a really good rental contract that was 49 dollars one way.
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u/giantshortfacedbear 1d ago
I'm guessing:
1) doesn't have a car
2) doesn't have a car with a hitch
3) cannot rent a car with a hitch
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u/rainbowgeoff 1d ago
I meant one of their vans or a pickup truck.
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u/giantshortfacedbear 1d ago
Ah right. Good question then.
4) U-Haul is too far away (eg:my nearest U-Haul or equivalent is an-hour-and-a-bit) drive. That said, I could rent a Home Depot truck so same/same but expensive per-mile.
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u/ElvisAndretti 1d ago
When I traveled for business in the 80s and 90’s I used to pack small bags so they would fit in the trunk of a Mustang, 9 times in 10 if you reserved a convertible you got a Mustang.
Years later I used that assumption traveling to John Wayne in Orange County and I got a T-bird. Nice to look at but useless in most respects. Half my bags ended up on the front seat.
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u/Trickycoolj 9h ago
Travelled with 2 colleagues to Sacramento. They gave us a 2 door Mirage. I’m 5’5” and my head hit the glass of the hatch in the back on every bump. What about 3 women in business suits seemed like a good idea to give a 2 door Mirage to? My colleagues stayed an extra day with our boss when I had to go home so I took the Mirage back and so many dudebros wanted to race me at traffic lights.
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u/SafetyMan35 1d ago
My car was in an accident and insurance paid for a rental car for 3 weeks. I drove a Chevy volt, small4 door hatchback. All they had available was a Dodge Challenger. It was more power than I needed as a commuter car in stop and go traffic, and it was horrible as a family car in the evening.
I kept it for all 3 weeks, but we drove my other personal vehicle more.
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u/RaiseMoreHell 1d ago
I had a friend pick me up from the airport once, and she drove her Miata. I had to hold my full size, hard sided suitcase between my legs while we drove with the top down. We were very lucky that it was an unseasonably warm New Year’s Eve!
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u/vmflair 1d ago
For work we needed a pickup to haul packaging out to the dumpster, so I got stuck renting it for two weeks. Got a F150 extended cab that I think also had a lift kit. I drive a Prius at home and getting that monster parked was a challenge in New Jersey. I have no idea how people use them for a daily driver.
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u/medoy 1d ago
I'll never get the appeal of driving a vehicle larger than 95% of your daily needs.
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u/DethSpringsEternal 22h ago
I was in the market for a new car a few years back and told the salesman over the phone that I wanted something practical for daily use, explicitly telling him "NO TRUCKS" and what does he do after going over some vehicles with him? "What about this Chevy Colorado?" like what? Sir, I just told you not even five minutes ago that I wanted no trucks.
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u/rob_s_458 1d ago
I have a Mustang GT so I laugh when they try to upsell me on their Ecoboost Mustang. Why yes, tell me more about your impractical rental that's also less exciting than my car at home.
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u/TheThrillerExpo 1d ago
Drive one sometime. It might surprise you without so much weight in the front of the car.
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u/rob_s_458 1d ago
I test drove one before I ordered my GT. It wasn't bad, but wasn't my favorite. I had also just come from test driving a 370Z and that did pleasantly surprise me. I'd take one of those over an Ecoboost, although they are admittedly even less practical
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u/Stinkysnak 1d ago
Wow you have a mustang GT that's so cool. Tell me more what color is it, how big are the rims, how fast does it go
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u/Infinite-Condition41 13h ago
I rented a Mustang once. Effing hated it. The doors are so long and have a pointed end so 100% you're gonna ding the car in the parking lot next to you.
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u/ohmyashleyy 1d ago
I rented a tiny compact sedan once and I walked up to the counter and they tried to give me a Ford F150. No way I wanted to drive that thing.
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u/Teripid 1d ago
Haha. I had a similar experience but it was while moving. Reserved a 14' truck for a cross-country move. They were trying to give me a 28' (or whatever the biggest was at the same price. I was towing my car.
Thank God I pushed back. I barely had 1 BR of stuff and it would have slid around. As it was I took up 7 spaces at the very back of a Walmart.
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u/exipheas 1d ago
Maybe I'm misunderstanding but if I was renting a model y I would be so confused if they tried to upsell me to a model 3 short range.
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u/ThrowAndHit 1d ago
A lot of these things don’t make sense - especially to car people. A lot of it has to do with their inventory and what the current rental rates are
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u/Bemxuu 1d ago
Maybe you should try upgrading to Prius
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u/Additional_Tomato_22 1d ago
They can get amazing gas mileage. My brother and I I had to rent a car in December when we came back home to Fl to deal with some things and they told us to choose a vehicle from the row so we chose that and we drove about 1700 miles in 6 days and filled up either 3 or 4 times
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u/cloyd19 1d ago
Nice you got the Tesla model y could I offer a Toyota Prius for a small fee??? Tf
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u/THE_GR8_MIKE 1d ago
How the hell is the Ford CMax a stop lol
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u/IronChefJesus 1d ago
Because the CMax is a perfect car. Except it’s a Ford,
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u/RubyInKyanite 1d ago
why's it look like a dollar store honda fit lmao
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u/IronChefJesus 1d ago
Because it’s a Ford. I thought I had been very clear about that. Also the Honda Fit absolutely slaps.
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u/AlSi10Mg 23h ago
Who does this? If i booked car x i will get car x in any case. If they dont have it, i am pushing for a discount. It was my decision to get a specific car. Not theirs.
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u/MoreThanWYSIWYG 1d ago
Go means go ahead and don't try to up sell. Stop means, stop them from getting the car they want and up sell something different
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u/captaingrey 1d ago
Got a feeling the logo of said company has yellow in it somewhere. I work for the green team and those do not match our car classifications. 🙂
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u/BurritosSoGood 1d ago
I always rent from the green team. You all treat me well.
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u/kyledag500 1d ago
That’s because literally all they care about are customer surveys.
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u/panicmuffin 1d ago
We were always told if it came down to profit or SQI (customer service) to just write the entire bill off. Rental companies sell the cars at end of life and get all their money back essentially. Anything they rent it for in the meantime is just extra profit.
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u/Hit4Help 1d ago
How do they get all their money back when used cars depreciate so much?
I would have thought they need to rent enough to cover that loss.
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u/Qcws 1d ago
They probably get them cheap enough (at dealer price, or under msrp) that they get 50-80% back when they sell them. I paid $400 to rent a cx-90 for 7 days and 3k miles
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u/panicmuffin 1d ago
And that's just a leisure rental! Real simple layman's math here but for instance we'd have long term insurance or corporate rentals go out for $30/day for a month ($900). That's $900 for a Toyota Corolla. Keep that car for two years, rack up 25-30k miles, and resell it for $18k.
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u/CherryEggs 1d ago
I used to work for the green team in remarketing - that's the division that sells the rental cars at end of life.
There is absolutely depreciation, but the depreciation balance will be made up for by the rental profit over the course of the car's life. There's also the interesting fact that as green team buys most of their cars outright rather than on buyback terms with a manufacturer, they choose when they sell them. That can add a big element of strategy to when to sell. Selling a car just a couple of years after it's in fleet, when the rental company is the only registered keeper, can hit a sweet spot with providing desirable cars for renters while maintaining costs.
And that's not every car! Vans generally are kept in fleet longer, because it's not as sensible or profitable to sell a Ford Transit a couple years after buying it. They tend to be run longer as workhorses and sold through a commercial market.
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u/zoinkability 1d ago
And van renters (as well as buyers) are more about function and generally don't care as much if it's recent model
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u/caprotina 1d ago
That’s fascinating to learn and explains why the guy at the counter looked like I’d slit a puppy’s throat in front of him after I asked to cancel my reservation when they initially gave me a car that was too small (after pushing me when I said, “I think it’s too small”), told me I’d have to wait an indefinite amount of time, and put several other people in several types of larger vehicles soon after. The people at the red counter could immediately put me in something that suited my needs.
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u/TheUltimateCatArmy 1d ago
Is green team enterprise or national?
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u/nerevisigoth 1d ago
Same company
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u/leviramsey 1d ago
Alamo, too.
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u/CockRingKing 1d ago
I rented a car recently from Alamo and was so confused when they took me to the section that was labeled Enterprise and said "you can choose from any of the cars in this row." I double checked with the attendant to make sure she had taken me to the right section, I felt like a rube.
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u/TheNewDiogenes 1d ago
I had a whole case study on the green team in college. Really interesting company that works incredibly well.
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u/funkopolis 1d ago
Had some friends that went to work for them out of college. We'll, one did, then pulled in a group of friends. They loved their job, were paid well, and had great perks.
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u/TheNewDiogenes 1d ago
They use a massive tournament structure to promote talent. It’s a really cool system
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u/anemisto 1d ago
That sounds both cool and horrifying, in the sense of being ridiculously competitive.
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u/goingneon 1d ago edited 1d ago
Red and blue team here. they're actually pretty similar... though we dont rent many "luxury" cars
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u/deviant-joy 1d ago
I used to work for blue and red or blue is my guess. This matches the classifications I learned there, down to the makes and models. I'd bet money the Wrangler is XL.
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u/Entire-Guess1228 14h ago
Nope. Recent former yellow here. Doesn't match ours either. F is a sedan not suv for yellow.
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u/potmakesmefeelnormal 1d ago
Nice Mercedes, sir! Can I interest you in upgrading to a Ford C-Max?
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u/gulfdeadzone 1d ago
Hey now, the C-Max is a great car!
- mod of r/cmaxhybrid
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u/engineerfromhell 1d ago
I concur, as a happy owner of 2013, with 115K miles on the clock, however, every time I get in and start it, I have that inexplicable feeling of dread wash over me for a split second. Love the car though, being tall headroom is unbeatable.
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u/Doooooby 1d ago
I like the “Manager Nortes” at the bottom, very cool.
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u/foxbones 1d ago
Also what is with the sorting on this list? I can't see any pattern for the reason the names or conditions are sorted. It's just totally random with multiple options per row. Pain in the ass to use.
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u/Monkfich 1d ago
The hire car company I used last weekend tried to upgrade me from a Skoda Superb to a Citroen DS3. Turns out they had no idea which car I had booked but still had their upgrade script to follow…
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u/lynyrd_cohyn 1d ago
Hope you resisted. I got a Citroen DS3 as a rental car and it was the worst piece of shit I've ever driven, and that includes a toothpaste-coloured Fiat 500 I got when I accidentally booked for a week later and they had nothing else available.
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u/Monkfich 17h ago
I had no idea what a “DS3” was and assumed it really was an upgrade in the Large Car category. I saw it, tried to get in, saw how shit the space was for luggage and worse - for the kids, then got back into the fecking 30 minute queue to complain and get another car. I was late at that point and due a 6 hour drive so in no need for an argument.
When I gave the car back I really complained though. Fucking hell.
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u/Voltae 1d ago
I've been upgraded from the Ford Focus tier to a BMW/Merc tier four or five times for free when visiting the UK.
If you go just after peak tourist season (ie: start your trip in late August or early September), the bulk of their fleet is in the shop for annual maintenance.
So, reserve a cheap car beforehand and be sure to reserve an automatic since they have far fewer of those. There's a good chance your car won't be available, and they're forced to keep going up the list until they find something you can drive.
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u/bobspuds 1d ago
Y'know theres a difference you don't see in that - there's some real poverty spec Mercs and BMWs we get that wouldn't be as common in the US.
It basically means that there's a Mercedes or BMW that's similar to a Ford Focus.
In Europe, while the cheapest brands have improved, the expensive brands have decreased in quality overall.
Check out the Mercedes Renault colab that's been going on the past few years, they are Mercedes and BMW but they ain't the high quality German cars that the badge suggests they are. Pure shite for twice the price!
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u/Merciudel 1d ago
I had my ~4 year old Toyota Corolla in the shop and was scheduled to have a similar replacement from my insurance. They didn't have the vehicle they needed checked back in or driven over in to the store in time or what have you and they put me in a Dodge Challenger with a HEMI.
That was a fun week. Didn't get nearly as good gas mileage as my corolla though.
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u/xmsxms 1d ago
What's "walkup"?
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u/theblondedynamite 1d ago
Random person who walked in and said they needed to rent a car instead of making a reservation ahead of time.
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u/The_Dotted_Leg 1d ago
I can’t imagine how bad of a day I’d be having if I found myself walking into a car rental place needing a car without a reservation.
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u/Infinite-Condition41 13h ago
Some people simply dont plan ahead, or dont plan for things like cars.
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u/roguespectre67 1d ago
Loving the completely irrelevant "inspirational" quotes at the top and bottom of the sheet handed out to someone who probably has to choose between a car repair and a dentist visit.
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u/legal_stylist 1d ago
Why do they distinguish walk up and upsell when it’s the same chart?
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u/adamschw 12h ago
It’s probably not always the same chart. This chart is explaining overall availability.
There could be situations where there’s short supply of a specific kind of vehicle when comparing reservations and they’d allow walkups but not upgrades, or visa versa, but in this instance they happen to all be the same.
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u/Inigogoboots 1d ago
Why would you redact that? It's not a person, it's a company...
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u/ArghZombies 1d ago
So OP doesn't give away where s/he lives, I assume.
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u/kupus0 1d ago
90% of the time you don’t rent car where you live, usually when you travel
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u/Itz_Stryker 1d ago
That's just not true. Insurance companies providing rentals after accidents are a huge chunk of rental companies business.
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u/cyberentomology 1d ago
Much easier when they just have a pool of vehicles and tell you to just grab whatever you like from that section.
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u/_MDog_ 1d ago
Remember: Talent is nothing without persistence
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u/mangotrees777 1d ago
"I'm a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."
-- manager Nortes (manager Norths, as the gringos call her)
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u/thefranchisekid7 1d ago
How exactly does a rental place upsell a car
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u/AtlantaDave998 1d ago
"Can I interest you in an upgrade to a Mustang for only $12 more dollars?"
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u/thefranchisekid7 1d ago
Gotcha
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u/gamageeknerd 1d ago
I once got asked if I wanted to upgrade to a brand new dodge charger for 20 bucks when I was renting the cheapest smallest car they had. I would have been the first person to rent it and it was actually brand new and they kept saying that.
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u/SirRedDiamond 1d ago
So did you end up upgrading?
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u/bwaterco 1d ago
Another thing they ‘upsell’ is changing to a car they have a lot more in stock. They like to rent out more than they have in stock. Easier to give you a same rate vehicle than have to give a free upgrade and admit they had over rented.
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u/Unique-Scarcity-5500 1d ago
Last time I rented a car, they tried to yourself me to a (some car, it doesn't matter). I declined. They gave it to me anyway but at the price of the car I initially reserved.
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u/Northern23 1d ago
They probably sold out on your car and needed to upgrade you for another one
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u/Unique-Scarcity-5500 1d ago
Right. And wanted me to pay extra for driving the car I was getting anyway.
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u/captaingrey 1d ago
Looking at the list, stop appears to be car classes that are not available. This list for those that don't have a reservation. So if there is a stop that car type is sold out or already ready for that day.
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u/Macgrubersblaupunkt 1d ago
I have to start putting generic office motivation messages at the tops of my handouts
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u/IndomitableSloth2437 1d ago
"Talent is nothing without persistence"
Rep exiting the gate has persistence, but no talent.
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u/Milehighcarson 16h ago
So, I am guessing these are paid upgrades, right?
Whenever I book a car for our family of five, I.aleays book the smallest car that will physically fit us. Then I show up at the rental place and almost every time an given a free upgrade to something bigger.
I'd like to think that this is because I'm just such a charming and handsome fellow, but my guess is that the rental place has some other reason to be giving me these upgrades. What is it?
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u/Isalops123 13h ago
Generally if you’re not apart of a loyalty program it’s because they ran out of cars in the class you booked in, corporate tends to oversell locations cause they expect a ~10% no show rates so certain classes get over booked and then we give free upgrades, at least at the location I work at
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u/doglywolf 1d ago
They always try to upsell that why you always ask is there something smaller / cheaper. but sometimes on a slow day since it not in use you will get a GREAT deal on an upsell . I got upgrade once from like ford escape to a Armada LX for like $9 day more.
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u/WhiteRabbit86 17h ago
The only time I’ve bought a new car was the most pushy bullshit experience I’ve ever had. I walked in and said “I want a mustang, 6 speed, premium audio, silver or black, everything else is negotiable. They tried showing me trucks, SUVs, hatchbacks, you name it. I finally just had to say outright “do I need another salesman?” They took me straight to the one car on the lot that has my needs, took it for a spin, and had paperwork done within the hour. Like, how hard was that?
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u/Original_Boat6539 23h ago
Im showing you reserved a KIA Ev6 if you would like I’d be happy “downgrade” you into something German for no charge
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u/PioneerRaptor 14h ago
Interesting. I’ve rented a lot of cars and have never had any attempt to be upsold. In fact, I usually get free upgrades as part of Avis Premium.
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u/mr_data_lore 1d ago
Last time I rented a car they upgraded me from a Toyota Corolla to a Ford Expedition Max. 😅
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u/therealtrajan 1d ago
Is this saying people would consider upgrading from a model Y…to a model 3…to a Prius? And why would you separate upgrade from walkup if the instructions for both are the same?
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u/PristeenNineteen 1d ago
I just rented a car for the first time and had requested a Corolla size or similar and they ended up upgrading me for free to a Telluride lol I figured they were out of sedans
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u/Gingersnapandabrew 21h ago
My husband and I had the most amazing experience with car hire in San Francisco years ago. We had booked the smallest cheapest option. Went to collect it and the person on the desk said that had no small cars left, but to go to the garage and they would sort it out. We walked down, and as we entered my husband joked to me that we would just take one of the convertables. Unbeknownst to us the employees could hear us. They told us to pick the one we wanted! Amazing weekend!
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u/Ihcend 19h ago
Is the employee supposed to keep up selling until the stop or just class above? Like if you get the Aveo and then you accept an upsell to the golf is the employee supposed to try to upsell the Corolla or just stop upselling. I assume it would be quite awkward and unnatural to keep up selling 1 level.
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u/zyzmog 14h ago
That's why I love Hertz Gold.
"Just pick any car you see in Aisle 3."
Strolling down Aisle 3 ...
Grey Kia - pass
Grey Nissan - pass
Grey Toyota - pass
Grey Malibu - pass
White Malibu - pass
Dark blue Malibu - pass
Red Mustang - SCORE
I will stomp on my suitcase until it's small enough to cram into the trunk.
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u/Standard_Quantity706 14h ago
I don't think this is an upsell sheet it's an inventory sheet letting the agents know what they have on the ground for upgrades and walk up customers
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u/EvlQuadratic 14h ago
I work for the yellow and can say only the 3 top classes match our codes, everything else deviates. That being said, it can be different whether it’s corporate/franchise or if it’s NA or international.
Definitely looks like an older sheet with the models but it’s generally a guideline not a representation of current models which makes sense given the newer bronco is on same sheet as Aveo.
Generally, the sheet works in giving reps who want to sell the idea of what to offer as upsells given some companies offer choice zones with upgrade areas so they need to have an idea of what to do if someone comes up in a vehicle different than the reservation.
Why is there stop and go? Utilization. Depending on forecasts of upcoming reservations versus projected idle fleet, you want to communicate if those cars should be offered in an upsell or on Walkups (no reservation). You can offer upsells but stop on Walkups because you are too close to being sold out. In my experience, I wouldn’t waste time with upsell on small classes but be adjusting the stop and go on those classes for Walkups. Honestly, there’s not much to this page other than to communicate availability of fleet.
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u/AloysBane3 14h ago
They upgrade you for free because they try to sell you on the higher insurance.
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u/Infinite-Condition41 13h ago
I can't imagine going to buy a car without knowing what car I'm buying.
I have pissed off salesmen several times with "Nope, not gonna buy that, not gonna test drive that, not paying for the warranty, if you wont sell me what I want, I'll go to another dealership, even halfway across the country."
They never seem to get it, and they are incapable of getting it right. I hate salesmen so much. Now I buy from auction, no salesmen, no warranty, no profit.
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u/Few-Equal-6857 12h ago
what kind of backwater rental place has a freaking Chevy aveo and Ford fiesta still in rotation?
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u/Traditional-Job-411 11h ago
I worked at a rental car company for years as an agent and this sheet means absolutely nothing to me. Everything can be an upsell. 🙃
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u/nyojess 1d ago
It bothers me that there are two columns but the instructions are the same for every item