Having traveled quite a bit, I have to say this place was the worst I've ever seen in customer service. Pardon the long review but I think it's important. I reserved a rental car for one day here. We were arriving via taxi post cruise, ice climbing and then spending the night before going to anchorage (with a couple stops we wanted on the way). I called this location to make the reservation over a month in advance. I spoke a nice lady (Ginger). I explained my concern (that a bunch of pieces had to work together and that we might not be finished ice climbing by the 5pm closing time. And that I had two options.... stay in town for more and use a taxi back to anchorage or rent a car post ice climbing and stay at an air bnb near bear lake). She was very nice and said that if ice climbing didn't finish by 5pm it would be no problem, she lived in seward and she would simply come back to rent us the car after. Said there was a sign on the door with a number and that was hers. I'm thinking "amazing, I love small towns."
I call back a few weeks later as I haven't received my confirmation email. They say I don't need one, my reservation is in the system. I respectfully request one anyway, they send it.
The big day arrives, we wake up early, taxi to seward, ice climb, I get the ice climbers to drop me directly at hertz (by now it is 6:15pm). I call the number on the door. No answer, voicemail for. I call back 3 more times and on the third time, Ginger answers. She remembers our conversation but says she thought I was going to confirm a day or two before!! How??!? I've never confirmed when I have rented. And I have no idea what time ice climbing is done, until it is done! She says she is out of town until 1030pm.
So our family of 5, including 2 teenage boys, who are all tired, take a cab (not cheap) to the airbnb, drop off luggage, quick clothes change (no time for shower as cab is waiting) and go back to town for dinner. I text Ginger our plan and to meet her around 1030pm... after a few unanswer phone calls to confirm, she texts back ok and she'll text when in town but her phone is dying. We go to dinner, go to ice cream, then it's 10pm and the town is basically closed at that time so we hang out at a random hotel lobby. At 1030, I call her... straight to voicemail. 10:45 we walk to the hertz thinking she might be there... nothing. By 11, we call a cab and decide to fix it in the morning.
At 1145pm she texts me back that she is 45 min away!! WTH... you knew we were waiting and you know the town closes at 10! 1230am?!?! I text her not to bother and go to bed.
Next morning, we still have to get to anchorage, and we are still at an airbnb outside of town. At 8am I call Hertz. A different lady answers (which means maybe she could have opened the night before.... I just assumed it was solo type shop). I explain the situation, she apologizes. I propose a solution: they come get one or all of us, bring us to rent our SUV and give us $200 off the rental (a one day one way rental was $600) and explain that $150 was wasted in taxi money and $50 for a massive inconvenience seems fair. She again apologizes but says they don't have a shuttle service except on fridays and they don't take money off, that's just something they do (really??!?! But leaving people out in the cold waiting until 1030pm IS something you do?!?!). She says the manager is in at 9.
Honestly, by this time we have zero faith in this place and we just take a cab up to the airport and skip the stops we wanted to make.
It really kind of ruined the end of the trip for me and very unnecessarily. It's one thing to gouge people on a rental... $600 for one day?!!! But then to treat them like this.... I hope nobody ever rents from them again... call PJ's taxi and give renee your business because she was SUPER reliable and communicative. This place should be ashamed of how they treated us!! I'd love to see them go out of business!! read more
