Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/1/13

[AdMEL]

Hi all,

Just received an e-mail offer to join Privilege and receive an upgrade to Executive tier free! Join by 31/1/2013.

I'm already a member, but only Club tier, so hopefully they'll still upgrade me! E-mail sent, so we'll see.

I notice the e-mail says guaranteed one class upgrade to a maximum standard sedan - not very high class!

What have others with Executive tier experienced with urgrades? Level booked and level received?

Has anyone else received this offer? I realise that most probably have at least this level through status match from Virgin, but not a bad offer for someone like me that doesn't!

 

[TonyHancock]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

I notice the e-mail says guaranteed one class upgrade to a maximum standard sedan - not very high class!

What have others with Executive tier experienced with urgrades? Level booked and level received?

I took the Privilege Elite status match through Virgin and have been utterly underwhelmed. (I re-qualified this week with 91 days rental.) I did not receive a single upgrade on my 8 European rentals, and had a 30% success rate in Australia. I think others here have done much better.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

I've certainly done well with executive level. Upgrades to Audis frequently (multi-level upgrades), but only at airports. At city depots, it's the reverse, usually NOT upgraded at all.I did re-qualify last year for executive level, but in their infinite wisdom (or useless computer program) I find myself bumped back to "Club" level. Numerous contacts made to resolve, but to no avail (yet) as it seems Nicole is the ONLY person in Australia that attends to status issues and as she does not return phone calls or emails, I'd be guessing she has a full "in tray" right now. So Hertz have got my last two rentals with more due next week.Just in case a Eurocar rep is reading, I might just point out that there is no use offering freebie status when you cannot deal with the genuine ones you currently have. At this rate, I'll be Hertz 5* before you sort out my Europcar status. 1000 miles per rental, here I come! PS - word of warning about Europcars computer system. If the computer says so, it cannot be argued with. No Europcar real person seems to have the abilty to override the computer and the computer can certainly be wrong.

 

[markis10]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

I've certainly done well with executive level. Upgrades to Audis frequently (multi-level upgrades), but only at airports. At city depots, it's the reverse, usually NOT upgraded at all.I did re-qualify last year for executive level, but in their infinite wisdom (or useless computer program) I find myself bumped back to "Club" level. Numerous contacts made to resolve, but to no avail (yet) as it seems Nicole is the ONLY person in Australia that attends to status issues and as she does not return phone calls or emails, I'd be guessing she has a full "in tray" right now. So Hertz have got my last two rentals with more due next week.Just in case a Eurocar rep is reading, I might just point out that there is no use offering freebie status when you cannot deal with the genuine ones you currently have. At this rate, I'll be Hertz 5* before you sort out my Europcar status. 1000 miles per rental, here I come! PS - word of warning about Europcars computer system. If the computer says so, it cannot be argued with. No Europcar real person seems to have the abilty to override the computer and the computer can certainly be wrong.

Your not a frequent Hertz renter are you, otherwise you would be complimenting Europcars computer system by comparison, that's coming from a Presidents Circle member for the past 5 years who won't be re qualifying this year, the discounts from Europcar are just too much to ignore. You can also use the computer rules to your advantage, there are some sweet spots!

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

Your not a frequent Hertz renter are you, otherwise you would be complimenting Europcars computer system by comparison, that's coming from a Presidents Circle member for the past 5 years who won't be re qualifying this year, the discounts from Europcar are just too much to ignore. You can also use the computer rules to your advantage, there are some sweet spots!

No you're very right there......an occasional Hertz renter. The allure right now are the miles. Not worth the pain?? On a different note, is there no where on the Hertz site which displays the miles earned?

 

[markis10]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

No you're very right there......an occasional Hertz renter. The allure right now are the miles. Not worth the pain?? On a different note, is there no where on the Hertz site which displays the miles earned?

Not that I know of, I credit to VS so it's a no brainer when I rent Avis or Hertz.

 

[AdMEL]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

I've certainly done well with executive level. Upgrades to Audis frequently (multi-level upgrades), but only at airports. At city depots, it's the reverse, usually NOT upgraded at all.I did re-qualify last year for executive level, but in their infinite wisdom (or useless computer program) I find myself bumped back to "Club" level. Numerous contacts made to resolve, but to no avail (yet) as it seems Nicole is the ONLY person in Australia that attends to status issues and as she does not return phone calls or emails, I'd be guessing she has a full "in tray" right now. So Hertz have got my last two rentals with more due next week.Just in case a Eurocar rep is reading, I might just point out that there is no use offering freebie status when you cannot deal with the genuine ones you currently have. At this rate, I'll be Hertz 5* before you sort out my Europcar status. 1000 miles per rental, here I come! PS - word of warning about Europcars computer system. If the computer says so, it cannot be argued with. No Europcar real person seems to have the abilty to override the computer and the computer can certainly be wrong.

That has been my experience with Europcar - see below.

Your not a frequent Hertz renter are you, otherwise you would be complimenting Europcars computer system by comparison, that's coming from a Presidents Circle member for the past 5 years who won't be re qualifying this year, the discounts from Europcar are just too much to ignore. You can also use the computer rules to your advantage, there are some sweet spots!

I rent from Hertz regularly and Europcar occasionally (as well as Avis regularly and occasionally Thrifty and Budget) and my experience has been as follows:

Hertz - have IT issues with where points credit (were still trying to credit points to QFF after Hertz ceased to be part of QFF and despite my profile specifying Velocity), but have always fixed this within a day of submitting request through website. Customer servicd generally very good.

Europcar - IT issues with overcharging me a couple of times. Never return phone calls or respond to emails or complaints. When I have managed to speak to someone they have been evasive and arrogant. Appalling customer service.

Avis - no IT issues, but customer service not that great. Luckily I've only had an issue and needed to call once.

Budget - as with Avis, since it's the same centre in NZ.

Thrifty - poor IT and bad customer service.

Overall, I would rank Hertz and Avis the best, with Europcar and Thrifty significantly worse.

N.B. when I refer to customer service, I'm mainly referring to their membership service (phone and email) rather than just reservations - when contacted for a problem. They all have problems and make errors - its about how quickly they fix them.

 

[AdMEL]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

Update ....

I have sent two e-mails to the privilege e-mail (as noted on the offer) - one asking whether existing accounts were eligible and one asking for upgrade of accouont, as per the offer. Sent a couple of weeks apart and both several weeks ago. No response to either e-mail! Terrible customer service! Didn't bother calling, given my previous experience with calling them (as detailed above).

 

[AdMEL]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

Further update ....

After writing this off as I hadn't heard anything by the end date of 31/1/13 and my account had not been updated, I was surprised to receive an e-mail today, saying my account had been upgraded! Almost seven weeks after I sent the request, which was supposed to completed within 14 days! Logged into my account to check and sure enough, it was showing Executive. To my surprise, the expiry date is 31/12/2014!

 

[markis10]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

Further update ....

After writing this off as I hadn't heard anything by the end date of 31/1/13 and my account had not been updated, I was surprised to receive an e-mail today, saying my account had been upgraded! Almost seven weeks after I sent the request, which was supposed to completed within 14 days! Logged into my account to check and sure enough, it was showing Executive. To my surprise, the expiry date is 31/12/2014!

Now to latch on to a good contact at the office you use a lot that recognises your value and always gets a nice car for you, I had one in Brisbane, she left at Christmas

 

[AdMEL]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

Now to latch on to a good contact at the office you use a lot that recognises your value and always gets a nice car for you, I had one in Brisbane, she left at Christmas

Might be easier said than done! There is a small branch about a 10-15 min walk from home, but I've only ever rented from there a couple of times and don't know them. My experience has been that they usually don't have much control over the cars they get, which are almost all trucked in. Other than that, I've rented from Melbourne City a few times - they are the ones I've complained about on here previously, as they're terrible! Last rental from there was a disaster - Audi A5 convertible with 2/3 tank of fuel (but noted on rental agreement as full!) and wrong/lower odometer reading on rental agreement, both of which I was told they couldn't amend! To top it off, staff member wouldn't mark a long deep scratch on the bonnet as damage, despite it clearly being damage according to their printed definition! Unfortunately don't rent enough to get to know anyone really well, like you do.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

I did re-qualify last year for executive level, but in their infinite wisdom (or useless computer program) I find myself bumped back to "Club" level. Numerous contacts made to resolve, but to no avail (yet). At this rate, I'll be Hertz 5* before you sort out my Europcar status.

Well, a month down the track and after 5 phone calls and three emails (1 call and 1 email to the Sales and Marketing director who sent me my nice new incorrect card) and the Europcar status lady finally reponded to my email (I'm assuming the Sales and Marketing director gave her a toe up the ring gear) and the email, although a step in the right direction, was plain rude IMHO.

It basically said:
1. that I am currently a Privilege Club member however she understands that I should be an Executive member, (and asked if that is correct)?
2. could I please explain this to her in detail so that she can investigate further and she will be able to get this issue resolved for me.
3. she looked forward to hearing from me.

No wonder she never has time to do anything. It would appear the good lady is one that makes work rather than completes work. No closing skills I would suggest.

Firstly, I already explained the situation to her and her boss about eight times already.
Secondly, it's not all that complex. Just look at my rental history and count 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.........executive level. If she is an amputee and missing the required digits to make it up to 10, I'm more than happy to purchase a $3.99 Aldi scientific calculator to help her out. Had she done that, the account would now be correct, a new card would be on it's way to me, I'd be booking Europcar again and she'd be happily processing the next job in her in tray, but no, what's she do........."I don't understand, could we start at the beginning oh and it's almost lunch so don't expect anything before than"!

Then I read the last line and it all became clear. She enjoys my social interaction and is looking forward to hearing from me. Well newsbreak, all I'm looking forward to is having my account restored to where it should be without further delay. If I haven't earnt exec. level due to some miscomprehension of the T&Cs on my behalf, tell me, otherwise fix it PLEASE!

So anyway, I play the poor misguided fool and send off an explanation email, yet again, and lo and behold, what do I get back...............

An auto-response stating:
Thank you for your email.
I am currently out of the office and unable to reply to your email.
My normal hours are Monday to Friday - 9am to 3.30pm


SHE ONLY WORKS A 6 HOUR DAY. That was mid last week and I still haven't heard back!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[markis10]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

Beware the Europcar lurker.....

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

Europcar executive again from today.

All good things come to those who wait it seems.

I must admit, I cannot understand how these companies have such difficulty dealing with such simple requirements.

 

[Ausbt]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

I've done a lot with Melbourne Airport as an Elite and I think they do a wonderful job. Quite a few out of OOL too, some good but with the odd issue. Upgrade-wise, I've had continual upgrades at the Executive and Elite levels and have been very happy with that. I have had a lot of overcharges though - in fact I handed a vehicle back at Canberra and two full days later they called me to ask if I still had it! But all have been fixed, just after quite a few emails.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

I handed a vehicle back at Canberra and two full days later they called me to ask if I still had it!

:shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

Europcar executive again from today.

All good things come to those who wait it seems.

I must admit, I cannot understand how these companies have such difficulty dealing with such simple requirements.

My "new" executive card arrived this week. Expiry 12/14. I guess every cloud has a silver lining after all.

 

[markis10]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

My "new" executive card arrived this week. Expiry 12/14. I guess every cloud has a silver lining after all.

Pretty easy way to get a good points haul at present at 12 points to the Dollar.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

My "new" executive card arrived this week. Expiry 12/14. I guess every cloud has a silver lining after all.

Another "new" executive card arrived yesterday with a 12/14 expiry. Seems I'll be collecting them like th HH cards soon!

 

[AdMEL]

Re: Eurpcar Privilege - join now and receive free upgrade to Executive tier until 31/

Another "new" executive card arrived yesterday with a 12/14 expiry. Seems I'll be collecting them like th HH cards soon!

Two cards seems to be a common problem! When they changed from the previous Ready Program to Privilege, I received two Privilege Club cards, a week apart! I've only received one Privilege Executive card so far, a week or so ago. It sounds like a second will arrive in the mail any day!