I like GPS, I like it a lot. I don’t need it, but I want it. I don’t even know why I want it, really, but I do.
I’m away on business and I rented a car from Enterprise today, in part due to my fond memories of being able to rent cars from them prior to turning 25 (vote/serve in the military at 18, drink at 21, rent cars at 25… makes perfect sense), but mostly because they had a Travelocity special for pretty cheap rentals this week. As I’m in Beaverton, Oregon (a suburb of Portland) and have no idea where anything is here, I figured it would be helpful to have a robotic voice tell me to “turn around when possible” every 48 seconds or so.
When the guy behind the counter said, “Sure, here you go” and passed me a Garmin GPS unit (for a few bucks more per day), I was pretty impressed. I’m used to the Neverlost system from Hertz which makes you select a certain car class in order to have the service. The Garmin unit simply plugs into the lighter and suctions (is that a verb?) onto the windshield. Very simple, very cool.
They aren’t #1, and I don’t really think they try harder, but kudos to Enterprise for a very elegant solution to enabling customers to select GPS as an option. Sure makes the Kia Rio driving experience more palatable!
Just a fyi….Enterprise is #1 – they are the largest rental car company in North America and ranked #1 for customer service by JD Powers 7 out of the past 8 years.
Hey thanks for telling the unit that is in the car, I just rented a car online for my trip in Savannah, GA and was wondering if it was goinna be some cheesie generic GPS device. But now I’m excited! I too want GPS, probably don’t need it, but it’s nice to not get so lost sometimes.
Again, thanks!
I will NEVER travel without a GPS. Another way is to rent the GPS online prior to the trip. That way I not only have it in my car but I can unplug it and walk around and act like I know where I’m going. And there’s no chance of units not being available at the counter, which I’ve had happen. Good post. The age thang doesn’t make sense to me either, it’s completely backwards!