Pros:First: All major and regional airports who have not already done so should follow this format: San Diego airport has consolidated all rental agency locations into a single location, at airport but away from terminals, and provides 24/7 quick & friendly shuttle service to the rental car garage. Customer Service at the Thrifty/Hertz counter was quick & friendly, taking time to highlight the location of several area beaches we might visit in the half-day of free time we had on the area map provided to us. Extra product sales pitch was a soft sell, not insistent
Cons:What should have been simple: choose any car from this row of cars -- was not. And the agency's poorly-designed process for supplying cars ready for service left its first-line employees scrambling, stressed and devoid of a customer-service-first focus. It was incredibly frustrating and I for one, left that garage as most likely a one-time only customer. We selected one of only three cars in the whole line. We were prepared to load luggage when another customer who was leaving with his rental advised us that he was told this car needed service and was not available. Another couple had meanwhile chosen the next car over. We took the third/last. We loaded luggage; had it not been for the fact that I do a complete light check [during this timr we advised yet another customer that our understanding was the 1st car we looked at was unavailable ] then a walk-around, documenting pre-existing damage, and an in-the-seat familiarization routine we would have driven the car away-at least as far as the check-out booths, none the wiser. A harrassed-looking employee brought another vehicle to the line and advised us as I started the car that it needed service and was not available, pointing out a colored grease pencil marking on a side window, almost as if we were supposed to know what that meant (?!?!). He directed us to the (pretty ratty-looking) car he had arrived in and left, with no offer to help us transfer luggage over. Another 5-6 mins. for a light check, walk-around and video of all the pre-existing damage, etc. Drive over to check out, and there are seven of us waiting for help from one (friendly, efficient) person, while a person at the Hertz booth watches. The gal asked, "Are we running low on mid-size cars over there?" Yeah, you could say that.