Automotive Journal

BTNONline reports that a new J.D. Power study has found car renters are growing increasingly frustrated with rental car services. There was a 22-minute average wait time that customers had to endure.

Hindered by travelers facing long wait times, reduced availability of new cars and overall frustration with the travel industry, customer satisfaction in the car rental industry has waned, although the three brands that have the largest share of corporate rentals all are performing better than the industry average, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Rental Car Satisfaction Study of almost 6,000 renters, released today.

The satisfaction rating?based on costs and fees, the pick-up process, the rental car, the return process, the reservation process and shuttle bus or van transfers to rental facilities?dropped 17 points this year to 750 on a 1,000-point scale. In particular, the study pointed out that the 22-minute average wait time to pick up a car was longer than other wait-time aspects of travel, including hotel checkin, airport security and retrieving checked luggage.

The overall decline, however, largely follows a drop in satisfaction with all the aspects of travel, according to the study. "Rental car customers, in particular, are being faced with rising fuel prices and decreased availability of new rental vehicles, as major automotive manufacturers have reduced their rental fleet sales," Jim Gaz, J.D. Power and Associates senior director of travel and entertainment, said in a statement. "While the rental car industry faces its own specific challenges, customer satisfaction may also be influenced by the snowball effect from frustrations consumers are facing with the entire travel experience."

Enterprise Rent-A-Car was ranked the highest for the fourth straight year.

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