Comments on: Avis says “I wanna rock!”

By: minnie

minnie — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 13:43:48 +0000

I like this commercial a lot!

By: Cynthia Perrish

Cynthia Perrish — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 21:57:24 +0000

Thanks for the great info, I will definitely be back!

By: Becky Carroll

Becky Carroll — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 04:19:42 +0000

Kris, sorry to be so late in my response to you! You are right; for each customer that complains, many others just walk and are never heard from again. It is good to hear that complaints get sent to management from the call center; let’s hope Avis management was listening to its customers.

Belinda, thanks for chiming in! On the internet, you are never late, as posts last forever. You have hit the nail on the head. Whatever a company’s marketing looks (or sounds) like, it is ultimately customer service that will make it or break it for the customer. When there is a poor customer experience in more than one Avis location, that is an indicator of a more systemic problem.

By: Belinda

Belinda — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 22:30:57 +0000

I’m late to this post, so I’m not sure if anyone will read it, but it’s worth a try. The commercial was slightly annoying but certainly would not alienate me from a company. However, the horrible customer service that seems completely imbedded at Avis certainly will. My company recently changed to Avis as a preferred provider and as such, I have rented four times in 40 days – from three different cities. The first two poor experiences were in Denver, so I thought maybe there was just a problem at that location. Then I had it again in Orlando, and again in Indianapolis. This can’t be a coincidence.

By: Kris Seaboyer

Kris Seaboyer — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 12:50:53 +0000

Well, I fielded a call a few days ago from a woman who was very adamant that this commercial is both “degrading” and “obnoxious”. Now as we know, the customer is always right – far be it for me as a customer service rep to disagree with the customer’s opinion – but I personally thought that ads “you either love or hate” wind up being more controversial than they’re worth. That said however, there’s really nothing degrading about this ad. Like most commercials, it’ll have its run and be replaced, but some customers will think it’s due to their complaint.

No doubt when the ad agency made the commercial, they had no way of knowing it would cause the uproar that it did. Hey, it’s a cute concept. But we can’t gauge what the commercial will do in real life. Run as many focus groups as you want, but once it’s on TV it’s out there and public reaction follows.

To be honest, I have no way of knowing how many customers are “turned off” by the ad, but it would certainly seem that for every call we get complaining about the ad, we likely have a hundred people that speak with their wallets and don’t rent with us.

As a customer service agent, I can also tell you that we log our calls and that complaints do get sent to management.

By: Becky Carroll

Becky Carroll — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:55:57 +0000

Kris, thanks for sharing the reactions from your customers. I would be interested to find out the reaction from your end when a customer says this. How do you respond as a customer service rep? Has Avis been listening to the ‘net to see what others are saying?

Something that spurs customers to call and say they won’t rent until it is removed needs to be more closely looked into. While there are those of us who like the commercial, if customers are saying NO, it probably needs to go.

Thanks for reading and leaving your point of view, Kris!

By: Kris Seaboyer

Kris Seaboyer — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 19:38:24 +0000

I work for Avis Customer Service, and we’ve had multiple customers call and mention that they will not rent with us until this commercial is pulled.

I don’t know why, it’s a great commercial.

By: Becky Carroll

Becky Carroll — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 18:29:58 +0000

Thanks for chiming in, Brian. What is aggravating to some may be great to others. Hopefully it is great for the Avis target customer.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:30:05 +0000

Most aggravating commerical ever! The commerical is so aggravating you can’t forget it and you will discuss it with friends and I’m sure that’s part of its purpose. I didn’t get the concept that Avis is speaking the customer’s language because how overwhelingly irritating it is and I didn’t care about its message, I just want to find the mute button or change the channel.

By: Becky Carroll

Becky Carroll — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:47:34 +0000

Araf, thank you for your thoughts on the ad. As I mentioned, there are definitely those who like this commercial and those who can’t stand it. Is it good for a company to have an ad that is so polarizing? Does it turn away those who might have been customers longer, which is how you seem to be feeling? Or does that not matter as long as the “target customer” likes the ad, as Lewis suggested?

Great discussion, thanks!