You wouldn’t think that the simple act of hiring a car would be such a great customer experience would you? But it is, and it was. Not just once but consistently 3 times in a row. Now not many companies can boast of that.

It’s been a long time since I last needed to hire a car and on this occasion I certainly hadn’t planned to.

In short, my car broke down on the A1 just outside of Sunderland on the way to see a client. After being recovered from the roadside I was taken to a local garage in a small village called Sedgefield, who initially were optimistic about being able to repair my car the very same day. However, that turned out not to be the case and what was originally suspected to be a water leak was actually a head gasket failure! No quick (or cheap) fix here then.

By the time this was diagnosed it was about 5pm, having been recovered about 11am and I need to get back home in order to get to work the next day and the fastest way I guessed was to hire a car which I could then use the day after.

The garage gave me several numbers and I settled on calling Enterprise and got through to the local depot.

“Can you deliver a hire car to me please?”

“No sorry we don’t deliver”

My heart sunk and I started to conjure up visions of being stuck in a small village for the night with little prospect of getting home at all.

“But we can come and pick you up?

Result! And true to their word they did. The Enterprise staff that arrived were friendly and chatty despite it being past 6pm. By 7pm I was in a hire car and on my way back home much to my relief.

elogo1Over the course of the next 4 weeks, I hired from Enterprise a further two times, based on how easy it was the first time and how good it had felt for them to help me out when I most needed it. Ok so that’s what they do as a business, but they really delivered and didn’t add to my stress and frustration on that long day when my car had failed.

On each occasion, the hire experience was as good as it was the first time. Friendly staff, an easy and efficient process and a first class pick up service that was consistent.

On each occasion, they asked me if they could have done anything better but they really couldn’t and it’s not often that I say that.

Simple service and a great customer experience. Would I recommend them? Absolutely. Now that’s how you build loyalty.