No-show? Pay up

AVIS is to introduce a noshow
fee for renters who
don’t honour bookings
from the second quarter of
2015. The car-rental company
announced last year that it
would introduce the fee (TNW
June 5, 2013) but this was
delayed due to two reasons,
says Lance Smith, executive
of sales.
 “Namely, the launch of
no-show fees in the US and
Europe and our decision to
wait and see the reaction to
the fee in those markets and,
secondly, the system changes
to accommodate fees in our
region.” Lance says Avis has
implemented the fee in other
countries with no problems or
major challenges.
He says Avis is seeing on
average 10% no shows and on
some peak days they can be in
excess of 25%.
Avis is not the only car-rental
company in South Africa
contemplating this model.
Thrifty Car Rental is looking
at introducing a no-show in
the near future, specifically
for high-end and specialised
vehicles.
First Car Rental has already
started applying a no-show
fee for specific seasons and
events, whereby the no-show
fee amounts to 100% of the
value of the rental. Executive
head of strategy, development
and marketing, Melissa Storey,
says First started implementing
no-show fees during the Soccer
World Cup in 2010.
Sherl Camera, gm of
business development at
Hertz, says it reserves the
right to charge a no-show fee
if the customer fails to collect
the car within an hour of the
agreed collection time or –
with airport rentals – within
two hours of the flight arrival
time.