I rented a car from National recently. When I picked up the vehicle, I asked the agent what it would take to switch to a Prius from what had been reserved for me. To my surprise, he said it would actually be a *downgrade* from the reservation. Huzzah!

At no time did the agent state that this would cost me an additional $700 (fees plus taxes). In my estimation, and by dictionary definition, this would imply: “a lower grade, rank, or level of importance.” I didn’t discover this oversight until after I had returned the rental.

Certainly, I was not expecting to cover month-long expenses accrued from this trip, and would have opted to stick with the original car assigned (had I been told it would have cost me $700 more for the Prius option).

Immediately, I posted my financial frustration to Twitter, making sure I referenced National’s Twitter account in the process. A few minutes later, someone from National reached out to me with a response tweet. We took the discussion to email.

The result? Within a day, all seemingly-erroneous charges were reversed. Social Media isn’t just for geeks, folks – it’s your direct line to customer service agents the world over.

More importantly, I’m more likely to *CHOOSE* National next time I go to rent a car – since I know I can get ahold of a human being should something go awry. It’s not a specific issue you should focus on, but how an entity handles the issue. Thank you to National for empowering Elizabeth to help me solve this issue, and for creating a repeat customer.