| Nigeria: Our People Don't Understand Businesses Associated With Airports - Ogunbajo, AVIS Boss
YOUTHFUL Kolawole Ogunbajo is the managing director of Avis Nigeria, the global car rentals giant. Ogunbajo cuts the picture of someone who is impatient with the system, as it were, in his country, Nigeria, and he has reasons to be, as will be seen in the conversation below which held in his Apapa office. Responding to a question about airports, his impatience with the system became palpable when he said that running efficient, friendly airports is not as difficult as it is made out here, and subscribes fully to the bid to concession airports if it will make them more business friendly. .
Hertz gearing up for rental-car fight
Mark Frissora isn't too concerned about the traditional Hertz-Avis rental-car rivalry these days. Instead, the chief executive of Hertz Global Holdings is trying to speed past Enterprise Rent-A-Car. The dominant rental-car company in suburban areas -- known as off-airport locations -- is Enterprise, which serves the insurance industry by catering to drivers who need wheels when their cars are being repaired. Hertz wants a bigger part of that business. "It's one of our growth strategies that we're doubling down on in a tough economy," Frissora said recently. Hertz has a strategy to grow despite recessionary conditions in the United States, which have bruised nearly every company that relies on consumer spending. Last night, the Park Ridge company reported record first-quarter revenue of $2.04 billion, an increase of 6.1 percent over the prior year.
Senior is denied rental car overseas
Question: My wife and I try to make one major trip abroad a year. This year we thought we would go to Northern Ireland in September, but every auto rental agency I've contacted has a maximum age for a car rental. I happen to be 82. Is there any way I can rent a car for this vacation? Jerry Gluck Laguna Woods Answer: This is what I love about travel. So much to learn, most of it fascinating. So many surprises, some of them aggravating. Like this one. Although many of us know that it can be tough for someone younger than 25 to rent a car, who knew there could be upper-age limits on foreign car rental? Some car rental companies did, including Hertz, which posts this on its site: "The maximum age for Hertz rentals in Northern Ireland is 75 years. Customers aged between 76 and 79 years can rent with specific conditions (you must drive on a regular basis, you will need to provide to the counter a letter from your doctor to state you have been in good health for at least 12 months and a letter from your insurance company to state you have not had an accident within the last five years)." We called around and there are some companies that will rent to older drivers in Northern Ireland, including Enterprise and Avis.
Rental car companies skipping toll road fees
Within 30 days of notification, the rental car company is supposed to provide information about the cheating drivers to the toll road authority so the county can track them down. But when it comes to Enterprise Rental Car? "Enterprise has been asserting it sent the documentation timely. And the county is asserting it did not receive that documentation," said Harris. "As such, we believe it's their responsibility to pay us and then deal with their customers." Enterprise isn't the only rental car company that the HCTRA says owes money. We're told that Avis owed nearly $400,000 to the authority, but settled for about half that amount. The county is also negotiating with the Thrifty and Dollar Rental car companies. To avoid the headaches, many of the larger car rental companies have started using an electronic system that's very much like an EZ Tag, so the county gets paid immediately.
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