Coming home from San Diego, I ran into a very simple, but powerful example of the difference of how the same service was done by a private sector entity vs a public sector service: a bus.
Avis: taking the bus to the Terminal after dropping off the rental car.
Not a new one, but in very good condition. It was clean to the point of being spotless, maintenance was absolutely up to date from a cosmetic standpoint: the carpeting on the baggage holders was in good repair
- the seat cushions were looking clean and well cared for
- the floor had no stains
- and I only saw a couple of small instances of paint chipping.
Oh yeah, and the glass was clean too and it "smelled" clean.
Having to go between Terminal 2 and Terminal 1, I took public sector "Red Bus"
First impression was of the driver. My knee buckled and I had a problem trying to hoist my rolling bag up the front steps – he just sat there and looked as if I was a mere inconvenience – I got more of a response from one of the passengers for assistance than him. Frankly, take all of the "good" items from the Avis bus, and turn them 180 and that pretty much sums it up.
Oh, and it needed a tuneup too (running rather roughly).
Why the difference? Sad sack there could have cared less…
…if I got on or off – he’ll get paid regardless of his behavior or the condition of his rig (and he probably had no "skinny in the game" concerning its appearance either.
The Avis driver – motivated by the profit motive! If he didn’t perform (and he was assisting passengers with their bags), if he wasn’t polite, and if his rig was not clean and operational, passengers just might decide to use his competition.
That’s self-interest at work on one hand. It was a demonstration of a don’t-have-to-care attitude at work.
Jus’ saying….your mileage will vary. But having been a VERY frequent flier for decades, I’ve seen it replicated time and time and time again all over the country when Government decided that it could do the job better. Not once could I ever agree.
