When Jiffy Rent A Car's chief executive Barry Davis decided to build the collision damage waiver into the price of Jiffy's rentals -- rather than offering it as an option -- he thought he had struck on a good solution to the CDW controversy. Unfortunately, customers thought otherwise: 4% of the insurance replacement firm's business promptly backed out, going to lower-priced operations instead.

Now, Davis concedes, the new policy seems to have been a "disaster" -- at least in the short term. Instead of matching our programs, our competitors have cut their rates and raised their add-on prices," he told Car Rental/Leasing Insider Newsletter. "Now insurance firms that had formerly recommended clients to Jiffy are sending them to our competitors."

Even so, Davis has refused to shift Jiffy's strategy on CDW. He claims the waiver is destined to "go the way of the dinosaur anyway."

 

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