TheAgitator.com
Corporate Shaming: Dollar/Thrifty Car Rental Edition
Friday, September 5th, 2008One of the joys of having a moderately well-read blog is being able to publicly shame companies that give me crappy customer service. So add Dollar/Thrifty car rental to the list businesses I won’t be patronizing anytime soon.
When we were in Alaska, we initially rented from Enterprise. They were out of the type of car we’d reserved, so they sent us to Dollar/Thrifty, who gave us the same rate.
When it was time to return the car, we realized our flight was leaving several hours later than we had originally thought. So we called the rental office, and asked if we could have a few extra hours without being charged. The woman said it wouldn’t be a problem, and that she’d make a note on our rental agreement. If she had said no, it wouldn’t have been a problem. We would have come back at the agreed-upon time, and just killed a couple more hours at the airport.
The point is that we called and, after about 20 minutes of being on hold (how long could the line at the Thrifty-Anchorage Airport really be?), we were given the okay.
A week later, I discover that Thrifty had charged my credit card an extra $83. I called yesterday morning to ask what happened, and the manager told me the car was late. I explained that we had asked for permission to return it a bit late. He replied that there was no such note on the rental agreement. He then said that there’s only one woman who works at the office–his assistant manager–and there’s no way she would have told us we could bring the car back late without being charged another full day. The guy flat-out called us liars.
The manager manager then smugly told me that he’d be charging me a full day for returning the car three-and-a-half hours late, and there’s nothing I could do about it.
I regret to say that at that point, I may have used some profanity before hanging up the phone.
UPDATE: I sent a letter to corporate headquarters, and got an immediately apology and reply. A couple of weeks later, they sent me a check to cover the extra day I had been charged. So bad service at the franchise, great attention and help from the corporate office.
And you’re not calling your credit card company to do a chargeback… why?
shame about the cursing, but who hasn’t?
i suggest letting the CEO know what minor players are doing to their company’s PR.
Thrifty Car Rental
(800) 847-4389
5310 E. 31st St. (918) 665-3930
Tulsa, OK 74135 Fax: (918) 669-2213
http://www.thrifty.com
President/CEO: Gary Paxton
VP Sales/Mktg./Advertising: Brian Carpenter
brian.carpenter@thrifty.com
Staff VP Sales: Bob Thunell (918) 669-2440
bob.thunell@thrifty.com
I’m sure you’ve thought of this already but you should really contact the corporate offices and make you complaint to them. Franchisee or corporate-run, they are expected to hold up certain standards. Calling your customer a liar to hold on to some of their hard-earned cash is not one of them. I predict that if you do so, you will get satisfaction. Even if you didn’t have a well-read blog, they would probably find a way to do right by you. I would imagine that seeing as you do, they won’t like the negative publicity.
hmm. i was gonna suggest lighting up a thermite bloom over the engine block on a thrifty/dollar vehicle or 3, but i like dsmallwood’s plan even better. having a long, painful, semi-proctological chat with the CEO would ruin mr. pissant manager’s day much worse than would mere insured vehicle damage.
revenge best served cold and all that. thermite waaaay too hot.
Similar thing happened to me with Enterprise. When setting it up over the Internet, they told me child booster seat was included. When picking up the car at the airport, however, they charged me $50 for one week’s use. Next day I bought one for $19.99 with the intent of leaving it in the hotel for someone else and returned the rental, expecting a credit of about $42. Guess how much trouble I had getting my money? Car rental is a major fucking nickel-and-dime scam.
Car rental places give me a headache. I have some kind of mental block about when I’m supposed to bring it back with the tank full versus cruising in on the last drop and have also experienced the “sure, it’s no problem to bring it back an hour late” with the unspoken “but we’ll charge you for an extra day.”
And yet, it’s OK for them to accept your reservation for a certain vehicle but then not actually have the car available when you show up on time (cue Seinfeld) …
What a passive aggressive scheme? I’m sure they were hoping to get away with it since you were heading back to VA and couldn’t make a stink about it in person. I think dsmallwood’s idea is great, perhaps send along a link to this blog entry in the email.
Corporate shaming? But Radley, as a good libertarian, you’re supposed to be PRO-corporation! Haven’t you learned anything from liberals?
We got cheated by Avis in Cozumel. They claimed some invisible damage behind a taillight on a jeep that was beat to hell before we got it.
The credit card company (Citibank) did almost nothing. They suspended the charges as requested, but as soon as Avis Cozumel faxed a copy of the rental agreement to Citibank, Citibank put the charges back and said there was nothing more they could do.
We filed a complaint on Avis’ website within an hour of being overcharged, and about 4 months later, Avis corporate finally credited us back the overcharge.
Credit card companies get more money from big companies than from individual consumers, so if there is any doubt in the dispute, they’ll side with the merchant. But big companies care (a little) about reputation, so a civil, well-written complaint may get results. Don’t waste your time with the credit card company, go straight to Thrifty HQ.
I just tried reserving a car from Dollar yesterday, but when I called to see if there was anyway that I could keep the car an extra 3 hours and avoid paying for an extra day, they said “nope.” Asses. I don’t even mind paying a little extra, but a whole day?
At least they were up-front about it. But even so, I won’t be using them now. Definitely write to corporate headquarters.
As # 1 pointed out, all you have to do is call ( or do it online, I never call anyone) the credit card company and do a dispute. They will almost always take care of it.
I personally have never had a credit card dispute side with the merchant except for ONE reason: if the dispute is not timely. Usually if it’s within 60 days it’s taken care of.
I ran into a similar issue with National in Orlando. Rented at Disney World, told them I was returning it to the airport. They failed to set it up right (in spite of giving me directions to the airport for the return). No big deal though, or so I thought. Airport charges me $75 and the young lady behind the counter was a complete b****. Got home and called the 800 number and they took the charge off without a problem. You’ll get nowhere with the people on the ground - I really am not sure what their incentives are.
I avoid car rental places like the plague. I have enough trouble with hotels. Don’t ask. Seriously. Don’t.
It very likely depends upon the people working at the rental shops, but not *all* car rental places are crooked or unaccommodating. I’ve regularly rented cars from one of the smaller Hertz offices in the town I live in and they’ve regularly done things such as *not* charging for an extra day even through I both mentioned I’d be bringing it back a few hour past the deadline and reserved the car for that “extra day” explicitly, etc.
Needless to say, when I could use a newer car for a trip or some such, there’s one place I call first…
“The credit card company (Citibank) did almost nothing. They suspended the charges as requested, but as soon as Avis Cozumel faxed a copy of the rental agreement to Citibank, Citibank put the charges back and said there was nothing more they could do.”
My advice is to use Discover for high risk things like car rentals.
They are easily the best in handling disputed charges. I say this
after decades of experience…
Now you know why I do NOT do business with Citibank. Their customer “service” is non-existent.
I have a friend who worked for a rental car company. They would lie about having cars in stock to force an upgrade to larger cars for the “same price.” They would hope that the renters would not have their agreement with them and forget what the real price was. SOBs!
Certainly pay the cc bill, but it’s worth disputing the charge. Even if you don’t win, you will have caused them more paperwork, which is gratifying.
I would have smugly told him that I’d be disputing the charge with the credit card company, and there’s nothing he could do about it. Chase has taken my word over a chain hotel’s before on a verbal dispute.
If you made the call from your cell, you should have a record of it. Have you thought of using that as “proof” that you made the call?
#15 Billy - Discover, huh…will keep that in mind; I had car service done (well, not done, and in fact some of it done incorrectly), disputed it, and Visa still sided with the merchant “because I didn’t take the car back to let the merchant rectify it,” nevermind the fact that a) I only went to this guy out of desperation (that would be Foreign Auto Tech in Klamath Falls, OR) since my old Mercedes broke down while moving out of that town, so I sure as hell wouldn’t go back, and b) the fact that the shop was now 6 hours away. I had a statement from the mechanic who did the work right and several documents of evidence (pictures, etc) and they still sided with the merchant due to the technicality that that merchant gets to try to fix it…. Point being, good luck, the co. has you on the technicality, so I think those advising trying the company itself higher up are probably right….
I say give up, and salvage the time you would otherwise waste trying to get your $83 back. Every business relating to cars is crooked–rentals, sales, repairs, taxis, you name it. Never rely on anything anyone in a business directly relating to automobiles tells you unless it’s spelled out clearly in writing. Even then you are probably screwed because the person taking your money can’t do anything unless the computer is set up for it.
To The Other Jeff: Just wait ’til Chase takes the merchant’s side in a dispute. Which they will eventually.
Businesses are not that frightened when you tell them that you’ll be challenging the bill and for good reason:
*They’ve already got your money.
*Even if you’re right, the credit card co. may decide the amount is too small to be worth their time to dispute.
A word to the wise guy….
I agree that this can be a good approach. I usually address the message to the specific lower level people involved but copy the top corporate officers. At minimum, that makes the peons nervous for a few days. Usually, you can easily get the officers’ names off the internet and then you just find another email address for someone else at the company to get their email address format. Usually it’s first.last@company.com. This is where writing skills really pay off. If you do a good job, they will think you might be connected with some media organization. Finally, at the end, be sure to include a note that the message is being followed up with a paper copy being sent by snail mail, just in case the email addresses of the corporate officers don’t connect. You don’t really have to do that, of course. Corporate officers aren’t always that easy to get to. If the addresses are wrong, the message will be kicked back, but no one else who get’s your message will know that (at least until they do a “reply all”).
I have succeeded more than once in getting a personal call back from someone at the corporate offices with the power and the interest to make things right and that’s what matters. And there’s no doubt it can bring a lot of anxiety and embarrassment down on the heads of the people directly responsible for the problem.
Every time I travel I rent from Enterprise, unless my employer rents me a car from somewhere else in advance.
I have never had a bad experience. In fact, I’m almost always pleasantly surprised by their service.
From New Jersey to Maryland to Florida to California.
I’ve rented many times from Thrifty/Dollar, and never had a problem. I’ve always considered them a good value/service package.
However, I don’t bring the car back late…….
I have found when conducting business on the phone to WRITE down the person’s name who is conducting business on behalf of their company.
It is much more persuasive later, if there is any dispute, that “Veronica” gave you permission to return the car 2 hours late with no extra charge. Saved me a lot of grief with my travels and business.
Saying “some lady” gave you permission is unpersuasive.
Personally, if I reserve a car from a company and they don’t have it when I get there, I give them about a minute to rent me a better car at the same rate before I make a scene that brings brings all other business in that office to a standstill. When a company treats a reservation as nothing more than a gimmick to get you in the door, they’re not acting in good faith. Instead of calling it a reservation they should just be saying: “Let us know what you want and maybe we’ll have it when you get here.”
So what exactly can you do in Anchorage in 3 hours worth $83?
Rented a car from Dollar in San Diego. Waited three hours in line to get to the counter, had to send the wife ahead to the hotel in a taxi to get her off her feet and out of the sun. Horribly run company.
Rental cars companies act like computers were invented last week. Even though you enter your personal info and payment info online when you make a reservation, you seem to always have to start over when you get to the counter. Then it seems that they have to go through about 15 screens before they print out your 10 page contract on the last remaining dot matrix printers in the country.
Does anyone from management of these companies ever rent a car in the same manner most of us do? If they have a car waiting for them when they travel, they should discontinue that practice.
[...] happy to report that after I sent a letter of compliant to the corporate headquarters about my bad experience in Alaska, Dollar/Thrifty responded quickly, and then took care of the [...]
My wife and I rented a car from Enterprise, located in the local Walmart, for a week and then we had to keep it a couple extra days, NO PROBLEMO, no hassle. We knew of course we’d have to pay for two more days but other than that everything went swell.
Yesterday my wife made reservations through a travel website
and got a HELL OF DEAL in Mexico,but the Thrifty rent a car office was closed! at 8am in La Paz,Mexico both offices. Yes we called
ahead and No answer at both of them,go figure. I have to say
the European travel car rental was eager to help us out even
though they were abit higher. I never tried Thrifty before
and maybe never again.
Dollar Car Rental may come off as the cheapest……but wait for it. The quoted prices are only “Estimates”, even if you enter exactly the amount of time you will have the rental, they only quote you based on a “24 hour” clock, so 3 hours over they get you by the gonads, even if you thought you were being quoted for that 3 extra hours. Very frustrating, all I want is for an exact quote, just like every other person my money is valuable to me and I plan out where every dime goes. I have rented from other companies and have received accurate quotes and now that I have learned my lesson Dollar isn’t getting another dime!!
I will pay you to NOT rent at Thrifty in Anchorage