Comments on: Corporate Shaming: Dollar/Thrifty Car Rental Edition

By: Cameron

Cameron — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:13:08 +0000

Rented a vehicle from Thrifty on July 3rd for the holiday weekend. On Tuesday went to return the vehicle and the car was running very poorly so I pulled off the freeway and called thrifty roadside help which they told me they would send a tow truck which was fine. Minutes later I got a call back from thrifty stating it would be a 45 minute wait which I told the rep I could not wait 45 minutes as I was already late to my appointment at work. Once the tow truck driver got to the location he called me which I told him where he could find the keys. Weeks later after coming home from vacation I see a demand letter stating the vehicle which I couldn’t understand so I check my bank account and I see charges over $1000.00 so I call them to find out what is going on. I couldn’t believe not one person seems to anything! I asked to speak with a supervisor and was told they would call me back which never happened! Spoke with another rep which told me “the 2nd car was never returned” which I asked her what 2nd car was she talking about I never rented a 2nd car from you guys! I asked her if she could email me or fax me the info which she stated she could not do. I told her in no way had I ever rented a 2nd vehicle! After doing my own research come to find out the thrifty tow truck driver dropped off a 2nd vehicle when he picked up the 1st one which has to be dumbest thing I ever heard!! Who in their right mind would drop off a car to someone that was not even there and not even notify them! I have filed complaints at better business bureau which they just closed out due to Thrifty never repling. At this point I’m just going to have to get a attorney and sue them!

By: Josey

Josey — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:59:23 +0000

This is October 2009 – Thrifty hasn’t changed much – Rented in Raleigh, NC on the 15th. The first thing when we got to the counter they wanted to do an upgraded. They had put the reversation in my husband’s name – when we informed them that he doesn’t drive that I do they added an additional $90 to contract for “extra” driver. Then when we informed them that our insurance carrier cover what ever vehicle I driving – they said then you need the basic coverage @ $215.96 extra – I said NO I was then told that I could decline coverage but I would be responsible for any and all damages. I declined the coverage.
When we were putting luggage in the I noticed a ding (about 1 inch long) in the rear bumper – I thought nothing of it -I’ve rented cars from Avis, Hertz, Enterprises where there been slight damage without problems. When we returned the car the girl that checked it in made a big deal about the damaged “we” had done to the vehicle. Forced me to fill out a loss form. When I told her the damage was there when we got the car, her comment was “they’ll know for sure that you did it in a minute”. On the loss form I wrote this is the first and the last time I will rent from Thrifty.
I will be writting a letter to the President of Thrifty and also sending a copy to Southwest Airline from whom website I made the reversations.

By: Ron Patterson

Ron Patterson — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:43:21 +0000

Thrifty…. Hmmm. Let’s see. Rented a car in Mexico City and a drunk guy on a bicycle ran into us – literally. Had full coverage and under the contract I would only be responsible for 10% deductible on the car. They would cover the attorney, etc. Two days of hell in Mexico, return home and there is a charge a month later for $1930 on the card. Disputed and never got the money back. Never could explain to me how a car worth maybe $5000 with a scratched fender at 10% equaled $1900. That would be a 20K car totaled.

Denver International. Usually rent from Hertz or Enterprise, both of which auto enrol in the toll program. No one at Thrifty said anything about it at all. Two months later, a $300 charge for toll violations. This one, they reveresed for $18, but that is still more than what the others charge by default. Also, they always pull the whole upgrade crap on you to charge you for the upgrade when they don’t have the car you booked.

Strike two Thrifty…

By: Mari Winfrey

Mari Winfrey — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:00:47 +0000

I arrived at the Denver airport planning on picking up a car @ Thrifty for our family vacation to Steamboat Springs, CO. After searching my envelope with all of our reservations I realized I had left the Thrifty reservation on my desk at work. Being the age of the computer I “assumed” the reservation would be in the Thrifty computer. I was told that without the reservation number I could not rent a car. Not only did they not honor my reservation, there were no cars available at any agency at the Denver airport. There were literallly 10 people (all men in business suits) looking at each other in disbelief! You can imagine facing my family!!! Fortunately for me a police officer approached me and gave me a card of an rental car company that was started by a United Airlines pilot for airline employees. They were wonderful. Gave me a great rate-$50.00 per day for an Izuzu Rodeo, unlimited milage and waved the fee for an extra driver!! When in Denver call “Airline Auto Rental” Toll free 800-276-2143 Local 303-333-2143. Let’s give our business to a small business owner that cares!!

By: greg

greg — Sat, 23 May 2009 02:12:57 +0000

I will pay you to NOT rent at Thrifty in Anchorage

By: Jodi

Jodi — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:21:31 +0000

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!!

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:58:14 +0000

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.

By: tjbbpgob

tjbbpgob — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:38:57 +0000

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.

By: The Agitator » Blog Archive » Dollar/Thrifty Comes Through

The Agitator » Blog Archive » Dollar/Thrifty Comes Through — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:19:03 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: mike

mike — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:28:57 +0000

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.

By: Gerald A

Gerald A — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:12:51 +0000

So what exactly can you do in Anchorage in 3 hours worth $83?

By: Dave Krueger

Dave Krueger — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:28:01 +0000

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.”

By: Whim

Whim — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:54:59 +0000

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.

By: JP

JP — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 06:20:04 +0000

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.

By: Dave Krueger

Dave Krueger — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:36:13 +0000

#2 dsmallwood

i suggest letting the CEO know what minor players are doing to their company’s PR.

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.

By: Andrew Williams

Andrew Williams — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:24:33 +0000

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….

By: Don't bother

Don't bother — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:18:12 +0000

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.

By: Tim C

Tim C — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:18:05 +0000

#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….

By: Julian

Julian — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:52:39 +0000

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?

By: The Other Jeff

The Other Jeff — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:41:56 +0000

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.