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Automotive News & Views Rental Car Experiences?
92 messages, Last post on Nov 26, 2009 at 2:00 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: tedebear (Nov 01, 2009 4:39 pm) Yes, I know I'm replying to my own message but I figured anyone reading this might want a link to the original.  Anyway, I rented a Dodge Charger for 5 days this past week through Dollar while in Vegas. Although the $130.90 rate was correct by the time they added in all the taxes, airport fees, blah, blah, blah I ended up paying just a few cents shy of $200. That was even without any additional $10/day drivers or their overpriced rental insurance, which I declined. When I picked up the car the guy behind the counter seemed agitated that I didn't want their ridiculously overpriced insurance coverage. He became even more surly after I explained that my credit card company covers me when I pay for the car rental through them. He said that the car damages will be billed directly to my credit card and I would be responsible for paying it, not my CC company. Do they get a commission or something for getting people to buy that stuff? I felt that he was implying that he already knew that there would be some sort of damages charged to me. This was before I had even seen the car. I've been through that with another rental company and now I make sure any existing damage is noted before getting in the car. At least one company apparently likes to keep things like a rock chip on the windshield and have multiple renters pay for it before it is fixed. His attitude was about enough to motivate me to file a complaint with Dollar, which I may do later this weekend. I asked him about any grace period when returning the car. We picked it up at 10:45 a.m. but our flight back home 5 days later wasn't until 2:30 p.m. I didn't feel like sitting in the airport for 4 hours. He said that even if I returned it a minute late I would be charged an additional day's worth of fees and taxes. When I pointed out on my Internet printout that the $130 rate was for a WEEK (not just the 5 days we had it for) he said that didn't include the taxes and other things that I mentioned. He repeated that it would be about an additional $60 if it was even a minute late. I went to the Dollar website earlier today after I got back home and checked the rates and discovered that he was wrong. It would have only cost me about $5 more in taxes if I returned the car 3 hours past the 24 hour cutoff. His attitude in general and misinformation makes me even more inclined to notify Dollar. I'm sure his name or employee badge number is somewhere on my rental agreement. Fortunately, the return side went very well. I dropped off the car, the guy barely looked at it, printed out a receipt and I was on my way. I will probably do business with Dollar again sometime because of their low rates; I just hope it's not with the same counter person. Maybe they'll send me a discount coupon for my aggravation.
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Replying to: tedebear (Nov 14, 2009 12:18 pm) The Alamo people in Orlando were a piece of work. They really want everyone to just work through their machines. I usually try to sweet talk my way into a nicer car for the same money at the counter but it looks like that may be a thing of the past. Anyway, I finally end up at one of the machines which locks up on me with my credit card already in there. Smarmy full of himself Alamo guy takes my stuff and we go to another machine. He proceeds to demonstrate how everything I said didn't work on the machine indeed doesn't work again, finally manages through everything and then neglects to give me back my license and credit card. I'm so tired at this point that I drive away without them which resulted in another trip back to the airport the next day.... Next time I'll likely do everything by phone and bounce rates off the different companies until I hit bottom - or maybe just drive down...
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Replying to: tedebear (Nov 14, 2009 12:18 pm) Yes they do. A guy that works for us at the dealership used to work at an Enterprise place and part of their pay plan is commission/profit sharing from up selling insurance and other products. |
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Replying to: fezo (Nov 14, 2009 5:29 pm) Well, they say the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Here's an email response I received today from Dollar CS about the complaint I filed Sunday. Dear Mr. xxx, Thank you for notifying us of your recent experience with Dollar Rent A Car in Las Vegas. On behalf of Dollar Rent A Car, please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience you experienced. Please accept my personal apologies for the unacceptable behavior and misinformation exhibited by our employee. I was very disturbed to hear of your experience and want to assure you this is no more acceptable to us than it was to you. We pride ourselves on our employee's ability to provide excellent customer service and to be fully informed. The details of your experience have been forwarded to the General Manager of this location for immediate corrective actions. We understand there is nothing we can do, short of a sincere apology, to make your recent experience any better, however, we would like your next experience to be more pleasant. As a gesture of goodwill, I have mailed two certificates, which is redeemable at any Dollar Rent A Car location in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Caribbean, and Australia. We appreciate your business and hope you will allow us another opportunity to fulfill your car rental needs in the efficient, professional manner you expect and deserve. Thank you once again, Mr. xxx, for taking the time to notify us of this situation. We look forward to serving you again soon at Dollar Rent A Car. Sincerely, xxx xxx Member Services Representative
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Replying to: tedebear (Nov 17, 2009 7:39 pm) Shouldn't it be 'are' not 'is'? Maybe you can get another certificate out of him by pointing out his error. 
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Replying to: british_rover (Nov 18, 2009 7:54 am) BTW, did they say what the certificates are for? Specific discount? Use instead of AAA? Get out of jail free?
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Replying to: fezo (Nov 18, 2009 12:25 pm) If they're certificates for a free rental of the Lamborghini I saw for rent that normally goes for $1,350/day I'll be very happy. However, that wasn't offered at Dollar. I'll post the details of the certificates when they arrive.
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Replying to: tedebear (Nov 18, 2009 6:42 pm) |
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Replying to: fezo (Nov 18, 2009 12:25 pm) I received my two "sorry for the trouble" certificates from Dollar earlier this week. Each one is good for $10 off my next rental. I didn't see an expiration date on them. I didn't file a complaint to try and get any freebies. I just wanted to vent off a little steam from my Vegas rental experience. The $20 is just a bonus. |
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| I rented a Hyundai Accent for a couple of days in upstate New York. It was the usual cheap plastic/cloth interior. The engine was pretty refined (especially compared to a few year-old Corolla I rented in Hawaii a couple years ago) and the steering had good feel and was tight. I thought it was a pretty decent car for a cheapo. | |
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