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Renting a car is one of those transactions that should be fairly straightforward. But if often turns out to be anything but ... and Dollar customers seem to have more than their share of problems, as the complaints in this section show.
Here are a few of the more recent complaints:
Nancy of Tucson AZ (04/20/09)
I fly into the Bay Area very frequently and am an Express member of Dollar. My last three rentals have left me with numerous difficulties and very poor service from Dollar. One rental from Oakland Airport was a car with a faulty turn signal. I was required to drive it to SFO to get another car. I then came into SFO on March 11, 2009 and received a car that seemed all right.
On the 12th, the low tire pressure light came on. I called and was told it was my issue and to get the tire filled with air - or I could drive it to Oakland or SF airport for a new car. I filled the tire with air, as I did not want to drive vaery far with low tire pressure and difficulty in driving. The driver's rear tire was at 10 psi. I told the Dollar raod assistance person that I had a mediation the next day (the 13th) and a flight out of SFO right after the mediation and did not want any difficulty getting to the airport or making my flight. I was told there would be no problem.
On the way to mediation on the 13th, the low tire pressure light came on again. I called Dollar's road assistance again and was told that I would have to pay for a tow company to come and put on the spare, although the car was supposedly new. After waiting 2 hours, I found that the tire change did not help the situation. I told Dollar that they had to get me a new car that was safe to get to the airport. Four hours later, they had a horrid car towes in. I had to leave and stop the mediation 8 times to address the problem. I was treated shabbily by Dollar personnel.
On March 21, 2009, I rented another Dollar car from Oakland airport only b/c all other company's showed very high rates (apparently due to Spring break). When I arrived, there was a line of about 6 people all waiting for car with no car except 2 Seabrings. I was given one of them, which had not been cleaned b/c there were empty water bottles on the floor of the back seat and the car was dirty on the outside. I asked why students on Spring break were given prioity over regular Express members. I was not given an answer.
I took the car - then noticed that the entire car shook when I stepped on the brakes at a speed of 50 mph or more. When I drove at lower speeds, there was no vibration. I called Dollar's road assistance again and was told that the break rotor was bent and would cause the vibration once the car warmed up at higher speeds. I waited until after 11 pm for a new car - had requested a Kia or another economy car and was guve a bright orange-gold Mustang with faulty turn signals. I was so upset that I called and had them tow this car away as well. I was promised four times that a supervisor or manager would call me. No one called.
I finally reached a supervisor called Jason who hung up on me when I started calmly to explain all the difficulties. I called back and waited on the line for supervisor Randy (no last names are allowed, per the representative) for 25 minutes before hanging up. I sent Dollar a letter demanding full refunds for the last two rentals and demanding 900 for three hours of my time, explaining that I had spent much more than that amount on their car troubles that had placed me at risk. They have yet to respond.
I lost a number of hours of sleep and work time trying to solve their problems. Shakima of Bronx, NY April 17, 2009
Shakima of Bronx NY (04/17/09)
AT East elmhurst NY. Dollar Car Rental. But, I rented the car online the amount stated 53 on carrental.com. To begin, I printed it out and never received a confirmation.So luckily I had this printout. so when i arrived at the dollar car rental I was told that because I am from the bronx i am going to be charged an additional 53 dollar. Since we did not have the extra funds the sales rep knew this nad by the way her name was Karen S. She said since you have an american express card National car rental will do it for you. We was sent out the door.
Of course, when we arrived there, they didn't have any more vehicles and we was sent out the door once again. so when we returned I was told to call the 866. the contract doesn't say that we are going to be charged and additional 53 because we are from the bronx. we called dollar car rental and spoke with someone by the name of rebecca rep id no. is 59448 and was placed on hold for a long time because we asked to speak with a supervisor. the supervisor told us to speak with the manager there on the premises. Which you can see is a run around getting someone to answer my questions. her name is samantha 67583. I want someone to explain why I was charged an addtional amont. This is discrimination!
the price is out of my league Tammy of Elkhart, IN April 12, 2009
Tammy of Elkhart IN (04/12/09)
I rented a vehicle from Dollar Car Rental a month prior to leaving for vacation. The car rental we secured quoted a complete price including taxes 160.00 upon picking up the vehicle, we we charged much higher fees. The bill came to 560.00. That is twice as much!! If they are quoted a price they should honor the price!!
Jane of San Diego, CA March 25, 2009
Jane of San Diego CA (03/25/09)
In January 2009, my husband and I rented a car int he Dallas airport. We were not aware that Dallas had the toll tag camera lanes. California has toll lanes but they are clearly marked with label and toll amounts. We were never informed of the Dallas area toll roads or offered a tag. These toll roads are all around the airport. Two months after our trip, we received a letter stating that we had had 2 violations on the toll roads and our credit card was being charged 25.00. We were given a complaint number to contact and were so poorly treated.
I was simply asking for Dollar to help their customers with information on the toll roads. Their agent informed me that I should have known better and it was all my fault. I asked to speak with their supervisor and received better treatment. Then this week we receive a photocopy of the sites where our violations were suppose to have happened. There was no formal letter with those photos. Dollar's customer service is so poor. When I read your site and found others in similar situation, I realized that there is a company problem with this agency. We will not be using them again.
Katrina of Honolulu, HI March 24, 2009
Katrina of Honolulu HI (03/24/09)
I was traveling on government orders on Mar 15,2009 and had reservation with Dollar. Upon my arrival I phoned the 800 number and informed them that I would be arriving later that night. They told me that it would not be a problem.My plane landed at 10:40pm and I called the 800 number over six times and each time they told me the driver was on his way. Long story short by 12:30am the driver never came and I ended up getting a more expensive rate with Alamo. I think that dollar is very unprofessional and need to fix this issue so noone else will have to go through the pain and hardship that happen to me. Dori of Austin, TX March 5, 2009
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