Complain about a product or service

Thrifty Car Rental

John of Boulder, CO November 17, 2009

We rented a car for three days from Thrifty in San Francisco. We opted to refill it ourselves, three blocks from the rental agency. We left the car in the garage that Thrifty was located in, overnight. When we checked the car in we were informed that it was not full. Having been very careful to refill, this was surprising. We argued and I showed them receipts proving we had filled up. Finally we agreed that I'd watch them put gas in, and sure enough it took exactly five gallons. Clearly someone (in the same garage as Thrifty, mind you) actually stole five gallons of gas from the car, which did NOT have a locking tank or interior release. Despite clear evidence that we'd been diligent in refuelling, they insisted on charging their 8/gallon price. After much arguing with management, they finally relented and charged us "only" double the market rate. OK, they didn't legally have to do even that, but it sure felt like they had no compunctions about gouging the victim.

Josh of damariscotta, ME October 7, 2009

CarRentals.com never mentioned the mandatory insurance fee Costa Rica charges, even when you have your own insurance. All it said was 'Total with Taxes & Fees". Thrifty chose to charge 20+ for this insurance bringing our reservation from 12.99/day to almost 35/day. Not very Thrifty. You can pay as little as 7.99 for this. Thrifty had no options for us & by the time you get to Thrifty from the airport, you're stuck and have no real options. Find a different rental company & do your research to avoid the bait & switch. They were horrible to deal with and I saw 3 other people while I was there upset as well... 2 left. They were unwilling to do anything to help satisfy the customer... nothing. I will never rent from Thrifty again.

Jennifer of New York, NY October 2, 2009

I booked a reservation on the Thrifty website on August 11, 2009 for a car in Florence, Italy on September 24, 2009. When I arrived to pick up the car, I was told that no cars were available. The 'solution' was that the agent, Alex Zino, walked up and down the streets to other rental car dealers to see who might have a car available. When he got to the 4th or 5th one, National, they had a car available and he was happy to hand me off to them (of course it's way past 9:00am now, which is when I wanted to pick up the car).

But the rate they have available is nearly twice as much as the one I booked. I had a rate of 48.20 euros, and their rate was 80 euros. When I told Alex I shouldn't have to pay the difference he disagreed and said I should be happy because 'my problem was solved. I had a car so I should be happy.'

I have a signed note from Mr. Zino saying that no cars were available from Thrifty on that date. I had no choice in this situation but to rent the car from National and pay the higher price because I needed a car that day, for just the 1 day. I ended up paying 120.15 for the rental from National when I should have paid much less with Thrifty. Thrifty is completely unreliable!

William of San Diego, CA October 1, 2009

On Aug 31, 2009,I was charged more than 300 for, according to them, damage to the car I rented from Aug 19-25. When I returned the car, I wasn't told about any damage. They didn't call me, didn't send any letter. When I called them to clarify the matter, it seems like they're just fooling around with me. Until now there's no letter from them

D. of Clifton Park, NY September 27, 2009

I was a walk up rental customer having the ability to choose many other car rental options at Orlando Airport Site. I chose Thrifty. I told the agent I was looking for an economical car for a two day rental. I also stated I DID NOT WANT THE ADDITIONAL INSURANCE COVERAGE OFFERED BY THRIFTY... KNOWING MY OWN COVERAGE WAS ENOUGH. She came back offering a much larger SUV (not what I was looking for) and an offer (a "special" for that day) of the additional insurance being "INCLUDED" WITH THE DAILY RENTAL CHARGE.

I AGAIN SAID ..I DO NOT NEED THE ADDITIONAL INSURANCE. She said it was a special deal along with trip saver( a form of AAA coverage @ 5.99 per day).... I was not going to argue. Turns out I did actually pay for the "LDW1" coverage @ 24.99 per day, and the tripsaver coverage @ 5.99 per day... over and above the rental cost. Looking back I realize the agent watched me closely as I initialed the circled charges which was an acceptance of these charges .. Unbeknownst to me!

I was lied to and treated with deceptive practices. The codes they use for these insurance charges are not explained and even if you state EXACTLY what you want they deceive you. I tried several customer service complaints.. they all stated because I signed the form and initialed the charges the bill was valid and they would not remove the charges of 49.98 and 11.98 ... BE AWARE!!!!

Alva of Onawa, IA September 25, 2009

We reserved a car from Thrifty in June for a trip to Germany in Sept. We rented the car thru CarRental.com and purchased additional insurance for 155. Arriving in Munich, when we attempted to get our vehicle, we were told they would not accept the insurance we had purchased and would not give us a car without purchasing addition insurance for 200. We had no choice We had to have a car,so paid the additional costs.

We feel that if Thrifty allows other companies and web sites to use their name and logo, they should accept the reservations and not attempt to blackmail customers who are at a disadvantage. Never again will we rent from Thrifty and will inform everyone we know to do the same. Our total bill for the car rental was over 1000 American dollars including insurance for 2 weeks use. We had already paid 155 to the other co.

Ronald of Tulsa, OK September 24, 2009

My wife and I reserved an auto from Thrifty in Frankfurt Germany but after reading review comments about their Loss Damage Waver (LDW) policy and refusal to honor the insurance provided by using a MasterCard Gold/Platinum credit card in place of the LDW, we requested a policy statement from their home office and a copy of the benefits from MasterCard.

In the MasterCard benefits statement it clearly states the insurance is effective in all countries except Ireland, Israel, or Jamaica. I emailed Thrifty quoting the statement from MasterCard and asked if this was acceptable by Thrifty. Rick M of Thrifty responded that Thrifty accepted the Master Gold/Platinum in lieu of LDW. I then requested that Mr. M send me a statement that I could take with me to Germany confirming that Thrifty accepted the insurance provided by the Gold/Platinum MasterCard. I did not receive a response to that request or another request a few days later.

We took the MasterCard benefits booklet with us in case we had problems. Upon arrival at the Thrifty counter, we were told the MasterCard was not acceptable in lieu of the LDW without a specific letter from MasterCard stating that we (by name) were covered by their insurance in Germany and we would have to buy their LDW or put up a very large deposit. We immediately cancelled the Thrifty reservation and went to Hertz who had no hesitation in accepting the MasterCard in lieu of the LDW.

It appears Thrifty is playing a con game. Since Thrifty refused to provide a written statement confirming they accept the MasterCard insurance, they are obviously aware of the Thrifty Germany policy. The day may come when they make this a company wide policy, don’t get caught. After making a reservation and arriving at your destination, they feel they have you cornered and can force you to buy their LDW. Don’t accept this blackmail. There are other auto rental companies that will accept the MasterCard in lieu of the LDW.

Mercedes of Coral Gables, FL September 21, 2009

We had reserved a car with Thrifty on-line to pick up in San Francisco with Drop off in Los Angeles, we got an excellent rate with a drop off charge which we didnt mind. This was a trip of a lifetime for me and my friend (two senior citizen ladies). When we went to pick up the car, they asked us for a credit card. Because the 3 credit cards we had had a maximum credit line of 300.00 each and they required 350.00 they would not rent us a car. We asked if we could give a cash deposit, if they could split the deposit in 2 cards, and they said it was not possible. We tried to get additional money into our credit cards, but it was not possible, due processing time would not post immediately, we spent half a day dealing with credit cards, bank, etc. I think they did not want to work with us, because they did not want to honor the rate we had and they had plenty of business (Labor day weekend). We had rented a car two weeks before in Florida and had no problem. What is going on with these car rentalscompanies today? When the economy is so bad, instead of helping the economy they are obstructing people from using these common services? and helping the economy?

Jane of Belper, CA September 19, 2009

Before we booked I repeatedly asked the company who booked this car hire, Net Flights, to ensure that EVERYTHING was included in the cost. We did not want to arrive after a long flight to find we needed to pay additional amounts. This was assured to me. Hmmm

On arrival we proceeded to Thrifty on the outskirts of the airport. We were greeted by a less than customer service oriented person and when we presented our voucher we were shown a small notice that said what was included in our hire. This was not the same as our voucher. When I pointed out our voucher included, for instance 24 hour recovery, we were told repeatedly that "the card shows what you have", you do not have that cover. All vouchers from the UK are always wrong ! Why are they always wrong.... Anyway, we were getting nowhere so we said we would follow this up on our return to the UK - BIG MISTAKE !

We were told to go out and choose our car. We had booked a specific 4x4 and had been told there would be plenty of these, even though it said "or similar", as it was a large major airport. Well, there was one and it smelt like an ashtray. So we were forced to choose something which we considered far inferior, and which indeed turned out to be far inferior, the major problem being a boot with no smoked windows or cover which meant we had to lug in and out of hotels every two days four large cases. In addition on return to the UK we found an extra charge of £10.14 on our credit card described as tourism surcharge.

So, on our return I phoned NetFlights. They gave me an email address and we sent off our complaint. After various emails, sending them my credit card statement etc. and about six weeks we eventually found on our credit card a refund of the £10.14. No letter, no email and no further information about the other aspects of our complaint. Despite my emailing every week I cannot get a response. Nobody will reply. They are totally disinterested To not even send a response about the refund was bad enough, but I feel my emails are now being blocked. I wish I had never heard of Thrifty Car Hire. They ruined our trip, which was around Arizona in isolated country, with the thought that we had no recovery at all.

Jaye of Smyrna, GA September 14, 2009

To start, my husband and I rented a Dodge Charger for a funeral. When I arrived, there was an English couple talking about making a reservation - notice I said talking - no reservation was made. While I'm standing there, they chose a car, and he goes into giving them an Atlanta history lesson. I thought this was rude and unprofessional, especially when I informed him from jump that I had a reservation. He didn't give me any type of concern to my time or money. After 15 minutes, he takes them to their car, and I look outside and he's giving them a Charger. Naturally, I assume my car is still waiting. Lo and behold, he tells me he has no more Chargers.

His attitude was lax, unprofessional, and he had the audacity to offer a smaller car at the same rate. I stated that since he inconvenienced me, WITH A RESERVATION, I wouldn't do it, and that HE could do better. I got a Jeep Compass for 50 less, but as soon as we got the next state line, the Change oil light comes on. I call Cust. Care to inform them, and they tell me it's not time for the oil to be changed. WTH? On top of this the Jeep is a gas guzzler, and we paid more for gas than we did the rental!!

When we got back, I stated, "BTW, the change oil light came on." He says, "yeah, I guess it did." WHAT? He then states that the mileage was wrong on the car, so thank God we didn't just stop on the interstate. I will NEVER use Thrifty again. I would've done better using my own car. Total lack of professionalism, cust. svc, overall concern, and just a waste of a paycheck. Someone can get hurt. Please read these, because they are truly informative.

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