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Pls do not rent from this company they are scammers. They scam you into taking additional fees that are hidden and did not know you are signing for. My bill was 160 and they took 287 from my account because of this additional fees that I was not told about. They are the worst customer service that could not do anything to help. Bought gas still took gas money from my account and they are making you pay rent for where they park their cars at the airport. Don't go there.
Went To Flordia on June 24,2023. Had a car reserved. Our original quote was for about 480.00. We waited in line for 2 1/2 hours. Then another 30 minutes waiting on the car. 2 of my cards were declined because they were trying to charge more than the receipt said. WE were driving to key west plugged the exact address in that we were going, and it took us 2 hours the wrong way. When we returned, they were very rude. When I got back to Texas and checked my email, they charged my credit card $1161.13. They charged me $460.00 for outside washing and it rained every day we were there and all the way back to the airport. The need to be call Thievery Rent A Car.
Thrifty rented me a car that was in need of engine service. My reservation was for seven days; however
The second day I drove the car, the " ENGINE "SERVICE NEEDED" light was displayed. On the same
Night, the car battery went dead, and I was stranded in a dark parking lot.
I was unable to reach anyone in the Thrifty office, but called AAA on my personal
Account. When I reached the Thrifty office later, I was told to have the car towed to Hobby
Airport, Houston, TX., to make an exchange. This was Saturday, June 17th, and the Hobby location
had no available cars, but long lines of people who had reservations. I was told that my wait would
Be two to three hours. I was visiting Texas to attend a Family Reunion, and could not spend the
Day waiting there, so I drove off with the same vehicle. On Sunday, the 18th, I did return for
An exchange, but was given a smaller car, three years old, uncomfortable, with limited air condition.
It was very hot weather in Texas.
I was given a $100.00 discount for the car disfunction; however, it did not compensate for the
Total disruption of my trip and Family Reunion commitments. I was very stressed because of the
CAR DRAMA. THRIFTY RENTED ME A VEHICLE THAT WAS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE.
THEY APPARENTLY DID NOT CHECK OR SERVICE THE ENGIN BEFORE SENDING IT OUT.
BOTH CARS WERE USED VEHICLES (Outlander, 2021, Mirage, 2020), I was there June, 2023.
BE AWARE! I will not do business with them again.
I
The old Asian lay at San Francisco International Airport sucks. She lied and added charges and insurance I didn't want at tall.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, do not rent from this place. I rented a car on 4/16 they gave me a car smelling like cigarettes, the smell was so strong it was on our cloth and hair, and we also had small children in the car. To top it all I waited an hour in line to get this rental. I tried contacting them several times via phone and opening cases they never reached out to me. I paid over $513.04 for this rental and it was not worth it, their customer service is the worst, when you call they say they can't assist me. As of today, I haven't heard back from these people. Please just avoid it!
Wanted to give this company zero stars, or less if possible. Rented a car from them. Paid in advance. Got to the rental car counter in Fort Lauderdale airport and we're told there were no cars available. Everyone in line was turned away. They wouldn't take anyone's names or information. They just stated go through the third party you rented through to get a refund. They gave zero s****. I've been trying to get a refund for over a week and have been unsuccessful. How can you charge someone for a rental car and then not give it to them? I feel like I got robbed. Paid. $330.35. Requesting a full refund. I can't believe this is even a question of whether I would get a refund or not. How can you pay for a service, not receive it, and then not get a refund? This should be illegal, this company is criminal.
Boston Airport 2/17 10:30 pm arrival, had a reservation with Thrifty. We stood in line for 2 hours for our car. 25 people in front of us and 25 behind us and two rental agents, one of which had to find the keys on the keyboard and the other was a social butterfly. I will rent from anywhere other than Thrifty in my future travels. Also, this is a reflection on Hertz Rent a car, they own Thrifty.
Made a reservation days in advance. Got to the ticket counter and she said they didn't have a car for me and said I'd need to wait. A bunch of people had already been waiting 3-4 hours for cars they had reservations for. They are obviously overselling reservations, and after a long day of travel, not notifying customers that they can't honor reservations. My only option to get to my event on time was to pay 3X the amount of my original reservation for what she called a "luxury" car and that she was giving me a ""discount". Once I got to the parking lot, my "luxury" car was really a tiny coupe (I had reserved a midsize). Upon looking at their websites, I realized that she wasn't giving me a discount at all and instead overcharged for the compact car I ended up with.
Thrifty car rental are bullies in the business forcing their hidden charges unto you and when you decide to return ahead of time be prepared to pay triple the price of the day rate.
Their fees include the rental and taxes $380 usf but builled into collision which equates to the cost of the rental $240 usd and more service fees as much as $200 usd
Beware and don't be fooled move unto the next is all I can suggest.
I booked a full size car from Thrifty through Booking.com at Chicago O'hare for a 26 day hire. When i turned up to collect the car I was told they didnt have a car for me and I would have to wait a few hours for one to come back. Im there with wife and kids and luggage! Hours go by and still no car. The extremely rude rep offered to solve the issue by offering me another more expensive car. Original booking price $950, new booking price $1250. Rep made it quite clear that the $1250 was the whole cost of the rental. I agreed to cop the extra $300 to get the deal done and even told him that I could handle an additional cost of $300 so he knew what I was on about.
When the rental was all done and I returned the car I checked my credit card. They charged me the original $950 PLUS the additional $1250 as if this was an upgrade cost! That made the whole cost over $2200, way more than the website said I should pay for this vehicle.
I emailed Thrifty and explained my situation and asked them for a refund of the original booking cost for the vehicle they never had. They refused and told me I signed up for and overpriced upgrade. I was totally unaware of this and completely conned by the rep. He even tacked on the most expensive premium road service package without telling me! I didn't want that.
I could go on and on but I wont. Just want to say I'll never trust Thrifty again and urge anyone to take your time and read the contract very carefully before signing.
Made a booking through a third party company 3 months ago and cancelled on the same day and received a cancellation confirmation. However I got a check in invite from Thrifty a day before the booking, I was shocked that the booking wasn't cancelled! So I called Thrifty reservation to cancel and they said it was booked through third party, so they were not able to cancel for me and gave me their travel distribution department number to call. I thought this should be an easy fix, but it wasted me 2 hours!
Paul from TD department said Thrifty made a duplicate booking to add my membership. I said I have already cancelled the booking and got the confirmation, he then got me on hold, after holding for too long and the phone dropped out, I called again and he shockingly pretended that he was from Hertz reservation, a different department, and put me on hold. The hold was too long, I hung up and called again, he then asked me to call the third party to cancel the booking. This didn't make sense as the duplicate booking was made by Thrifty, anyway I spent 30mins to call the third party to confirm my cancellation. I then called Paul back, and he finally got his supervisor to cancel my booking, which should have been done in the initial phone call! I asked why he needed me to call the third party even when I got the confirmation, it was such a waste of time, he said he couldn't see it from his end. But even after I called, he still couldn't see it! Why not just took my word for it for this first time? Through out this process, he did not apologise for the mistake he made and the waste of my 2 hours' time! It 's very shocking! I hope Thrifty can employ someone who is competent for customer service!
I was charged over $300 for car insurance, which I declined at the desk. I did not realize this charge was on rental when I signed the agreement. I rented the vehicle at MCO airport. I was tired from a long flight and was traveling with a family member in a wheelchair. The rental agent took advantage of this situation and put the charge hoping I would not notice. Other reviewers have commented on the predatory business practice of Thrifty, and I agree. The next morning, less than 24 hours after I rented the car, I noticed the charge. I called the 1- 800 number and was told the charge would be removed after the contract ended, since they now have a record of my call and disputing the charge, or I could return to the rental location and address the concern. I drove to the MCO airport rental location and arrived at 12 pm. I rented the car at 11:30 am the previous day. The agent told me they could not assist me with my problem, so I asked to speak with a manager. The agent called the manager, and I was told they are too busy to come and speak with me. I got the manager's email and sent them an email while I was at the agency. I waited an hour, and the manager has yet to come to speak with me. At the end of the rental contract, I called the 1-800# again. They told me they would investigate and call within 7 days- I waited- no return call. I called a second time- and was told they were still investigating. I called a third time- and I was told yes, we have all the notes from your initial phone call and documentation that the email was sent to the manager the next and video footage you returned to the agency- but they needed more time. I called a fourth time--now one month since the rental date. And was told, " our policy does not allow us to reimburse you". I asked to speak to a supervisor, and they took my phone number and told me a supervisor will call me within 24 hours- today is the fourth day and NO phone call. These business practices are unacceptable, and I advise everyone to stay away from Thrifty. I also noted another reviewer posted the same problem- the charger for insurance, however, they commented they were reimbursed after 4 phone calls. Obviously, they do reimburse people. Stay away from Thrifty do not give them our hard-earned money! Let these predatory, dishonest, unethical, misleading companies feel the impact of their many dissatisfied customers.
I booked a car on 12/26/22 in Orlando@ 11:30PM.
We waited over 3 hours in line at the counter, only to be sent blindly to get the car in the garage.
When we got there, there were no cars available and we had to get into another 2 hours line and Wait for cars to show up.
Never I my life have a experienced such a terribly managed service, unbelievable.
NEVER THRIFTY AGAIN!
RENTAL RECORD *******
I rented my vehicle through Priceline which was prepaid and denied coverage. This was paid with my booking package and all I had to do was pick up the car. Upon arriving at the rental at IAH airport, my flight was late and arrived right before closing, 10PM, they close at 11PM. Thus, it was already a wasted day, and I didn't mind. The clerk at the counter was rushing since it was near closing time and inputted everything quickly and did not explain anything. I had to figure out later on how to pick up the car, where to drop off and who to call when needed. She asked if I wanted extra insurance coverage, I CLEARLY STATED NO, ONLY WHAT I BOOK AND PREPAID FOR. Then she handed me the paper slip and told me to sign here, sign here, sign here and grabbed the paper and told me to go to the parking lot. After everything I had charged on my credit card and when I called, they said I was charged for insurance and other fees. I told them I had declined these when I picked up the car and customer service said they are sorry and cannot do anything about it. I was charged an additional $307.45 USD ON TOP OF MY PREPAID CHARGED MADE WITH MY PACKAGE. Then there was a bunch of other charges made on my card which the company could not explain. There was charges two days after I returned the car for 138.34 CAD, in which I am still figuring out and had to put a dispute in with my bank. Customer service at Thrifty said they would email the location and i asked to have it emailed to me too for dispute, they never sent the email. Very unprofessional and no offer of compensation was made for this. This company is a scam and there are so many complaints online similar to my experience and clerks earn commission off of charging people insurance without them knowing. They charged me after I declined and scammed me into signing things without explaining and then started charging my credit card for other fees and no explanation.
Their response;
We apologize for any misunderstanding regarding the additional charges billed for the Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) and Liability Insurance Supplement (LIS) on your recent rental. Our records show that these services were accepted and signed for at the time of rental. As such, the benefits of these services were extended for the duration of your rental. As these charges were outlined on the rental contract, which was signed, they are considered valid and a refund not warranted. Please find a copy of your Signed Rental Agreement (SRA) attached. It is the customers responsibility to review the terms of this documentation, which a printed copy is provided in the rental sleeve, before departing the facility.
With this in mind, we must respectfully decline your request for a refund of the optional services as they were accepted and the benefit of the service provided for the duration of your rental. While we are unable to recreate a verbal conversation at the rental counter, we must base our decision on the rental contract. Due to this, we encourage all customers to review the printed and provided copy of the rental contract before leaving the rental facility.
Don't use Thrifty! We have a reservation for a vehicle booked in Grand Cayman 12/25-12/31 and the just canceled it out of nowhere. "Out of vehicles, sorry." Confirmation number: K*******255 with a vehicle reserved weeks ago and now we no longer have a car. Super uncool, customer service 0% helpful. Will never use this company again, highly advise going with another car rental service.
I rented a car at Cork Airport, Ireland. I booked via Expedia and made sure to buy car rental insurance by a third party. When I picked up the car, I was asked if I had insurance which I did. The Thrifty representative said it doesn't suffice and I need to add 7 Euros a day. I tried to argue claiming I bought insurance but he insisted he won't give me the car unless I add their insurance. When I asked, he shared with me that this literally happens every day, and people get very annoyed.
I reluctantly agreed to the added insurance of 7 Euros a day only to learn that it is accompanied by a 5,000 Euro hold on my credit card! Seeing as I needed to pay for hotels and food, I could not afford to put a 5,000 Euro hold on the card. The agent told me he can reduce it to 3,000 Euros if I take Their 30 Euro/day insurance. Needless to say, this really annoyed me as it is outright extortion. When I voiced my concern, the agent suggested I can shop elsewhere, and he also said that if I don't "calm down" he has the right to refuse to give me a car. So not only is Thrifty engaged in extortion but also threatening patrons.
I have been traveling for business all over the globe for over 12 years and have never had such a bad rental experience. Sure, I've had holds on the card, usually $100-$400, never $5,000! Thirty Ireland company policy is detrimental to their business. Personally, I have no desire to ever book with them again.
I made a reservation about 1 week in advance. 1.5-hour delay in picking up a car as "there are no cars available at the moment". Agents did not share the length of the delay; I went back and asked again. This forced cancellation of my plans on day 1 so I got no value from the car. Others in line with reservations had even longer waits of 2 hours or more. Reviews of Thrifty show overbooking has been an issue dating back over 3 years or more. As Seinfeld said you know how to take the reservations but not hold the reservations.
If you are going to continue overbooking as a business practice and way to maximize your profit you should compensate people when you mess up. Agents gave the impression that waits this long were either the norm or no big deal. Why do you not empower your agents to make small $ compensations? What does that say about what you think of your people? Vouchers for future use only add work for everyone.
When I finally got a car, the system did not recognize three of my credit cards even though they were active and recently used.
Hold times for customer service on the phone exceeding 20 minutes. Convoluted phone tree. Thrifty agents mis-transferred me multiple times. Tried to discuss/resolve issues over the phone but Thrifty systems do not empower phone agents to see necessary information if it is not in their silo. If you are going to overbook to make extra $ at least streamline your processes for customer service when people run into issues due to your business practices.
I asked several agents to make notes in my file several times because I had questions and concerns about the rental conditions-they said they would. On checking later there were no notes.
A very, very, frustrating, and unprofessional experience. In future, I will avoid Thrifty whenever I can.
I was charged $38.69 for fuel after the return of my rental car when I refueled and returned the car with a full tank. After multiple phone calls I received an email stating the local office confirmed it was for fuel and unfortunately no refund would be given. I guess it's my word against theirs, but I refueled as instructed and will never use or recommend this company again.
We booked through Priceline for a Thrifty vehicle from the Phoenix Airport. Priceline's total was $325 (basically 4 days@$78/day, plus taxes and fees of $146). Later at the Thrifty counter we specifically told the clerk--twice-- we did NOT want its insurance. She agreed so we signed the rental agreement. She then gave us an "Estimate of Charges" for various items totaling $162 and explained that a $200 deposit would be charged on our credit card, with any balance returned to us. We checked to be sure there was no charge for insurance included among the items listed in the Estimate of Charges.
About 10 minutes before we later returned the vehicle to Thrifty, we filled up the gas tank. This is because the Estimate of Charges had warned, "You agree to replace fuel used or pay a refueling charge of $11.56 per gallon." The gas gauge registered "Full." The Thrifty parking lot attendant then thoroughly checked over the returned vehicle and saw the "Full" reading on the gauge. Another Thrifty employee at the return window told us to just leave the rental papers with them, and we would be e-mailed our receipt. We trusted them so we left for our flight.
SURPRISE! The receipt we later got showed Thrifty had charged us $511. This included "Fuel Purchase Option" of $96. But of course there had been no fuel to replace when we dropped it off.
We were also charged $167 for "Damage Waiver (CDW/LDW)" which apparently was for the insurance we had twice rejected. This item had not been listed with others on the Estimate of Charges, so Thrifty's own form (saying "the Estimate of Charges amends your Rental Agreement") confirmed that we declined its insurance when we picked up the vehicle.
We were also charged a "Concession Fee Recovery" (whatever that is) at 11.11% for $73.42 (while the Estimate of Charges showed only $44.08). (Obviously, as new charges appear unexpectedly, or when the original charges are increased over the Estimate, the 11.1 % charge on them must also produce an amount that exceeds the Estimate.) We were also now charged a "Road Tax" of $24.64 which, like others, had not been an item listed on the Estimate of Charges.
Finally, we were charged a "Tax" of $118 (at 15.60%), when the Estimate had been only $72. Again, when Thrifty's new charges appear unexpectedly on the bill, or when the original charges are increased, the 15.60% tax on them obviously will exceed the Estimate.
When we later called a Thrifty customer service representative, she gave no good explanations. Among other things, she said, "The rental agreement says you wanted the insurance" (failing or refusing to acknowledge that the Estimate of Charges says that it "amends your Rental Agreement"---and the Estimate does not list insurance as a charge. She also said we should now produce the receipt for the gas we bought days ago. She did say, however, that she would email the Phoenix Airport Thrifty rental agency and explain why we felt no gas should be charged. And that if successful, that charge would be taken off of our credit card. Three weeks later, that charge has not been taken off. Nor have we heard anything from Thrifty as to why.
We will never use Thrifty again.
I will NEVER rent from thrifty or the entire hertz corporation ever again.
They are a scam.
My husband and I had a trip in Georgia booked. We rented our car through Thrifty. Our fight landed at midnight, we get to the rental car office and THEY TOLD US THEY DIDN'T HAVE A CAR FOR US! How is that possible when we had a reservation?!
The employees told us that there was nothing we could do and to contact corporate. There were MANY MANY people that were in the same situation & we were told by the hotel we stayed at that this happens EVERY WEEKEND. There were limited hotel options, almost everywhere was booked since it was now 1 in the morning. Finally, we found a very expensive hotel since we could not get in anywhere else. Keep in mind we were also paying for the nights stay where we originally planned to stay 2 hours away as well.
When we came back the next morning we were told the wait to get the car was 3 hours long at thrifty, so we went to National and they got us RIGHT IN. Super smooth and easy process.
While Thrifty did refund the vehicle, it was not worth the stress and exhaustion we dealt with the night before plus having to pay for an expensive hotel.
I have now contacted Thrifty corporate MULTIPLE TIMES & have been told MULTIPLE TIMES that I would receive my reimbursement for the hotel in several days and it has never come. It is now October and this took place in July. I just got off the phone with customer service AGAIN & once again they told me they would call me about the reimbursement. I have given them my bank info multiple times to process the reimbursement because they keep saying that is all they need, yet some how every time that I've called, they say they never got it.
Fed up with them and will never book through them again.
Do not book with them unless you want an unreliable company and to pay more.