Thrifty Rent-A-Car

At the rental counter in Las Vegas my husband went to pick up our rental. We booked through Expedia.ca. I upgraded our suv and agreed to return the car with a full tank of gas.
During the pick up the service rep had my husband upgrade to a higher price, that in the end was fine, BUT he changed the agreement to "return empty" and pay their price for gas. This was not explained to my husband and as we drove to return the car I had my husband fill the car. $50 or so US dollars. At the return centre the fella noted the tank was full. We were charged $66. US dollars. When we arrived home I called Thrifty at Las Vegas, shared the matter of concern, was told that the bill would be revised as it hadn't been processed. Then I check my credit card and it has been CHARGED the $66. Gas fee. I called back and another service person said No Refund would be given. I messaged Expedia who my Agreement was with and also after several emails no refund. As cash was paid for the gas by the airport and no receipt to show them, they refused what had already been said by the first rep. Thrifty and Expedia should have far better customer service than this. We travel a lot and will now look for better service providers. So disappointed.

I rented the car in my name not knowing that means I am principle driver to Thrifty. My husband does the driving so he was added when we got to Phoenix. Not once did the agent say that to do this it was another 13. Per day plus a 48. Charge to add. My ticket he gave us does not indicate these charges or I would have questioned immediately. He then asked us to top up upon return saying that gas prices around Phoenix airport were around 4.50 a gallon. Not knowing what prices were and Thrifty price was 3.10 so thought it was a bargain. It was only 2.95 we found out so topped up before dropped off. They charged us 49. Extra. Eventually got that removed since they did see it was full but if did not question the charge it would have stayed. They insist they cannot remove the extra driver charge. I believe this company unethical and do not explain charges they add after the fact.

I reserved a rental online with Spirit at 12pm. Well my flight landed at ATL early so I went to pick the vehicle up and they told me that I could not pick my car up early. Therefore I had to sit around the airport until 12pm. My flight landed at 830am. Too crazy right and then when i was finally able to get my vehicle I was overcharged for the insurance. I didn't ask for full coverage and yet I was charged for it. When I signed for my vehicle it had one price on it and yet they charged me for another price. I called the customer service agent and told her what happened and she agreed to credit my account the difference. To my avail I call back on Monday October 29,2019, to see when the credit would apply to my account and the agent informs me that the Supervisor denied my claim without any communication with me. These people are a joke. I called before my credit card was charged and told them that the agent at the airport pulled a fast one on me and they didn't care at all. DON'T EVER RENT A CAR FROM THESE PEOPLE EVER AGAIN. I had to wait in the airport for 4 hours just be overcharged on my bill. TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ATL AND THRIFTY SUPERVISOR.

Do not! I repeat do not rent from Thrifty Car Rental. They rip you off. Did business with them May 26 - June 2 2019 Orlando Florida Airport terminal. They not only dont give you car or equivalent, they downsize you as well. Car is filthy and gas tank isn't on full. Complain to customer service area manager nasty as well. Tells you this is all we got. Add insult to injury they bill you for each toll administrative cost of $9.99 plus the nominal toll. Your told they can do this 9 times on the invoice in the mail. Never a word about it in person. All this and they make you wait on a line due to lack of help to bilk you out of your hard earned money.

I booked this on Priceline and Thrifty would not honor their price despite the fact I had a receipt. Lets review... cost more, get less, poor customer service and the bills keep on coming once your home. Feels more like a divorce than a good marriage here.

5/8/19

I recently rented a car at Thrifty in San Diego. I was told by Jose that the Fuel Purchase Option would save us money. I didn't want to get this option but Jose assured me that I would not be charged if I found cheaper gas. I did find cheaper gas and filled the car up to the max. When I got my receipt it showed that I was charged the Fuel Purchase Option which was $62.75. No gas was necessary and the rental return check in person assured me I would not be charge for gas. I have written and phoned Thrifty and told them what happened. We will see if they remove the charge. If they don't I will dispute the charge on my credit card. This is the second time with Thrifty having issues. I was in Miami a few years ago and caught the rental agent taking a photo of my card. I asked him what he was doing and he made up an excuse. I cancelled my card when I returned home and around two weeks later my bank notified me that someone was trying to use the card in Paris France. This company is very shady and I WILL NEVER USE THEM AGAIN! Stop stealing from your customers THRIFTY and there will be no bad reviews. Please be aware of the Fuel Purchase Option they make it sound really good but it is a total SCAM!

I rented a car with Thrifty on April 13 2019 from West Palm international airport. During the checkin process I told the attendant multiple times I need the 'pay by plates' since I would be driving to the florida keys and the drive is all toll roads. The car was fine, I returned and I thought all was good. Since then I have recieved two letters from Thrify stating that I owe $30 in tolls by a $180 'administrative fee'. I have a witness that I ordered the pay by plate option when I signed up for the car. I rent cars frequently in florida and always add this option. What gets me is the $180 administrative fee - This is just a ploy from Thrifty to get more money. I am not goint to stand for it. The confirmation number for my rental is H*******C2.

I am not going to get taken like this. Deceptive business practices.

I pre-booked & paid for a rental car online with Hotwire.com for a total of $434.59 (which included: $265.59 - 8 day rental, $179.00 - taxes and fees less $10 discount). When I picked the car up at the Thrifty Car Rental - Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, AZ location, I verbally declined the Loss Damage Waiver coverage with the Thrifty desk agent and then was
Asked to sign the screen for what I assumed was notice of declining the coverage. However, my credit card was then charged for the declined Loss Damage Waiver along with other miscellaneous fees for taxes (again) & a concession fee recovery all of which was above & beyond what Hotwire already charged me for taxes & miscellaneous fees. The total of the EXTRA fees I was charged for including the Loss Damage Waiver which I declined verbally was $341.38 ($255.92 Loss Damage waiver, $33.38 - Concession Fee Recovery, $52.08 - tax) which is outrageous given that those fees almost total the full amount of the actual rental itself. Ultimately, I am seeking a refund of no less than $255.92 for the Loss Damage Waiver which I declined but was scammed into signing for under the pretense that I was signing to decline said coverage AND a refund of the $33.38 Concession Fee Recovery & $52.08 tax unless someone can explain to me what these fees are for given that I already paid $179.00 in taxes & fees to Hotwire for this rental. I am attempting to work with Thrifty to get a refund but to date they are not being cooperative in this matter. I have also filed a complaint with the BBB regarding this matter after reading several complaints of the same scam/rip-off by Thrifty Car Rental.

First, compared to a few of the other car rental companies out there, you can get a reasonable price when booked in advance like buying an airline ticket.

What is misleading, for example, the "Wildcard Program" rate that they are advertised to put you into a vehicle that you may a bigger vehicle is simply a joke in my experience, and please do not fall for this crap.
I've booked here with Thrifty, and Dollar the same company, and the same outcome. Only the smaller car is always available and may be one for two left at all times to choose from.

What they are not telling you is that you are better off just paying for what you want because your chance of a free-up upgrade is zero.
I was told on more than one occasion, that only compact tends to be available.

Additionally, depending on your travel plans, it would be better to take the return full option. After you drive off you realized that you paid about 50- 60 cents per gallon

Sadly, it seems many car rental rates have gotten so high, especially a few of the well-established ones, you may come out cheaper better buying a used car if you have time, register it when compared to some of these weekly rates.

Also, most of these companies are the same under one umbrella posing as separate companies and when you arrive, you realize that anyone can pretty much check you out. So are you getting a deal by skipping one and or sticking to the locality?

What has changed about 5 years later?...

"Increasingly, they were are worse than flying, because the vehicle is unavailable, with long lines." I gave them only 2 stars and this was four years ago. After a recent booking, I gave it an additional star in 2022.

You still need to exercise caution because the line is still very long.

Again and extended waiting than normal, but processing was much better than Pre-COVID-19. I also contacted reservation to inform them of the new arrival when my flight was delayed, one of the representatives said he had to cancel the reservation and rebook at a much higher price.

This is not my fault, and just the hours, not the day, had to be moved. It updated at the same rate after I requested a manager. I booked into a small car for considerably less, and upon arrival, they told several customers, including me that they would have to wait but could leave now in an upgraded SUV for an additional $50. Thank you, however, I would get one if I wanted one for less than a day in town. Strangely, after a couple of people declined, one became available in 30 minutes.

I understand that COVID-19 has caused several financial problems for many businesses, but if this is a tactic to increase sales, it won't affect someone like me who has been renting intermittently for more than 18 years, and will only book the type of vehicle as needed.

Overall, it wasn't too bad; just make sure to plan carefully and reserve in advance. I will book with them again. Hertz/Dollar -the same company

Rented a pickup truck at McCarran Airport in Vegas for our bike trip to Utah.
Booked through Hotwire and I was worried that Thrifty would not have a truck for us.
I called to confirm the week before and was told "yes, pickup truck"

Whe we got to the pickup counter, they said they didn't have trucks, but the office manager came down with keys to a full-sized Dodge 1500 that had been specially brought in for us.

Great price, perfect truck.
Excellent service.

This afternoon I picked up a reserved vehicle from your Detroit Metro Airport location. Unfortunately the customer service was very poor and the quality our vehicle was given to us in was extremely dissatisfying.

The customer service person we dealt with was kind and fair, but the two other staff people checking out vehicles were crass and rude to the other customers, who frankly were not doing anything wrong and making outlandish requests.

As for our vehicle... We had only 1 mini van to choose from. It wreaked of cigarette smoke and had cigarette burns in the seats. There were food remnants on the carpets and cheeto smears on the seats. We found an empty soda can under the seat and a dirty towel in the door. When we notified the parking lot staff person of this she was short with us and told us to make notes of all of this on the sheet. She said, 'there was nothing else she could do for us because it was the only vehicle in the class of vehicles we had reserved.' Then she walked away. She didn't even provide us a pen to fill out necessary paperwork with. We had to cross over traffic to get to another attendant to retrieve a pen. Very underwhelming and disappointing experience. We will not use this rental vehicle service again.

I used cartrawler to rent from Thrifty. WORST EXPERIENCE EVER! TOTAL RIP OFF! I prepaid for a vehicle, for a quoted price of $332.57. I called to confirm it would have 4 wheel drive. I was told YES it will have 4 wheel drive. I get to the airport and I'm told to get 4 wheel drive I have to upgrade. There was NOTHING I could do at that moment, except pay the OUTRAGEOUS upgrade fee, because I had to have 4 wheel drive! It ended up costing me over $1,000 to rent the vehicle, a $600 DIFFERENCE from the quoted online price. NO WHERE on the final bill do they have my prepaid amount, I was told that was a "separate transaction", NO, I rented ONE vehicle, it was the SAME transaction. TOTAL RIP OFF and SCAM!

My firefly reservation was taken over by thrifty
Thrifty computers all have hertz asset tags on them and the pricing is the same

Of course they talked my husband into upgrading from intermediate to full size
For only 135
It turned out that our 307 reservation was charged at 507 when all of the fees were added
When we went to get the car there were no midsize available anyway
Always a scam
I could have rented a full size car for 357 for the week from Payless
When I called thrifty to ask about all of the additional charges she said your husband signed the contract - it's his fault
Use budget or dollar

I've been renting a car for business on a month to month basis. In an effort to save a little money I went through Priceline and was directed at Thrifty Car Rental. The rental price for a month was $734 BUT I was billed $1389. Now, I understand taxes and upcharges but to almost DOUBLE the rate is borderline robbery.

Oh - and the car was a 2015 VW that had clearly been smoked in, vomitted and possibly urinated in.

I'm very disappointed in Thrifty Car Rental and in Priceline for doing business and recommending this car rental to their loyal customers.

We have used different car rentals in the Ft Lauderdale area. Thifty was the worse. The clerk at the desk sold us the Sun Pass thelling us it was cheaper for 10.95. He didn't tell us it was 10.95 pllus taxes a day. We asked if we could return the car 2 hours later. Sure it would be only 1.75 an hour. Not telling us about the extra fees and another day for the Sun Pass. When we question this upon the return of the car, he flipped open the fine print 6 page sheets and said you should have read this before signing. We called Thrifty to complain and the supervisor was just as nasty. There are so many better choices at the airport. No problems with Budget, Payless or Dollar.