Rental Car Scams

Could be and it may also have to do with how greedy the local manager is. Since they are judged by how much revenue their location produces. They can quickly rise through the ranks if their numbers are high.
 
I just rented a C7 Corvette from Enterprise for 5 days in LAX. The online quote was $415, but when I arrived it became $560. After showing them the quoted email it dropped back to $415.

Then upon returning it, the bill became about $950!! Again, had to show them the check-out quote of $415 and they changed it back. They took no issue in correcting the price and they were nice about it, but WOW you need to pay attention.

Car was sweet by the way and $415 for 5 full days I felt was a great deal! Drove it about 1200 miles.
 
Last summer we rented a car to drive from San Francisco to LA. Everyone was charging a hefty drop fee for not returning at the same airport with the exception of Alamo.

As you can guess, they hit me with a drop fee that doubled my bill. Showed my contract and took several minutes, but got it straightened out.

Also "premium" cars were a Maxima or Impala. Kinda like premium chicken nuggets or premium malt liquors...
 
Originally Posted By: Okapi77
Everyone was charging a hefty drop fee for not returning at the same airport with the exception of Alamo.


I really hate this, I wish they would work more on the principles that Uhaul uses. Apparently if you don't take it back to where you got it they generally put it on a truck and ship it there. You of course get to pay for this. I wanted drive across the country in a rental car but they wanted over a THOUSAND extra dollars to drop it off on the other side than to bring it back where I got it. Could buy three round trip plane tickets for that...
 
Originally Posted By: OilFilters
Originally Posted By: Okapi77
Everyone was charging a hefty drop fee for not returning at the same airport with the exception of Alamo.


I really hate this, I wish they would work more on the principles that Uhaul uses. Apparently if you don't take it back to where you got it they generally put it on a truck and ship it there. You of course get to pay for this. I wanted drive across the country in a rental car but they wanted over a THOUSAND extra dollars to drop it off on the other side than to bring it back where I got it. Could buy three round trip plane tickets for that...


What principle is that? Uhaul is no angel either in rental vehicles. They use dynamic pricing to to get cars moved in the direction they want. The rental agencies are also the same with certain drop fees.

If you're going against the stream you get a great deal, if you go with the stream you're going to get hit with high rates

Try pricing a uhaul either 1way to or from SanFrancisco and Las Vegas;
It's $1000 for an move to Vegas, while it's $120 or basically free to go the other way to SF.
 
Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS
I've been using Sixt for years, always been a happy camper - touch wood.


Not me.
Sixt ruined my day at ATL airport, for sure (and a couple days afterward). I used to rent with them exclusively because I was traveling to large airports they served in the US, and they have interesting European car alternatives to the typical boring car classes here. I was doing lots of work in the Atlanta area (I live 90 minutes away) last summer and reserved a prepaid rental for a Mercedes to keep the miles off of my own car.

I parked my car in economy/long term parking, and rode to the rental car center at Atlanta airport. They refused to rent to me at the counter, because I didn't have a flight at ATL (even though I followed the reservation and confirmation email instructions to the letter). Also, said they didn't have any of the car type I requested. Also, there "wasn't a manager on duty for me to speak with" at the time. Good luck trying to find Sixt's customer service phone number-- when I finally did, they said to email them, explaining my situation and they would refund my money. Sixt refused to refund my money, after wasting hours of my time.

I contested the charge with American Express. Sixt didn't respond, so I won, by default, and the money was refunded to my card.
Then Sixt threatened to refer the charge to collections, attacking my credit report. They ignored my first response, and threatened me again.
After my second written response, they seem to be leaving me alone, but I'm pulling my credit report and looking for problems more frequently now.

Sixt - NEVER, EVER again. Ironically, during the dispute they tried to send me the next higher loyalty program card/status. That went in the shredder.
 
Never had an issue renting through Avis primarily, and Hertz secondarily. I always take a ton of photos of the car prior to departure to back me up. I've never needed them.

The worst I ran into was Avis not having my car ready for me (Avis Preferred has your car ready, name on a board with your spot, and keys in the car ready to go). They ended up upgrading me from my Fullsize car to a BMW X5. No complaints from me...

I've heard too many stories from others on Enterprise pulling these stunts. Can't lower their prices enough to get me to bite. I also rented with Alamo in the past, but have gotten better service from Avis and Hertz.
 
Have had ~65 rentals 1-3 day rentals with National in the past 1.5 years and never had an issue outside 1 car that should have been removed from service before I rented it (cracked exhaust manifold in an Impala that caused massive exhaust fumes in the cabin). Service has always been great and the cars are always newer with low mileage and very clean.

Now renting from their "sister" Enterprise is a [censored] shoot, I have gotten some major junkers, lots of high mileage cars and terrible customer service from neighborhood Enterprise locations. No scams to report, just a lower quality of service versus National.
 
The real rental car scam is the classification of their cars

Last time I had Dollar, and a Hyundai Elantra is considered to be "Mid-size"

One time I rented from Ace at Kansas City International, the alignment was so bad (steering wheel was at 90° to drive straight), I immediately turned the car around and got a replacement car, no questions asked
 
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I haven't been scammed yet, but the last couple rentals I had had visible damage. What bugs me is the attendants gave a cursory view of it and say it looks great, no damage, but when I pointed out the glaring scuffs or dents and made them note it, they acted like I'm being overly nitpicky about it. Maybe I am being nitpicky about it, but these guys have got to be legally blind if they can't see the damage, and I'm not going to get stuck with the damage because they didn't note it. I think it would be far too easy for them to keep sticking subsequent renters with the same damage if people just took their "looks great" glance and didn't notice the damage themselves.
 
I'll be turning 70 in a few days. It's hard to believe but that's what the records show. If I didn't know how old I was I'd guess I might be 55.

Anyway Hertz seems to base their standard rate for people under age 70. Does anyone have experience with rentals after age 70?
 
when I rent, I always take pictures of the car, and zoom in on any damage in their lot showing their building. If they later try anything, and then insist after being shown the photos, I will call the police, who of course will not come out, they are too busy writing speeding tickets. But they have record of the call. I then call the state attorney general office and the CC fraud department. Then the renting manager will call me to tell me they are sorry and remove the charge.

If the cc company finds fraud then will quit processing their car transactions.

Rod
 
Since I've retired I don't rent often but I recall one instance back when I was working. I worked for a well known Federal department that shall remain nameless and we had to rent a Ford cargo van to move some boxes of evidence during a search warrant. If I recall correctly the rental agency was Budget. The van was rented using the government issued credit card. When I returned the van (with no damage) the rental manager did a walk around and pointed to a crease in the front door just under the rear view mirror claiming damage. I walked her around to the other side of the van and pointed out the same crease in the same spot that was obviously stamped there at the Ford factory as a styling cue or to add rigidity to the door around the large mirror. She didn't say another word. She was either clueless or dishonest, I suspect it was clueless.
 
It always amazes me how different is everyone’s experience. In the last 6 years I’ve come to a conclusion that I only rent from the Enterprise (and Alamo/National). Reasonable online pricing, easy pickup process via their self service kiosk, so I don’t have to wait in the line and talk to a human who’ll try upselling other “add ons”. 0 issues for me
 
when I rent, I always take pictures of the car, and zoom in on any damage in their lot showing their building. If they later try anything, and then insist after being shown the photos, I will call the police, who of course will not come out, they are too busy writing speeding tickets. But they have record of the call. I then call the state attorney general office and the CC fraud department. Then the renting manager will call me to tell me they are sorry and remove the charge.

If the cc company finds fraud then will quit processing their car transactions.

Rod
I should have added, this was one time with local company, Enterprise has been flawless. Seldom rent anymore, uber is cheaper for one or 2 outings a day
 
I had a rental from Enterprise for two weeks last year while getting a fender replaced on my car (great story for another time about being sideswiped by a mechanic truck on the highway that just kept on driving like nothing happened). Enterprise was convenient because it was right next door to the body shop. It was raining cats and dogs when I picked up the car and the assistant manager suggested we forgo the inspection because the car had just come from prep. MISTAKE. Two days later I noticed a small wrinkle in the D/S rear quarter panel. When I returned the car the Enterprise rep made a beeline for the ding. I made it clear that the ding was there when I picked the car up and explained why it wasn't caught, complete with the name of the assistant manager. Of course, they tried to bill me for the damage. I contacted my insurance company (Travelers). They had me complete an affidavit and two weeks later Enterprise notified me that I was not responsible for the damage. As the others have stated, never forgo the inspection and notate every little ding, scratch, and crack. These people are vultures.
 
I've discovered that regardless of the company, that it is usually the individual office that is the problem. I usually rent from ENTERPRISE, but, find some outlets are terrible in causing me problems. My usual contact offices are great. Ed
 
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