Tom and I have had the WORST rental car experience known to man. This occurred back in March when we traveled to California to visit his family. Long and short of it - don't ever rent a car from THRIFTY car rental. This includes DOLLAR car rental as well, as they are both owned by the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group. Here is our reason why:
We arrived in California late in the evening on a Thursday. IT was probably 8pm or later. So it was dark already. It took us almost an hour at the counter to get our actual car rented, because of a completely inept sales representative that could not understand that we did not want an upgrade. Then she screwed up the rental once, her computer froze up and she had to start again, and she got interrupted. This woman was working way above her skill set, and really should have considered a career change. We finally finished the rental process and went to pick up the rental car, a red Dodge Charger. Well, if any of you have ever been to a coastal city at night, you will notice that the majority of the outdoor lighting is provided by a source called a Low Pressure Sodium Light. Looks VERY yellow when looking directly at it, however, it makes everything else appear gray and flat. This is so the coastal lighting does not effect the mating and migratory patterns of sea life.
Tom and I both inspected the rental car very closely, due to the fact that we didn't even know it was red until the next day. We marked up all the scratches, dings, and dents and we were on our way.
We woke up Friday morning, and were on our way down to Monterrey, to visit the Aquarium. Tom's uncle suggested we stop for breakfast on our way. So we did. After breakfast we left the restaurant and went out to the car, and the key fob would not unlock the doors. We also tried the hidden key within the key fob, which happened to be for a different car. Nothing worked. Tom's aunt stopped and got us a new battery for the fob, and brought it to us. We replaced the battery, it still did not work. Apparently, the security system took over, and locked out the car.
We contacted Thrifty, who then proceeded to walk us through these same exact steps. We went through them all again, with no luck. After 40 minutes on the phone, they said they would send a tow truck out and bring us a new car at the same time.
About an hour later, they arrived at the restaurant with the tow truck and the alternate rental car. The alternate rental car was this awful awful awful car that looked like an old police car. It had damage everywhere and was just plain old. The tow truck driver was finally able to get into the original rental car (so we were able to get our stuff), and he loaded it on the flatbed. Tom and I watched the loading of the rental car, because we were truly amazed that the bottom of the car didn't get scratched up because of the incredibly low clearance.
So we had our crappy rental car and we were on our way. Everything went well for the next couple of days of the trip, until we realized that the AC adapter did not work in the car. Normally not a big deal, but when you are depending on the car charger ability for your cell phones and GPS units, this becomes a big deal. Instead of going back to the rental car agency, we bought some new fuses and fixed the AC adapter ourselves. We were back in business.
At the finale of our trip, we were so happy to turn in the rental car and be rid of it. We were hoping that this was the end of our saga.
When we got back to Colorado, Tom and I were both still pretty ticked about the entire experience that we had with Thrifty, and felt that they should have at least compensated us for not having the same level of car that we paid for, and for the massive inconvenience of having to wait at the restaurant. So Tom decided to write a complaint letter to Thrifty about the entire experience. After writing a letter about the experience, Tom received an email back from them explaining how sorry they were, and of course, they would send us some sort of compensation for all of our troubles.
When we finally received the compensation, it was (2) $10 off rental car coupons for Thrifty. What a waste, and completely inappropriate for the heartburn that we had to deal with. Tom and I chalked this up to a lessons learned, and that we would NEVER rent from this company again. We thought that this is where our story would end. Unfortunately, this wasn't.
Last Monday, we had a voicemail on our phone that stated Thrifty was sending our account to a collection agency for lack of communication to resolve the damage to the rental car. Tom and I were both really taken aback by this phone call, mainly because it has been over 2 months since we have dealt with Thrifty.
Tom immediately tried to call them back, but of course they were closed for the day. He left a message for the person in charge of our account, and we waited to hear back. Tom finally spoke to the person in charge of our account the following day, and was able to clear up what the damage was for. Apparently, there was damage to the exhaust system to the original rental car. Needless to say, Tom made absolutely no progress with the dingbat that was in charge of our case. He had no idea how to handle the situation, and just referred us to his manager.
After playing phone tag with the manager for several days, Tom finally got in touch with him. Tom was able to get from the manager that the tow truck driver had towed the car due to damage to the exhaust system. Tom explained, that Oh, No... this was not the case. Went into the whole diatribe of what happened, and even referred to the complaint letter. Tom explained that we had a copy of EVERY rental agreement and documentation involving this rental, and no where was it documented that this was why the car was towed. Tom explained the low clearance of the car, and that we believed the tow truck driver damaged the exhaust system while unloading the car, and changed the paperwork.
Tom also explained that per our rental agreement, Thrifty was authorized to charge our credit card for any additional damage to the car, and that by not doing this, they were violating our contract, and we would not be required to pay the damages to a violated contract. Tom and I both realized that the reason they didn't charge our card was because we could refute the charges.
After much a do, the manager decided to believe us, and close our case. Mainly because he realized he didn't have a leg to stand on.
Tom and I have decided that we will NEVER rent a car from the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group again, as we realize it may not always be best to go with the lowest cost option. You get what you pay for. I am sharing this story with all of you in hopes that you chose to do the same, or at least take caution from renting from the bottom dollar agency.
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