Carrentals.com Consumer Reviews - Page 3

CALGARY -- I've always used Carrentals.com in North America/Canada and never had to purchase insurance because my personal insurance covers me in Canada and USA. This time I rented in Spain where my insurance does not cover me so had to purchase insurance through Carrentals.com. My initial quote for total rental including insurance for 20 days was roughly 400 euros. When I go to the rental desk at Avis they said that their records did not show insurance.

I called the call center and spoke to an agent and the Call Centre Agent advised me to take insurance with the rental company (4 times more than through Carrentals.com - roughly 1600 euros) and then log a case once I return the vehicle to try and get a refund. Followed his advice and when I logged a case was informed that because I had now accepted these charges that Carrentals was unable to provide me with a refund. I am still fighting to try and get my refund but seems like I am fighting a losing battle.

NEW YORK -- I input all my dates and information and reviewed with my boyfriend before submitting. Everything was correct, so naturally I hit 'submit'. When we got our confirmation email, the days were all correct but they were exactly 1 week AFTER the dates we had selected. I contacted their customer service department who only replied saying that I agreed to the terms and conditions and no refund, cancellation, or changes could be made. They then ended their email with "Sorry." This is very clearly a scam site and I really really wish I had read some reviews first before giving them all of my personal information.

DENVER, COLORADO -- Tried to rent a car from Carrentals.com. I selected a car from Fox Rentals, but the website said that car was not available any longer. So, I selected a car from EZ Car. When I picked up the car, I was charged $200 deposit, plus the $224 for the car rental - so far, not too bad. But then I check my credit card balance and find that they charged me for the Fox car also that was not available. So far, my card has been charged almost $700 for a three day rental that was listed as $54.95 per day!!

I tried to find a phone number to call and complain -- NO number anywhere. So I emailed them and they said they only showed one rental. OK, so where's my friggin money going to?? Never again -- I'm sticking with Priceline or somebody with a phone number. BTW -- Fox Car Rental didn't answer their phone either.

I had an extremely bad experience using carrentals.com. I had a hard time with their website getting my reservation to toggle to pm instead of am but thought I had finally accomplished this. Their confirmation email says nothing about whether it is am or pm and I mistakenly assumed they were making the correct reservation. I returned my car early to Enterprise and all of a sudden I owed $100 more. I could not find any phone number to contact them. In fact, the one listed online was actually Priceline and it would not recognize my reference number and there was no way to get anybody on the line.

When I wrote them via email, they took no responsibility for the malfunction of their website and in a very rude manner said they can't take responsibility for my mistakes. I am now stuck with paying $400 to rent the cheapest vehicle available for 2 days. Enterprise who didn't even make the initial mistake is willing to split the extra fees incurred. Never use this website and the company has no integrity as far as I am concerned.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA -- I rented a car through Carrentals.com with agency ACE. This was a local Atlanta rental, so I was not flying in or out of Atlanta. When I arrived at the rental counter for ACE, they told me I couldn't rent the car because their "local" requirements were to have a valid round-trip airline ticket or proof of airline itinerary for rental of the vehicle. Then to follow up, there was no place to contact Carrentals.com by phone to resolve the issue.

I called ACE, and they said there was nothing that could be done. Save yourself the hassle and don't rent from Carrentals.com, as their terms and conditions are buried deep in fine print... Make sure you read them from top to bottom, as some of the rules and terms and conditions for their agencies (e.g. ACE) are very different from standard more well-known rental car companies.

INDIANA -- I made a reservation online with Car Rentals.com. When I realized that I needed to upgrade my vehicle, I was given a very hard time b/c they claimed I agreed not to cancel my reservation. I made the same agreement on another online car reservation site and when I needed to cancel, I simply paid a cancellation fee and had no issues. Carrentals.com does not have a phone number where you can call and talk to a person to discuss the issues. They only have email and they hide behind the email to be rude, abrupt and unhelpful.

They wanted me to pay a cancellation fee and then upgrade my reservation. I was trying to get a better vehicle and pay more money, but was going to be charged a fee for it and then if I did that, I was not given an option as to with whom I could rent my vehicle. This is a serious lack of customer care or customer service and I will definitely not use them in the future for any car rentals.

I booked a car through carrentals.com. Don't do this. Ever. I was duped into buying car insurance that wasn't even useful. It was $65 for a day's worth of insurance, which is very high. I had to buy car insurance again when I went and picked up the car. The reason why I was duped is because the site automatically charges you car insurance unless you untick boxes and the boxes aren't easy to find. I cannot believe I fell for this stupid trick. I feel silly, but also ripped off. I think this is totally unethical behavior and I will not be using carrentals.com again. I encourage you to do the same.

PHOENIX, PENNSYLVANIA -- I've rented cars many times before but never with CarRentals.com. I reserved a car using CarRentals.com for a week-long trip to Arizona. My quote from CarRentals.com - rate and estimated taxes/charges - was about $176. I knew I would purchase insurance from the car rental company (Payless) and would therefore end up paying more than that.

Once we arrived in Phoenix, we opted to pre-fill our gas tank ($53.47) and a slight upgrade ($9/day for a total of $63). Insurance charges came to $181.93. So our extra, optional charges, came to $298.40. However, we ended up paying a total of $659.46... still significantly more than CarRentals.com's estimate of $176 + optional additional charges of $298.40 = $474.40.

When I filled out the CarRentals.com survey and wrote my negative impressions of and experience with their company, I received snarky emails from **, suggesting that perhaps I had returned my vehicle late (I had not) and describing how they can't possibly foresee all the charges... um, isn't that your job?

If you rent with CarRentals.com, just know that whatever your "estimate" is, you will likely be paying significantly more than that. As I said, I've rented cars many times before and have never had an estimate that was so far off the mark. Next time, I'll take my business elsewhere.

HONOLULU, HAWAII -- I booked an economy car at carrentals.com and read through all of the terms and conditions. I was pleased with the online price, but when we arrived in Honolulu, the 'shuttle van' was a complete junker, and they took us to a shady used car lot with a rental car department. They said if we were using a debit card, that they would have to place a $1000 hold on account. We said ok, then they added "oh and it will also cost you an additional $30 per day to use your debit card."

It was a complete scam, and we walked out without the car. We then spent about four hours trying to get to a different rental car agency where things were sold out or expensive last minute. When we returned from our trip, we discovered that they had charged our card a late cancellation fee, that we are still fighting to have removed. Carrentals.com needs to drop this horrible vendor, and you never know how many other shady dealerships they have under their umbrella.

BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON -- I wish I could give CarRentals.com zero stars, as this was just a terrible experience. It all started with the reservation. I reserved my car through CarRentals.com to get a good deal. The process was a bit much, but I've had worse. As I was completing the reservation, I distinctly read that this location may accept debit cards. (hint: this comes up later.)

I selected Enterprise as I'm familiar with them so I could rent a car and take a trip to Wisconsin for a business meeting while we were on vacation in Chicago for the holidays. I arrived at Enterprise to pick up my car only to find out that they would not take my debit card. Yes, I am well aware their site says, "may". If they won't take a debit card, it should be "will not." I could have brought one if I had known, but I prefer to not carry as I only use my credit card in emergencies.

Enterprise lied TWICE about trying to contact me about not accepting debit cards for people who live out of state, first saying they tried to call me and left a message, but then admitted they did not have my full phone number (even though I gave it) and then admitted they really did not. Then they lied about emailing me about the credit card issue.

So now I have to wait for an hour while my wife bundles up our two kids and drives back to bring my card. And I'm late... Thanks. This was all avoidable. If they could not contact me - admit it. If there was an issue, so some empathy. They did neither. I'll use Enterprise again, but not this location. You shouldn't either.

So I contact CarRentals.com to let them know about the issue. I wasn't happy, but having worked from companies like this I know it's good to hear if there is a problem that can be solved, especially since it was CarRentals.com that I used for the reservation. Mind you, I asked for nothing. This was just an, "I'm not happy at all, but you should be aware of this" type email.

A little over an hour later I get a response that left me speechless: "... We would have been happy to find out their policy re: debit cards if you had requested that we ask for you." Are. You. Kidding. Me? That's their job. It's their job to know and they dropped the ball.

Here is my response to this: "Actually, I just won't use your service again. The second paragraph of your template, "We would have been happy to find out their policy re: debit cards if you had requested that we ask for you" is ridiculous. Your PAGE stated they may accept debit cards. I should not have had to ask. I'm done."

Six minutes later their support team emails back: "With all due respect, you should have asked because it said "may."" With all due respect?

Here was my final comment to CarRentals.com: "I would like to thank you for the response, however ill conceived your last response may be. It was illuminating. Many online companies pride themselves on customer service. I know it can be difficult sometimes receiving emails from angry customers.

I recall that I used to feel that way sometimes. I wanted to send a quick one or two sentence response to an angry customer in an effort to one-up their frustrated response. It's akin to dropping the mic and saying, "BAM! I'm out!" In reality you provide additional fodder, do nothing to solve the customer's initial problem and instead steel their resolve to make their experience known to others.

It used to be said that, on average, a satisfied customer will tell 3 people while an unsatisfied customer will tell 7. Unfortunately, social media popped up and transformed that. But enough of this back and forth. I stand by my original complaint, as well as my second. I'll just add this to the online reviews and no longer use your service. Merry Christmas."

I will NEVER use this company again. Don't hide. Don't be snide. Do your job.