Dollar Rent A Car Systems, Inc. Consumer Reviews - Page 4

KONA, HAWAII -- Don't be deceived by their internet deals. They will offer a lower price online, but rip you off once you get to their office. Lured by their lower prices and attractive pictures, I reserved an “intermediate" car (“Sebring” or similar) through the Dollar website for our anniversary vacation in Kona, Hawaii. We arrived at Dollar at 10:30 pm, after a long flight. There were only two workers helping a long line of tired customers.

One of them had finished the car rental arrangements with two newlyweds (after convincing them to upgrade to a convertible car), and was describing tourist attractions throughout the island for about half an hour as the other (grumpy) worker helped customers. After more than one hour waiting, my husband and I went outside to get our car. Only then we realize we made a mistake you should never never make: we did not ask what was the model/year/mileage and color of the vehicle before signing the rental agreement, assuming the company was a reputable one. Ha.

We walked through the hot parking lot to find not the new Sebring we expected, but a 30.000 mile beaten up old Stratus, which incidentally stopped being manufactured a few years back. I do not drive a jalopy home, and was certainly not going to drive one in our vacation! I marched back inside and asked to have the substandard vehicle exchanged for something less ancient. First they said there was no other car in the same category as the one we reserved that was available. We could wait until one arrived, but they did not know when that would happen!! I guess they have only coconuts sitting on their desks, not computers.

I saw a new blue Sebring in the lot and asked if we could have that one instead of the Stratus. They said the Sebring was reserved for a “vip client”, and that there was nothing wrong with the car they gave us. I replied that if that was the case, the “vip client” would have no problem accepting it. But they did not bulge. I then asked to downgrade our vehicle to a Caliber instead (economy category). They said if we changed categories there would be an increase on the price. I told them that was preposterous, since the Caliber belonged to an inferior category according to their own classification, and was cheaper online. I had checked the rates.

The lady gave me a simpering smile and her patented answer “I am very sorry you feel that way, madam.” But she was not sorry at all. She had the guts to lie to us and say the Caliber was more expensive because it had better gas mileage. At the end, after much arguing and time wasted, they gave us a van with less than 10.000 miles, but it was dusty inside and smelled vomit. Bottom line: stay away from Dollar when in Hawaii, unless you don't care about service.

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT -- On Friday 4 May 2007 I showed up at the Bradley International Airport - Hartford/Springfield Dollar Rent a Car site with a reservation for a car for three days. I was served by a man who was later identified as Dan. From the onset of our conversation he was pushy, manipulative, and confrontational. He told me that I would need to accept their insurance. I said that I didn't want it and had my own. He wouldn't take no for an answer. Finally, when I refused their insurance for the nth time he said, "OK, we will personally bill this credit card for all damages. You will be charged for any damage no matter how small. Is this what you want?"

He insisted that I was making a terrible mistake in refusing to buy their full tank of gas. I repeatedly told him that I would fill it on my own. He put the full tank of gas purchased from Dollar on the contract against my wishes. I wrote over it: I don't accept this and signed and dated it. He didn't care.

Then he gave me a key with no instructions on how to find the car on the lot. I had to walk back and he yelled out the location as I entered. I returned with an assessment of the already damaged vehicle. He had already filled out the original form as having no damage. He came out and I showed him the damage. He said it was nothing.

Today I returned the car. Another employee showed me that he had filled in on my rental folder that I had returned the tank half full. I actually returned it filled. The employee said, "This mileage is totally wrong." He came out and had to correct the mileage. I had written nothing on the form. It was all prefilled out by their employee, Dan. I asked for the man's name. They refused to tell me his last name; just Dan. No ID. I was told it is against company policy to reveal last names. Amazing!

My advice: avoid these pushy, manipulative, miserable people at all costs. I shall never again use Dollar. I would rather pay more and use a professional company than go through this nightmare again. On one of their sites they write: The foundation of Dollar Rent A Car is built on a philosophy of exceptional customer service. That fundamental principle is passed on to each employee. What a bunch of jokers!

TAMPA, FLORIDA -- I rented a Vehicle on March 11 2007. When I arrived at Tampa International I waited on a line for more than 45 minutes and when I finally got to the agent Joe, he took my information and went through the rental agreement. This deceptive employee asked me if I would like to purchase optional insurance which I declined. He then asked me if he could make me a "sweet deal" because you had no cars and I declined on the "sweet deal". He then told me to please have a seat. They would call me when a car became available.

When the vehicle became available he called and asked me to sign here, initial here and initial here which I did without looking. To my knowledge and from past experience when initialing to the decline of insurance I am initialing the decline of the charges and optional insurance and not signing up for this. I left the airport with a vehicle that smells awful. When you put the air-conditioning on the vehicle smells like urine and mold.

When I returned the vehicle a week later the agent checked me out and handed me a receipt. I asked why the bill was so high and she told me it was because of the optional insurance I had purchased. I explained I never purchased any optional insurance. I went to the customer service desk to complain and was greeted by Alberto who explained there was nothing he could do.

I realize I signed this agreement believing that your employee was capable in following my instructions and requests which did not include the optional insurance. I did not realize that Dollar Rent A Car hires or participates in deceptive practices to mislead customers. Maybe I would have taken the time out to read had the car been on time or I didn't have to wait 45 minutes on a line.

If possible I would like to have this complaint made formal on this employee's record. I am quite sure I am not the first customer this employee has deceived in the same manner. Maybe he finds it humorous or feels he can enforce his own company rules. Does Dollar have a psychological evaluation when hiring employees? If so this employee should be evaluated or his supervisors' should be made aware of it.

In closing while your employee might have deceived me and sold me coverage that I did not intend to receive, I can guarantee, as a result of this employees actions, Dollar* has lost a corporate customer and will not rent nor recommend Dollar* to any of our associates.

MIAMI, FLORIDA -- My friend and I rented a car from Dollar at the travel agent rate of $17.95 per day for four days. When we returned the car, we were shocked to find that Dollar charged us $161.55 for four days or $40.39 a day or 225% of the original rate. There was $16 of CFC (whatever that is), $11.42 for Privilege Fee (I guess it is their privilege to take our money), $8.12 for fuel surcharge (as if paying for gas ourselves is not enough), and above all $39.96 for a second driver.

We complained on the spot and they said it was all in the contract we signed (about 2 am when we picked up the car, they really expect everyone to read the contract before we get the key). The representative that handed us the key never said anything about the extra charges. So take my advice, use Hertz.

MORRISVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA -- Had a reservation to rent a car between Feb 12 to 23 for a full size car at $468 from the RDU Airport, which seemed like a great deal at the time. Paid them more than $900 for the same number of days, because I was unable to get the car on February 12, due to flight cancellations due to the storm in NY.

They charged me $187 per day for the first two days, plus $610 for the remaining days. Plus the folks at RDU were rude, making fun of me that I was complaining on "Valentine's Day" and generally making it hard for me to ever rent again from them. Specifically a young lady Ms. **, and her office managers Mr. Rahee **, and Mr. Vick **. THANKS DOLLAR RENT-A-CAR for VALENTINE'S DAY! I used to rent regularly for many years. I am stopping now.

DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, COLORADO -- We rented a mid-size SUV through Priceline.com for our trip to Denver. When we arrived at the rental car office we had to wait in line for 45 minutes before being served. When we finally got served we were pressured to get an SUV 4 wheel drive instead of our original reservation, at 3 times the original quoted price.

The agent told us that the mid-size SUV we reserved had no 4-wheel drive and that the police may not permit us to drive up to Breckenridge without a four-wheel drive in the mountain. Just before packing our gear in the car, we noticed that the car delivered just before ours, to another family, was a mid-size SUV 4-wheel drive exactly as we should have got.

I asked the driver how much he paid and when did he reserve and he paid $300 or $1,200 less despite booking online at the same time as us. Worse still, the attendant told us that over 3/4 of their fleet of mid-sized SUVs was 4-wheel drive. The staff does hard sell, trying to make you change your original reservation so they can actually make more money!!!! Never again.

CLEAVELAND, OHIO -- We had an unfortunate encounter with the folks at Dollar Rental Car near the Cleveland Airport. All went well until the part about toll expenses. They spent considerable time convincing the three parties renting from them that we needed the EZ pass because of the very expensive tolls we would pass through on the way to New York. We have no tolls in Utah so we had no other option but to believe them. After all we are standing there waiting to hit the road. But it turned out they were not mistaken, they outright lied about how much the tolls are.

Not only were we way overpaid on tolls, they actually manipulated us into thinking it was a great savings when it is just a moneymaking scheme of theirs. They are very dishonest at that location. Now the really great part - all calls to corporate resulted in being told that we signed a contract, so tough luck. I'm not kidding. The last girl said she was sorry but it was tough luck. Great customer service, NOT!! I will never rent from that company again. It's not just the dishonest employees, it's from the top down. Beware of them. Stay away from Dollar at all costs.

ORLANDO, OREGON -- Urgent!!! Read this before you rent from Dollar Car rentals….. Warning Don't!!! rent from this organization. I am still waiting for my $250 deposit to be refunded since the 7th of June. I have emailed more than 20 times, no reply! Handle this case as Urgent and very serious!!

"Firstly I gave all the info you are asking for three times with my last mails. I will forward these to you again. I give you the info again now next to your requests. This is fraud and I don't take this lightly!! I'm actually livid. I will advertise this to everyone. The deposit amount of 250 dollars should have been refunded the day we returned the car!!!! I want my money back within 2 days from now otherwise I'm going to open a case of fraud against Dollar car rental. I was warned by friends about USA car rentals and the deposit problem.

We also upgraded to a red Mustang convertible and had to pay more, here is what the statement on my side shows: 25-04-2013 Pre paid car rental Rental Cars.com Manchester R 1295.64 about 120 Dollars. 08-06-2013 upgrade + holding deposit of $250 DOLLAR RENT-A-CAR ORLANDO FL R 4115.34 about 410 dollars

Nothing has been returned as the deposit. The R 4115.38 included a $250 deposit and it has not come back.
Here is the link to our reservation conformation - **. It's the 1st of July today. I should have had my deposit amount back 23 days ago!!!!! I will not wait another week or two for your response!!! Advise what the delay and handicap is! This is pathetic, really."

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA -- I rented a minivan from Dollar for a 12 day family vacation. The counter service was fine, but that is pretty much where the good ended. The van they gave us was not as clean as I expected it should be. There were some interior stains and it was not vacuumed thoroughly. But I had 2 boys with me and was in a bit of a rush, so I overlooked it.

After driving on the highway a bit I was noticing the transmission not shifting smoothly and applying brakes at speeds over 40 mph would cause the front end to shimmy. By this time we were well under way and on a tight schedule, so I did not take it back to the rental location to request a better vehicle. Bad Move!

You see, when we finally had the time to inquire I was told the only way I could swap would be to return it to the franchise location where I rented it or to a corporate location. Big problem with this is we are several hundred miles from either and they are not anywhere close to our planned travel path.

There is no mechanism for Dollar corporate to use a different franchise for this type of swap. Even though, in my opinion, you know me the customer, this is a safety issue since failed brakes or transmission could leave my family in a dangerous or vulnerable position. But they could only help us if we were actually broken down, not otherwise, even though I feel we had credible cause for concern. Way to go Dollar. Nobody I know will ever use your inept service again.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- I don't travel very often. So when my flight was delayed, I was in a hurry to get out of the airport. I was with my 4-year old son who was not cooperating. I even had to put him on the counter. The lady at the counter told me I had to get insurance (even though I am covered in NY for the rental in Florida). She told me that it would be $40 (not $40 a day). It cost me more in insurance than it did the car. It was a disgrace. I felt completely ripped off.

I tried getting a Manager or Supervisor on the phone while on the phone with their customer service, but they refused. They are more interested in their commission and incentives than they are in customer service. I would take a taxi before using them ever again. That is saying a lot considering we flew in from NY to go to Disney. I would rather take a taxi to the Disney resort and all around Disney, then use Dollar Rent A Car ever again.