Dollar Rent A Car Systems, Inc. Consumer Reviews - Page 5

TAMPA, FLORIDA -- Rented a car 10/12 from Tampa airport. Walked around the vehicle and saw damage to the lower front spoiler, roof dent - no big deal. Must have been reported thinking they wouldn't rent me a car without them inspecting the car and noting the problems. Left with the vehicle and returned 4 days later - arrive at the airport in the A.M. - inspector upon return said "there's damage to the lower spoiler." "Yes it was there" and I informed her there was also damage to the roof (dent) and door (door had a very small see through sticker attached), which she didn't notice.

She asked me to fill out a form stating I didn't damage the vehicle which I filled out (minding 16,000 miles on vehicle). Well today got a phone call from a representative 10/19/12, stating I owe them for damages above. I didn't take out extra insurance - so they want it from me. I hope they have video of me walking around the vehicle and noting damage (before leaving with the rental), besides a photo I took of vehicle which shows the damage.

In any event, I have read numerous posts from others on other websites claiming the same SCAM by their company Dollar Rent A Car. If I paid for extra insurance through them I'm sure I would have never heard a word... So they could pass it on to someone else.

DENVER, COLORADO -- Here's my story: 3 days into my car rental, my car would not start in the morning. I called the Dollar roadside assistance and they told me that it sounded like a dead battery from my description. At that point I looked at the headlight switch thinking I left the lights on, but the switch was in the off position. They had a person come out and jump start the car.

He did a quick check of the charging system and said it wasn't working properly and to return the car without shutting it off as it may not start again. I drove 90 miles round trip to exchange this car and wasted half a day of vacation due to this problem, not to mention the gas I paid to drive the extra 90 miles. At the end of my rental I was charged $58.95 towing fee for the jump start. Dollar says there was nothing wrong with the car and refuses to take this charge off my bill.

MIAMI, FLORIDA -- Looking for rates at Miami airport, Dollar was one of the less expensive, between US 700.00 for one week at Alamo and US 900.00 at Avis. I paid US 440.00 for five days with insurance in a mid-size model that would be an Avenger, model that they didn't have.

When I made the quote I told the agent that I was going to drop off the car in Orlando. Arriving at Orlando airport they overcharged me in US 100.00 telling me that I had to drop off it in Miami. Customer service said that they couldn't do nothing about it so I had signed the contract. I would not recommend it to anyone.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- The agent did not honestly disclose all the fees. Our online estimate was $126.59 and we were charged $316.87. She did not provide a list of fees prior to signing the contract and she rushed us to sign before we had a chance to discuss the charge. Once we returned home & filed a complaint, we were insulted with a $30 gift towards a future rental….. as if we'd ever want to rent from them again. Yes, I am very disappointed. However, when someone does something in a proper manner and is courteous, I also will write a rewarding review. I suggest you get insurance as the car was in poor condition. Better yet, look elsewhere for a car rental.

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA -- Rented a vehicle from Dollar Rent a Car at the Oakland, CA airport. This is a complete disaster. In addition to the 47K miles on it, it had multiple dents, the cigarette lighter "socket" was completely missing, the remote control was inconsistent, and the horn did not work AT ALL! We determined that the remote for the power locks was low causing the locks to lock/unlock at random. I parked the car with my luggage in it and locked the door - as I walked away, I heard the doors unlock. Luckily, we heard the sound of the doors unlocking - otherwise we could have lost everything.

Finally, and most importantly, the horn did not work. I needed to alert a truck that he was merging into me on highway 99 - with no horn I was a sitting duck. By the way - a working horn is a mandate in California Vehicle Code - I will NEVER rent with Dollar again. I called Dollar Rental Car customer service - they were less than emphatic. I asked could I exchange at a different Dollar Location - since I am now 100 miles from Oakland. They refused! I just had to deal with it for the 3-day rental.

TULSA, OKLAHOMA -- Does ANYONE want to have a bad experience? Try to rent a car from Dollar Rent a Car. We called a month and a half early to pick up a mid-size car with audio auxiliary input in Phoenix, to be returned to Denver. A "manager" called us back at 11:00 PM EDT, to confirm our order. We arrive and no one knows anything about this conversation, and we're offered a Jeep. We explain that we are (obviously) planning a lot of driving, do not want to sit in a Jeep and have our luggage visible at every stop. Their solution - "How about an SUV?"

After repeating ourselves several times, spending nearly an hour and a half going round and round, and being told that they had nothing else to offer us, they suddenly "found" a car that we could have and, as we had originally planned, we could drop it off in Denver... for a $500.00 fee. When we mentioned that Our Veterans Advantage membership allowed us to register a second driver at no cost, they knew nothing about that program, would NOT go to their website where it was clearly stated and would NOT do anything to verify what we were saying.

The car was supposed to be a non-smoking car. When we went to pick it up, we not only found that the passenger seat had a cigarette burn hole in it, but it also was registered and had a COLORADO license plate. We were taking this car back to Colorado for them and being charged five hundred dollars, saving them the hassle, aggravation and cost to get it done.

COLUMBUS, OHIO -- I rented a car at the Columbus, Ohio, in May from Dollar Rent a Car as they advertised the lowest rate online. Having a safe driving record and using a credit card that covers insurance, I "verbally" declined the offered car rental insurance... TWICE. Unfortunately, I did not read that they added this charge to the contract anyway. So I was unpleasantly surprised to see this $150 UNNECESSARY, UNWANTED CHARGE on my bill.

When I called the 1-800 number to complain and request this charge be dropped, I was told that I had to pay, that I "signed" the contract. LESSON FOR EVERYONE: Always read the car rental contract you are signing to avoid extra unwanted services/charges no matter how rushed or tired you are at the car rental counter. I feel DOLLAR in "good service" should have refunded the unwanted unnecessary charge on my bill. Since they didn't, I won't go back...

MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- My husband rented a Dollar rental car out of Manchester, NH. We were thrilled to get a $15 per day rate as the trip was expensive enough and we are not rich. When he got to the counter, he verbally declined insurance -- TWICE. But he signed the form without paying close attention. To our surprise, our $150 dollar total bill was a whopping $316 when he checked out, as the person who had him initial made him opt for insurance he did not want.

Be warned -- check your contract carefully and don't rely on the person behind the counter to check the boxes correctly! We complained, said we used American Express that covers insurance automatically, but Dollar would not retract the insurance charge.

They had unfortunately "fired" the person Justin in their office who had made the mistake, so we were not able to contact him and have a discussion. This Justin person was fired for making too many mistakes on the job. As someone who is quite challenged with just making house payments and paying bills, the $160 extra dollars that went to Dollar Rent A Car--a big corporation--and out of my poor pocket is a good example of poor customer service.

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA -- Posted rates through Expedia, put rates at $31 per day subject to an underage driver charge (driver under 24 yrs). When they arrived, only one had a credit card and she was not the driver, so charge added for 2 drivers even though only one drove the car. Told waiver liability fee was a certain price, not told it was a per day price. Expectation was around $200 for four days; card charged $546 for the same time. Misleading and possibly shady practices all around. No effort by customer services person at all to resolve situation. BEWARE!!! USE ANOTHER RENTAL agency!!!

Upon returning a car the agents seem to automatically charge customers for a full tank of fuel without telling the customers. This happened to me recently and since the service desk doesn't go over the bill with customers, I only realized the "mistake" a few hours later. Two phone calls later and a stop at the actual location, I still couldn't find anyone with the authority to correct the mistake.

They were unmoved by the fact that their own records show I only drove the car for 52 miles (most of it due to inaccurate GPS unit), and that I had a gas station receipt for the couple of gallons that I topped the tank with at 711. I will never use them again, no Matter how cheap their convertibles might be!