National Car Rental Consumer Reviews - Page 5

EL PASO, TEXAS -- If you ever use an American Express Card, which automatically has $500 rental auto coverage and you rent from National Rental in El Paso, TX, then be forewarned. You will automatically be billed for damage to the rental vehicle. I switched from my VISA card to my AMEX card to rent from National. Turned the car in, as I have done so many times over the past two years, and I get an email claiming I owe National Rental Car in El Paso, TX $500.00.

Here is the clue: The Lot Attendant was not on site, as was supposed to be when I called the night before so I could get an electronic print-out statement. The lot is not protected: NO Gates, NO Gate Attendant, NO pop-up road spikes. Anyone at any time can drive on or off the lot where the rental cars are kept. There are no cameras, none that I could see or recognize. The lot is poorly lit. The spaces are cramped and on top of each other.

I unloaded the Durango from the rear hatch and walked the vehicle before I left at 0515 hours and there was not a scratch or dent of any kind. This is FRAUD, and National Car should be ashamed to have resort to actions like this because it is deceitful.

BLOOMINGTON, MINNESOTA -- I followed my wife into National Car Rental's drop-off areas as I had done over 10 times, and as we were leaving the attendant shut the gate and extended the tire deflators into our 2004 Land Rover Discovery. **, the attendant claimed "... didn't see me...", I was shocked at his answer because my 4-door bright silver SUV with both headlights and fog lights on is impossible to miss.

My guess, and the true answer, is he pushed the gate down button by mistake and doesn't want to admit it because he is elderly. Well ** caused over $2,000.00 damage and the Station Manager ** wouldn't take any responsibility for his employee's "mistake" and ignored my requests for National to make it right.

MIAMI, FLORIDA -- The National Car Rental company rented me a car on weekly basis. I called to confirm term and length of rental as required. They contacted and told my family, ex wife, company I would be arrested for car theft in my absence from home, created havoc then harassed me on the road even as I entered the airport at Miami to return their rental on time!

They then continued to threaten and harass over the phone, mail and letters for another week saying the car was still stolen and missing while the car was sitting in their compound at Miami airport. They have refused to provide a copy of their bill which they padded and stole from the credit card company. When they are contacted now they will not provide person with knowledge of the file nor provide billing copies over 2 months later.

On a Friday night I landed at Victoria airport in BC. I had previously checked the Victoria National car rental website via the airport website to see if they accepted cash payments. The website was quite specific that they did as long as certain documents were given to the person in charge at the time of the rental. I also called their customer service just to verify the information was correct and all was good. "No problem sir," is what I was told.

As I walked up to their booth at 11:00 pm on Friday night with all my vacation plans in hand the gentleman at the counter said, "No", and that was the end of the conversation. My wife and I stood there in disbelief. Time for plan B, which at the time I did not think I needed. The best was when I sent an e-mail to national wanting an explanation.

This is what they said, "Thank you for helping us correct any customer service problems, we appreciate you taking the time to write." Are these people for real? My entire vacation plans were totally disrupted not to mention spending hours on a bus and missing out on meeting up with friends. I am so glad I could help them with their customer service. Never will they see a dime of my money.

LOS ANGELES / INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA -- In May we rented a car for 3 weeks at National. Now we were charged/debited with an amount of approx. USD 1,200 (!!!) for "extensions". We rented the car for 3 weeks, gave it back after this period, so we do not know what they are charging us for.

I called them and after approx. 20 minutes (I need to mention that I live in Germany and therefore called them from Germany - I do not want to think about the costs...) I talked to a person who seemed to be in charge. She promised to write an email to managers and copy me in - I have never received such an email! So I filled out the complaint form on their homepage and received an automatic email that they will get in touch with me within 2 day - do I have to mention that this never happened...?

So I wrote an email to the address which is mentioned here on the homepage sometimes (care at nationalcars.com) - again, no reaction. So I filled out the form on their German homepage (I asked for a contact in the US) - I have not received neither an automatic email! I am really frustrated that no one seems to be responsible for complaints! Of course we contacted our bank and are trying to retrieve the money - maybe then National wakes up...

In February, I left my overcoat in a National Car Rental vehicle at the Albuquerque airport (ABQ). This became apparent as soon as I went through security. Within 20 minutes I was on the phone with Agent X at the National lost and found at ABQ. She asked me to wait a few minutes while she check and returned to the phone and said, "Nothing was found in the car sir." She said to call back tomorrow and ask for Agent Y or Agent Z, which I did. Agent Z repeated the same response. I asked her what happened to the overcoat and she just repeated the same sentence.

We all have a good idea what happened to that coat as well as the thousands of other articles left behind in National vehicles — employees are taking them and the supervisors at the local lost and found offices know exactly who they are and are covering for them. Is this a way of compensating low-paid employees or are they covering for organized criminal activity? You be the judge. If I had left my cell phone in the pocket, I could have tracked the coat and called the Albuquerque sheriffs department. Maybe someone should do this some time to help put an end to this unprofessional and possibly illegal activity.

YELLOWKNIFE, NWT -- Watch out for this bad service, not necessarily on the part of National but one of their licensed agents. To begin with the first car we got was dirty and the "full tank" was not really full, but whatever. The next day we come out of our hotel to go to work and we are greeted by a flat tire (7am) so I call and get an answering machine and leave a message.

When I call back 5 hrs later the response was "oh we are just on our way." Nice after having to walk to work in -10. There were also other mechanical issues with the car as well. Fine we get a replacement. The best part is that when we returned the car they have the nerve to charge me 40 bucks for a tire repair in a car we drove less than 10k. So all in all stay clear of National in Yellowknife. They cost a little less than the competition and clearly you get what you pay for, unprofessional ** business practices.

I was an Emerald Club member until this last, final incident this past week. At the Phoenix airport, I was persuaded by the agent that I could return the vehicle and any missing gas would be charged at $3.04. I specifically asked "so you're saying that if I bring it back at 3/4 full I will only be charged 1/4 at $3.04." His answer was "Yes". Needless to say, when I returned the vehicle at over half full, I was charged over $60. I was given a nominal refund when I spoke with a manager, and I was in a hurry to catch my plane so I figured I would follow up with the Company directly.

I spoke with the, and I use this term very loosely, "Manager" Stephanie. She said that National was not going to refund any additional money. The Company I work for has National listed as the "Preferred" car rental company. I will go out of my way to never rent from them, and persuade all friends, family, and colleagues to do likewise. This is a very shady Company, stay FAR, FAR, away from them.

In their office in Lima-Peru they tried to charge me more money than agreed (100 more dollars than agreed) because they made apparently a mistake with the rate. They also made a mistake with their fuel records and tried to charge me for fuel that I did not use. When they realized their mistake they did not even apologize.

They also wanted to charge me for some luxury "car wash" because my family left some sand on the floor of the car (any other company would include this in the service). Finally the exchange rate they tried to use for US dollars was honestly a theft (10% more than the legal rate). The car was good, but the company just tried to take my money.

SALT LAKE CITY AIRPORT, UTAH -- DO NOT RENT from National Rental Car out of Salt Lake City Airport -- you will turn in the car, then a company called "Purco" will assess you with a windshield damage, or some random damage, but not until 3-5 weeks after you turn it in, even if it was turned in in a perfect condition like mine.

The details: I was told by National Rental Car that this company was not legit, that they had nothing to do with them, but they went after me via a credit agency -- listing a $332 bill against me. I'm and airline pilot who rented this car for one day, 25 mile drive -- it was turned in with zero damage and full of gas; i.e. perfect renter. I do not know how long this fraud has been going on, but avoid renting cars from National Rental Car, esp. out of Salt Lake City Airport.