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Dollar Rent A Car Systems, Inc. Consumer Reviews

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Poor Customer Service
StarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 2/51

I rented a car on June 6th and returned it on June 7th in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The rental process was fine. I returned the car, and the person who checked me in stated the receipt would be emailed. Perfect. Well, two weeks later, no receipt, and my credit card has not been charged. I tried their online option to get a receipt, and no luck. I sent two emails via their online option. No one has gotten back to me. I tried to call just now, and the "system" was having problems, and I was told to try back later. I would normally not care, but I need to invoice my client. Poor customer service! I would not use Dollar Rental again!!!

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Outrageous Hidden Charges
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA -- Steer your business elsewhere. Dollar tacked on a $15 charge for each $0.75 automatic toll charged to my rental car when I drove down HWY 540. No option to pay at a tollbooth. I am being charged $31.50 for two $.75 tolls. Someone who closely monitors Facebook posts critical of company practices told me to appeal to Dollar's "toll partner", a company called Toll Pass.

Interestingly, the Dollar staff at RDU never mentioned Toll Pass, despite knowing that a toll road was nearby. I am willing to bet that their "toll partner" shares its "profits" with Dollar. BTW, the entire website for Toll Pass has now been down for two days. So much for lodging a complaint. What legitimate company has a site down for two days with no explanation? Best to take your business elsewhere.

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They Refuse to Refund My Money Even Though It Was Their Error.
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

NEW YORK, NEVADA -- On July 11, 2016 I prepaid a car rental to the Irish Company owned by Dollar Rental Services reservation number **. I prepaid it because I knew I was going to need it and by prepaying I saved a few dollars. When I arrived at La Guardia New York airport on July 19 at about 10:15 PM I went to the shuttle area and waited for the Dollar shuttle. It never showed up and I called the number on my reservations confirmation but there was no answer so at 11:45 PM I hailed the Budget Shuttle and went to their location and rented a car for 2 days which I thought would be enough time to correct the Dollar error. It wasn't.

Dollar was very arrogant about the issue and seemed to care very little about what had happened. It is now 1 month later, I have called Dollar 4 times and each time I have been handed a load of BS about the situation is under investigation. Nothing is happening and they are giving me the runaround. Refund my money.

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Restrictions
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

ST LOUIS AIRPORT, MISSOURI -- We reserved our Dollar rental car on the internet. It said unlimited mileage. When we arrived to pick up the car, the woman said, "Where will you be driving to?" We said we didn't know, just traveling around for 2 weeks, several states and maybe Canada. She said, "Well then you can't rent a car from us and nobody else will rent to you either." We assumed she meant because of Canada so we said that our plans were not firm, we didn't need to go to Canada if that would be a problem. She said we could only travel to Missouri's four contiguous states (???) in their car, and not to Canada.

We had read their "terms and conditions" on the internet and certainly saw nothing about 4 states only. Not going to Canada was not a problem for us, but we did want to go to several states. She was adamant (and very rude) so we took the shuttle back to the airport to talk to other car rental companies. The shuttle driver was extremely helpful and kind.

We related our story to the people at Enterprise, who seemed as surprised at this as we were. With Enterprise we could go wherever in the US we wanted. We rented from Enterprise, had no problems, did not go to Canada. However, all the fussing around had cost us almost two hours and a lot of stress. Will never use Dollar again.

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Backstreet Rip Off After a Long Day of Travel
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

PUERTO VALLARTA, ALASKA -- I recently made a reservation for a compact car through Dollar in Puerto Vallarta for $84.06. The advertised price stated that the car would be rented in the airport. However, when we arrived in Puerto Vallarta, we were taken on a shuttle down a random Mexican backstreet to Dollar's rental center, well away from both the airport and any reasonable competition. There, after a long day of travel, with a tired baby and a sick mother, we were told that we needed to pay $42 per day for basic insurance. I explained to them that I had already made my reservation and agreed on a price, but they did not seem to care about our original agreement.

Since neither ** or ** could tolerate any more traveling in the heat, and the neighborhood did not feel safe enough to try to hail a cab, we were forced to pay the exorbitant rates - nine times the original price we were quoted. We were also told we would be given a free upgrade to a larger car, which we were instead later charged for. I have spent months traveling in Latin American countries, and have never been robbed so severely - to my surprise by a supposedly reputable American company.

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Horrible! Rip Off!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

PHOENIX, ARIZONA -- I ordered a car through Orbitz and purchased insurance. When I arrived at Dollar Rental Car, I had to wait 1/2 hour to be served. Then the representative charged me triple the price! I asked why, he said Orbitz was only charging to hold a spot. He also charged me for unnecessary insurance, even after I explained that I purchased insurance. After being there for 1 hour, I had to take the car to get to my appointments. My vacation consisted of me arguing on the phone with Dollar Rental Car every day and getting the run around! Don't deal with Dollar Rental Car or Orbitz!!!

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Amazing!
StarStarStarStarStarBy -
Rating: 5/51

SAN DIEGO, OREGON -- I have rented cars from Hertz, Enterprise and Dollar for local needs lasting a day or two and trips lasting 7 days or more. In each instance, hands down, Dollar outshines them all. Flying into a strange airport, not knowing where to go next... no problem. The driver was right there to help with luggage. Fast, friendly! And those long lines...? Hah, with Dollar, make sure you sign up for their express service. I was waved right on through past all those people, contract ready, car ready... it was amazing. Car rental heaven.

They just pointed to the area where the size of car I had reserved and said pick one out. Unfortunately I had back issues with that car, so I had to arrange for an exchange. And that experience was terrific as well. Everyone... and I do mean every person I talked to and dealt with in San Diego at the airport and LAX, were so helpful and polite. Until they give me a reason to do otherwise, I will never rent from anyone else again!

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Worst Car Rental Experience of My Life.
By -

WINDSOR LOCKS, CONNECTICUT -- San Diego, CA 11/5/2010. My review got kind of long so if you don't read anything else know this, car rental reservations are not set in stone so it is not too late to book with a better car rental agency and just cancel or no show for your dollar reservation. I wish someone would have told me!

Renting with Dollar was the worst experience of my life! The shuttle took forever to arrive. We saw several better shuttles pass by while we waited. Then the lady at the counter set a new low in rude service. She barks at people and isn't helpful in the least. I had a reservation for a Toyota Camry but they put me in a Kia Spectra. Our luggage didn't even fit in the trunk. I would have complained but I just didn't want to deal with the rude lady so I accepted it.

They charged us $15 a day for GPS rental (it would have been cheaper to buy one) and it didn't work. It was like 7 years old, the kind with a fat back and no touch screen. When the GPS crashed for the third time before we left the parking lot I took it back in and they quickly swapped it out for a slightly newer one. If they know it's a piece of junk why do they give it to people?

Upon returning the car we pulled to the door to unload our luggage in the pouring rain. The lady came out and instead of helping unload, she barked at us to move the car. We parked the car around back and my more patient wife went inside to deal with the rude agent while I unloaded our bags by myself in the rain.

After I unloaded the bags I went inside to find my wife losing her zen-like patience with the counter lady. We were returning the car with a full tank of gas but we didn't have a receipt so they still wanted to charge us a penalty. I was about to lose my temper so I went out and started loading my bags on the shuttle, it could have been hours until the next shuttle came.

When the shuttle driver came on board he reminded passengers to check for cell phones and chargers because they frequently find them and they have a whole box full of them in the back. One passenger joking asked if they had iPhone chargers and the driver said "let me look."The shuttle driver brought two boxes full of lost and found and let the passengers go through them and take what they liked!!

My wife asked for the manager's name to file a complaint and the lady said she did not know it. Before this experience I thought that all car rental companies were pretty much the same, but this experience taught me that is not true. Stay away from Dollar car rental like the plague. I plan on posting negative reviews as much as possible if only to warn fellow passengers to stay away!

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Horrible Experience With Dollar Rental
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

CANCUN -- I was on a four day vacation with my wife for which I rented a car from the airport location. On the second day of my trip (Friday, August 16th), I had filled up the gas tank and on the way, I had a flat tire while driving from Cancun to Tulum, near Playa Del Carmen. I was waiting in the heavy rain for any passer-by to assist me in changing the tire as the airport location wasn't helpful at all in calling someone to help me out.

After an hour and a half of waiting, a cab driver finally agreed to change the tire for US $30. Then, I called the airport location again and was told to return the car at the Playa Del Carmen location in exchange for a new car. When I reached this location, I was told that there are NO new cars available and that they will need to fix this spare tire and so I need to wait.

From here on, our vacation plans went downhill. It took the staff at this location TWO hours to have an update for my car. After the long wait, I was told that the car couldn't be fixed and that they will NOW find me a new car. I thought this was ridiculous since they had firmly told me earlier that no new cars are available. So I was lied to and made to wait without any reason. This is UNACCEPTABLE and UNETHICAL. We were simply taken advantage of as tourists by this unprofessional, discourteous and useless staff.

As it was almost the end of the day approaching with your unplanned and unequipped staff trying to find us a car, we could not go to Tulum and had to turn back and drive to Cancun. The next day (Saturday), we decided to return the car to a nearby location to our hotel (Live Aqua). This location is next to Fiesta Americana and we were told about this location by the airport location staff when we were renting the car. We were told that we could return the car to this location in case we didn't need the car.

There comes our next shock, almost unbelievable for an established rental company such as Dollar. The one person sitting at this location heard our story and I told him that I want to return this car and should not be charged for the previous day as that was a waste just waiting on an unreliable staff to help me. This person simply told me he can do NOTHING. Not only could he do NOTHING, he said he doesn't have a way to reach his supervisor. He said his landline doesn't work and his cell phone doesn't have any balance.

Then as we were leaving, he tells us that he is talking to his supervisor via Yahoo messenger and the supervisor cannot do anything to help including waiving off a day's charge on the rental, or compensating us for the gas we filled or the $30 we gave to the cab driver to get the car fixed. So we wasting another couple hours with this lazy, half-asleep, so called Dollar-employee!

The next day as we went to the airport to fly back to USA, at the car rental office, I was given the same cold, unhelpful, useless attitude and was INSULTED by being asked by the staff manager “So if you don't want to pay one day's car rental, do you only want to pay a dollar?!” I was shocked at his guts talking to a customer in this tone. What an ill-mannered, uneducated staff!

He did not help out or understand our plight one bit. Instead of feeling bad for our ruined vacation, he talked to us in this airy and condescending tone. I have spent a good amount of money on my vacation and am not frugal in any way. I was asking for only what is fair and ethical, and what a company like Dollar is beholden to do for its customers. Instead, I had to deal with a bunch of morons who not only are pathetic at their jobs, but also lack basic common sense and ethics. I hope after reading this, you can better plan your car rentals and can actually enjoy your vacations.

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Complaint
By -

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA -- Consumer Warning to any travelers renting from Dollar Rental Car at the Indianapolis Airport. Questionable practices! First of all, our trip to Indianapolis was a wonderful experience as we moved our daughter from Casa Grande Arizona to Butler University, except for our rental car nightmare.

We rented on Friday when we flew in and drove straight to the hotel. However, the next morning was a nightmare. As we were all loaded up and ready for the exciting trip to Butler, the battery was dead. Of course our daughter was upset over the thought of missing her move-in time along with orientation meetings. We called Dollar Rental Car and asked for a new vehicle (as we knew we had not done anything to drain the battery).

Additionally, my husband, who is a mechanic, even noticed that the battery terminals had been recently cleaned indicating that this vehicle had probably had previous problems with the battery. We thought Dollar Rental Car would be happy to help us out. However, we were told that because we did not buy their roadside coverage they would not replace the vehicle nor send help to fix the problem (we had AAA and did not need their coverage). We were told we would have to contact our own roadside service.

I was amazed at their lack of customer service or willingness to help stranded customers because of a faulty vehicle. We called AAA and they were there to save the day in minutes. Interestingly, AAA attempted to test the battery, but the battery was completely bad. We were told it could not even be tested, let alone charged. We had to replace the battery in order to use the vehicle to get our daughter moved in and to orientation at Butler. AAA filled out a receipt indicating that the battery was bad and the replacement charge.

When we returned the vehicle on Monday and again explained what happened and that we had to purchase a battery. Dollar Rental Car made copies of all documents so we were encouraged that Dollar Rental Car would step up and take care of their customers. We were told that ** (manager) would call us back. However, when ** called us back, she was very defensive and told us that we should have called them about the battery and that they would have given us a new vehicle; therefore they were not going to pay for the battery.

We told her that Dollar Rental Car was the first place we called, but we're told we had to call our own road side service. She then became even more defensive and told us that they would only pay for half of the battery replacement charge because we should have had the battery change authorized first, and because we did not they would not pay for the entire charge. Really?! Again we reiterated we tried to get help from Dollar Rental Car as soon as we had the faulty battery problem, but were told we had to use our own roadside service.

We explained that we tried to get them to initially fix the problem, but they refused. We also explained that we did not and still do not see any mention of pre-authorization of replacing a faulty battery in our contract. We have spoken with numerous people from Dollar Rental Car including the owners of the Indianapolis Airport location. They were rude, and resistive to taking responsibility for renting a defective vehicle. They have even stopped returning our calls.

We are appalled at the way we were treated and want to warn other travelers to avoid using this company for their rental vehicle needs. I think we will stick with AVIS and Hertz as we have always used in the past with excellent service.

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Dollar Rent A Car Systems, Inc. Rating:
Star Half star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.3 out of 5, based on 26 ratings and
112 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Dollar Rent A Car Systems, Inc.
5330 E. 31st Street
Tulsa, OK 74135
918-669-3377 (ph)
918-669-2934 (fax)
www.dollar.com
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