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Thrifty Complaint - Thrifty Car Rentals Review - You rent a car, but the deal is a bomb! - Car Rental
Complaint
LISBON -- I have posted a video on YouTube showing my experience, at: http://youtu.be/xZplcXlghyA
But basically, what happened is...
In February 2011, I rented a time bomb from Thrifty Car Rentals. I thought I was renting a car, that was what I booked, but Thrifty fooled me. After the first 200 kilometers the car started to fail, and my wife and I had a tough time for 15 days!
I was with my wife in Portugal and decided to rent a car with Thrifty to go to Spain. Our road trip started on a cold rainy day of winter, and the first thing to fail was the air conditioning. Have you tried to drive a car when it's cold outside without air conditioning? Well, the windshield gets dangerously foggy, and the only way to fix this is by opening the window. Thank god I was in Spain and not in Canada. It was "only" 9ºC (48º F) outside. Blood doesn't freeze at this temperature.
But that was only the beginning...
The next day I noticed that one of the tires was flat, so I filled it up. But that tire was actually loosing air, permanently and gradually, so I had to do that everyday for two weeks. And the reason is because Thrifty doesn't offer assistance to their clients in Spain, even though I was only 200 kilometers away from their closest agency. They didn't offer (or accepted, after I asked) to send me a replacement car. Instead, they told me I should fix their vehicle myself!
When I finally got back to Lisbon and expressed my discontent, they didn't care much, and just offered a miserable 20% discount, as a deal to get rid of me. The amount would be refunded directly to my credit card account.
And that's when I was fooled again. I should have known they would never reimburse me. They were only trying to get rid of a complaining client before another sucker came in to burn his money away with them.
But I was still hopeful, trusting on the company and thinking that was an isolated problem when, one month Iater, I sent an e-mail through their website, at
Thrifty.com explaining what hapened. Few days later they confirmed my fear when I read their answer saying that was not their problem and I should deal straight with their agency at Lisbon. As if Thrifty Portugal, at Lisbon, was not really Thrifty.
It's really disappointing. I recommend this company to be a (bad) case of study for business schools around the world.
But basically, what happened is...
In February 2011, I rented a time bomb from Thrifty Car Rentals. I thought I was renting a car, that was what I booked, but Thrifty fooled me. After the first 200 kilometers the car started to fail, and my wife and I had a tough time for 15 days!
I was with my wife in Portugal and decided to rent a car with Thrifty to go to Spain. Our road trip started on a cold rainy day of winter, and the first thing to fail was the air conditioning. Have you tried to drive a car when it's cold outside without air conditioning? Well, the windshield gets dangerously foggy, and the only way to fix this is by opening the window. Thank god I was in Spain and not in Canada. It was "only" 9ºC (48º F) outside. Blood doesn't freeze at this temperature.
But that was only the beginning...
The next day I noticed that one of the tires was flat, so I filled it up. But that tire was actually loosing air, permanently and gradually, so I had to do that everyday for two weeks. And the reason is because Thrifty doesn't offer assistance to their clients in Spain, even though I was only 200 kilometers away from their closest agency. They didn't offer (or accepted, after I asked) to send me a replacement car. Instead, they told me I should fix their vehicle myself!
When I finally got back to Lisbon and expressed my discontent, they didn't care much, and just offered a miserable 20% discount, as a deal to get rid of me. The amount would be refunded directly to my credit card account.
And that's when I was fooled again. I should have known they would never reimburse me. They were only trying to get rid of a complaining client before another sucker came in to burn his money away with them.
But I was still hopeful, trusting on the company and thinking that was an isolated problem when, one month Iater, I sent an e-mail through their website, at
Thrifty.com explaining what hapened. Few days later they confirmed my fear when I read their answer saying that was not their problem and I should deal straight with their agency at Lisbon. As if Thrifty Portugal, at Lisbon, was not really Thrifty.
It's really disappointing. I recommend this company to be a (bad) case of study for business schools around the world.
Comments:
Posted by madconsumer on 2011-05-25:
why would you use the air conditioner to remove fog on windows in the winter?
Posted by PepperElf on 2011-05-25:
well AC can work for that. the fog is caused because the glass has two different temperatures on each side. You can either warm it up until it's completely warm, or cool it down to match the outdoors.
Posted by trmn8r on 2011-05-25:
It is caused by the temperature difference, but it isn't cooling the glass that removes the condensation, it is blowing dried air over it.
My car's air conditioner runs when the defrost is on - it mixes with the warm air.
My car's air conditioner runs when the defrost is on - it mixes with the warm air.
Posted by madconsumer on 2011-05-25:
of all the vehicles i have owned, they all had a defrost setting. isn't the purpose of a defrost is to remove frost and fog from the inside of the windscreen? the vents are directly pointed to the windscreen.
trmn, correct, the defrost setting does use the ac components.
trmn, correct, the defrost setting does use the ac components.
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