E-Z Rent A Car Consumer Reviews - Page 4

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- We got an unsafe car... No question... Within 30 miles of getting the car, I needed to take it to a garage. These guys were great and I'm glad I went there. Customer service is non-existent! I will never again, put my family in jeopardy, nor will I waste vacation time, by going with a less expensive car rental company without a good reputation.

CANCUN, MEXICO, TEXAS -- We rented a minivan from E-Z car rental/American car rental in Cancun Mexico. The price quoted is what we paid and they put a hold on our credit card for $1,600 dollars. When we checked with our cc company they told us it's standard procedure and it did drop off by the time we were back home. The car promised is what we got and it was only fairly new.

ORLANDO MCO AIRPORT, FLORIDA -- Rental Confirmation: $173.22 -- Actual charge: $789.45. Thinking of renting a car from E-Z Rent-A-Car? You might want to read this first!

I booked a car from Orlando (MCO) Airport with a confirmed price of $173.22. (Confirmation#: EZ Rent-A-Car ** $173.22) At pickup, the E-Z representative (name withheld) offered me an upgrade at "no additional charge". After a brief discussion about the expected gas mileage of this bigger, upgrade car, I agreed, as it was a 'free' upgrade. I then specifically declined the additional insurance (CDW). The only additional fee I agreed to at pickup was the Easy Pass (SunPass) pre-paid toll which the E-Z representative (name withheld) assured me was a one-time fee of some $37 (this later became $55.92, but that was the least of my problems!)

To cut to the chase, after I returned the car (undamaged), I got my credit card statement with a payment of $789.45. (Contract # **.) Despite my agreement to take the upgrade only if it was free and my express instructions that I did not want to take additional insurance, the E-Z representative (name withheld), or someone in the office had added a $120.20 upgrade fee and Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) to the contract. To add insult to injury, the CDW cost even more because they charged me the rate for the bigger car.

Despite calls almost everyday to E-Z Rent-A-Car's Customer Care department and repeated e-mails to them requesting they review my contract, I have never once received a reply. Try calling the E-Z Rent-A-Car Customer Care at 407-674-1006. The call is never answered! If you wait on hold a message every minute or so will inform you that they are busy assisting other callers, but despite how long you wait, your call will not be picked up.

The message will suggest you leave your name and number and they will return your call within one business day. I imagine that if anyone at E-Z Car Rental ever bothered to listen to those messages, mine would be the first voice they would hear! I have lost count of the number of phone messages I have left, all unreturned. I have sent e-mails to the same E-Z Rent-A-Car Customer Care department and never received a reply. I'm out $600. Don't let this happen to you!

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- SCAM ARTISTS: E-Z Rent a Car aka USA Car rentals. We hired a car from E-Z Rent a Car/USA Car rental (same people which change names to suit weather). We declined the top-up insurance and had to prove by supplying copies that we had full/top tier car insurance, which we had and consequently supplied our State Farm paperwork. They took copies. We paid in cash for entire rental but then next month our credit card bill arrived with a deduction for $102 insurance. On calling them we were told it was an error and would be refunded. We waited a month. No refund.

Called them again and were told that we had signed for the insurance. We asked for proof of such a signature as it was not on our copies and we knew that such a signed copy did not exist. The young lady was quite rude and angrily stated that she would now have to go through archived records but said that they would find it and send it.

Of course it never arrived and now they ignore us and have not replied to emails. We complained to our credit card company but they said that we had signed the rental agreement. Yes we did but we did not request, want or sign for extra insurance. Apparently however EZ car/USA car rental can, once they have a signature, deduct whatever they want even though it is unauthorized and you cannot actually hire a car without giving a credit card. Our credit card company was disgusted as well and after 4 months, hours of time, frustration, upset and dozens of letters the bank themselves refunded us $50. We are still down $52. This was a scam.

There should be a class action lawsuit against them. No other business could get away with this appalling method of illegally taking customers money. STAY AWAY FROM EZ Rent a Car and USA Car rental unless you want to pay double for your car. What a great way to increase profits. Just steal it! SCAM ARTISTS. I am writing to the BBB and warning everyone.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- I usually use National, Alamo or Avis, in that order. I made the unpardonable mistake of making a reservation with EZ based on price. Never, ever again. No one came close to their rate: $135 for three days out of Toronto Pearson for a midsize. I booked it. Should have read more but I rely on information being in the reservation: unlimited mileage, pick up point, etc... What I didn't dig deep enough to find is they'll take any chance they get to leave you stranded.

I called from CMH after a bump opportunity for $400 came up. Their lot closed at 10 but my new flight would not get in 'til 11. They said there was no way to do an after hours pick up and they would not honor the reservation if I picked it up the next morning. So, fine, I lost out on $400.

My plane ended up leaving late but was only supposed to be an hour. Well, between boarding and sitting at the gate and delayed landing, my plane ended up getting in just before 8 instead of 6. Another 15 minutes to get to the 'courtesy' phone only to be told 'You didn't call so your reservation was cancelled'. I don't have an air phone. He, in fact, said they had no cars available. The central reservation operator blamed me and said it was their policy to cancel any reservations after 1 hour and I should have called them. There is no such information on my reservation. She said it was in the policies on their website.

I not only don't have an air phone, I don't have Internet access in the air. I've had dozens of car rentals and never had one cancelled on me because the plane was late. Oh, the nice lady did apologize for the inconvenience but I made it clear, in less than gentlemanly language, that getting in two hours late and then being stranded in Toronto with no car was not merely an inconvenience. So I lost a $400 voucher, paid $50 in cab fees to get to the hotel and back and the new reservation, with a different company, of course, cost $150 more than my original reservation.

TAMPA, FLORIDA -- DON'T DO IT!! This company is a SCAM!! I rented a mini-van from Orbitz.com for 3 days. EZ Rent a Car described the mini-van as being able to hold 7 passengers & 4 large suitcases. Check in was a hassle and took about 30 minutes. When they finally brought the car around it was a SMALL mini-van that wouldn't even fit 2 small suitcases in the trunk. I was livid but did a quick walk around inspection of the car alone and there was no visible nicks or dents. We drove from Tampa to Clearwater Beach and parked the car at the hotel for our entire trip.

Three days later we went to return the car... He told me to stay inside while he went out and performed an inspection of the car. He then called me out to point out a small nick on the side of the car. I was livid explaining to him there was no way we caused this as we only drove it 40 miles and certainly didn't get into an accident and it was left in a secure parking lot! They took me into the office to look up information about the last person who rented the car. The manager was "in the back" and "unavailable". They couldn't find any paper work but assured me that everything would be OK. I refused to sign the paper stating any damage was done to the vehicle in my presence.

We had a plane to catch and I took their word for it. Three weeks later I get a letter in the mail for $2,400 worth of damage! The estimate of damage they charged me for is for a new front and back bumper and side panel! Including $540 for "loss of use" while the car was being repaired. After doing some research online about this company I have confirmed that I have been scammed. I plan on doing whatever it takes to fight this company! Looking back I wish I would have paid a little extra to rent from a brand name company. There is a reason their prices are so cheap - it is a SCAM! Stay away.

DENVER, COLORADO -- I've rented from this company at this location several times now and have had very mixed experiences. The later ones have been worse and for this fact alone as well as the unpredictability factor--not something today's air traveler really needs or wants--I would not recommend using this company at this location.

First, definitely ask a Hertz or Enterprise bus driver where the E-Z shuttle is when you walk out with your bags (they seem to hate answering this already). On one side of the terminal the shuttle is at the front of the shuttle line. On the other it's at the very back. On neither side is their name included on the directory board and if you pick the wrong direction and start walking you may end up adding half a mile on foot to your trip, with all your bags in tow, like I did the first few times I rented from them.

At their service desk study the faces of the desk personnel and try to pick someone who is not mean-spirited or seems to have a chip on their shoulder. Several of their people are just mean. If you are someone who prefers not to use credit cards and prefers debit or check cards, be prepared to face some heckling and hassling. One week there was no problem although I was given a great deal of random attitude from the desk guy I talked to, to the point that I would've walked out and headed for the next company on the row had my wife not intervened to soothe my frayed nerves.

The following week, the company had apparently changed their policies to require faxed proof of insurance from my own car insurance or that I pay their exorbitant daily insurance rates (much higher than their rental rates). The desk person was actually competent if somewhat incalcitrant and unfriendly. The fact that the company arbitrarily changed its policies from week to week without even notifying regular customers seems at least capricious, if not downright unfriendly.

I want predictability when I travel because I need all my focus and concentration to deal with the circumstances of the day. In a car rental company I also look for convenience and speed. E-Z has none of this and for this reason I will not be likely to use them in the future. And if you're thinking the price will make it worthwhile think again. Actually the rates plus all the other crap they add on (particularly if they force you to use their insurance) turn out to be as much as or more than everyone else. The added inconvenience of attitude from desk personnel and fluctuating policies that are unfavorable towards debit card users is what breaks the camels back for me.

Bottom line: Do as you wish but be wary if, unlike me, you plan to rent from these guys anytime soon.

FT. LAUDERDALE AIRPORT, FLORIDA -- I rented a car from EZ Rent-A-Car in Ft Lauderdale and, at first, it was an awesome experience. Then, 3 months after the trip, I received a bill for $4500+ worth of damage to the vehicle I rented. When I informed the person that emailed me the bill that I had 5 witnesses to refute the company's claim against me, she told me, "They're not witnesses because they were with you." REALLY? Look up the definition of "witness" in the dictionary!!! But I digress!

The pictures they sent along with the claim were taken 16 days AFTER I returned the vehicle. It took weeks of going back and forth and escalating it to management, along with submitting written statements based on the advice of an attorney, until they relieved me of the claim. Apparently, this isn't the only time this has happened with this company, as well as other rental car companies.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- I hadn't seen any reviews on this company until after I returned the car, but I don't understand why so many are negative... It sounds like some people didn't read the rental contract well and didn't know what they were getting, while others just had some bad luck. My experience with this location couldn't have gone better... I got the car I wanted, and they matched the price I found at another company. The car was virtually brand new in perfect shape and worked great.

The return process was very efficient -- an agent gave it a quick once over and verified it had a full tank (and I was never asked to prove I filled it up at a nearby station). I then entered my email on the agent's iPad and got the receipt on my phone seconds later. Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

DALLAS FOR WORTH AIRPORT, TEXAS -- In August 2013 I rented a car from E-Z Rent-A-Car for three days in Dallas Fort Worth airport in Texas. At the time I return the car an employee fully inspected the car from front bumper thought the rear bumper, from left side to right side, and from bottom to roof. There are no any damages found. We both signed the paper, and she brought me to the counter and I paid whatever cost for three days rental.

About three weeks after I got to home, I received a letter (bill) from Orlando of E-Z Rent-A-Car. The bill shows I damaged the car and estimated cost is almost $3000! There are 40 damages need to be repaired! They include four doors, roofing, front and rear bumper, even the trunk light, and so on. I was stocked. 40 spots damages the inspector on earth didn't see any of them at the time the car was returned?

After I consulted with professionals, I realize this is total a scam, a fraud, and **. As I didn't buy extra insurance which is about $25 per day, and E-Z Rent-A-Car knows my credit card has extra coverage for car rental, E-Z Rent-A-Car thought it has a change to fraud and hope to get paid from insurance company. That is illegal. I will never ever rent a car from E-Z Rent-A-Car again. Everyone should stay away from it as much as possible.