Our reservation price did not match what Thrifty had. Took 30 minutes to straighten out. Agent was very nice. We also had to wait 30 minutes in line because although there were 8 counters, there were only 2 agents. We were very tired and had wished things had gone more smoothly & a little faster. We ended up taking an hour to get our rental car.
we paid for a full size suv and they tried to give us a mini van
Well...it all started when I landed at the airport and walked over to the rental car counter. Thankfully there was no wait at all which was nice. However, after pulling up my reservation they immediately told me they did not have the vehicle I reserved. Which is the entire point of making a reservation, so they would hold (aka reserve) the vehicle I selected. So off the bat that was very disappointing. That was strike one. They offered me a "complimentary upgrade" to a minivan. Going from a full size SUV to a minivan is not an upgrade in my eyes and I told them that. As a result, they offered me a downgrade to a smaller SUV, but didn't offer any kind of discount in the total fee. So that was strike two. After settling on a vehicle, I handed over my license and credit card and low and behold, another ~$138 bucks were due at the counter. This was for taxes/fees/usage/blah blah blah (not gas), all the things that I thought I already paid, and the only reason I went with this booking was because of the lower rate. Turns out it was just as expensive as all the others after you added in these additional charges. Why in the world would you not charge these at the time of the booking? I'm sure they can offer some explanation consisting of "We don't charge these at the time of booking because if your trip changes then these charges will change and blah blah blah blah", but the truth is likely that they don't charge them up front so it looks as if you're getting a better rate. Then when you walk in the door to pickup your car, and you have no other options because all of the other vehicles are booked, you're up the river without a paddle and you're forced to proceed if you want the vehicle. There's strike three. Normally they'd be out, but it keeps going. After finishing the paperwork and going through the above hassles (after a full day of traveling keep in mind), I short stroll down to the parking garage where I'm directed to the vehicle. I do a walk around the outside to check for damage, which there was minimal damage in the form of small scratches and dings, I hopped in and got on my way. To my unpleasant surprise, about 20 minutes into my drive away from the airport, I noticed an ant on the center console. I squished it and didn't think much of it. It wasn't until the second ant, then the third, forth, fifth, sixth...etc appeared and were squished that I realized there was an ant infestation in the vehicle. Luckily it seemed to be centralized around the center console, however my party did end up with multiple unidentified "bug bites" by the end of our trip. Strike 4. Needless to say, after trip suggestions to Thrifty and any other companies involved in this rental experience: 1. Don't offer a reservation if you do not understand the definition of a reservation. That is the definition of incompetence. 2. Don't try to up--sell a customer to something they don't want, and adversely, if the customer settles for a lesser vehicle than what was "reserved", give them the appropriate discount. 3. Don't hide fees or costs, if you can't compete with other rental companies by being honest about the total cost, you shouldn't be in business. That's unethical and shouldn't be part of your "business plan" for success. 4. Clean the cars. It's not hard. Seriously. I will say, on a positive note the overall time to pickup and drop off the rental car was very quick. Also the attendant handling the multitude of issues was professional and polite.
Was fast this time
They didn’t even have a car for me. Told me I would have to wait 3 hours or I could go somewhere else. They only could say I could call there corporate office! They were absolutely no help and completely terrible! Horrible experience!!!
Did not like discovering the hidden costs of adding a second driver. The pickup experience was AWFUL - 2-and-a-half-hour wait for the vehicle in a sultry garage without water or bathrooms - after we had completed the rental agreement. Will never rent from Thrifty again.
