I thought I got a great deal when I made a reservation for a mini-van for $209/wk from Thrifty. My $209 rate quickly turned into $488.
After standing in line for over 20 minutes at the agent counter (only car rental agency with a line at the time), I quickly figured out what was taking so long. The agent wasted a lot of my time trying to get me to upgrade to a much more expensive SUV, which I told her from the beginning I didn't want to pay more. Then she proceeded to tell me that if I didn't purchase their 'Pass 24' for $41.99, it would cost me $15.00 each time I went through a toll - which I found out later was a complete lie.
But, the real kicker came when we turned the car in at the end of the week. At the suggestion of the Thrifty agent, my husband and I specifically opted to pay up front for a full tank of gas at the rate of $3.56/gal. When I saw my final receipt, I was charged $153.29 plus Florida tax for 3/4 of a tank of gas. I immediately called Thrifty when I got home and was told that because I declined the prepaid fuel option (which I didn't), I was to be charged their premium amount of $9.29/gal tax. They said they couldn't go back and undo the charge, but they would send me some coupons to use for my next rental. Like I would rent from them again!
I wish I would have thoroughly gone through the the printed rental agreement before I left the counter. But, unfortunately, I trusted that the agent got things right. Plus, I felt bad for all the angry people waiting in line behind me.
In all my years of traveling and renting cars, I have never had a rental company not try to make things right. Their philosophy was 'too bad.' That's really great customer service Thrifty!!!
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