Thrifty Rent A Car
reviews and complaints

We flew into Montreal and had a rental car lined up for a 2 week period.
From May 17 -May 31/ 16. Once we got there the agent told me that he had to add the additional insurance although I told him to waive it as I have my own insurance. He told me this was routine and that it would be adjusted after the car was returned. I also had booked it in my name using my credit card and told them at the desk that my husband would be the sole driver. The told me that it was not possible to have him as the sole driver as this was booked in my name, so we had to add a 2nd driver at a cost of $13.50 a day.
They never even looked at the additional insurance charge upon the return of the car and of course charged it to the tune of $447.86. I am still seething from this overcharge.He told us if I did not pay that additional insurance that he could not release the car, even if I had additional coverage.

I rented a car in Atlanta, GA Airport from Thrifty Car Rental, and I've found that this company is not reliable! They are really commited at pushing any additional insurance they have without any explanation on what they mean. I was offered to include a Liability Insurance Supplement (LIS), which I agreed as usual. However, the attendent included additional things like PAI PEC, PREM RD SVC and UMP. When I asked the meaning of these acronyms, he did not explained but prefered to lie saying “don’t worry, you will not pay all of those when returning the car”. Well, in fact, I had to pay them all, which ended up costing me additional $ 527 for an economy car for 24 days when the total rental price of this car was $ 372 + $ 251 taxes. Later, only after complaining at the rental company (Rentcars), those additional insurances were clarified: Personal Accident Insurance (PAI, PEC), Premium Emergency Roadside Assistance (PREM RD SVC) and Uninsured Motorist Protection (UMP). I would NEVER buy those insurance items if I was aware of their meanings.
I have rented cars many times in U.S. and Europe, but this “pushing” never happened before when renting from other companies.

This is one of the horror stories that should not happen to anyone. I am completely disappointed in the business practices of Thrifty Car rental at the Cancun International airport. I got a great deal on a compact car through Travelocity and booked it for 4/16/16 - 4/21/15. I arrived at the Thrifty Car rental site on 4/16/16, at the airport with reservation in hand, and it took them quite a while to even find the reservation. Immediately they attempted to up-sale me to the next size car because they claimed, I would not be happy with the compact car and my luggage might not fit. That probably should have been my first sign to walk away. I felt pressured to pay for the upgrade at an additional 12 day, beside what I had already committed to. The next the next thing was insurance and they wanted me to take out a premium insurance @ 36.00 per day, more than my actual rental on the car per day. I refused the high premium insurance and asked for a more affordable insurance, so I settled on insurance of about 21.00/day, because they advised me that it was Mexican Law and I could not rely on my own auto insurance even though I have complete coverage with my personal auto insurance.

The bottom line is that I took the car, drove it less than 50 miles and kept the car in an enclosed parking area, with attendant parking. I have verified with my resort, that they were not aware of any incident with the car. There were no incident with the car, at all and the car was returned in the same condition when I first rented it, on 4/21/16. They attendant at the return process inspected the car and wrote that I had damaged one of the mag wheels with scratches. I denied that any thing had happened to the car, as these "scratches" that they claimed that I put on the car were barely visible as I had to get on my knees to really see. I took pictures of the alleged scratches and as can be seen by the attached pictures, they are very minor scratches that a wash and wheel cleaner would take care of.
I have numerous shots of these alleged damage and as you can plainly see, if I had scraped a curb, you should see some scratches on the rubber tire itself, but as the picture shows there are none.

The unfortunate thing that The rental agent tried to get me to a form with a lot of blank spaces and at first I refused, but being in a foreign country I felt pressure to sign the form, but nowhere on the form was any mention of the "alleged damage".

I asked to speak to a supervisor, but according to the rental clerk at Thrifty, his supervisor would have to call me to discuss, as I disputed the charges.

Not only did I not get a phone call, but got an invoice for additional charge for the alleged damage of 1900 pesos or approx. 109.00 USD, from Mr. Edgar Arizpe Supervisor Thrifty Cancun

The sad part of this whole scenario that the couple who had just checked out at the Thrifty counter prior to me warned me that the same thing had happened to them.

These are not business practices, which should be tolerated by anyone, in any situation.

I am definitely disputing these additional charges with my credit card as this situation has left a sour taste in our mouth.

I am going up the ladder at Thrifty corporate offices till I can get some who will speak to me and explain why I should pay these '' charges".

Very, Very ...disappointed customer!

Avoid Thrifty/Dollar at all costs. They often offer lower prices, but they will nickle and dime you to death. They try to overcharge you for fuel, toll passes, and they charge extra if you want to add a different driver. And be careful if you book in advance, as only the person making the reservation will be able to drive, and they are so inflexible that the only way to change it is to cancel the reservation and start over, and if you are at the counter that will really cost you.

Beyond that, their agents are the surliest, haughtiest, and least service-oriented I have ever experienced in any business. We've had really bad service in both St. Louis and Chicago. And don't complain if you are at the counter, as they might just refuse you the car. Zero stars.

Our most recent event was on 3/31, at Chicago Midway airport, the reservation number was G88534756568

I rented a vehicle from Thrifty at DFW and had the same problems listed by others. The lady at the desk asked me if i had an toll pass to pay for tolls. I said no and asked her how people from out of town usually pay. She said I could just have it added to the bill like I did for the gas. Now they have sent a bill of $112.82 for total toll charges of $7.82. How does that even make sense? And I just read on their FAQ sheet that came with the bill that by signing the rental agreement, I accepted responsibility for payment of fines, penalties and administrative fees. I WILL NEVER EVER RENT FROM SUCH A FRAUDULENT COMPANY AGAIN. AND I WILL MAKE SURE NONE OF MY FRIENDS OR FAMILY EVER USE THRIFTY.

Upon returning a vehicle rented from Thrifty/Dollar in Reykjavik on January 21, 2016, the employees alleged that I damaged the underside of the bumper of the vehicle. Reykjavik Thrifty/Dollar employees thereafter threatened to bill me for these damages immediately, despite failing to provide any sufficient evidence that I caused the damage or reasonable estimate of their extent, and then threatened me with denial of shuttle service to my hotel if I refused to pay. These allegations are unmerited, the conduct of the Reykjavik Thrifty/Dollar employees were akin to extortion, and they caused me significant emotional distress and jeopardized my ability to make my return flight to the United States, potentially costing me and my partner additional fees to reschedule.

To make matters worse, I write to you after spending 50 minutes of an already busy work day calling various Thrifty/Dollar customer service lines [protected], [protected], [protected]), being shuttled around to eight different "customer service" representatives, and given conflicting information from each. Despite the substandard maze of Thrifty/Dollar customer service and the fact that I have no obligation to provide you with any justification for my denial of these allegations without additional evidence from Thrifty/Dollar, I offer the following information regarding Thrifty/Dollar's spurious demands.

The initial, and notably cursory, inspection of the vehicle was conducted in a pitch black parking lot at 8:00 AM (the sun doesn't rise until nearly 11:00 AM this time of year in Reykjavik) on a black car with its headlights on. There was no inspection of the front bumper during this checkout, as it was impossible to see. Upon returning the vehicle, there was a curiously extensive inspection which included the underside of the front bumper. After the inspection, the employees conversed in Icelandic for 20 minutes without addressing us, then accused us of causing the damage. We were then told that we could not leave unless we paid 1600 Euros immediately.

To date, we have received no evidence documenting the damage beyond an email with an undated photo of an unidentified vehicle that supposedly displayed damage that was not present in the photos we took of the vehicle we rented when we returned it. The photo Reykjavik Thrifty/Dollar claims as proof that I caused the alleged damage to the bumper was clearly taken in the daylight: our return of the vehicle occurred during the pitch-black early morning. That being the case, how were the Reykjavik Thrifty/Dollar employees able to accurately assess the damage and cost of repair immediately? And why was the photo documenting the alleged damage taken at least three hours later, if not at some other time?

To put things plainly, we did no damage to the car during our rental period. If there was any damage to the car prior to its return, the damage occurred prior to our rental and was not correctly noted or accurately documented. Thrifty/Dollar is now trying to hold me responsible for it because of the incompetence or oversight of Reykjavik Thrifty/Dollar employees.

I travel very often for work and have used a number of rental car agencies including Thrifty/Dollar. Generally, I have been left with positive experiences. This was not the case with Reykjavik Thrifty/Dollar. The Reykjavik Thrifty/Dollar employees left me in tears with the way they falsely accused me and left me with the fear that we would not be given a shuttle back to my hotel, jeopardizing my and my partner’s ability to make our return flight home. The financial and emotional burden continues for me as this issue remains unresolved, despite my efforts to deal with Thrifty/Dollar customer service, and Thrifty/Dollar continues to pursue payment from me for damages for which I am not responsible.

On 2/3/16 I arrived at FAY airport to pick up a 12 passenger van. Due to the death of our mother, we needed a van to transport family members together to her burial 2+ hours away and was mortified to be told they gave the van to someone else prior to my arrival. They had nothing to offer me - no help in finding another vehicle and just left me standing there on the verge of tears. How hard would it have been to shoot off an e-mail to notify me of the problem. When I called the 1-800 number to complain - they blew me off with a "too bad, so sad" line. We were already racked with grief and then broadsided with this garbage is reprehensible. I would NEVER do business with Thrifty nor would I recommend anyone rent anything from them. No professionalism whatsoever. Does the corporate office know how customers are treated? Makes me wonder.

I rented the car at the Jacksonville airport. I was not offered the option to buy a sunpass or informed about a sunpass or any toll surcharge or administrative fee. They know I am out of state renter. I paid toll by cash where ever I could. There are some rods where there are no toll booths and they take a picture and send the bill. The bill was 50C each time but the thrifty administrative fee each time was $15 and for a $5 toll I ended up being charged $85. This is robbery by Thrifty of their customers.

We rented a car in TX last month and yesterday I received a bill for tolls that we went through, with $90 in administrative fees from Thrifty! First of all, we had no idea how this toll thing worked. As we were going through the tolls and saw signs of tolls road, my husband and I kept asking each other where are the toll booths and how do you pay the toll. We have never seen tolls where there are no toll booths. Apparently, my husband declined some type of agreement for the tolls that would have cost $87 at the time of the rental and because of that, they are charging us $15 per toll, which adds up to $90 additional dollars. This is the most ridiculous system I have ever heard of and they are taking complete advantage of their customers! I am more than happy to pay the toll fees, but this administrative fee, per toll, is not acceptable. The Notice Number from Thrifty is [protected]. After calling and expressing how upset I was, they did reduce the fee to $48.20, but this is still too high. I could see paying one administrative fee of $15, if they feel they have to charge something.

11/22/15 Booked Rental car online for San Diego location (3202 N. Harbor Drive / San Diego, CA 92101 / Manager: Matthew Gravett, matthew.[protected]@dtag.com) from 11/22/15 thru 11/26/15 (Thanksgiving Day). Quote was $84.54 including fees & taxes. I declined add on insurances & services at the time of booking as well as the three times these were offered to me at the counter when I picked up as I prefer to use my own excellent auto insurance as coverage for rentals. When I balked at buying the extras, the representative checking me in informed me that Liability / Damage Waiver coverage was mandatory in California in order to rent. (Later found out this is not the case.) I was charged for this "mandatory" insurance as well as premium roadside service (declined but charged anyway). The only add on service I agreed to was the refueling option that allowed me to prepay and drop if off empty and have Thrifty refill for me. Went outside and chose a car from the section I was directed to choose from. Drove to the gate, representative asked to check my paperwork and record mileage - he did so and told me to have a great trip. Upon arriving at the hotel, I found that Thrifty had charged me one amount at the counter ($350) and then charged me additional money when I left the gate - the "mandatory" insurance doubled from the time I was at the counter until the time I drove out the gate? I have called and written the location and the corporate office five times now. I have filed complaints with the San Diego Better Business Bureau as well as the Tulsa Better Business Bureau where the corporate offices are. I have contacted the Senior Customer Service Liaison (Diana Cain, diana.[protected]@dtag.com) directly as well as the Vice President of Administration (Richard Halbrook, richard.[protected]@dtag.com) and have gotten no response from anyone. I am contacting the Federal Trade Commission this morning to file yet another complaint and I am calling my credit card company to file a claim for fraudulent charges. The refund I'm due is $231.00 (charges I didn't agree to vs. charges I did). Subsequent research has resulted in my finding that not only is such coverage not mandatory in any state but it is also illegal to refuse rental to a person who does not purchase additional coverage as long as he or she has a valid license and valid auto insurance of his own.

I rented a car online giving dates and times from my flight information to secure my rental from thrifty car rental at an original rate of 214.78 for 6 days for the Thanksgiving Holiday 2015. Worst experience of my life. The rep behind the counter had said I could upgrade from economy to next level midsize for an additional $18.00 so I'm thinking great it must be a Holiday Special but my problem didn't realize it was for $18.00 per day. The rep was saying it was 350.00 hold on my credit card until return of the care when I signed I didn't realize it was $329.19 as it was busy I was traveling alone and try to grab my rental agreement and bags to get to pick up my car from their lot and leave. Toss the rental agreement in the glove compartment and leave to my family. It was hectic with family etc.. t KCKs weather that week was cold, icy rainy and leaving at 2:30 a.m. Sunday to get to the airport in plenty of time for return of the car and catch the shuttle from the rental terminal to the airport to leave at 5:55 a.m. Upon return to the rental area gate no one available in a line of about 20 cars. After everyone's waiting in the cold and rain in their rental cars it's now 4:45 a.m. people decide to get out with children, family and luggage in the dark, cold and rain to walk to the rental car terminal booths to check in their rental and no one available. There are no instructions on what to do with your keys, one other renter came back to the others waiting some one that the booths don't open until 6:00 a.m. No one knew what to do with their keys and I wanted to dispute my rate. I tried to call their 877 number and the young lady was of no help aside to say that their offices don't open until 6:00 a.m. and as for my billing dispute she transferred me to billing and I was on hold 10 minutes. People just dropped their keys on the front desk in frustration and left. I can say this is not a professional way to treat clients. My phone call to their customer services department was worse, no compensation except to virtually say sorry and that's it. Will not be using them again nor would recommend them

My family and I recently rented a silver, Toyota Camry with the license plate HNM52 this year from Thrifty Car Rental in the month of June through Rental.Com website and returned it to the Wellington airport branch on the date 05/06/15. However, Thrifty Car Rental intends to claim $241.50 from me due to the wrongdoing of another car user. In fact, when the vehicle was handed over to us at the Auckland airport, the bad odour in the vehicle already existed. Above it all, we have to bear the odour throughout our journey to Wellington. It is very unfair that Thrifty Car Rental is claiming the compensation from me for the wrong doing of the previous car user. It is most unjust to ask me to pay for something I didn't do. Anyhow, after contacting the representatives of Thrifty Car Rental, solid evidence regarding this matter failed to prevail. Thrifty Car Rental even sent a statement just recently this month asking for the payment. Therefore, I'd like to make clear the two significant problems here which were clearly neglected or misunderstood. These problems are stated clearly below: 1. The information provided by the staff from Thrifty related to the report of certain conditions of the car was inadequate. It was too unspecific. A reasonable person would have assumed that only damages such as a scratch on the car or the malfunction of certain compartments should be reported. Clearly there was a breach in duty of care to informed. 2. Furthermore, upon receiving the car, the conditions of the car was already as it is. A reasonable person would have assumed that the staff of Thrifty had already checked and cleaned up the car before another customer was to be served. We were lulled into thinking that the odour presented in your car is not uncommon. My family and I chose and believed in Thrifty company's duty to ensure we have a pleasant journey in New Zealand as the purpose statement reads: " A Great Travel Experience, Every Time." Indeed, the T&Cs have stated that any odors to an extent especially tobacco smoke will be charged by Thrifty Car Rental. However, we, as human beings have been truly gifted by God with different and distinctive brains and of course perspectives. My family and I were simply lulled into believing that the odour present did not exceed the intolerable circumstances, thus making it unnecessary to make a report. Attached herewith is the T&Cs of the hirer's obligations of Thrifty Car Rental which I have read thoroughly beforehand. Clearly my obligation to report any odor present in the car or any wrongdoing of the previous car user to your staff is not stated. I am very disappointed with Thrifty inefficient staff whom failed to carry out his or her duty to carefully inspect the car before it was handed to us as this is simply unacceptable.

Don't let low rental charges fool you! Federal trade commission is allowing this scam to continue to steal money from the consumers. When booking reservations through the thrifty car rental website you are actually renting through the cartrawler carhire website in which there will be extreme additional charges added. On june 23rd I rented a car from thrifty car rental at the new orleans airport which had been reserved through their website. Upon returning the vehicle I paid the total agreed upon price. Several weeks later I got my credit card bill and noticed this $101.25 charge from carhire. I investigated and to my surprise found the company is located in ireland. Upon requesting a reversal of charges from my credit card company I received an 11 page, extremely small print, several days later with the explanation of charges which my credit card company accepted and denied my reversal request. $101.25 charge to book a two day rental of a vehicle? Does this seem normal? What a scam! Thrifty/dollar car rental has stooped to a new low and the ftc? Shame on you! Your organization is supposed to be protecting the consumer and not protecting...

I fly to Florida once or twice a year, usually into the Palm Beach International Airport. I shop around for a car to rent. In August, 2015, the cheapest by far for a compact car was Thrifty Car Rental. Despite my age (72), size (6’ tall, 260 lbs) and moderately severe arthritis in my right hip and leg, I have been able to manage quite well with this size car in the past. When I came to the Thrifty counter at the airport, the young man behind the counter, looking at me and the cane I use, said “I think I’ll give you an upgrade.” I did not ask for an upgrade. He did not ask me if I wanted an upgrade. He never mentioned a price for an upgrade. I assumed, at the time, given all this, that he was offering me a FREE upgrade. When he presented me the agreement to sign, he quickly circled two lines and said, “Just initial here and here.” He then put it into a folder and gave me directions to the shuttle bus. I never looked at that paper again. My fault, I know, but it came as a shock when I got my credit card bill and saw that my $226 rental was now $399! I am very upset by what I see as sneaky and underhanded sales techniques as practiced by this Thrifty Car Rental agent. I don’t know if he did anything wrong legally, but his methods were definitely not open and clear to me, the customer. I really resent this type of business practice, and from now on, Thrifty Car Rental will be at the bottom of my list, lower price or not. I’d rather pay a bit more and know I am dealing with an honest and above-board company.

When we called to make a reservation for a rental car for just one day... per your customer service we are not getting the best information... I was told one thing over the phone... then when I show up for the rental car! Well it is a new way of doing business... you can bet I will never call you ever ! I got in touch with enterprise car rental and they were going the extra to make my experience a great time... You should look into getting better training for your employees... no one likes to be lied to and mislead... VERY UNHAPPY CUSTONER ! !

Rented regularly in Thrifty Jordan, last visit in Aug 15, next rental Thrifty UAE in October, Rented with Hertz in US Sept/Oct looked at my bank statement and see an Oct 5th Jordan Thrifty charge. Emails to [protected]@thrifty.com.jo went unanswered have now passed details of what I consider an illegal transaction on my account to my bank. I want to remove my Credit card Information from Hertz/Thrifty/Dollar.

On july 22nd i made reservation on line for a thrifty economy car for july 29th to aug 2nd, including insurance coverages. On same day i was charged $154 for prepayment of reservation.

On day of pickup i showed thrifty rental the reservation and prepayment documents, they said full balance of car will be paid on return of car.

On aug 2nd, the return of car i was charged the full value of car of $200.28 including all insurance coverage, but no consideration of the prepayment.

I have sent thrifty rent a car the billing dispute but they have not refunded me the prepayment of $154

I was shopping on-line for a car rental for our trip to Florida. I registered for the blue chip membership. While waiting for the blue chip number the prices of the car almost doubled. The prices went down alittle and I went ahead and booked the car. It was suppose to be $193. When my husband went to pick up the car they tried to give us a Hyundai Accent which was too small. I talked with the clerk to see what we could do. He said nothing but pay $25 more a day, which he said was an incredible deal. I said that is ridiculous and he handed the phone back to my husband and refused to help us. When we got home from vacation I tried to call the 1800 number and the girl also hung up on me when I asked for a manager. While talking with the phone rep I told her that I could have simply cancelled our first reservation and booked the car on our phone we would have paid way less. She agreed and said it was dishonest but that is how they do business. DONT'T RENT FROM THRIFTY!