Thrifty Rent A Car
reviews and complaints

Friend and I rented Thrifty vehicle at Ft. Lauderdale airport from 3/29 to 4/9/17. Were not informed that there was an excessive charge of $150 for an extra driver. Were also not informed, when we turned down the Sun Pass and opted to pay our own toll charges, that there are areas where there are no booths and charges are done by an outside service PlatePass, which charges an extra $15 on top of each toll fee (typical toll fee is $1 or $2).
Thrifty is despicable. We will not rent with them again, nor will we do so with any company that uses PlatePass.

You have a business relationship with southwest airlines. We reserved a "full-size" car through a solicitation, with an estimated car cost of $267. Upon arrival, we were only offered a foreign four-cylinder car for travel in denver, colorado. To receive even a six-cylinder vehicle, we were up-charged to $418. The thrifty rep displayed very poor customer service skills, with a take it or leave it attitude. I feel thrifty's representation of vehicles through your website is very dishonest

I rented a car in Lanseria Airport, South Africa and found out later that they charged a very abusive rate, over than 3 times more of the usual rates you can see on-line. This was done without any notice from the company and by contacting them I got a very standard reply that the rates can vary slightly (which would be acceptable, but clearly the rate given for me was way over an acceptable limit)

I rented a car from Thrifty (from the 21st to the 24th of April) and they gave me a car with worn out and faulty tyre (putting my life in danger). I had to change to the spare tyre in the middle of my journey. Upon return of the vehicle, the company sent me an invoice of about R3000 to replace the tyre (which was faulty due to wear and tear). Instead of investing the matter to make sure that it is not repeated in the future, the company was rather interested in ripping me off to buy a new tyre. This is day-time robbery.

I rented a vehicle at the Dayton, OH airport Thirfty car rental. I specifically declined the prepay fuel return option. (which I always do). I refilled the tank before returning the car. When I got the receipt, it showed I requested the prepay fuel option. I called customer service, who gave me the runaround. I just wanted my money back. Not to mention the car was dirty abs smelled terrible.

I arrived at Miami AirPort two days ago and came to Thrifty desk to pick up my car. First of all the behavior of the attendant was extremely impatient and rude. After this first contact I was informed that the car I had booked, for morge than a month in advance by the way, was not available and I would have to await a return to receive my car. I ask them for an upgrade and thay told me they didn't haverá larger car also. So I waited for more than one hour tô receive a car that again, I had booked for one month in advance. Terrible experience that certanly will not be repeated with this company.

Do not Rent from Thrifty, Hertz or Dollar.
2 BIG Reasons:
1. rate scam &
2. Loss Damage claim Scam:
Hear my Story:
I rented a car online from Thrifty last Sept. 2016. The website indicated that if I pay immediately rather than at pick up time, I got a cheaper rate, so I went for it and paid. When I picked up the car, I realized that the currency that I was looking at in CAD was switched to USD in the process of that choosing the pay earlier for cheaper option. It was an all inclusive amount and now suddenly I still owe them Government Tax and other green tax charges. Imagine my dismay at the rental counter! But according to the contract terms, if I cancel there and then and get a refund, I would be penalized by losing 50% of the contract amount. So I swallowed it and got on with it and took the car. Even though I picked the car from Thrifty’s website, I was actually renting a car from an unknown number company without a face so that these deeds can be remain hidden and Thrifty, Dollar and Hertz can say it is not them.
The staff said to me, “You got to be very careful on the internet!”
2. At the time of the pickup, the front license plate on the car was bended and I alerted them to it and wanted to mark the car body record sheet before I leave with the car. I was assured by their staff that the license plate does not count as damage, and nothing was done. Luckily, I took a picture as record myself.
During the rental period, I had a fender bender that I was at fault, I rear-ended the car in front of me. It was very minor because I was distracted in a stop and go traffic in an hour long congestion on 401 highway. Because it was a big SUV, no damage was done to the rental car. I filed an OPP accident Report which the police officer also gave the car an "all clear, no damage" status report. Insurance claims with the third party was subsequently all cleared and settled.
When I returned the car to them, I notified them about the accident and gave them a copy of the OPP report and they checked and said alright and I asked them for a receipt that it was all right and they said that there was no need, the OPP report was enough.
However, suddenly in November 2016, I received a claim from a collection agency claiming to be working for Hertz, that I owe them over $800 in damages. I asked them for photo evidence of the damages and they showed me the exact same bended license plate, and a dent in the rear bumper. The estimate they provided was full of damages to the rear bumper which was not involved in the fender bender. The dubious thing was that the pictures of the damages that they provided had no metadata at all, so there is no way one can determine the dates when the photos were taken.
This has been going on for 4 months with these sneaky collection agency personnel harassing me to pay for damages that I did not cause. Finally, I have to go to the internet to publish my bad experience with Thrifty, Dollar and Hertz. I filed an complaint with Consumers Ontario and called Thrifty to confront them about this fraudulent charges. This is not the end of it yet, I am sure, because they said they are going to further investigate.
Needless to say, I will never rent from them again and you should not also.

Hello THRIFTY

I just wanted to voice my displeasure at the way your company does business…

Firstly, on the day we picked up the vehicle, it took almost 75 minutes to complete the check in procedure.
Secondly, I still believe that they added additional items to my contract that I was not even aware of… I rented this vehicle on CarRentals.com and paid the $45.00 rental fee at the time of booking. It was noted on my contract that there was another $187.00due for the third party liability insurance. Upon his reviewing he says oh you must also pay
2 Mexican taxes for a policy which I have been told by the hotel staff that insurance is only supposedly liable for state tax NOT airport tax… so now is $232.00 which is $45 more
than your quote.
Thirdly, on doing the vehicle inspection the writer WAITED FOR US to indicate any AND all damage on the vehicle… If I didn’t state it, he walked right past it…as we walked around the vehicle, NOT ONE WORD out of him… I advised him of a major scratch on the right front fender and a couple of minor nicks around the vehicle including a couple on the front
and rear bumpers…ABSOLUTELY nothing more than normal wear and tear on a vehicle and he says NO WORRIES... AND FINALLY, When we checked in however, the vehicle inspector went over every square inch of
the vehicle, INCLUDING THE GLASS, looking for any rock chip that he may be able to ding us for… He then shows me the bottom/underside of the front bumper and says we caused that damage but NOT TO
WORRY THAT WE WILL GET ALL THE DOCUMENTATION NEEDED TO MAKE AN INSURANCE CLAIM… I vehemently explained that we did not hit anything while driving this vehicle AND When I advised him we didn’t take collision insurance, he then says ok we only charge you $40.00 (if you will note he charged us 1392 pesos & at a rate of 20.27 that is over $67.00) He even lied about what he is charging us…
I am absolutely appalled that this is the way you do business, and I am going to let everyoneI know personally, Trip Advisor, FB, Carrentals.com and every other internet source available to me that you guys
play the LET THE INSURANCE PAY FOR IT GAME… Every other car rental company I have ever dealt with, take into account normal wear and tear as an expected cost of doing business, you guys take it to a whole new level…
You really have to change your ways and have a talk with the Cancun Airport Franchisee and tell him you can’t do business like this….

I rented a car from thrifty at Columbia airport in South Carolina. They gave me a jeep renegade. The car was not clean on the inside. There's cup stains on the dash, dirt/crumbs in the seats, dirt smudges on interior doors, and trash beside the drivers seat with something that appears to be a cigarette butt and the vehicle smelled funny. Due to the emergency of me needing a car I did not go back in to complain. My husband was going to have heart surgery. I did however have my son take pictures. I'm extremely disappointed! I don't want to be held accountable for something I did not do and I don't feel it is my responsibility to clean the vehicle.

My name is Damy Petit I am a customer I rented a car for 1 day which was on 02/19/2017 to return it on 02/20/2017 the price was 34.95 + taxes it came out 56.01. Unfortunately I couldn't return it on the 20th therefore, I returned on the 22nd of February I extended for 2 more days. You guys charged me 354.33 which is ridiculous for a little small car the Rental record # [protected] if you don't guys don't fix it and reimburse me my money back I will never rent from this company including my families. Thanks!

Collected car at Cape Town international Airport on 21 December 2016
Returned car at George Airport on 24 December 2016 as per contract.
Representative advised a 2 - 3 working day waiting period for the deposit to be returned.
Have tried to contact Thrifty by mail, and all I get is a copy of a forwarded mail requiring someone to resolve the issue.
24 January 2017 STILL NO WORD OR REFUND

I was quoted for $495.66 but billed $731.01 for "agreeing to the daily toll charge when I signed at pickup". I called thrifty for billing concerns and was told that I agree to a $21 daily charge of the ez pass plate when I signed and they would not refund even though I did not use this plate pass daily. I told the gentleman at the counter that I did not want to use the pass for a daily rate and I was uniformed of this charge when I signed for the car. No one at thrifty customer service will reimburse me for the charges and I need help as I feel scammed.

On January 1, 2016, my daughter experienced discrimination based on Race when Thrifty Rental Car at Las Vegas (McCarran Intl), failed to honor a prepaid reservation.

The reservation (US733643330) was purchased and confirmed electronically prior the actual rental date, January 1, 2017. At pick-up, my daughter (African American) was serviced by a customer service representative (White) who confirmed the reservation and proceeded to request a credit card and identification. A visa credit card was provided--and the agent did never informed my daughter that she was attempting to secure a $350 hold on the credit card. The bottom line is that my daughter did not have the $350 available on the credit card, so they refused to honor the prepaid reservation, and they refuse to refund my dollars used to prepay the rental.

The e-mail routed to my daughter to confirm the reservation states, "Credit card in the name of the lead driver with a large enough limit to cover the excess". Thrifty terms and conditions stipulate a 15% or $350 hold. How do you discern who pays 15% and who pays $350? Thrifty could not explain====it was racial profiling. The rental car was prepaid, there was no real reason to hold $350. This is a racially motivated situation, where they pick and choose who they charge 15% versus $350. I am filing an Equal Opportunity complaint regarding this matter, because today's experience was completely race motivated. She was spoken to in an unprofessional manner and treated unfairly in the presence of other non-African American customers. The only resolution is to apologize to my daughter for insulting her integrity, and perpetuating racism, and refund the dollars spent to prepay the vehicle.

I payed the car inthe summer, we arrived 24 of november and order jeep cherioki but got dogde journey which we did not complain about, when we took the cr i sked if they would charge us anything extra, because i understood we had payed everything, the lady promised me everything was payd for when i took it, except if we wanted ypaz for the too.i said ok i will buy that she said it was 115 plus tax, and i said ok..idid not know she was going to charce us for returning the car empty.but she did 47 dollars...when we returned it some guys came they where in such a rush, which i did not understand we came 10 minits earlyer than we had to ..they almost through us out of the car, , very rude..and gave my husband a paper..which i did not see untill we where in the airport, You had bill me for 326.846 dollars for what? i am very upset that youwould do this and i am no paying you this amount, i will pay you 115+47 for gasoline though i am not happy about it .beacause the lady said it was payed already for..i hope you will repay me and be honest about this...i have often rented a car in the usa and never have i experiened such rudeness and dishonesty...hope you fix.took the car in Orlando airport nr to RR is [protected]. ´regards Ásthildur Óskarsdóttir

Stranded trying to catch plane from Atlanta to Dallas. Plane grounded due to weather. Flew to Houston to rent car to drive to Dallas from the Houston Hobby Airport in Houston. The people at the desk said if we did not book online they would not see us at the desk. I booked but my sister paid at the desk. I told the attendant to to not charge my card but my sisters because she decided to pay. They said they would. When I got home we were both charged. Not only that, they charged her extra and said she brought the car back to Houston. We drove one way. They also charged her for extra days. We have both gotten the run around. They told us Car Hire handles their disputes. We had the same run-around with them. This is a total scam. They also told her to return the car at a certain time in Dallas but when she went to drop it off they were closed. A total rip-off.

Prepaid 17days car hire prior to arriving at Chicago O`Hare airport. Collected car – the receptionist gave us paperwork and quickly used a highlighter to indicate what I thought we`d already paid for – nice to confirm the details of our car hire I thought.
Returned home after uneventful car hire and subsequently had nearly £400 debited from credit card by Thrifty for `extras`. Extras that we didn`t need; that hadn’t been explained to us at the desk and for which we had not asked nor had explicitly agreed to. Closer examination of the paperwork detailed the extras we had unknowingly and inadvertently purchased.

Moral of the story is watch out for the receptionist with the highlighter; asked for and scrutinize any paperwork given at the reception desk (even if there is a long line behind you- no pressure) BEFORE giving your credit card details. At least this way you will have choice and will not be presented with a large debit when you next get your credit card statement.

I was traveling from ny to myrtle beach so I booked a wild card with a total price of 72.90. They informed me that there would be a 200.00 deposit because I was using my debit card. They then asked me if I would like to use the onsight fueling at 1.93 a gallon. I said sure. Nothing else was said about it. She then asked me if I wanted an f150 or a dodge ram...I just looked at her weird. I said I don't drive pick up trucks. She said that it was what a wild card was and that is all they had. I took the ram and off I went. When I got to the hotel I look at my bank account and they had charged me 371.77. Apparently they estimated my gas to be 67.00. I barely drove it because I am not used to driving something so large in traffic. I didn't even use 1/4 of a tank so when I returned it I asked about being refunded on the gas because they estimated 67 but I barely used any. She said sorry. You paid for a full tank of gas...Nothing I can do...needless to say I will never use thrifty again. They are shady. If the clerk had told me I would have filled it myself...

Hi my name is umit atalay and i made a reservation via rentalcars.com on date 28/08/2016.my ref number is [protected] and you can see the voucher down.Thirfty rental record number [protected]

My selection of car was compact class (ford focus or equal) and i fully paid for it online.But when i arrived on to take car on(02/09/16) thirfty office the guy on the front desk said there is NO compact class car available, and for upgrade to midclass car i must have to pay 150 usd (163.5 usd with taxes).i reluctantly had to pay that price and took a nissan sentra as midclass car.(you can also see the receipt they have given to me down)

How could i cannot take the car i want which i made a reservation 5 days earlier ?And why i have to paid 163.50usd more?i just feel like i have been deceived.

I made a search via web and i realized if you dont have a car as the class that i reserved the company should have upgrade my car FREE to upper class.

So what i want to say is i want you to charge back the fee that have taken from me.(163.5usd)
I know thirfty is a big car rental company and i hope this event just a misunderstanding.i hope we can solve it easily.if we dont i will make bad opinions on rentalcars&websites and i also going to take a legal action.

We arranged for a rental vehicle at the boston airport (Logan) on july 30, 2016 with a return date of august 4, 2016. Our quote for the rental was between &700.00 - $800.00. Upon arrival it was apparent that we had more luggage than anticipated (Our daughter met us in boston with her 15 month old daughter, which necessitated her traveling with the usual abundance of equipment necessary for traveling with a small child). We were forced to upgrade to a larger vehicle and fully expected there would be an additional charge for the upgrade. We were not prepared to be charged $2, 303.56 for the upgrade, which is almost 3 times the rate were planning to pay. We were thoroughly disgusted with this blatant and ridiculous overcharge, but we had zero recourse at the time. Thrifty's rental record # is [protected] - we cannot locate a customer number in the documentation, but the license number of the vehicle was ny heg6008. Following our complaint, they offered us a paltry $100.00 refund, which is clearly almost insulting.

We were traveling on vacation so the trip was not business related, but i should note that i own an event planning company and we travel around the country for our clients who utilize our services to plan and coordinate their events/conventions. I plan to share this experience with all of my companions in the events industry - it is one of the most onerous treatments i have received from a service provider in over 30 years of working in the industry.

I booked a car on Saturday the 11th of June 2016 after 12 noon and was to return it on the 14th of June 2016 at 12:05 noon. The car was returned on the 14th of June 2016 at 5am about 8 hours before the time it was due. The lady from the company had over charged me by R380.99 and wrote refund of the same amount on my Rental Agreement 863150 and the and i have been contacting Dollar Thrifty Car Rental from the 14th for my refund and they keep on telling me they will call me back, it is being processed and no one get backs to me. This is my money, it was not for Deposit and i don't owe the company anything.