Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site decwrl.DEC.COM Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!bellcore!decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-curium!jackson From: jackson@curium.DEC (SETH JACKSON 297-4751) Newsgroups: net.consumers Subject: Rental car ripoff Message-ID: <1628@decwrl.DEC.COM> Date: Tue, 11-Mar-86 20:46:44 EST Article-I.D.: decwrl.1628 Posted: Tue Mar 11 20:46:44 1986 Date-Received: Fri, 14-Mar-86 04:17:30 EST Sender: daemon@decwrl.DEC.COM Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Lines: 109 In the past year, I have had several occasions to rent cars for both business and personal use, and I'd like to share my experiences with the net. If you believe that all rent a car companies are alike, perhaps this will change you mind. Summary of Recommendations: 1) Dollar Rent A Car should be avoided like the plague. 2) National Rent A Car has consistently offered me the best rates and the best service. Details: Last summer, a friend and I decided to rent a car in order to take a week's vacation driving around the Northeast. We looked around for the lowest rate, and selected Dollar, as their quoted rate was $5/week less then the nearest competitor. The rate quoted was $174/week with unlimited free mileage. We reserved a car to be picked up "on the morning of June 27." We arrived at the Boston office at 10:00 a.m. on 6/27, stating that we were there to pick up our car. The woman behind the counter, who amazingly enough turned out to be the branch manager, greeted us in the snottiest tone imaginable and informed us that our car had been given away because we weren't there at 7:00 a.m. to pick it up, and that if we wanted a car, we'd have to wait about an hour. Seeing little alternative, we reluctantly waited. When the car was ready, I began filling out the application. Before signing, I asked for verification of the rate, and explicitly asked if it included unlimited free mileage, and was told that it did. (The woman continued to speak to us in her incredibly rude manner.) She then told me that, oh, by the way, we are restricted to driving only in New England, and that it would cost an additional $30/week to have the privilege of leaving New England. Not knowing exactly what to do, I opted for the lower rate, figuring that I could upgrade if I wanted to after discussing it outside with my friend. We quickly decided that it would be worth the extra $30 to leave N.E. and avoid hassles. I immediately went back in and told them what I wanted to do. They took the contract, which I had already signed and reviewed, added thirty dollars to the weekly rate, had me initial section that authorized me to leave New England, and handed me back the contract. I took the car and left. Here's where the fun begins. The car leaked water all over our feet for the entire week. On the way home, the transmission cable snapped, leaving us stranded in the middle of Pennsylvania. When we called Dollar, they told us that there was nothing they could do for us, and the we should find a mechanic to fix it and they'd reimburse us. It didn't seem to bother them that it was the 3rd of July at 4:55 p.m., and that the chances of finding someone was pretty slim for the next 4 days. Luckily, we ran into somebody who showed us a way to get the car moving, so that we could make it home as long as we didn't turn the engine off or shift into reverse. But wait - the best is yet to come. When we returned the car to Dollar, they presnted me with a bill, not for $275 as I expected, but for $532. It seems that somewhere along the line, they inserted a notation that restricted us to 1000 free miles, instead of the unlimited free mileage we had agreed to. This, they said, was part of the rate for leaving New England. They charged me $.35/mile. When I could not resolve the problem with the branch manager, I called the district manager, who told me he'd look into it and get back to me. He didn't. Three subsequent phone calls yielded replies such as "He's in a meeting, may I have him call you?" He never returned the calls. I wrote a letter to Dollar's Corporate Customer Service Dept. explaining the problem. They forwarded the complaint to the regional VP, who sent me a letter stating that I must have misunderstood, and I still owed them the money. I followed that up with a letter to the VP with a carbon to Corporate explaining that I could not possibly have misunderstood, because I had explicitly asked if the rate included unlimited free mileage and was told that it did, and that the change was made to the contract after I had signed and reviewed it, and that I was not informed of the change, and I had not been asked to initial it. The VP ignored my letter. Corporate sent me a note saying not to bother them anymore, and that there was nothing they could do. I tried going through my credit card company, the consumer protection agency, and the better business bureau to resolve the problem, and they consistently responded to my complaints with a carbon copy of the contract and the letter from the VP about how I misunderstood. Finally, I wrote to my credit card company refusing to pay the charge. I have reason to suspect that Dollar now plans on taking me to court over this. Whether or not I am legally liable for the mileage charge is debatable. The incredible thing about this is the way that they handled this whole affair. They not only proved to me that they are the biggest sleazeballs I've ever dealt with, but also that they are not too bright, since, even if they do eventually collect the $256, they will have lost that money many times over in lost future business. By the way, Consumer Reports rated Dollar the lowest in customer satisfaction among major companies, just ahead of Rent-a-Wreck. -- "Steal your face right off your head" Seth Jackson P.S. Since this is already long, I'll have to save my praise of National for a separate article.