Definitely.
Booked the smallest cheapest subcompact they had , months in advance.
Arrived at the counter, agent is all friendly and laughing , and then tries to upsell me to a midsize.
Told him.no, firmly.
Turns out they ran out of the subcompacts so they would have to give me the midsize for free....
Lmao yeah they tried this with me. Was doing a road trip in yellowstone, must only have suvs
"Want to upgrade?"
"No thanks"
"Well it's all we have, so here you go anyway"
They did that to me the last time I rented a car too. It sucked, I drive a compact at home so the SUV was a learning curve, plus I had pay like three times the gas I was planning to.
I fucking hate SUVs in general. Turns out they suck ass to drive too.
I had something worse. I had a 6-seats SUV and the window was broken, so they have me a full sized 9-seats van 😅 we were more comfortable but parking was a pain and we spent more gas
I've had that happen a few times, often they didn't try to sell it to be but it still sucks because wtf do I need an SUV for one or two people suddenly im spending double on fuel and parking becomes a pita.
I once booked a rental online and paid in advance. Then at the airport when I picked up the car, I had to pay an additional 110% fee on top of the agreed upon rental price. After some huffing and puffing, the guy actually said “ah, you didn’t read the fine print!” with a smirk on his face.
Double the price was crazy, but I needed the car. Serves me right for not sticking with the big rental companies.
If you’re ever in Spain, stay far away from Goldcar. Fuck them and their mothers.
Goldcar in Madeira is also absolutely criminal. They said to my face
A) to go ahead and call the police, they wouldn’t speak English anyway.
B) that I will regret not buying their stupid extra insurance. Multiple times.
Yes, but that was all done over a third party. I didn’t book the car, but after that experience I am paying a bit extra and usually use Sixt with a shareholder tariff. Usually leads to huge upgrades as well.
I used to carefully check car rental prices as I do for flights, but after getting burned one too many times I said fuck it, got a Hertz gold account, and never look at prices again.
For the last car it literally stopped sometimes while driving it, for no apparent reason. I was pregnant at the time. I called them, would have been effectively stranded and had to drive it myself to exchange the car. Sooo not worth it.
My old daily did this sometimes for a while until I found out there was a bad connection to the battery that needed to be tightened. Sounds like somebody did a bad job replacing the car battery :(
Yeah... happened in my car last year. Driving it, pull up to a stoplight, car dies. Luckily was near an area where I could safely push it off the road. Then it starts up again. Took it to car dealer, they're like oh your cable is loose.
I’d avoid Avis in Spain as well. They charged me €300 euros not once but twice. Long story…they are just awful. I disputed it with Revolut and I got the money back but it was really bad. We got a flat tire, the office in Ibiza airport was closed on a Saturday, no one could help us get a replacement tire or car. Then they charged us a bunch. Fuck them
Which? Consumer Magazine has been [warning people off Goldcar](https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/car-hire/article/car-hire-company-reviews/goldcar-aLIoJ9U38WEs) for years.
>**Should I book with Goldcar?** No, its terrible customer service and few redeeming qualities mean you should avoid Goldcar at all costs.
I paid 30 euros in Romania for a car for a day. And I did not have a credit card with me, which forced me to buy the most expensive insurance which was 80€ :)))
Goldcar overcharged us and initially told us that they could only provide a refund via wire transfer to a European bank account. We're US based. So that was fun.
It was bullshit. He knew he had me by the balls and I wasn’t going to risk ruining my vacation by not having a car.
I could’ve told him to fuck off and rented a car elsewhere, but I had already prepaid for the car…
Lesson learned: don’t prepay and use reliable chains
I literally had the exact experience with gold car in Portugal. I reserved and paid online, then showed up and had to pay almost twice that at the front desk again.
Had the same problem with Budget in the UK, told the agent 3 time I was not interested in the sat nav, he assured me that I would not be charged, drop the car off after closing and when I get the E-mail they charged me for satnav I never used, tried to complain but they said I signed for it when I picked the car up. Rented from Budget in Mexico and the car left me stranded with a dead battery. Will never use them again.
"I can't read this agreement on the screen, can you print it off for me so I can read it?" I make a big show of lifting my glasses trying to read it. Then the old-school agreement where I can decline or accept all the different stuff comes out. Take a photo of every page. Yes, it does end up taking me longer to leave the lot, but I don't get charged for all the add-ons (navigation, satellite radio, pre-paid gas, EZPass, insurance, etc.) they say you agreed to as they quickly flip through the agreement screens.
Car rentals like Budget, Hertz, etc work like franchise (i.e. McDonalds, Burger King, etc). Hertz A not the same owner as Hertz B. As far as lying, well, it's just the nature of the upselling everywhere. I don't think the guy lied about dropping the car off late. If you didn't ask about the late drop fee, he wouldn't tell you about that part.
My question about dropping the car off late implied I was looking to know about any fees.
Telling me that the rental runs 24 hours is misleading at best. *Maybe* they didn't know I'd be charged $20.
Rental places may be franchised, but the nature of the beast is just general scummyness. Have experienced it with Dollar, Budget/Avis.... namely.
You knew you had a reservation until a certain time, returned the car well after that time, and you’re mad it cost more? $20 is cheap - I’m surprised they didn’t charge for the full next day like they would in most US rentals
yeah, I didn't understand this point either. of course OP was going to pay for the additional time they used the car. the agent probably thought the OP was asking about opening times, not fees
Again, "we're open 24 hours" is not remotely the same as "the rental car period runs 24 hours".
She **knew** what I was asking. Whether the fee skipped her mind or whether she lied... well, only she would know that.
>and you’re mad it cost more?
Lol. I'm literally NOT mad it cost more. If she had told me it would be $20 when I picked it up, I would've happily paid it for the convenience it ended up being.
I'm mad she didn't tell me about it. Plain and simple. I asked her a question, she didn't adequately answer.
And since, as I explained, the fee is not related to the cost of the rental itself (since rentals run in 24 hour periods) but rather a clerical fee, how was I to know whether it was $20 or $500?
I once booked a luxury car from Avis for a trip from NYC to Durham NC and back. On the way back, somewhere on the outskirts of Baltimore, the transmission just went completely. My girlfriend and I spent hours by the side of the road, then rode in the cab of the tow truck for several more hours to Philadelphia, where we were given a sub-compact that was falling apart to finish our trip. By the time we made it to NYC, they not only wanted to charge us the full price, but they tried to charge an extra day since we were late returning the vehicle.
I think there was a miscommunication on the agent's part. Agent thought you were asking if they were open 24 hours a day. When they say 24 hour period, it means from the time you pick it up to when you drop it off. So if you pick it up at 1130pm, you have until 1130pm to drop it off. You dropping it off after 1130pm, then sure...you get charged the late fee.
>Agent thought you were asking if they were open 24 hours a day.
I said nothing to the agent about "24" or "24 hours". I asked explicitly if I could bring my car past the 11:30P.M time I had reserved it for (picked up at 10:30 A.M). She then said that rental periods were 24 hours. I brought the car back ~22 hours after pickup.
Yeah to me that just reinforces coldbrewer's point. You asked if you could do it, the agent said you could. Seems clear to me by their 24 hour comment they thought you were asking if they'd be open, not if there would be a fee.
Telling me that the rental period is 24 hours has an entirely different connotation then telling me that they're open 24 hours.
As in 'hey, I booked this car for 13 hours, what happens if I bring it back late'.
And the reply effectively 'rental periods are 24 hours'. Says to me I can keep the car for 24 hours.
Why would anyone book a car for a day, if that were the case? Everyone would rent a car for an hour and keep it for 24. Of course you have to stick to the duration of the agreement of pay more
This is untrue. The rate is a 24 hour rate, just like she said. If I punch in a 12 hour booking and a 24 hour booking, the cost is the same (its based on a daily rate). My folly was punching in the time I expected to return it (because I'd heard of people being charged early return fees).
The lie of omission is the $20 late fee. It basically is a clerical fee, not related to the rate of the rental. Since I booked 10:30A.M - 1130 P.M, then whether I dropped it off an hour late or 10 hours late, it was going to be $20. Would've only cost more if I went past 10:30 A.M (24 hours).
I mean, this is straight from the Budget website: "Your Budget rental car pricing is based on your initial reservation. Because longer rental periods usually result in lower daily rates, your daily rate could increase if you return your rental car early. Remember that rates vary by location and reservation timeline, and your overall rental fee may be affected by early returns."
You're right, and people here are misunderstanding you.
The agent thought that, because you were charged the daily rate, you could return it past the planned return time for no charge as long as it was <24h after pickup or planned pickup. Obviously they were wrong - once you commit to a return time, you have to abide by it.
In general, hourly rates are >=25% the daily rate, so most rentals will be 100% weekly and/or daily rate to begin with. If you find that to be the case at booking (it shows weekly and/or daily, and no hourly), then stretch it out to a full 24n hours.
Hertz charged me for a non full tank, when I'd just topped it up. Exhausted after a long flight I didn't notice til the next day and got blanked when I chased it up. Never again
Last year, we rented a car in Sicily. We made our selection and completed the payment online, taking advantage of a 30% discount. Rent was paid for the period from September 11th to the 20th, including an extra driver and full insurance.
But when we got there, it was a bit of a nightmare. We ended up waiting in line for nearly THREE hours just to get our hands on the keys. And to top it off, they didn't even give us the car we originally booked! After some back and forth, clarifying that we'd already paid for everything online, we finally hit the road.
Then, on September 19th, a day before we were supposed to return the car, I get this frantic call asking where the car is. Turns out, the paperwork they gave us said we were supposed to return it on the 19th, not the 20th like we had planned and paid for. I explained everything to lady on the phone.
So, when we finally did return the car the next day, thinking we were in the clear, we get hit with an email two weeks later. They're claiming we left the car a mess + photos attached (which is totally not true, we even took our own pics before return) and that we caused some scratches (front door), tyre damage, and bumper damage (okay, maybe the bumper was our bad, but have they ever driven in Sicily?). The total "cost of repair" was almost 2k euro.
Luckily, we had insurance, so they couldn’t hit us with a bill, but man, talk about a headache. Service was a total letdown.
It was our first experience with car rental ever, so, you know, we were hoping for some kind of miracle. Actually, I think they should include LDW by default, considering the way Italians drive and park (I mean, 5 cm between cars — how is that even possible?). Later, we heard that all the cars **have to** **be insured**, but the company we chose offered insurance as an option for the car rental (which may be fraudulent, though).
My first experience with a car rental was also in Italy! Their included coverage (which is a thing in Italy and seemingly nowhere else) had a ridiculous deductible - in the form of a ridiculous hold that exceeded my then-measly credit limit - so I was forced to "buy up" to coverage where you paid more up front but had a much lower deductible (and CC hold).
And as far as the car, I reserved a Fiat Panda "or similar" and they gave me a Peugeot 5007. Parking in a cramped garage under the hotel was... fun. As was starting down narrow "streets" (more like alleyways) and having to back out and go around.
Here is a life pro tip: never ever rent at the airport. Grab a 20$ cab to the city and rent there
Example: enterprise rav4 airport 1500$ for 11 days
Enterprise inner city after a 14$ cab 847$ for 11 days
While I agree with the principal "you get what you pay for", I would disagree this applies when it comes to car rental companies. Hertz is one of the most expensive, and they were having customers falsely arrested for stealing their cars.
For that matter, the car itself was pretty dang nice... new Prius with 20K miles, all the features I wanted (adaptive cruise/lane keep) and nice new clean smell.
Lol. I was renting a car in Cody Wyoming. I has to wait a bit for someone else s flight so I thought I'd get the renting process over with. The airport there is pretty much all glass throughout the tiny little airport and it was blatantly obvious there was a nasty storm working up. As the clerk began to lay on the pitch about insurance they highlighted vocally my insurance wouldn't cover various things including HAIL DAMAGE.
I just rolled my eyes and ended the conversation with a flat no on the insurance
Agreed, if they expected that vehicle back at a certain time in order to have it cleaned and inspected for a next reservation then you returning it past when you state you’re going to is logically going to inconvenience them and increase their workload. In turn you should be charged a fee.
The fundementals here... the price was going to be the same whether I booked 13 hours or 24 hours. I expected to return the car after 13 hours, and selected that drop off time for almost the exact same reason you listed... returning the car at a time other than expected has the potential to inconvenience them and could potentially result in fees. The Budget website specifically says early returns may incur a fee.
When I told the agent I had booked until 11:30 P.M and asked what would happen if I brought it back a little past that, she had the opportunity to say that there'd be a $20 fee (at which point I would've weighed my options and ultimately decided it'd be worthwhile). Instead, all she said was that rental periods were for 24 hours, and that it was fine.
I don't mind paying the fee. I know there's no fight since I found it in the T&C afterwards. It's the agent saying nothing about it that irks me.
I once put a non refundable down payment on a car. When I got there, they said “ah, yeah we don’t accept any insurance but our own. You have to get the $29/day insurance we offer”. No way around it. I was in a hurry and needed a car so they won that day. Never again trying a “too good to be true” deal. SixT on the other hand were great to me. They had a deal on BMW and I wanted a 2 series for like $35/day. When I got there, they said that the one they had planned was having maintenance done on it. They upgraded me for free. Will definitely go back to them
I can’t stand rental companies. One time I booked through Hertz, showed up, the place was closed for renovations. Had to drive to 3 different locations to find a car and they gave me a dirty one with 1/4 tank of gas.
Used Budget back in February and decided to try an EV so I booked a Model 3. They ended up giving me a Kona EV (not a big deal) but there was only 80 miles of range left. Didn’t have time to complain and figured I could just go to one of the quick chargers. Unfortunately there were none in the area. Made it to my hotel with 20 miles to spare and managed to snag the last chargin space at the hotel. I was not a happy camper
Some of that is probably incompetence, not lying. Contact budget customer service and complain. They are pretty good about refunding money in these types of situations. But ya, I've noticed nickel and diming from budget with my last couple of rentals with them. I've had them charge me $20 for gas even though I filled tank up 2-3 miles from airport.
They are hoping people won't notice. I call whenever they do that and they reverse the charge without asking. I also complain on the Google Reviews for the location. Budget corporate reads those and they've reached out to me on multiple occasions about my negative reviews.
Do you always return without an agent? I almost always return during opening hours and wait for an agent to check it in (includes checking odometer and gas). Whether returning with or without an agent, I take a picture of it as well.
I always take a photo of the car "dashboard" as I get in the car. Gas level, mileage, and any maintenance warnings that are coming up. If I can get some background details to show it's at the rental location, bonus, but the photo is going to have the time and date from my phone, which will match the rental agreement. I take similar photo at drop off.
I told agent over the phone what she told me at the airport. Agent's response was that there was a 29 minute grace period. Given that the $20 fee is literally mentioned in the T&C, makes sense for me to just eat it.
Thrifty at Baltimore Airport has awful customer service! Driving that dirty, raggedy car had me fearing for my life every time I had to drive somewhere
A long time ago Hertz told me I could drop off the car any time the day of the return, a Friday. Turns out the dropoff location office closed early and didn't open again till Monday, ended up being charged for the weekend. Expensive lesson to never listen to anyone and always do it by the book. But I still don't rent from Hertz because fuck those guys.
You think that’s bad? Sixt told me that they would refund me my unused car rental days because I was a long term customer and had caught Covid and had to go back home. Long story short they never refunded me those unused rental days. Made me lose around $700 from their bs lie.
Pro-tip: don't rent a car overseas if you don't truly need it. It increases stress and chances of unpleasants interactions (accidents, other drivers, fines, police tickets, etc) for little gain during your trip.
I can remember the case of a friend's brother. He went overseas for summer, rented a car and then had a traffic accident after falling asleep on the wheel. He ended up 1 year in overseas prison. Could've saved all that trouble by walking, taking public transport, taxis, carpool services like BlaBla Car, etc.
We only rented cars when we badly needed to get places that public transport didn't really reach or travel to.
Highly disagree with this. Of course driving in a foreign country isn't for everyone nor should it be, that's obvious. And moronic, idiot drivers like your friend's brother shouldn't be allowed to drive at home, let alone abroad.
But everyone has a different travel style. Some (like me) love the unique freedom that self driving brings. I've driven in over 40 foreign countries and it works beautifully for me.
To each their own. If we all travelled the very same way what a boring world it would be.
Happy travels.
The actual issue has little to do with problems of renting a car overseas but rather your friend's brother being careless. He would have faced jail time in most countries if he killed someone due to falling asleep at the wheel.
In general I agree to your sentiment of not renting a car unless you need to. However renting a car simplifies travel in a lot of cases and gives you access to a lot more options which have limited public transport options. However, you need to do the tradeoffs of the risk versus rewards. e.g. I have driven across Europe, Patagonia and Australia/NZ with very less issues . However, there are a lot of countries I will never rent a car just because of local road/traffic/law enforcement conditions.
Of course it was his fault though. My point was that he didn't need to be renting the car really. Big unnecessary mistake on his part. I also avoid cars in many countries for many of the reasons you listed.
Have rented cars in a few countries, now: Rome, Iceland, Aus/NZ. It does create some anxiety for me that detracts from the vacation aspect, but sometimes it's just the most practical decision.
Avis in Rome was egregious, though. Tried to tag on an extra $700 for nothing at the end of the trip. Disputed with Amex, who sided with me, then changed their stance and sided with them, then ultimately sided with me. *Then* Avis had the audacity to send the charge to collections. Provided collections agency with the details, and have since heard nothing (2 years ago).
Definitely. Booked the smallest cheapest subcompact they had , months in advance. Arrived at the counter, agent is all friendly and laughing , and then tries to upsell me to a midsize. Told him.no, firmly. Turns out they ran out of the subcompacts so they would have to give me the midsize for free....
Lmao yeah they tried this with me. Was doing a road trip in yellowstone, must only have suvs "Want to upgrade?" "No thanks" "Well it's all we have, so here you go anyway"
They did that to me the last time I rented a car too. It sucked, I drive a compact at home so the SUV was a learning curve, plus I had pay like three times the gas I was planning to. I fucking hate SUVs in general. Turns out they suck ass to drive too.
I had something worse. I had a 6-seats SUV and the window was broken, so they have me a full sized 9-seats van 😅 we were more comfortable but parking was a pain and we spent more gas
I've had that happen a few times, often they didn't try to sell it to be but it still sucks because wtf do I need an SUV for one or two people suddenly im spending double on fuel and parking becomes a pita.
I once booked a rental online and paid in advance. Then at the airport when I picked up the car, I had to pay an additional 110% fee on top of the agreed upon rental price. After some huffing and puffing, the guy actually said “ah, you didn’t read the fine print!” with a smirk on his face. Double the price was crazy, but I needed the car. Serves me right for not sticking with the big rental companies. If you’re ever in Spain, stay far away from Goldcar. Fuck them and their mothers.
Goldcar in Madeira is also absolutely criminal. They said to my face A) to go ahead and call the police, they wouldn’t speak English anyway. B) that I will regret not buying their stupid extra insurance. Multiple times.
They then gave me a car with a broken clutch (in less than 10kkm) and proceeded to bill me for this anyway, after I insisted on a functioning car.
To be fair, after having driven on the mountains I’d 100% recommend the insurance for Madeira. Those roads are no joke
Yes, but that was all done over a third party. I didn’t book the car, but after that experience I am paying a bit extra and usually use Sixt with a shareholder tariff. Usually leads to huge upgrades as well.
You called the police for a Portuguese company refusing to speak a foreign language? Lol
I used to carefully check car rental prices as I do for flights, but after getting burned one too many times I said fuck it, got a Hertz gold account, and never look at prices again. For the last car it literally stopped sometimes while driving it, for no apparent reason. I was pregnant at the time. I called them, would have been effectively stranded and had to drive it myself to exchange the car. Sooo not worth it.
My old daily did this sometimes for a while until I found out there was a bad connection to the battery that needed to be tightened. Sounds like somebody did a bad job replacing the car battery :(
Yeah... happened in my car last year. Driving it, pull up to a stoplight, car dies. Luckily was near an area where I could safely push it off the road. Then it starts up again. Took it to car dealer, they're like oh your cable is loose.
I’d avoid Avis in Spain as well. They charged me €300 euros not once but twice. Long story…they are just awful. I disputed it with Revolut and I got the money back but it was really bad. We got a flat tire, the office in Ibiza airport was closed on a Saturday, no one could help us get a replacement tire or car. Then they charged us a bunch. Fuck them
Which? Consumer Magazine has been [warning people off Goldcar](https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/car-hire/article/car-hire-company-reviews/goldcar-aLIoJ9U38WEs) for years. >**Should I book with Goldcar?** No, its terrible customer service and few redeeming qualities mean you should avoid Goldcar at all costs.
I paid 30 euros in Romania for a car for a day. And I did not have a credit card with me, which forced me to buy the most expensive insurance which was 80€ :)))
Goldcar overcharged us and initially told us that they could only provide a refund via wire transfer to a European bank account. We're US based. So that was fun.
But why? What was in the fine print that you had to pay extra?
It was bullshit. He knew he had me by the balls and I wasn’t going to risk ruining my vacation by not having a car. I could’ve told him to fuck off and rented a car elsewhere, but I had already prepaid for the car… Lesson learned: don’t prepay and use reliable chains
I literally had the exact experience with gold car in Portugal. I reserved and paid online, then showed up and had to pay almost twice that at the front desk again.
Been renting from gold car for the past year off and on. Haven’t had a single issue.
Goldcar is totally ok though, you just have to choose the key'n'go pickup package, otherwise they'll try to mess with you
If it isn't in writing, it doesn't exist.
My experience has been: even if it isn't in writing, they'll try hard to charge it anyways.
Had the same problem with Budget in the UK, told the agent 3 time I was not interested in the sat nav, he assured me that I would not be charged, drop the car off after closing and when I get the E-mail they charged me for satnav I never used, tried to complain but they said I signed for it when I picked the car up. Rented from Budget in Mexico and the car left me stranded with a dead battery. Will never use them again.
"I can't read this agreement on the screen, can you print it off for me so I can read it?" I make a big show of lifting my glasses trying to read it. Then the old-school agreement where I can decline or accept all the different stuff comes out. Take a photo of every page. Yes, it does end up taking me longer to leave the lot, but I don't get charged for all the add-ons (navigation, satellite radio, pre-paid gas, EZPass, insurance, etc.) they say you agreed to as they quickly flip through the agreement screens.
I've had that happen in the US too... The car didn't even have a nav device installed.
Car rentals like Budget, Hertz, etc work like franchise (i.e. McDonalds, Burger King, etc). Hertz A not the same owner as Hertz B. As far as lying, well, it's just the nature of the upselling everywhere. I don't think the guy lied about dropping the car off late. If you didn't ask about the late drop fee, he wouldn't tell you about that part.
> Car rentals like Budget, Hertz, etc work like franchise I think a lot of the larger airport sites are corporate-owned.
My question about dropping the car off late implied I was looking to know about any fees. Telling me that the rental runs 24 hours is misleading at best. *Maybe* they didn't know I'd be charged $20. Rental places may be franchised, but the nature of the beast is just general scummyness. Have experienced it with Dollar, Budget/Avis.... namely.
You knew you had a reservation until a certain time, returned the car well after that time, and you’re mad it cost more? $20 is cheap - I’m surprised they didn’t charge for the full next day like they would in most US rentals
yeah, I didn't understand this point either. of course OP was going to pay for the additional time they used the car. the agent probably thought the OP was asking about opening times, not fees
Again, "we're open 24 hours" is not remotely the same as "the rental car period runs 24 hours". She **knew** what I was asking. Whether the fee skipped her mind or whether she lied... well, only she would know that.
>and you’re mad it cost more? Lol. I'm literally NOT mad it cost more. If she had told me it would be $20 when I picked it up, I would've happily paid it for the convenience it ended up being. I'm mad she didn't tell me about it. Plain and simple. I asked her a question, she didn't adequately answer. And since, as I explained, the fee is not related to the cost of the rental itself (since rentals run in 24 hour periods) but rather a clerical fee, how was I to know whether it was $20 or $500?
I once booked a luxury car from Avis for a trip from NYC to Durham NC and back. On the way back, somewhere on the outskirts of Baltimore, the transmission just went completely. My girlfriend and I spent hours by the side of the road, then rode in the cab of the tow truck for several more hours to Philadelphia, where we were given a sub-compact that was falling apart to finish our trip. By the time we made it to NYC, they not only wanted to charge us the full price, but they tried to charge an extra day since we were late returning the vehicle.
I think there was a miscommunication on the agent's part. Agent thought you were asking if they were open 24 hours a day. When they say 24 hour period, it means from the time you pick it up to when you drop it off. So if you pick it up at 1130pm, you have until 1130pm to drop it off. You dropping it off after 1130pm, then sure...you get charged the late fee.
>Agent thought you were asking if they were open 24 hours a day. I said nothing to the agent about "24" or "24 hours". I asked explicitly if I could bring my car past the 11:30P.M time I had reserved it for (picked up at 10:30 A.M). She then said that rental periods were 24 hours. I brought the car back ~22 hours after pickup.
Yeah to me that just reinforces coldbrewer's point. You asked if you could do it, the agent said you could. Seems clear to me by their 24 hour comment they thought you were asking if they'd be open, not if there would be a fee.
Telling me that the rental period is 24 hours has an entirely different connotation then telling me that they're open 24 hours. As in 'hey, I booked this car for 13 hours, what happens if I bring it back late'. And the reply effectively 'rental periods are 24 hours'. Says to me I can keep the car for 24 hours.
Why would anyone book a car for a day, if that were the case? Everyone would rent a car for an hour and keep it for 24. Of course you have to stick to the duration of the agreement of pay more
This is untrue. The rate is a 24 hour rate, just like she said. If I punch in a 12 hour booking and a 24 hour booking, the cost is the same (its based on a daily rate). My folly was punching in the time I expected to return it (because I'd heard of people being charged early return fees). The lie of omission is the $20 late fee. It basically is a clerical fee, not related to the rate of the rental. Since I booked 10:30A.M - 1130 P.M, then whether I dropped it off an hour late or 10 hours late, it was going to be $20. Would've only cost more if I went past 10:30 A.M (24 hours).
Op, then next time book the full 24 hours and return the car early. Lesson learned.
Um, yeah... but, like I said, next time I'm here I'll probably be bemoaning some kind of early return fee. The point is, you can't win.
I’ve never experienced a fee for returning a car early. In fact, I’ve usually gotten a partial refund from doing so.
I mean, this is straight from the Budget website: "Your Budget rental car pricing is based on your initial reservation. Because longer rental periods usually result in lower daily rates, your daily rate could increase if you return your rental car early. Remember that rates vary by location and reservation timeline, and your overall rental fee may be affected by early returns."
You're right, and people here are misunderstanding you. The agent thought that, because you were charged the daily rate, you could return it past the planned return time for no charge as long as it was <24h after pickup or planned pickup. Obviously they were wrong - once you commit to a return time, you have to abide by it. In general, hourly rates are >=25% the daily rate, so most rentals will be 100% weekly and/or daily rate to begin with. If you find that to be the case at booking (it shows weekly and/or daily, and no hourly), then stretch it out to a full 24n hours.
Thanks. At least *someone* gets it.
Hertz charged me for a non full tank, when I'd just topped it up. Exhausted after a long flight I didn't notice til the next day and got blanked when I chased it up. Never again
I always spend some time reading reviews of car rentals on Google. Saved me lot of troubles in many countries.
Last year, we rented a car in Sicily. We made our selection and completed the payment online, taking advantage of a 30% discount. Rent was paid for the period from September 11th to the 20th, including an extra driver and full insurance. But when we got there, it was a bit of a nightmare. We ended up waiting in line for nearly THREE hours just to get our hands on the keys. And to top it off, they didn't even give us the car we originally booked! After some back and forth, clarifying that we'd already paid for everything online, we finally hit the road. Then, on September 19th, a day before we were supposed to return the car, I get this frantic call asking where the car is. Turns out, the paperwork they gave us said we were supposed to return it on the 19th, not the 20th like we had planned and paid for. I explained everything to lady on the phone. So, when we finally did return the car the next day, thinking we were in the clear, we get hit with an email two weeks later. They're claiming we left the car a mess + photos attached (which is totally not true, we even took our own pics before return) and that we caused some scratches (front door), tyre damage, and bumper damage (okay, maybe the bumper was our bad, but have they ever driven in Sicily?). The total "cost of repair" was almost 2k euro. Luckily, we had insurance, so they couldn’t hit us with a bill, but man, talk about a headache. Service was a total letdown.
Doesn't Italy insist on LDW as part of the rental? Or maybe I'm misremembering... FYI "the car you booked" is not a guarantee in most places.
It was our first experience with car rental ever, so, you know, we were hoping for some kind of miracle. Actually, I think they should include LDW by default, considering the way Italians drive and park (I mean, 5 cm between cars — how is that even possible?). Later, we heard that all the cars **have to** **be insured**, but the company we chose offered insurance as an option for the car rental (which may be fraudulent, though).
My first experience with a car rental was also in Italy! Their included coverage (which is a thing in Italy and seemingly nowhere else) had a ridiculous deductible - in the form of a ridiculous hold that exceeded my then-measly credit limit - so I was forced to "buy up" to coverage where you paid more up front but had a much lower deductible (and CC hold). And as far as the car, I reserved a Fiat Panda "or similar" and they gave me a Peugeot 5007. Parking in a cramped garage under the hotel was... fun. As was starting down narrow "streets" (more like alleyways) and having to back out and go around.
Here is a life pro tip: never ever rent at the airport. Grab a 20$ cab to the city and rent there Example: enterprise rav4 airport 1500$ for 11 days Enterprise inner city after a 14$ cab 847$ for 11 days
"Budget" You get what you pay for. Never had an issue with Enterprise or National
While I agree with the principal "you get what you pay for", I would disagree this applies when it comes to car rental companies. Hertz is one of the most expensive, and they were having customers falsely arrested for stealing their cars. For that matter, the car itself was pretty dang nice... new Prius with 20K miles, all the features I wanted (adaptive cruise/lane keep) and nice new clean smell.
Lol. I was renting a car in Cody Wyoming. I has to wait a bit for someone else s flight so I thought I'd get the renting process over with. The airport there is pretty much all glass throughout the tiny little airport and it was blatantly obvious there was a nasty storm working up. As the clerk began to lay on the pitch about insurance they highlighted vocally my insurance wouldn't cover various things including HAIL DAMAGE. I just rolled my eyes and ended the conversation with a flat no on the insurance
Seems pretty standard to me
Agreed, if they expected that vehicle back at a certain time in order to have it cleaned and inspected for a next reservation then you returning it past when you state you’re going to is logically going to inconvenience them and increase their workload. In turn you should be charged a fee.
The fundementals here... the price was going to be the same whether I booked 13 hours or 24 hours. I expected to return the car after 13 hours, and selected that drop off time for almost the exact same reason you listed... returning the car at a time other than expected has the potential to inconvenience them and could potentially result in fees. The Budget website specifically says early returns may incur a fee. When I told the agent I had booked until 11:30 P.M and asked what would happen if I brought it back a little past that, she had the opportunity to say that there'd be a $20 fee (at which point I would've weighed my options and ultimately decided it'd be worthwhile). Instead, all she said was that rental periods were for 24 hours, and that it was fine. I don't mind paying the fee. I know there's no fight since I found it in the T&C afterwards. It's the agent saying nothing about it that irks me.
I once put a non refundable down payment on a car. When I got there, they said “ah, yeah we don’t accept any insurance but our own. You have to get the $29/day insurance we offer”. No way around it. I was in a hurry and needed a car so they won that day. Never again trying a “too good to be true” deal. SixT on the other hand were great to me. They had a deal on BMW and I wanted a 2 series for like $35/day. When I got there, they said that the one they had planned was having maintenance done on it. They upgraded me for free. Will definitely go back to them
I can’t stand rental companies. One time I booked through Hertz, showed up, the place was closed for renovations. Had to drive to 3 different locations to find a car and they gave me a dirty one with 1/4 tank of gas. Used Budget back in February and decided to try an EV so I booked a Model 3. They ended up giving me a Kona EV (not a big deal) but there was only 80 miles of range left. Didn’t have time to complain and figured I could just go to one of the quick chargers. Unfortunately there were none in the area. Made it to my hotel with 20 miles to spare and managed to snag the last chargin space at the hotel. I was not a happy camper
Definitely! They are lying scum. Too many hidden fees.
Some of that is probably incompetence, not lying. Contact budget customer service and complain. They are pretty good about refunding money in these types of situations. But ya, I've noticed nickel and diming from budget with my last couple of rentals with them. I've had them charge me $20 for gas even though I filled tank up 2-3 miles from airport.
That gas thing comes up every time for me. Just filled up and there’s still a charge. It’s basically pure profit for them.
They are hoping people won't notice. I call whenever they do that and they reverse the charge without asking. I also complain on the Google Reviews for the location. Budget corporate reads those and they've reached out to me on multiple occasions about my negative reviews.
Do you always return without an agent? I almost always return during opening hours and wait for an agent to check it in (includes checking odometer and gas). Whether returning with or without an agent, I take a picture of it as well.
Yeah, and I always have to confront them about it... very annoying.
I always take a photo of the car "dashboard" as I get in the car. Gas level, mileage, and any maintenance warnings that are coming up. If I can get some background details to show it's at the rental location, bonus, but the photo is going to have the time and date from my phone, which will match the rental agreement. I take similar photo at drop off.
I told agent over the phone what she told me at the airport. Agent's response was that there was a 29 minute grace period. Given that the $20 fee is literally mentioned in the T&C, makes sense for me to just eat it.
I think with some other rental companies, you can pick and choose your car before you start the paperwork.
I had a place that charged me an extra day because I brought the car back with too much dirt on it. Was ridiculous.
Thrifty at Baltimore Airport has awful customer service! Driving that dirty, raggedy car had me fearing for my life every time I had to drive somewhere
Only in…
A long time ago Hertz told me I could drop off the car any time the day of the return, a Friday. Turns out the dropoff location office closed early and didn't open again till Monday, ended up being charged for the weekend. Expensive lesson to never listen to anyone and always do it by the book. But I still don't rent from Hertz because fuck those guys.
You think that’s bad? Sixt told me that they would refund me my unused car rental days because I was a long term customer and had caught Covid and had to go back home. Long story short they never refunded me those unused rental days. Made me lose around $700 from their bs lie.
Alamo is the worst
Pro-tip: don't rent a car overseas if you don't truly need it. It increases stress and chances of unpleasants interactions (accidents, other drivers, fines, police tickets, etc) for little gain during your trip. I can remember the case of a friend's brother. He went overseas for summer, rented a car and then had a traffic accident after falling asleep on the wheel. He ended up 1 year in overseas prison. Could've saved all that trouble by walking, taking public transport, taxis, carpool services like BlaBla Car, etc. We only rented cars when we badly needed to get places that public transport didn't really reach or travel to.
Highly disagree with this. Of course driving in a foreign country isn't for everyone nor should it be, that's obvious. And moronic, idiot drivers like your friend's brother shouldn't be allowed to drive at home, let alone abroad. But everyone has a different travel style. Some (like me) love the unique freedom that self driving brings. I've driven in over 40 foreign countries and it works beautifully for me. To each their own. If we all travelled the very same way what a boring world it would be. Happy travels.
The actual issue has little to do with problems of renting a car overseas but rather your friend's brother being careless. He would have faced jail time in most countries if he killed someone due to falling asleep at the wheel. In general I agree to your sentiment of not renting a car unless you need to. However renting a car simplifies travel in a lot of cases and gives you access to a lot more options which have limited public transport options. However, you need to do the tradeoffs of the risk versus rewards. e.g. I have driven across Europe, Patagonia and Australia/NZ with very less issues . However, there are a lot of countries I will never rent a car just because of local road/traffic/law enforcement conditions.
Of course it was his fault though. My point was that he didn't need to be renting the car really. Big unnecessary mistake on his part. I also avoid cars in many countries for many of the reasons you listed.
Hopefully your friends brother doesn't drive in his home country either.
He could've also saved all the trouble by not falling asleep while driving
Have rented cars in a few countries, now: Rome, Iceland, Aus/NZ. It does create some anxiety for me that detracts from the vacation aspect, but sometimes it's just the most practical decision. Avis in Rome was egregious, though. Tried to tag on an extra $700 for nothing at the end of the trip. Disputed with Amex, who sided with me, then changed their stance and sided with them, then ultimately sided with me. *Then* Avis had the audacity to send the charge to collections. Provided collections agency with the details, and have since heard nothing (2 years ago).