03/12/09

Don't count on a car being there when you arrive

by bigthinker

Beware CarRentals We booked a car through them and when we arrived we were told there were no cars available. The clerk said, 'Yeah CarRentals overbooks all the time." Seems your phone number doesn't go to the car hire company when you place your request, so if there is a problem the hire company has no way to reach you. It cost us an additional $95 to rent from a company down the street. And don't bother with any of the phone numbers you might find for carrentals. They either don't work or they're the 'wrong department'. We will not be using them again.

• Pros: cheap prices
• Cons: they don't bother to verify if any cars are available

02/25/09

Great way to get MULTIPLE Provider Quotes - Pricing's usually good too.

by ExProgrammer

I've used them 2 years.

Pros:

Displays multiple providers' options/rates (saving much time) & "Total Cost" for complete rental period*.

Cons:

1) (516) phone # invalid.

2) Can NEVER talk with a human**.

3) There's an expensive & un-waiverable, daily-based, Panamanian insurance charge. IT MORE THAN DOUBLES THE DAILY RATE & ISN'T INCLUDED IN "Total Cost". Notified CarRentals on 2 occasions. However, & honestly, since it cannot be waived, it's a charge that must be paid in Panama (maybe elsewhere). There may be a disclaimer somewhere in their web site which deals with this. But, if there is, who's going to bother looking for it & where would one find it?

I would have rated CarRentals 5 stars instead of 4, but I feel the noted "Cons" are worthy of a downgrade.

* Unwaiverable Panamanian insurance is NOT INCLUDED in "Total Cost".

**A recent error in their reservation system caused me much grief. I'm a retired mainframe-computer programmer, therefore the details.

Dollar Rentacar 800# (my selected rental Provider) Customer Service was dismal. His "pat answer" was to cancel the reservation & re-book it (resulting in the same error, TWICE). One other suggestion was to reserve the rental incorrectly and then have the issue resolved upon dropping-off the car. Unacceptable.

He wouldn't "take this to a higher level" nor report the problem to the appropriate entity. He simply continued to be robotic with his "solution".

Within a "Contact Us" email to CarRentals, I thoroughly documented the problem. Step-by-step (13 of them), each process, & identified where the error appeared. I submitted my findings. Asked for resolution.

1st reply sounded like Dollar's.

3 more emails before resolution (acknowledgement of program problem, specifically related to Dollar/Panama & an apology for the inconvenience - no renumeration) with one reply indicating there is no Customer Support telephone number as it's an "online booking system" (which they believe is perfect).

• Pros: More/less "One Stop Shopping" with competitive, or better, rates.
• Cons: Misleading "Total Cost" in some circumstances