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Dollar Rent A Car

Dollar Rent A Car •Rate Disputes •Damage Disputes •No Car Available •Surprise Fees/Taxes

Renting a car is one of those transactions that should be fairly straightforward. But if often turns out to be anything but ... and Dollar customers seem to have more than their share of problems, as the complaints in this section show.

Here are a few of the more recent complaints:

Shirley of O'fallon MO (09/20/06)
On June 18,2006 I rented a car from Dollar Rent a Car. On September 15th four months later _ I receive a call and a letter from their Adjustment Company saying I damaged the car. I had two clients with me when I checked this car in who will testify that there was no damage to this car. The adjustment company sent me a accident report with a signature on the bottom that was not mind and whoever signed this report could not even spell my name correct. The bill is for 187.71. I don't owe this bill - I did not damage this car! I can not get anyone from Dollar to call me back.  I have e-mailed the company and called several times. This company should not be able to get away with this fraud!!

Thomas of New York, NY September 5, 2006

Thomas of New York NY (09/05/06)
I rented a car in Manhattan with Dollar for a week in August 2006. Car was in good shape with some scratches. The guy told me I have to check everything. I did. Came back seven days later the guy got excited about a minor paint scratch on the back bumper which was not on the yellow report card. I was laughing - what a small scratch. The car was parked most of the time and I had no accident at all. Well, you do not know Dollar. The supervisor told me to fill out an accident report and said: It is such a minor thing I doubt something will come out of that. Well, I got a call 2 weeks later from Dollar: 800 Dollar damage.

The Dollar lady talked on the phone about some major bodywork in front as well. I am really shocked. I rented with Avis so many times without a problem, I am a premium member and have so many free weekend voucher I can never use in my life. But Dollar was closer to my home this time - and 50 Dollar cheaper than Avis. Well, I saved money on the wrong side. They do not like customers. They distrust customers. The Dollar lady had not a good feeling about the whole thing as well and offerd me a 50% discount. I took the offer to get rid of the thing. But I never never do rent again from Dollar. Shame on me: In 2000 we had a similar dispute with Dollar but I did not learn my lesson.

Jackie of Austin, TX August 5, 2006

Jackie of Austin TX (08/05/06)
I went out to the airport (Austin, TX) today to pick up a car that I had made arrangements to rent from Dollar. We had made the reservation online several days ago. We called last night to make sure that everything was arranged properly and that we would arrive with all the documentation that Dollar would require and that there would be no extra charges for an additional driver. We were told that there would be no additional charge if the drivers were spouses. We got to the airport and found the Dollar counter. It was closed but there was a sign that directed us up to the parking garage where the car was to be picked up. We found the kiosk. The person in front us seemed to be having a problem of some sort. We waited.

When we finally got our turn, the person working the counter tried to charge us an extra 10 because we do not have the same last name. She was sullen and took a rude tone of voice when we told her that we had spoken with someone last night who assured that we would not be charged extra. She finally agreed to call her supervisor who ask if we had our marriage license with us. (Do you carry yours around?) They finally agreed not to charge us the extra.

We made a comment that they won't keep customers treating folks the way we were being treated and the clerk told us that it did not matter to her because they have customers all over the country. This had all taken almost a half an hour. Then, they did not have the economy car that we had reserved and tried to give us a Ford Taurus or a mini van. The who purpose of renting the car was to get better gas mileage than my truck for a trip I needed to make today. The Taurus nor the van was going to help. After spending all this time at the Dollar counter, we did not have time to go to another counter because my husband had to go to work.

In short, Dollar Rent a Car did not do what their website or their employees said they would and the person responsible for their front line of service at the Austin airport was rude and unaccommodating. She should have let us know at the beginning that they did not have the economy car we had reserved.

As it was, I missed out on my trip all together since there was no time for me to make other arrangements.

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