Advantage Rent-A-Car

I came to return and the car started making an awful noise, which did eventually stop, but was worrisome. I asked the attendant when I returned if I should talk to a manager about the outrageous insurance that was DOUBLE the cost of the rental and the dirty car and he said they would tell the manager and to not worry about going inside. (Obviously I should have). I have now been calling for WEEKS, talked to customer service several times and had to re-open my ticket number because Denver responds to the main customer service line and then shuts down my ticket. I repeatedly had to bother customer service for the Denver contact information which they did give, but the voicemail was full. I kept calling and finally the Denver manager (Bryan) called me back. He listened, dismissed my issue with the insurance, and said he would refund $60 for the roadside assistance that I never asked for.

Never mind the $200+ collision insurance that was more than the car and that I NEVER asked for. I understand the coverage was in place for the duration of the rental, but I also know something can be done about it. Make the situation right. Take care of your customer and they turn into a lifelong customer. Dismiss their issues and make them feel like it is their fault, even though they felt rushed, confused and now frustrated at the lack of response, and you ruin them for the future. I would like this situation to be resolved and the bill to be discussed again. It is absolutely ridiculous to treat a customer this way.

Interesting enough, we ran into a couple on our trip, that used the same company. They paid $254, only had to put down a deposit, and got a free car upgrade and were told they did not need to carry any coverage on the car they rented. While I understand we are under 25, this only added $124.95. So, our bill should have been the $438.64 we paid online, however, our new total at the rental store came out to $827.47 which is absolutely crazy and we felt scammed. Something we are also not understanding is how the taxes and fees almost tripled as well. We already paid taxes and fees at the time of booking online.

On another note, the "inspection" process was even more shady. The man at the counter said to bypass the inspection at the gate because we were "fully covered" which is not what we chose. We got to our rental car, and noticed right away that the maintenance required light was on. We drove it to the inspection guy to ask about the light, and he had no idea why it was on, and sent us to the "mechanics" in the back of the lot. The man in the back looked and saw that the car has not had an oil change, but decided to just turn the light off and send us on our way. So, we drove it back to the guy at the front, and asked him to write down that the light was turned off, and he told us to do it and never signed the inspection paper.

Also, they did not walk around the car or note any existing scratches or dents. This was concerning on our drop-off because we noticed that when we brought the car back, men were inspection rentals that were departing. Overall, I feel as though we were completely scammed, and that all this company wanted was our money. We will never use this company again, and will make sure other will not either. If I would have known it was going to be over $800, I certainly would have never chosen this company. This car was more expensive than a round-trip flight for 2.

Returning the vehicle was an equally speedy and painless experience, and after checking off the level of gas, and condition of vehicle, I signed a paper acknowledging the terms of the contract. I received my deposit of $200 in less than 24 hours without incident. All I can say is review the contract terms, be confident in what it is you are looking for with your rental experience, and voice that. I would like to commend Tara for a job well done. We will be repeating our business with Advantage Rent-A-Car again.

When we returned the car, they ended up charging us an extra $45 a day for the “free” upgrade, and then charged us $8.99 a gallon because we didn’t return it with a full tank of gas. Even though we’d received the car with an empty tank and they TOLD us not to fill it. So it seems they are charging customers for the gas ($8.99!) but then not actually even filling the tanks.

In short, it seems you can’t trust anything they tell you. They are going to charge you a lot for every little thing, even if they explicitly tell you they won’t. When we called customer service they were dismissive and condescending. They also have a message constantly playing trying to get you off the phone and just email them. They do not seem interested at all in customer service, and so if you have any problems with your rental, expect to be dismissed.

The Advantage agent informed me that if I were to have read the “local terms and conditions” I would have seen that I was allocated only 250 miles and did not have unlimited miles as I assumed. I explained to the agent that nowhere in the terms and conditions did it mention that I had only 250 miles allocated to me. The agent insisted that I should have located the exact terms and conditions and read them. I, again, explained to the agent that nowhere is this written anywhere in the T/C nor the contract. His reasoning for allowing me only 250 miles is because I reside in the same city where I rented the vehicle! This doesn’t make sense to me!

Anyhow, I had to call his supervisor to make sure they didn’t charge me the extra $30. I, also, discovered that I was being billed an additional $125.00 (refueling charges) although I returned vehicle with a full tank of fuel! By this time, I was beyond furious. I had to call the main Advantage Rent-A-Car to file a complaint and to get this additional refueling charge removed! It took me all day today to get the charges of $30 (extra mileage) fee and $135 (refueling fee) removed! It was a nightmare! Advantage sure does take ADVANTAGE of its customers!! Needless to say. Never again will I give them my business!

Hubby gets out and what do you know... no tread! Front wheel drive car and completely BALD tires. SO know I'm trying to reach the staff because we need a safe car and I need the insurance removed because my insurance co. confirmed I had the correct insurance. We chased these people and got nowhere. They also didn't take the insurance off like requested. Ended up not driving the car because it rained the whole time. I get home and call my credit card company and this is where it gets interesting. The toll stuff... all true! They leave the transponder on to track you... it doesn’t matter if you pay. They send fake invoices. When I figured this out from online reviews (the rep at drop off made a broken English comment about the transponder that didn't sit well with me) I notified my CC immediately about everything.

My rep from the credit card company had to keep reminding the rep we were speaking to from the car rental place that she was being recorded. Thank God my CC did this. I kept asking why so many people are getting charges that no one can explain. Oh boy we got a doozy of an explanation. MY CC card rep was speechless when the rental car rep hung up. She says to me "It's all recorded". "I can't believe what I just heard. You were right". I did get a call back from another rep in Orlando and all I got was "well that is your opinion". NO the car tires were bald and I found out they put the car back on the road because they said there was not an issue. I lost it! I was like, "Are you kidding me right now. You could kill someone!" Also she denied me calling in and asked why we didn't discuss any of this with their reps when we dropped the car off. I'm like, "Excuse me. We did. That's why the lady took chalk and wrote on the car."

But they also acted like they didn't speak English. So I get my final bill and want an explanation. Right. The reps just stared at me and shook their heads implying they don't understand. Anyways, have my CC company filing a fraud claim. Unbelievable all around! I did some research and apparently this is an ongoing issue. Wow! Time for some emails to be going out to some officials. Don't be fooled if you don't see Advantage's name in the news articles or legal settlements. These guys operate under various names and parent companies.

Only to find out that the car size we wanted would not work? And we were informed we needed to upgrade? I was not happy about this and indicated so but they said they could not let us fit in a smaller car and that they would be happy to upgrade us with the special offer of only $10 more a day. Well I had already paid $184.50 for the car and knew I was to pay an additional fee of $109.28 Canadian when picking up the car. I was furious but didn't know what other choice I had at the time as we were all exhausted and I had already paid a fee when booking. Well after the upgrade I had to pay an additional $322.09 Canadian. My total for a 8 day rental (they charged me for 8 days even though I had it back to the garage by 9 am on the 8th day and didn't get the rental until almost 4 on the first day), was $431.37.

That is $53.92 a day in Canadian, which is around $41.78 per day US. The rental car was a Toyota Camry. Stay away from this place. You can easily find something much cheaper and with much better service. They put a family in a very hard position and I know for a fact we were not the only ones as there was a family beside us going through the same thing. My heart went out to them as I could tell they could not afford the extra expense any more than we could. They will rip you off when they know you don't have any options and are too exhausted to figure something else out. Note this rate does not include any of the insurance protection. It was for just the rental alone.

Advantage has charged me 2 tolls, even though I paid them of $1.00 and $3.50. Then for each toll, there is a $25 admin fee, so total of $53.50. They refuse to reverse any part of these charges and referred me back to my signed contract that allows them to gouge me. I was not informed by the rental clerk of the ramifications of not opting into the extra $20 toll transponder service, nor to wrap it in tin foil if I was going to pay my own tolls, even after I informed him at the counter that I would be using the toll roads, but paying cash as I went.

This is obviously a scam that Advantage will gladly exercise on any of its unwitting customers to gouge it customers for probably hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. I would advise anyone seeking a reasonable car rental to steer clear and RUN from Advantage. A seemingly good deal will end up costing more in the long run! FINAL NOTE - Luckily I checked over the vehicle for damage. There was a big scratch on the bumper and I made them note it. If not, I'm sure they would have tried to charge me for damage!

Further, the attendant made no mention whatsoever of EZTOL (the electronic toll system in the Denver area) or that I was declining the EZTOL service and that by doing so I would incur a daily "administrative" charge of $25 for toll violations. Next, when I left the rental building to get the vehicle there was an angry, confrontational lot attendant that refused to initial a vehicle inspection. Lastly, upon returning the vehicle, the attendant didn't give me a receipt saying his machine was out of paper. Totally unacceptable business practices. Will never use Advantage again.

Our reserved car was a 2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid (with 39056 miles, a reported and noticeable: dent in the hood, chipping and fading paint on the trunk and numerous stains on the interior seats and carpeting. The A/C was intermittent warm or cool for the entire 2+ day rental in Phoenix (May 7-9,2018) in 102°F-108°F temps. On the morning of our rental return I had to put air in a low tire (left rear was 26 psi). Customer service number on the Rental Record is merely a "call center" where they log your complaint and tell you a manager at the rental location will return your call which never happens. When you return the car at the Rental Kiosk you are given a phone number to supposedly talk to a manager at the Advantage Car Rental office at Phoenix Airport but really the number is a corporate number that no one answers and there is no voicemail capability.

If you go back upstairs to the Advantage Rental Car Counter you have to wait in line again 1 HOUR ++. The agent at the counter confides in you that yes ADVANTAGE RENT A CAR saves money by holding onto and renting OLDER CARS WITH HIGH MILEAGE. Maintenance and service of their vehicles is insufficient. I believe our rental was in need of a A/C recharge which would explain the intermittent warm/cool A/C but never COLD. I also believe that some of the AGENTS, KIOSK EMPLOYEES, AND CORPORATE EMPLOYEES knowingly are renting some vehicles that are older with high mileage that may or may not have defects and may or may not have been adequately maintained and serviced before put back in service for rental.

I will definitely remember this bad experience and tell everyone in my circle of influence to steer clear (pun intended) of doing business with ADVANTAGE RENT A CAR, FOX RENT A CAR, EZ RENT A CAR or any other name this pathetically managed and operated business chooses to call itself. By the way, I went on the Advantage Rent a Car website and typed in a complaint and hit send and I got an immediate message on the screen "Unable to Send Message, Try Again Later"---what a joke. Their entire corporate model/business plan appears to be to offer no real customer service or avenue of discourse about their poor service.

Miraculously an economy car suddenly became available. He also told me an economy car would not make the 2 hour journey from Phoenix to Sedona. I knew this to be false as I grew up near Sedona and drove a Ford Fiesta. He then said it's different when you own the car. I then had to stand in another line upon entering the garage to get the keys and paperwork.

Upon returning the car, the employee sent me to the desk in the garage for check out. There was a line of 10 people to get a receipt. Finally the man that received my car told me he would email my receipt so that I could get to my flight. He emailed me my receipt, but had charged me over $150.00 in fuel charges, even though I returned the car with a full gas tank. My total charges were suppose to be $60.00 and instead were over $200.00. I am currently disputing the charge with my credit card company. Never rent from this company. Do not be fooled by their low prices. They are dishonest. I would happily pay $100.00 more to rent from any other rental company. Advantage is a true Disadvantage!

We were offered the opportunity to wait for a different car, but it needed to be cleaned. The person responsible for cleaning the cars had not arrived to work as scheduled. The customer service representative was not sure when he'd arrive, so this left us feeling as if our only option was to take the minivan. The minivan was not clean inside or out. There was even trash left in the driver side passenger door clearly visible from the passenger side front seat (fast food cup w/straw and food wrapper). The interior was also not wiped down nor vacuumed. Upon returning the car, directions were not clear as to how to return the car. We spent at least 15 minutes figuring out we needed to get an entrance ticket to WallyPark, park the car near the trailer and give the key to the WallyPark shuttle driver. It was a mess!!! We will never rent from Advantage again, NEVER!!!

In summary: 1. Clear instructions available on where to catch "WallyPark" Shuttle (shuttle pickup was not in common rental car shuttle pickup area). 2. Having the car we reserved available. 3. Having clean cars available (car had visible trash and had not been vacuumed/wiped down, exterior also filthy). 4. Clear instructions on how to return the vehicle (the written instructions we had were unclear).

Just there I realized (that was my big mistake) that I do not have towing included in the contract (this is of course my failure and I am not sure how that happened). So I asked Advantage for support, after I explained ten times that there is enough fuel and car do not start. They said they will check the possibilities and call back, but they never did. So I acted and after maybe ten phone calls with different people only thing Advantage offered to me was to come to LA or SF: 250 miles away to change the car.

I tried to explain them that the car does not work and towing cost thousands of dollars, but they just repeated that it is no other way to help me! So I decided (with great support of some local guys) to tow the car on my costs to Fresno to Hyundai dealer - for $440. Advantage was also not able to tell me who is covering the costs for repair (even if I had everything insured and the car was new and have cca. 10000 miles) which to be honest I could not follow. But Hyundai was really helpful and discussed everything directly to Advantage. So the car had broken fuel pump and the spare part was available first on the other day. As we already waited over one complete day and paid hotels etc. and Advantage didn't wanted to add to my current contract towing service (only in LA or SF) and I was totally scared of happening this again, I did try to cancel the contract.

After another 25 phone calls explaining that the car is broken and it was not my fault and I do not want to survive this again they promised that I can cancel the contract with no additional costs. How nice to give car back one week sooner without additional costs. Advantage could only offer us that we can pick up another car in LA or SF! I was in the middle of my holiday and why should I come there? Did they understand my situation? So I did go to Enterprise and rent another car - which was OK, but had to pay another 584 USD and we continued our holiday.

After return to LA we did go to Advantage to discuss about additional costs caused by their broken car. In the end I only wanted to have confirmation that the car is OK returned and they will return me the amount for not used car. They could not find the car!!! After half an hour somebody explained where the car was transported from Fresno and I was happy at least for this small success. They promised they will cover my extra costs, and they took me to the back office to speak to some boss as I was really angry about complete behavior and experience behind me and all that crazy communication - maybe 100 phone calls (happy to buy a free of charge card on our holiday).

After return to Europe they charged my account with another $844,97!!! After my claims about additional costs I had with their broken car, wrecked holiday they send me back $749,16. So in the end I have paid $440 for towing, $120 for hotel, $586,56 for another car from Enterprise, and 844,97-749,16 additional charged $95,81 not speaking about the biggest damage to my and my wife and it is psychical damage on holiday. Of course Advantage after many many emails and phone calls was NOT ABLE to explain anything about extra charge, no cost breakdown, nothing in the end. If it was in Europe I would go to a court with Advantage, and this is probably why they are behaving like they do - because I was from Europe!

One positive thing was, that we met on our journey a lot of supporting people as Larry's Towing from Fresno helping to speak with hotline and stating in the end that it is a scam that he never ever before faced! Or a security guy from Willow Glen Smoke Shop, 50 km behind Fresno. RESUME: DO NOT GO TO ADVANTAGE - they can not help you if anything happens with a car!!! Please go to another rental car companies. They have no idea what they do and how they doing it. I do not take it personal, it is not a problem of the people at helpdesk or office, but the policy and the complete management of Advantage.

I told the CS Rep that I have my own insurance and would not need the additional waiver, so he told me to sign the pad. They have literally stolen from me by hiding little details in the contract but not communicating those charges at the time of checking the car out. I have not heard back from several attempts to reach someone at this horrible company. Seriously read all of the reviews, how has this company not been sued, fined, or shut down?? They do not even deserve 1 star.

Third: Next day, call Customer Service to arrange car exchange. 45 minute wait to reach customer service which multiple recording messages to email them and wait 24 hours for reply. What kind of CS is that? (Oh yeah, one that is grossly understaffed). Reach CS agent who indicates it is not possible to hold a replacement convertible for me at Maui rental agency. So now it's on me to take two hours and drive 40 miles R/T to return a defective car and HOPE another is on the lot.

Fourth: Good news...a beautiful 2018 Camaro is there and the car is swapped out. This part went very well. Fifth: Return the car with full tank and receive an email invoice with a $139 fuel charge on it even though the invoice indicates tank was full upon return. Sixth: Attempt to reach CS again at 9 am EDT and get a recording their hours are from 8 am EDT - midnight. Hmmm, I think 9 am is between those times. Call back and ask for reservations who ends up creating an incident and give me a case number. Seventh: Incorrect charge posts to my credit card to I have to call Chase to put a hold on payment due to their incompetence. I can forgive one or two screw ups but this was 7 in a row. Would never use this company again.

When I told her not to do that she said it was just their policy. Then proceed to tell us that there is a 250 mile limitation on the rental. Because Locals get charged additional mileage unless you are traveling into San Antonio then you don't have the limitation... You get unlimited. Then she proceeded to tell me that many locals don't even return the cars and that's been a problem and Advantage Rent a Car is going to start making it very, very hard to rent cars from them. I told her that when we booked this online it stated "unlimited mileage" and asked her "what other under hidden surprises do you have???" She smirked as if all this was funny!

After she asked us five different times about their insurance coverage and waiving it. I finally told her... "Do not ask us that again! We have full coverage and we don't want your coverage." When the deposit amount was presented ($200.00) I said "what choice do we have!" When I said that, she then said "you know what? I don't like your tone! And I'm not going to rent to you." So, she cancelled our rental. We walked to another counter and thank God there are still professionals. The young man greeted us, was calm and helped us immediately. Less than 10 minutes and we were good to go out the door! Less Deposit, no requirement to see our Insurance Card, no hassle about taking out their insurance coverage, no limited mileage, no crappy service. RUN don't walk.