National Car Rental

Yesterday I rented at Nashville and was going to drop off at CLT. This time the upcharge was going to be an additional $19 per day and a drop off fee of $222. After renting the car I thought I would call and confirm there would not be an additional charge. They informed me the drop off charge would be $222 plus a change to my daily rate. So the net result for National was that my three week rental went to a two day rental and revenue of $666+ went to $68. Instead I booked a flight for $140 and a rented car from Avis.

Oh yes and the person on the escalation desk kept purposely trying to talk over me...that was never going to happen! Welcome to the new P&G. We all remember when P&G turned their backs on their customers, would not even change a ti x hi on a pallet for example, for the largest supermarket chain in Canada. Went from one of the most profitable corporations in the world to losing over $1 billion per year and gave rise to generic and no name products. Maybe it's time for a company to begin that just deals with corporate accounts in the auto rental industry.

We were Now stranded with lots of pay ahead reservations for our 10th anniversary trip. I called multiple times and kept either being transferred to their 3rd party roadside assistance or told I would get a call back. Then their 3rd party sent an Uber to drive us to another airport an hour away. They told me they called and a car was waiting for us. Well they had no cars when we got there and were now stranded at the airport. We asked to talk to a manager and were told he was on vacation. The guy from Budget saw how upset we were and rented us his last car. 48 hours later and still no call from National. Thanks for making our 10 Anniversary trip do stressful, costing us uber rides, and almost completely ruining our trip.

While trying to select the vehicle I would be renting, when walking by the luxury vehicles, a female employee approached me with a negative tone of voice, requesting to see my reservation number, I thought this was strange. I cooperated and gave her my phone that had the email with the reservation, I honestly felt discriminated when she informed me that no rental vehicles were available, before even looking at my reservation. My husband was with me and he informed her that we usually pick whichever car is available in the lot and have never experienced an issue before. She walked away and then came back, this time to asking to see my driver’s license, by then I was feeling strange about the situation; again, I have been coming to this location for months, every week and this has never happened before, not only was I questioned in a way that made me feel as if I was doing something wrong, but was approached in a negative way.

She left with my driver’s license and went to the office (I never go inside the office, I was always told by employees that I don't need to go inside the office, I just have to choose the rental vehicle and check out at the exit area). We walked in the office and asked if there was an issue, she replied that she had too many reservations and wanted to make sure she had a rental for me (The lot was full of vehicles, it always is on a Sundays). My husband then asked, if she did not have a vehicle for us? She replied that she did, but she needed to know what rental car we wanted. My husband replied, "My wife was looking to see which car was best fit, when you approached us, she has a business trip where other of her coworkers will be traveling with her, so it’s important that she finds a spacious, comfortable vehicle that will also be fuel efficient."

She asked again, "Okay, what car do you want, because I have all the luxury vehicles rented and I need to check if we have one available for you." My husband responded that the small volvo SUV, she left to "check" if the car was available and while she was gone, we asked the other two young ladies inside the office, what was the problem? They both made a face as if they were confused to why the lady was acting that way towards us, but did not make any comments (By the way, these two young ladies are always very nice and helpful). The lady came back and told us we could take the small SUV.

This was such a horrible experience, even though I did nothing wrong, I felt embarrassed about the whole situation. At the end of the day, I would have taken any of the “available” vehicles, it did not have to be a luxury vehicle, it is just the way that I was treated that I have a problem with. I never complain, but I need to stop letting people mistreat me based on my looks or ethnicity, yes, we did not look our best, it’s Sunday night and it’s cold, I am wearing comfy clothes to pick up a rental vehicle.

I understand that things happen, that maybe she did have the majority of the vehicles reserved. What I don’t understand, is why she approached me the way she did? Seemed personal, as if us looking at the vehicles was what really bothered her. Whatever the reason was, there is always a nice way to ask your customers for information. She could have approached me with a “good evening, is there anything I can help you with? By the way, just so you know, we are running low on vehicle availability, so just to make sure we are able to accommodate your reservation, can you tell me what kind of vehicle are you interested in?” I would have totally understood and not felt attacked. I am picking up my rental on a Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. and I am seeing the lot FULL (40+ vehicles) and I am being told that they don’t have availability? something is not right.

I am a member of the Emerald Club EXECUTIVE ELITE which states that you are always guaranteed a vehicle up to full-size and above, it also states that you receive free upgrades when reserving a midsize rate. Executive Area Access - Choose any car (Full-size and above) in the Executive Area and only pay the midsize rate. If this information is wrong, maybe the website needs to be corrected on the information that is given to their customers to avoid false advertising and issues like the one I encountered tonight. If the website is correct, then maybe this employee needs to learn her company policies and take a discrimination prevention training.

Original Review: The credit card I used to rent a Kia Sedona minivan and pre pay for the gas to be refilled on my return was only used at National Car Rental at the Mexico City airport. The rest of the trip I paid cash for everything. So I know they were the only company that had my credit card info. To find out the same day I returned the car they charged my card to purchase something online at Mac store for $297.67 which went through and tried to charge something for over $1,000 the next day which was blocked but the $297.67 went through so now I'm having to fight it with my credit card so I can get that money back. I never thought National car rental would ever allow something like this to happen. I'm very disappointed and won't ever rent a car with them again. I want a full refund for the car rental.