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Rent-A-Wreck Reviews
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They use predatory tactics to extract money from renters after rentals have been returned. I rented a car from here in May of 2022, and returned it without any visible damage. I received a claim from them asking for $1459.79 in damages, $385 in "loss of use", and an $150 administration fee. $1993.79 in total. They refused to send me a picture of the supposed damages.
The claims agency they go through was able to provide me a picture of the damage, which was a scratch on the *underside* of the front bumper. (Before dropping the car off, I had run my hand along the underside and did not feel anything there, but did not go through the trouble of lying down on the ground to visually inspect it.) According to them, rather than paint and refinish the scratch, the repair that needed to be done was to replace the entire bumper. When I looked up the shop that had given the estimate, it was one located at the exact same address as Rent A Wreck. Meaning that Rent-A-Wreck themselves were the ones giving the estimate. I asked for more details about how they had come to that number, and a few weeks later, the claims agency came back with a repair cost of only $500 (my deductible for my car insurance). But still the same amount in "loss of use" and the admin fee.
I asked for proof that they had even had the bumper replaced, since the scratch was entirely superficial and not visible unless the car was up on a lift. The claims agency was unable to provide this, but offered to waive the admin fee and reduce the "loss of use" amount as well. (Which makes me think it's possible the car never had its bumper replaced at all, but obviously I don't have proof of that.)
This was an expensive lesson to learn not to rent from this company, and I'm hoping to save someone else the same trouble. If you're already in the same situation as me and finding all these bad reviews just now - don't just pay the full amount, contact the claims management company to get more details. Be polite and understanding - it's not their fault this company has predatory tactics. It may take several months of phone calls, but they may be able to help you out.
Driver that picked up from the airport, Chris, was very rude. He didn’t help me with my luggage when he picked me up. When we arrived to the rental location, the office is at a Motel. He again popped the trunk and walked away. That’s when I said “Thanks for the help with my bags”. He merely turned around and smiled then continued walking to the office. The woman at the front desk, Donna, wasn’t any better. She took a call while helping the person in front of me and was speaking another language. It took 30 minutes to get picked up and another hour at the office. There was nothing listed on Expedia about a deposit as I paid through their website. Also, they require your insurance declaration page and will not accept your insurance card. No manager on site. I absolutely expect a phone call from management. Even though I waited an hour and a half they would not adjust my time.
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I rented a car online from the US in preparation to drive in Lofoten Islands Norway. Picked up the only automatic at Evenes Airport contactless (self service). The car was filthy with empty Red Bull cans in backseat. Seats were filled with dirt marks. Worst of all the car steering wheel wiggled on its own the whole time. I complained and they said it's a Driver Assist system and to turn it off. This Hyundai is clearly not safe to rent out. They agreed to pick up the car at my 1st stop. Refunded one-third of rental fee for using it 1 day of 5 day rental. It is clearly a rip off. DO NOT rent from Rent-a-Wreck in EVE airport in Norway!
On April 6 I reserved a car through Expedia from Rent-A-Wreck of Philadelphia Intl Airport. On the day of my trip, April 9, during my layover, I noticed an email in my SPAM folder from alternativeracnj@gmail.com (a random gmail account, NOT a Rent A Wreck or any corporate email account) claiming to be Rent-A-Wreck PHL and asking for credit card information and a photo of my driver’s license. This email did not list the reservation number, had grammatical errors and odd formatting, and looked just like a typical phishing scam.
If I sent you an email like that from my gmail account claiming to be your bank and I asked for your credit card information and photo of your driver's license, would you respond to it? But I called the Rent A Wreck phone number shown on the Expedia reservation to make sure everything was OK and was told that my reservation was canceled because I didn't respond in time to that shady email in my SPAM folder. Now I was left with no rental car on arrival.
I've rented cars dozens of times and never once had to reply to a random email with my credit card info *after* I had already reserved and *paid* online. The woman at Rent-A-Wreck I spoke with that day said she would at least refund my payment. But I just got the credit card bill later and the full rental charge is *still there*, even though their own rental policy lists $50 for late cancellation! I called Rent-A-Wreck PHL again to ask for a refund and was told they would *not* issue a refund and that the woman who told me that on the 9th no longer worked there. I suppose they feel they are not beholden to a former employee’s promises, nor to basic fairness for that matter.
They set unreasonable expectations for customers that no other rental agencies set by expecting them to respond to emails from a shady random account that could end up in a SPAM folder. They violated their own policies by charging the full rental fee instead of the stated $50 cancellation fee. They were completely dismissive in their interactions with me. The same people run Alternative Rent A Car of New Jersey. Avoid these businesses at all costs.
Rented a car from Rent-A-Wreck in Seattle near the airport. During my travels, I scraped the sidewalk with one of the tires. It scratched the tire and wheel, that's all. They charged my insurance $1,410.97 for a new wheel and tire. The tire and wheel were old, and I researched replacements and it cost $250. I appealed to them to just keep my 250.00 deposit and call it even, but they refused. What a rip off! $1228.40 is what my insurance paid for a tire and wheel. I will NEVER EVER rent from this scam company again. BEWARE!!!
I ignored the bad reviews, focused on the good because I desperately needed a car rental. To begin with- the prepaid price isn’t actually the price they want you to pay. They will tell you this only upon arrival, they wanted an extra $30 per day- when I questioned this…. Let’s just say they were highly unprofessional. Then ALL OF A SUDDEN they no longer have a vehicle to rent to me. They had me call the corporate office at which point I spoke to a girl who was telling me I canceled and wouldn’t be getting a refund for up to 21 days.
No amount of logical reasoning was going to help this customer service person understand what had taken place, that I wasn’t the party that canceled- RAW was. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure I was speaking to a corporate office. This feels like a Scam. I’ve yet to see a penny returned to me, let alone the hundreds. Never mind the enormous waste of time at the location and the fallout of my plans. I am cautioning you- Do Not Use RAW.
Rent-a-Wreck (Seattle) tried to coerce me into buying their collision insurance. When I said "no" and told them my personal insurance extends to rental cars, the customer service guy said I couldn't take the car unless he could review my insurance policy. I didn't have that information for him so he said "call your insurance company and have them email it to me". I rent cars all the time and have NEVER had a company do this. I said "forget it, there's no reason on earth why you need a copy of my insurance policy". Even though I paid the deposit and showed my insurance ID card, they wouldn't let me take the car, so I left and had to cancel the reservation. They kept my deposit. Judging from some of these reviews, it looks like this company files sham damage reports against customers on a regular basis, and possibly fraudulent claims against their personal insurance, so I'm glad I didn't continue with my reservation.
Absolutely awful, dirty car, bad service, false charges. It's not worth wasting your time because they wait til hours after drop off to report "damages", more specifically a crack in the windshield and they have no documentation to show me, because it's fabricated and I live out of state so I can't just go back in there as they request you do. Go to Avis, Budget, National, Dollar, Thrifty, Alamo, Enterprise just not R-A-W. They will do whatever they can to try to get more money out of you, they checked the car at drop off and there was no issue, so how does it magically happen and they have nothing to back them up.
The folks were easy to deal with. From start to finish, directions were easy to follow. Picking up the car was easy, UNTIL.. got in the vehicle to leave. It was filthy!! Dog hair and drool all over the rear seat. Passenger side had muddy paw prints and wet nose marks on the windshield from the previous renter. And on the outside, the hood and roof were badly scratched. Unless they get better at cleaning, we WILL NOT be using this service again!! And if allowed, I have pictures! Just nasty!
Be aware of this company and stay away at all costs. I wish I would have seriously listened to the reviewers below and paid a little extra money for a rental car at a reputable rental company. Now I understand why their cars are so cheap and literally "wrecks." This business and the individuals working here are unethical and unprofessional. When I picked up the first car, it was scratched, dented, and had a dirty interior. The oil light came on the same day I rented it and I had to take time out of work the next day to get a new one! The new car was even worse! Again, dirty, scratched, dented, and in poor condition. Dawn does an extensive walk around and takes multiple photos and videos on her phone.
Mind you, the car is in poor condition to begin with so I don't understand the point of her taking videos. I now understand that this is so they can charge you for normal wear and tear when you return the car (as per other reviewers). Two months into my rental I had to take the car in to be fixed because a plastic piece was falling off near the bumper and they blamed it on me! Throughout the time I had the car, it was so squeaky and made a horrible buzzing sound whenever I went over 20 mph. I called and emailed Dawn several times to get another replacement car, but she either ignored my request or told me she didn't have any cars available. My dad recently came to visit me and noticed he could barely see out of the rearview window because it was so dark and tinted.
The car didn't have window shield wipers on the rearview window. He wondered how I've been driving with these issues because the tinting makes it so hard to see out of, not to mention extremely dangerous. Finally, because they are closed on Sundays and my car is due on a Sunday, they want me to leave the car in a random parking lot and take an extensive video of it so I can prove I didn't damage anything during the time I rented it. I've never had to do this with other rental car companies or Zipcar. This company is ridiculous and money is the number one priority for them!
Finally, I was pulled over and my car was towed because they didn't bother to update the stickers on the license plate. They made ME pay for the tow and demanded to see my ticket, which I sent them. Dawn told me she didn't put the new sticker on because people "steal them." They have yet to refund me for the towing. I only put up with this company for months because I was working 7 days a week and had little free time. I didn't have the energy to argue back and forth with them and keep on getting replacement cars just to have to return the car and get a new one.
Rent-A-Wreck Company Information
- Company Name:
- Rent-A-Wreck
- Website:
- www.rentawreck.com
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