Thrifty Car Rental

Approval Rate: 30%

30%Approval ratio

Reviews 50

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  • by

    blackbird24

    Tue May 29 2012

    Let me start out by saying - our group is well traveled and very experienced with abroad traveling and all it entails. We had a group of 16 this past weekend in Cabo. We all came in at different times and rented a total of 6 cars under our reservations with negotiated prices prior. The first of our friends to arrive, warned us about the rip off and prepared us for what was to come, As they argued with them for over an hour. (Thrifty said if they did not buy the insurance they would put a $5,000 hold on one of their credit cards). We called Thrifty before we arrived and SPECIFICALLY inquired and addressed the issues our friend had the day prior. The Thrifty employee assured us it would be only $24 a day with the insurance TOTAL. This was not the case when the husbands went to get the rentals when we arrived. 45 minutes later and many arguements later, we had the car. Thrifty finally handed over the keys when they reached a negotiated price (which was less than what they gave our f... Read more

  • by

    vibgyor

    Wed Apr 18 2012

    Recently I reserved a Mini Van with Thrifty Car Rentals at the Orlando Airport. I was quoted $ 315.24 via e-mail. As a Blue Chip member I thought I had a good deal and fell for it. I picked the car at the airport and did not see the bill with additional $ 307.86 charge with other documents. After returning the Mini Van, I saw the bill $ 663.68. I called up the customer service and was told off that I have Insurance Coverage in my profile so they charged me accordingly. I explained at great length that I do not need their insurance coverage and never requested it. They are claiming that somehow I or someone changed the profile and requested for the coverage. I remember changing my address and other personal information, but not the insurance coverage part. The staff was not cooperative at all and were very aggressive. They claim it is my fault. So, now I ended up paying extra charges. I feel I was blindsighted, cheated and betrayed for being a Blue Chip member. It is a shame, they r... Read more

  • by

    thnina

    Mon Nov 07 2011

    We rented an SUV at Thrify in the Florida airport. We thought we got a good deal online for a week in the amount of $270.78. However, after we went to pick up the car we were informed of all these extra charges my bill ended up being approximately $596.40. We were pretty much stuck with taking the car because we had all our luggage and two small children. Needless to say, we will not be renting a car from them anymore.

  • by

    mary_gestrich

    Wed Nov 02 2011

    we rented an economy car for 5 days (27 oct -1 nov). I explained in minute detail that my personal car insurance covered all aspects for the rental and i didn't desire any additional. I had a confirmation price of $193 + change . The final bill was upcharged by more than $31.78 due to a charge annotated as "tst" (tow service tax?). After arriving @ home we called and were given credit for the overcharge. To my way of thinking this is an underhanded method of doing business. I pulled records from a previous rental, same location in Austin tx, and, sure enough , we were ripped off again. Other than that there were no problems with the rental but i really don't care for their ethics and will do business elsewhere in the future in addition to notifying my business associates to be aware of their business ethics or lack thereof.

  • by

    hollysmom

    Sun Aug 07 2011

    Very bad customer service! They could not tell me why they were charging me a fee of $750 for a Ford Fusion for 8 days, when I got online immediately after I rented the car, and thier website qupted a fee of about $600 for the same time period, from the same location. They refused to refund the additional $150. And it made me mad to know I was talking to someone in India, the chick I was talking to did not disguise her accent very well. I will never!! rent from Thrifty again. Budget is much better.

  • by

    nick_knook

    Wed Jul 27 2011

    I think one star is even generous. I booked a reservation 7 months in advance, although the person who booked it for me put in the wrong dates. When i tried to call to recheck a reservation and found this out i was told that i had to pay the going rate now, as opposed to what it was 7 months ago when i tried to book the reservation for the car. After speaking to about 6 people and all saying the same thing, and talking to supervisors and even THEIR supervisors, i was hung up on twice. I will never use them again, nor would i even speak their name to anyone if asking for reccomendations. Save yourself the hassle and go with another company!

  • by

    jenni418

    Thu Jun 30 2011

    this car rental company is horrible. this was my first and last time renting from them. after driving the car for a day the brakes sounded horrible. when it rained the driver window squealed as you rolled it down. to get the glove compartment to close you had to slam it shut. when we brought the car back we filled the tank so it was almost full because when we got the car the tank was not full. they wanted to charge us ten dollars for that. THIS COMPANY IS HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!

  • by

    nikesmom

    Wed May 25 2011

    I have rented from Thrifty for the last 2 years at the Orlando Airport. Never had a problem until this year. I waived the insurance coverage and yet it was included on my bill. I emailed Thrifty explaining the agent's disengenousness and the fact that the information on the electronc pad scrolls by so fast you can't read it. I will ask for a printout before I sign anything from how on. However, I did email Thrifty and complain and they reimbursed me the disputed amount in a timely fashion so I feel better about the company than I did. So I may rent from them again as they do have the best rental deals. Having said that however, I will be sure and check the charges before I pick up the car and leave the rental agent.

  • by

    marcelo_velloso

    Wed May 25 2011

    Thrifty Car Rentals Review - You rent a car, but the deal is a bomb! I have posted a video on YouTube showing my experience, at: http://youtu.be/xZplcXlghyA But basically, what hapened is... In february 2011, I rented a time bomb from Thrifty Car Rentals. I thought I was renting a car, that was what I booked, but Thrifty fooled me. After the first 200 kilometers the car started to fail, and my wife and I had a tough time for 15 days! I was with my wife in Portugal and decided to rent a car with Thrifty to go to Spain. Our road trip started on a cold rainy day of winter, and the first thing to fail was the air conditioning. Have you tried to drive a car when it's cold outside without air conditioning? Well, the windshield gets dangerously foggy, and the only way to fix this is by opening the window. Thank god I was in Spain and not in Canada. It was "only" 9ºC (48º F) outside. Blood doesn't freeze at this temperature. But that was only the begining... The next day I noticed that ... Read more

  • by

    imas633f

    Sat Apr 09 2011

    I just don't undestand when you reserve a car in month in advance ...and when you got there they oversold ..no car available...how unproffessional, how rude is that,,,and you stuck..I didn't think that will happen in America.....that's is really really said....what a shame....it happened twice to me ...

  • by

    tuesday_vander_vliet_hoover

    Sat Feb 19 2011

    Less then one star. I am so sorry I did not read any of this before I used them. They asked me again if I wanted any other coverage and I said no and signed waving it. When we turned the car in and I looked at the bill they did charge it to me. They said not anything they could do about it. Plus the gas gage was off so we ran out of gas. They also did not even have the car on the lot that they rented to us. We had to stand around till one came. DO NOT USE THEM

  • by

    tiffany_fo

    Fri Feb 11 2011

    1 star maybe at that! I have never rented a Car before and they completely took advantage of me. They didn't explain that the insurance was a per day rate...to start. Then, my flight got canceled because of the snow...they were unwilling to work with me and charged me MORE than the daily rental ( an added charge on top of) a day for extending my rental. I would think a nice company would be understanding and help me when I have to already spend more on changing my flight and add hotel days. Also, in order to cancel my insurance they made me travel 2 hrs to do it in person and then when I went to turn the car..they of course had no changes made. They are the most unprofessional business I have been in contact, ever! Please don't use them..it might look cheap and great, but they will nail you right in the tailfeather when you're done.  Sent from my Palm Pre on AT&T

  • by

    windsorron

    Sun Feb 06 2011

    SCAMMED by THRIFTY...... BE AWARE! We just returned from St. Maarten, great trip with a bad ending. Very careful and was successful in not adding new dents to the car. I confirmed this by checking out the car before we left for the airport. Drove to the airport and parked the car in the Thrifty lot. While we were paying, an older beat up car drove into the lot, scrapped the side of our car and then quickly left. This event was witnessed by a person I was travelling with and three Thrifty employees. Sunil, the Thrifty supervisor, then informed us that our car has a large dent that we were responsible for. After long discussions, in which Sunil kept reminding us we had a plan to catch, we concluded that this was a planned SCAM. My advices, when you pull into the lot, DO NOT leave your car until it has been checked out.

  • by

    nmbnative

    Tue Jan 25 2011

    Oh, where do I begin with this horrible company... I made reservations for 3 vehicles for 8 days in Costa Rica over the phone before I left the states. I was quoted $167 PER DAY, and was told that with my Mastercard I would not have to pay for their car insurance. When my group of 13 arrived at the office, they told us that my card only covered part of their insurance that was required and I would have to have over an $1,800 deposit. There was NO mention of this in any paperwork I had been given. To make it worse, they do all of their quotes on a small personal calculator and hand write it on a piece of paper. With circles, scribbles, and illeligible numbers, we had no clue what we were looking at. Everytime he gave us a quote, it was different than the last. As we are asking questions, he is so busy staring at his cell phone, he doesn't even hear what we say. Everyone else in their office was having the same problem. They had all been told they did not need the insurance, but... Read more

  • by

    drdiva40

    Sun Jan 23 2011

    This was the WORST experience I ever had with a rental. First, I paid extra of the GPS and it was old and out dated. It got me lost several times. I even got lost on the way to the airport. I asked them to credit my charges back for the GPS and they did but I had to get her to correct it twice. I still do not think my bill is right; I plan to call on Monday. I spend most of my gas on stopping and asking questions for directions because I was LOST. I got the rental from San Antonio, Tx on Crownhill road and car return on 1/23/11. OMG the lady on duty at the desk....did not even say, I am SORRY. She acted really NASTY. I will search every engine on the web to write this review. It was simply CRAZY!!

  • by

    mosta96e

    Tue Jan 18 2011

    Everybody be aware! Thrifty is a RIP OFF company. Always read the small print on the back or on the third page! I made a reservation online to rent a car in Frankfurt Germany. I was happy that I had the lowest rate. However, when I wanted to pick up the car in Frankfurt I had to pay about double the quoted price. They wanted to see a letter from my master card that would provide the insurance coverage. This was a very small print on the third page of the reservation. I have been renting cars in the last ten years with Hertz or Enterprise. This was my first and last time with Thrifty. I got a smaller car and had to pay more at the end, compared to other car rentals. Most of the people have no time to read the small print on the third page. When you want to rent a car with Thrifty, BE VERY CAREFUL! Read the conditions entirely and take it for serious what they write! I would never go back to Thrifty!

  • by

    daj5057b

    Tue Jan 11 2011

    Rented from Thrifty in Dallas. Charged us $150 for 6 toll road charges. Total Rip Off. Will Never Ever rent from Thrifty again. They are doing same scam in other cities. If you dare rent from them be sure to read fine print. They don't always tell you about the fees at the rental counter. Buyer be ware.

  • by

    mountainman1

    Thu Dec 30 2010

    We rented a car at the Miami airport in Oct 2010. We were offered a per day toll pass at some riduculous price like $8/day. You have to pay the $8 for each day you have the rental! We were headed to the Keys and were not going to be on toll roads for the entire week. On the way back to the airport to drop off the car, we took a toll road that had license plate tolls (no one in the toll booth to give money to). We have the same system in Colorado and they simply send a bill to the registered owner of the vehicle and you send in you money. We went thru three toll booths for a TOTAL of $1.00. Thrifty has charged our credit card for the $1.00 plus $25/toll booth Admin fee ($76.00 total!!). We will be disputing the charge and would never rent from Thrifty again. Be aware of this rip-off from Thrifty!!!! Sincerely, Estes Park, Colorado

  • by

    ccassis

    Mon Dec 20 2010

    My Thrifty rental was fine, but when something was wrong with my bill I found out quickly how utterly horrendous their customer service department is. If you call three times, not only are you waiting for 45 minutes each call, you get three different answers to the same questions and oftentimes, a condensing tone. They had incorrectly billed me, and acknowledged it, but after MONTHS of trying to get refunded they still gave me the run around when I called back to inquire. I never enjoy calling customer service offices, but this was by far the WORST experience I have ever encountered – with regards to the complete incompetence of their employees, their attitudes, and their ability to actually help their customers. I am even on hold as I type, and have been for 40 minutes – only I’m sure to be met again with someone who has no idea how to help me. I would HIGHLY encourage everyone to use another car rental company, anywhere else has to be better than this…..

  • by

    aminhussein

    Mon Nov 22 2010

    just rented a van in Edmonton, it had coffee and coke stains all over the inside. the middle seats were reversed so one couldn't use the seat belts. The Thrifty guy told me that they don't clean the cars in the winter so I can take it or leave it. This particular location in Edmonton (10155 105 st) is a licensee so corporate couldn't do anything about it. I guess thrifty corp doesn't have any control over their franchises!!! worst rental experience ever. PS: rented a van from Thrifty two weeks ago in Toronto and the brakes were grinding. Amin

  • by

    smallsville

    Thu Nov 11 2010

    NEVER RENT FROM "NOT SO THRIFTY!" THEY ARE UNDERHANDED AND SNEAKY. READ THE LITTLE PAD THEY MAKE YOU SIGN 4 TIMES AND TOTALY IGNORE WHAT IS COMING OUT OF THEIR PIE HOLES! I VERBALLY DECLINED THE ADDITIONAL LOSS COVERAGE. ALTHOUGH THE CLERK REPEATED THAT BACK TO ME I ENDED UP SIGNING FOR IT ON THE CUTE LITTLE PAD THAT YOU CAN'T READ. THEIR WAY OF PREVENTING YOU FROM DISPUTING CHARGE WITH CREDIT CARD COMPANY! I RENTED A CAR AT 22.99 A DAY FOR FOUR DAYS THAT ENDED UP COSTING ME $95.00 A DAY. $201.00 WORTH OF ARIZONA TAXES?? YOU PEOPLE SHOULD BE CRAPPING GOLD!

  • by

    bhuvanaset

    Tue Nov 02 2010

    1 star. It is the worst rental service ever..

  • by

    mike1143425291

    Mon Nov 01 2010

    Worst rental car company to date. Beware of las Vegas and thrifty. 1 hour in line to get car. Never again.

  • by

    witewave

    Fri Oct 22 2010

    NEBRASKA THRIFTY. Gave me a car that broke down which caused me to miss my flight & had to find a hotel & stay another night. They would not pick me up from the break down site & would not compensate me for any of the expenses. This fiasco & poor service cost me an extra $1500. I will never use thrifty/dollar again & will warn others against it.

  • by

    noone2

    Thu Oct 21 2010

    THIS IS CRAZY TO SEE......LOL AS FAR AS THE A/C NOT WRKING OR CHANGING TIRES OR COVERAGES ARE CONCERNED, MY ADVICE IS READ THE CONTRACT!!!!! ITS AS SIMPLE AS THAT. IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT 65% OF PEOPLE WHO RENT VEHICLES DO NOT READ THE CONTRACT IN FULL AND THEN WANT TO BLAME THE COMPANY FOR CHARGING FOR ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE WHEN THEY DECLINE THE COVERAGES. EVERYTHING IS IN THE CONTRACTS AS CLEAR AS CRYSTAL!!! READ THE CONTRACT YOU ARE SIGNING OR THE CONSEQUENCES ARE YOURS TO DEAL WITH. IF YOU SIGNED A WAIVER BEFORE SURGERY FOR INSTANCE AND SOMETHING GOES WRONG, IF IT STATES IN THAT WAIVER THEY ARENT RESPONSIBLE, YOU LOSE BECAUSE THE CONTRACT WAS NOT READ. MY ADVISE IS DO RESEARCH, READ DOCUMENTATIONS, ASK QUESTIONS. DO WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO TO ENSURE YOUR SAFETY.

  • by

    dan_swan1

    Thu Oct 14 2010

    1 stars How can Thrifty...charge this huge amount after I locked in a lesser amount on line. I am very unhappy with the service and the hidden costs.. that have been charged to my credit card...I am returning this car imediately and

  • by

    pinellasdave

    Wed Sep 08 2010

    The woman who did the paperwork when we rented the vehicle was EXTREMELY unpleasant and unprofessional. First, she misrepresented the cost to upgrade to a larger vehicle. She said it would be "just a few dollars more". Only after I queried the exact cost did she admit that the price would have nearly DOUBLED. She was especially unpleasant when trying to sell me extra insurance, asking me, in a fear-mongering manner, two additional times after I had already said "No". She was similarly obnoxious trying to make it sound like opting to refill the tank upon return was incredibly dangerous and stupid. The representative actually seemed angry at me for declining all the options she offered.

  • by

    kris_chris

    Wed Aug 18 2010

    1 stars Thrifty car rental is a joke and they are thieves. We get to the counter at the airport to find the girl behind the counter to be annoyed that anyone was there. I had requested and reserved a economy car, I only got a compact. We were given the key, asked if we wanted them to fill up the gas tank, We said no, we will do it. We were asked about the other insurance, and we said no again due to we have full coverage. WE NEVER SIGNED A CONTRACT.. We were told to go out into this parking lot to look for our car. We find it and it isnt clean, it even had a bottles still in it. We were late and just took the car. So the weekend is over and we are returning the car to find nobody in the garage excepting these vehicles to look them over to verify anything. So we walk into the same counter to find, once again, a rude little girl behind the counter. She askes who we are, asked how many miles were on the car and then handed us a receipt. There was a charge for fuel, a charge ... Read more

  • by

    llanero80

    Fri Aug 06 2010

    Arrived in St. Loius late due to weather and other airline delays only to find the Thrifty counter closed. The sign said to proceed to the shuttle which comes every 10 minutes. We waited for 45 minutes, I called the Thrifty 1-800 number, someone in India, Indonesia, or the Moon answered. They could not understand me nor could they help me in any way. I finally went to the National Car Rental counter, they had an actual live person at the counter who spoke to me courteously. I was process and on my way in 10 minutes. I finally arrived at my hotel at 2:30 a.m. I should have been informed at the time of rental that the counter would be closed. I'll never go with Thrifty again.

  • by

    fensketd

    Wed Aug 04 2010

    BEWARE of the liability waiver it added an additional $150.00 to my payment. I was quoted around $359.00 and paid $656 which included the price of gas. I made the assumption I was waving their insurance and using my auto insurance. That’s what I get for assuming!

  • by

    rtjax14

    Wed Jul 28 2010

    Well, Thrifty hit three strikes in under half a day. My family and I, made a reservation for a dodge charger, but when we got to the Seatttle airport counter for Thrifty, they said they didn't have one, and made us pay for a upgrade so we could have a car that was big enough for all of us. STRIKE ONE. The person at the counter gave some vauge directions that had us wandering through a nearby parking garage and then finally waiting a very long time for the shuttle. STRIKE TWO. But the worst came when we got to the lot and there were dodge chargers all over the place. There were also tons of cars in the same size/price class that were "unavailable". And yet we had to pay for an upgrade. Pure bait and switch. STRIKE THREE. Judging by the rest of the comments here im not the only unhappy one who felt that they were nickle and dimed, scammed, and screwed over. _giggity_

  • by

    pegwillia

    Thu Jul 22 2010

    Thrift car Rental...very misleading and please do not have a fender bender while renting one of their vehicles. Unfortunately my husband and I did not even leave our parking spot from picking up our vehicloe and an Enterprise employee backed into us as we started to leave our parking spot. It was clearly the enterprise employee who was at fault, he never even looked behind to see if anything was coming he just backed up. The video showed this was the case also, we were not at fault and were informed of this on more thatn one occassion. We were treated very nicely and told just to put our side of the situation in writing and they would pursue the situation with Enterprise. The car we were renting was barely marked and we were willing to keep it for use but were told no we would be given a different vehicle at no additional charge to us. We waited around to verify everything was in place on our part and they were to follow up wiht Enterprise. To our surpise a week after our trip we recei... Read more

  • by

    kvclauson

    Tue Jul 20 2010

    My husband and I rented a vehicle in Miami on our honeymoon in May. We received a citation at Miami Beach for expired tags. Upon returning the vehicle, we explained to the mgr. what happened and she said they would take care of the ticket. Now 2 months later, we recieve a bill from Thrifty car rentals for a $25 administration fee and a ticket from the city of Miami for a deliquent citation in the amount of $45. We have been on the phone with Thrifty for 2 days and they refuse to pay the ticket. Thrifty car rental is raping their customers with their poor business mgt. and poor customer service. They are making money off their customers, who at no fault of their own, rent their vehicles with expired tags and Thrifty leaves them with their legal costs plus add on their administration fees. DO NOT RENT FROM THRIFTY CAR RENTALS! They are thieves and liars!!!!!!

  • by

    callensberg

    Sat Jun 26 2010

    I reserved a car through Expedia at the rate of 24.95 per day. I reserved a 4 door economy car. Upon arrival I was told they do not even have a 4 door economy car, and they could only upgrade me to a mid sized car at twice the price. I had no choice but to take it, but I told them I was going to complain about them using the old bait and switch tactic. The car I recieved was a small 4 door Hyundi. Hardly a mid sized car. Upon looking at the bill they did indeed only charge 24.95 per day, but they got around the fee by charging me the difference as "extra's" on the bill. They were sneaky and underhanded. My advice, stay away from Thrifty, they will figure out a way to upcharge you somehow. Honestly, I have traveled a lot and used plenty of rental cars, but this is the first time I've used Thrifty and the first time I've had a problem.

  • by

    lisa1964

    Sat Jun 12 2010

    We called ahead to rent a car from Thrify at Cabo San Lucas, MX and it was the worst experience ever. My husband went inside to get the car/paper work taken care of and the next thing you know an employee was chasing my husband outside and grabbed the rental agreement out of his hand and tore it up. I was actually afraid for our safety. Apparently, they were trying to pull some scam and add on a $3,000 charge for insurance which we didnt agree to and they didnt want to let my husband get away with the papers. Stay away from this place!!!

  • by

    jerry178

    Wed Jun 02 2010

    I rented a car at Thrify car rental at Providence RI and the agent was rude and arrogant. The most troubling part is that Thrifty chrages extra if you are a frequent flyer. I had to pay an extra $8.00 for being afrequent flyer. This charge was not made known when I made the reservation. In my opinion, Thrifty car rental is an unethical firm and has misleading terms and conditons of rental. Be very wary of Thrifty.

  • by

    enssle

    Mon May 17 2010

    Thrifty Car Rental in San Jose, Costa Rica (Airport) was terrible. My wife's cell phone fell out of her bag during our drive back to the rental office. We knew it was in the car. We realized it was what made the weird noise we heard during the drive right before boarding our plane, and called the office immediately (less than an hour after we'd dropped the car off). They said they "searched" the car and didn't find it only after I called three times (right away, later that same day, and the day after) and sent an email. Horrible service, definitely use a different rental car company.

  • by

    liesels

    Sat May 15 2010

    Please do not be tempted by cheap car hire at the Thrifty Car Hire in Lisbon. Reasons: 1. It is at least 3 kms from Lisbon Airport, not "in" the airport as advertised. 2. The free "shuttle" service only arrived after 4 phone calls, and a 2 hour wait. 3. The shuttle itself was a rickety old bus which I would hardly consider roadworthy. 4. Office is in a deserted industrial estate. Cars are covered in dust and falling apart. 5. After waiting for 2 hours to be collected, being driven to the offices, we then had to wait an additional hour while our car was cleaned. The person who collected us was also the person to clean the car and sort the paperwork. Office is severly understaffed! 6. Staff are incredibly unhlepful, unfriendly, unprofessional. While we were waiting a couple came in - the passenger window had fallen out of their car and the one person on duty was refusing to give them a replacement car. 7. Check your insurance documents !!! They charged us EUR750 on arrival despite the f... Read more

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    alex501

    Sun May 02 2010

    Thrifty Car Rental Hamburg Airport – BEWARE!!! We rented a car at Thrifty in Hamburg, April 2010, as they had the best rate. At delivery of the car, Thrifty refused to accept our visa/master card damage coverage and demanded we take their overpriced coverage. Upon return, we noticed a small chip in the windshield, about half the size of a dime (easily repairable). We were charged a little less than $800.00 for a full windshield replacement and a phone/fax business expenditure fee of fifty (50) Euros. Bottom-line; beware of this rip-off, rude, unprofessional, company. Their claim to be Cheap, is part of an elaborate bait and switch tactic.

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    vulcansspear

    Thu Apr 29 2010

    We rented a car from Thrifty in DC Reagan airport and every thing went well with the rental and picking up of the car but when my wife arrived in town two days later we both had to go into the rental office to add her to the rental agreement and everything was downhill from there. (BTW, Enterprise will allow one person go into the rental office with a copy of the other drivers license or you can just email the copy and the info to add a driver) They gave us two keys to the car attached by a cable and refuse to seperate them. I was working and she was going to take the car and go site seeing but with only one set of keys I sometimes had to wait hours for her to get back to pick me up and they told us if we seperated the keys they would charge us one hundred dollars. They also charge an extra ten dollars a day to add a spouse. (Enterprise gives you two seperate keys and doesn't charge to add a spouse. They also refuse to help us find our way to our hotel. We travel a lot but this was the... Read more

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    mseerei1

    Fri Apr 23 2010

    After declining their "optional" insurance coverage, and having their agent tell me 3 times that I wouldn't be charged, they still charged me, and then refused to provide me a refund! Thrifty either lied to me intentionally, or made a mistake - either way I'm the one paying an additional $150! Recommendation: Avoid Thrifty! -Michael Albany, NY

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    tekax9ae

    Mon Apr 12 2010

    Thrifty car rental in Puerto Vallarta seemed like a risky bet when we made a reservation there attracted by a price nearly 50% cheaper than the one offered by other car rentals, especially after reading the dismal ratings of Thrifty at other locations. We even made a "plan B" reservation at Hertz in case Thrifty turns out to be a cheat. As it turned out, the rental went perfectly well, the crew was honest, the car was quite new and the price was what was agreed upon. Be prepared to pay insurance, which adds about $10 per day, if I remember well, but that's the same everywhere else. This rental joint is located across the street from the airport entrance, 5min by foot. Right next to it is a taqueria selling totally awesome merlin burrito/taco hybrids for less then $5. It's worth to fly to PV just for having one of these...

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    zeuscharles

    Sat Apr 10 2010

    Thrifty / DTAG are ethically adrift and count on wearing you down to collect fees to which they are not entitled. Unfortunately, I was involved in an automobile accident in a car I rented from Thrifty in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Subsequent to the accident, State Farm and American Express promptly paid Thrifty $6,721 for the actual damage the car incurred (each party in the accident was deemed liable for their own automobile). My concerns with DTG (Dollar Thrifty Group, headquarters in Tulsa, OK), Thrifty’s parent company, started after they sought to collect a daily “loss of use” fee. This fee, when calculated daily, assumes 100% daily fleet utilization - though the average DTG fleet utilization is about 80% per their annual reports. Interestingly, I have subsequently read that NAAG Guidelines indicate that fleet utilization rates should be considered when “loss of use” fees are assessed. In summary, after throwing in a $50 “administrative fee”, I was assessed $556 in fees. DTG/... Read more

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    hgolightly74

    Sat Apr 03 2010

    Thrifty is dishonest and is basically robbing people. We rented a car from Thrifty in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and were quoted an "Estimated" Grand Total of $492.84 for the week when we made our reservation. We were prepared to give the company the $350 deposit to carry their basically mandatory insurance (all car companies do this), as stated in their fine print, but assumed that we'd get that deposit back, or at least a portion of it. When we paid our final bill, not only did they not give the deposit back, they charged us more than they quoted us--the total taken out of our checking account was $900.31. Additionally, they charged our card in pesos instead of dollars, when the original quote was in dollars--and their exchange rate at their shop was at about 10 pesos to the dollar instead of the going rate of almost 13 pesos to the dollar. When we got to Thrifty at the beginning of our trip, there were two other customers there furious at the salespeople about the same things--one... Read more

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    pharris42

    Thu Apr 01 2010

    Thrifty were essentially dishonest. I got charged for a full tank of gas when only 1-2 gallons was all it needed. Then customer serviced wouldn't deal with the matter. Go to Hertz

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    infrequenttrav_eler

    Tue Mar 23 2010

    Arrived in SEATAC,after picking up baggage, my party of five followed me to Rental Car Alley...all the desks had an agent @ the desk except...U guessed it...THRIFTY!...There I found a sign suggesting I take the escalator,then the crosswalk,and then the elevator down to where I would catch the Courtesy Van to the lot...The lot was not located @ the airport like the others....Amazing!!.. My party of five carried our luggage up and over and waited briefly for the van...Once I arrived @ the Thrifty desk they told me the car I thought I would get (Chrysler 300) was,(of course) not available and I would have to take their other premium model (Mercury Grand Marquis)....which she referred to as ..."the grandpa car"... The Grand Marquis itself was comfortable but horrible to try and park,like parking a yacht which was a problem in Seattle with its cramped parking For the next ten minutes she attempted to talk me out of that car to an "upgrade" like an SUV,Mustang or Lamborghini...... Read more

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    glencooper

    Sun Mar 14 2010

    I decided to shop price instead of Hertz, my home care rental company for many years. I chose Thrifty. It was a nightmare. I arrived in Denver to pick up my car. To find my reservation, they had to use my confirmation email because they had lost it, including the credit card information I had given them in making the registration. I waited so long at the counter while they tried to find it, that the clerk gave me a bottled water! We finally just started over. After I finally got ready to choose my upgraded car, they gave me my GPS - a plug in with a chord, not built into the car. It was new, so the counter person didn't know how to use it. I had to unpack it from its box and read the directions myself. By this time, the clerk and I had hit it off, so we almost had a date. I never did take her up on the invitation to dinner, but she was the only good thing about Thrifty. The car choice was not the promised upgrade as promoted to me when I made the reservation. Only 3 Hyundai Sonatas... Read more

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    jkochman

    Mon Mar 08 2010

    Los Angeles at LAX rental counter - I declined the additional insurance coverage and the loss damage waiver even though the representative behind the counter. tried to talk me into them; but I was charged for them anyway. Then I agreed to pay for a tank of gas for a charge of $41.44, but upon returning the car I was charged over $100. In addition, the counter rep. continued to try to talk me into upgrading to a larger car after repeated refusals. I do not see how I could have made myself any plainer in declining the additional insurance coverage ( I have primary coverage through my auto policy and secondary coverage through MasterCard.) and yet I was charged. I have to assume that the rep. intentionally charged me for insurance hoping I wouldn't notice, and he was right. I didn't notice until returning the car and am still in a dispute with Thrifty about the charges. I know that the reps. are encouraged to upsell (add on extras like insurance). Often the counter personne... Read more

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    ovieotus

    Thu Mar 04 2010

    I, like the last poster, just returned from Maui and a Thrifty Car Rental. I had an economy car booked and they had none to offer me. I ended up with a mid sized car with terrible gas mileage which defeated my purpose of renting economy. The Thrifty lady tried to convince me I needed full coverage at an additional cost of over $250 for a 5 day rental. They tried to push other insurances also. Finally, a lady with a travel agency (unknown if she works for Thrifty) harrassed us into going to a Wyndam Resort presentation. We did not want to go but to quieten her, we agreed to. Thank God the tsunami cancelled that for us. I would never rent from Thrifty again. Renting a car should just be a matter of going in, signing a few papers for your reservation and then leaving. Not continuous badgering to purchase many other products and then leaving with a different car than what you ordered.

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    evereddie50

    Mon Mar 01 2010

    Shifty Thrifty Rent A Car - renters should avoid it... Just came back from Maui using Thrifty. Biggest mistake of my life. Had reserved a car well in advance at an excellent price. The price had tripled the week before but I had it reserved. When I arrived I received incredible pressure to upgrade and add on all sorts of options. All I wanted was my car. I had a log flight and simply wanted to leave. The rep at the facility was obviously annoyed that I would not upgrade or add on anything. after nearly 45 minutes they pulled this beast of a van up for my rental. The van had burn marks in the seats, molding missing from the seat hinges exposing a safety hazard and on top of this is was filthy. They just shrugged and said this is all we have for what you reserved. The van was a gas hog, the radio and windows would stop working intermittently, on pressing the brakes at any speed over 30mph going down any decline the steering wheel would shake moderately and the engine kept making a grindi... Read more

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