I joined the club of carRentals.com's victims.

This website lists a lot of little know rental car companies that have ridiculous cancellation policy. However, on their FAQ page, they try their best to be deceiving.

Q: What is your cancellation policy?
A: Some of our reservations require a credit card to secure a booking, most do not. If we ask you for a credit card, then you will need to cancel the reservation ahead of the scheduled pick up time in order to avoid a cancellation fee from the vendors. However, if we did not ask for your credit card information, there is no fee for a cancellation.

It gives you the impression that canceling before picking up is good enough. You will need to dig in painstakingly in order to find the exotic cancellation policy specific to a vendor.

When I canceled my reservation, there was not any kind of warning. It just said:
Cancellation Confirmation
Your cancellation has successfully been processed.
Cancellation Code: xxxxxxx

Again, they try to be deceiving.

I suffered by this and when I complained to them (by email. They don't have the decency of providing a customer service phone #). They said it was the vendor's policy and there was nothing they could help. I believe they and those lowly rental car vendors are in this together to screw customers.

I wish I could give -1 star. Anyway, You have been warned.

Universal Rent-A-Car
5400 Dixie Road
Mississauga

I made this car rental reservation through www.carrental.com. The reservation was through 'Universal Rent-A-Car'.

This company has absolutely horrendous customer service. The people working at this establishment exhibit no professional behavior.
First, I was left standing in the cold when I reached the Toronto airport because of their lack of directions. Then the person picking me up blamed me for my in competence in following directions.
Second, the person refused to show me my option of cars, and threatened me if I did not like the car he was offering, I could cancel the reservation and pay the one day charge which was a part of the reservation.
Third, I got a flat tire on the second day of the rental, which resulted in me changing the tire and paying for the $200 tire as well, because the owner of this rental company claimed that it was my responsibility and probably my fault.

I have never had such an awful customer service experience. I am very surprised to see this establishment still in business, especially since there are a lot of online complaints this company for matters ranging from fraudulent charges to unacceptable service. I would have pursued litigation against them if I lived in Toronto.

I reserved on November 21, 2007 with CarRentals.com (Universal Rent A Car) for a compact car at PEARSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (YYZ) in Toronto Canada, which should be picked 10:00 PM on December 21, 2007. I even received an e-mail from this company reminding me this reservation. When I arrived in Toronto (YYZ) about 9:30PM on December 21, I called the number they gave me (Universal Rent A Car 1-866-303-5888) asking for the instructed shuttle pick up. The representative answering the phone told me that there was no car available for me, because someone supposed to return the car but did not. He also said that he probably gave me a car next day. Fortunately there was shuttle bus between the airport (YYZ) and the hotel I reserved. On the next day (December 22), I called the number (Universal Rent A Car 1-866-303-5888) at 9:00 AM, nobody answered phone. So don't be fooled by their low price as me. This company is not worth to do business with.