Dollar says Mousesavers cancelled my rental car reservation...UPDATE pg. 3

[Kathi OD]

so I've been on the phone with Dollar for over an hour now. Still no progress after talking to 4 "supervisors." Been on hold, waiting to speak with the 5th one for over 25 minutes. Guess their strategy now is to ignore me.

They are more than happy to book me a rental, at the current rate. There are no more vehicles available at the rate in the promo, so the car I would have to rent would be a different "category." Not sure how that will work if I try to dispute with Amex after the fact.

ETA: they just hung up on me. Guess I've got my answer. Time to start writing nasty-grams!

 

[goofy4tink]

so I've been on the phone with Dollar for over an hour now. Still no progress after talking to 4 "supervisors." Been on hold, waiting to speak with the 5th one for over 25 minutes. Guess their strategy now is to ignore me.

They are more than happy to book me a rental, at the current rate. There are no more vehicles available at the rate in the promo, so the car I would have to rent would be a different "category." Not sure how that will work if I try to dispute with Amex after the fact.

ETA: they just hung up on me. Guess I've got my answer. Time to start writing nasty-grams!

I feel badly for you...this just shouldn't have happened. There is no way that anyone at Mousesavers could have cancelled your reservation. You're right...they messed up and refuse to make it right. So....while I do feel badly for you, we all need to realize what can happen here. I know that I won't be booking with Dollar in the future. I have had no particular loyalty to any one company, but I won't be going with Dollar even if they give me a rate of a dollar a day!!! Nope, not after the way they treated you. And I will be very happy to let everyone that asks me about car rental companies know of their 'policy' as well. Word of mouth is a very powerful thing.

 

[jsilvers]

ETA: they just hung up on me. Guess I've got my answer. Time to start writing nasty-grams!

I'd suggest sending them right to the top. Fortunately, Dollar/Thrifty uses a simple naming protocol for its employees, so email addresses should include:

Scott Thompson, President and CEO - scott.thompson@dtag.com
Vicki Vaniman, General Counsel - vicki.vaniman@dtag.com

 

[TDC Nala]

Since there's no way Mousesavers can do anything with your reservation, there were only two parties that would have the information allowing them to cancel it - you, and Dollar. Since you didn't cancel it, apparently someone at Dollar did, either by accident or on purpose because it was a promo reservation. Either way they didn't own up to it and tried to blame your travel agent, whom they didn't know wasn't really a travel agent. That's pretty slimy. If I'm looking for cars in Orlando I do not believe I'd look at Dollar.

It would be great to show up with the confirmation and demand that they get a minivan, and in a perfect world that would work, but then they just have the opportunity to say "we could probably get you one, but it will be a few hours."

At least you hadn't paid them anything yet.

 

[feezle]

DO not call their reservations number! Call the counter at MCO.

Last September, we made some changes to our plans and I called the reservations number to change our drop off time by an hour. They were happy to do so at a cost of $325. This was not adding an extra day or anything! What they were doing was taking away my promo. I told them to forget it and called back. The third time, I spoke to someone who told me they could do it at no additional charge, no problem. Had them quote me the price, which matched my reservation.

Got uneasy about it and called back the next day (departure day) to verify. They changed my reservation and tacked on the extra $325. I was furious but after speaking to several supervisors, they said there was nothing they could do. Couldn't even switch it back.

I finally called the counter at MCO. It took me forever to get through but when I finally did, they took care of me. They said the people that work the call centers are out to screw you and she has heard it all.

Come to think of it, this was Alamo that I dealt with, not Dollar. Usually use Dollar. I imagine the same kind of thing would apply. you need to get past the call center.

 

[Kathi OD]

Since there's no way Mousesavers can do anything with your reservation, there were only two parties that would have the information allowing them to cancel it - you, and Dollar. Since you didn't cancel it, apparently someone at Dollar did, either by accident or on purpose because it was a promo reservation. Either way they didn't own up to it and tried to blame your travel agent, whom they didn't know wasn't really a travel agent. That's pretty slimy. If I'm looking for cars in Orlando I do not believe I'd look at Dollar.

It would be great to show up with the confirmation and demand that they get a minivan, and in a perfect world that would work, but then they just have the opportunity to say "we could probably get you one, but it will be a few hours."

At least you hadn't paid them anything yet.

You know, if it were just DH and I, this is exactly what I would do. I'd probably make a scene and embarrass DH while I was at it, but I'm kind of thinking Dad won't handle that very well.

 

[Kathi OD]

I'd suggest sending them right to the top. Fortunately, Dollar/Thrifty uses a simple naming protocol for its employees, so email addresses should include:

Scott Thompson, President and CEO - scott.thompson@dtag.com
Vicki Vaniman, General Counsel - vicki.vaniman@dtag.com

thanks!

 

[FoodLover]

You know, if it were just DH and I, this is exactly what I would do. I'd probably make a scene and embarrass DH while I was at it, but I'm kind of thinking Dad won't handle that very well.

I agree. I made that suggestion as a last-ditch idea before learning about the situation with your dad. I might try hashing it out at the counter if it were just me and my DH, but not in your circumstances.

I think the suggestion to go straight to the top is a good one. Email the two Dollar execs someone posted earlier, and others as well, if you can find their names. I've had excellent results that way a few times, when I have gotten nowhere with a problem through the company's regular channels. The Consumerist blog calls this an "EECB" (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) and it often works very well.

Mary
MouseSavers.com

 

[sharona]

Wow - what crappy customer service and poor ethical behavior. They are now added to my list of companies I will avoid whenever/wherever possible. Citibank, Sears, Comcast - meet Dollar.

I hope it all works out for you and your family. Have a fabulous trip!