Don't rent from DOLLAR- Price addition, buyer beware!

[leebee]

I had a reservation with Dollar for a midsize SUV at MCO from 10/9-10/12. I made it about 2 months ago through AutoSlash.com, which found the rate thru Priceline. $196, which in this market is GREAT. We got to the airport today to discover we'd been re-routed (what is UP with Southwest these days?) and would be arriving at 8:30pm instead of 6:30pm. I contacted Dollar as I didn't want them to think I was a no-show and give my car away. No problem, said the friendly man on the phone. No problem, said the customer service agent on FB messenger. We got to MCO and Dollar had a car for me- with a $125 surcharge, PER DAY- and that's with a 20% discount the supervisor gave me ("That's all I can do," he said). I said I didn't care what size, I was only concerned with them honoring the price, and they ignored me. I asked about downsizing to a smaller vehicle and they said that'd be a whole new, walk-up reservation and cost even more. The agent kept saying, "It's our fleet, we're out of cars." I'll tell ya, the garage wasn't out of cars when we got there. Now the vehicle has cost me more than the entire rest of the trip has cost for airfare and hotels! I have NO IDEA where to go with this complaint, although Dollar has already heard from me, and AutoSlash and Priceline will hear from me tomorrow. GRRRR

 

[EACarlson]

replied to your post in the other thread, but Priceline isn't going to do anything for you. They are just the middleman between Autoslash and the rental companies. Come over to Flyertalk and post this in the Autoslash thread in the Car Rental forum, the owner of Autoslash posts there regularly.

 

[JimMIA]

I had a reservation with Dollar for a midsize SUV at MCO from 10/9-10/12. I made it about 2 months ago through AutoSlash.com, which found the rate thru Priceline. $196, which in this market is GREAT. We got to the airport today to discover we'd been re-routed (what is UP with Southwest these days?) and would be arriving at 8:30pm instead of 6:30pm. I contacted Dollar as I didn't want them to think I was a no-show and give my car away. No problem, said the friendly man on the phone. No problem, said the customer service agent on FB messenger. We got to MCO and Dollar had a car for me- with a $125 surcharge, PER DAY- and that's with a 20% discount the supervisor gave me ("That's all I can do," he said). I said I didn't care what size, I was only concerned with them honoring the price, and they ignored me. I asked about downsizing to a smaller vehicle and they said that'd be a whole new, walk-up reservation and cost even more. The agent kept saying, "It's our fleet, we're out of cars." I'll tell ya, the garage wasn't out of cars when we got there. Now the vehicle has cost me more than the entire rest of the trip has cost for airfare and hotels! I have NO IDEA where to go with this complaint, although Dollar has already heard from me, and AutoSlash and Priceline will hear from me tomorrow. GRRRR

Contact the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs. I know it sounds like a strange combination, but it's been that way for years and they have been very active with car rental companies -- especially in Orlando. The current commissioner is new -- just elected in 2020 -- so I don't know how she'll be, but her predecessors have been very strong in this area.

You may be able to initiate a complaint online: https://www.fdacs.gov/

 

[Woodview]

First mistake was going through AutoSlash.com

Who then passed on your request to Priceline who looked up Dollar. and got a quote for you.

You Should have gone Direct to Dollar yourself

Second mistake ( Maybe ) Did you have a Print Out of your Reservation , with the Price given

for the rental, ? Did you pay in full at time of Booking ?

OR DID you just have a Reservation Number ?

If you just had a Reservation Number & Had NOT Paid then Tough .

You are at the mercy of the Desk agent

Always Deal DIRECT with Car hire co . & Hotels

Always remember intermediaries are getting their Mark Up

 

[robinb]

The price of a rental car can change when you make a change to the reservation no matter how small. I wonder if one of the people you called to advise that you would be 2 hours late MODIFIED the reservation to show the new pickup time and therefor booked your car at the current rate.

 

[Mamabun]

The price of a rental car can change when you make a change to the reservation no matter how small. I wonder if one of the people you called to advise that you would be 2 hours late MODIFIED the reservation to show the new pickup time and therefor booked your car at the current rate.

This is what I was wondering as well. Of course, they should not have done this. I travel a bunch and no longer notify car rental when my flight is delayed. I always make sure they have my flight info and I’ve found they are fine dealing with delayed flights without any notice from me. But policies changes so often now, it’s always a bit of a risk.

 

[Yellowjj]

As long as you are arriving same day before office closure, notifying car rental companies about delays is unnecessary. It sounds like the phone agent changed the pick-up time to reflect your delay, hence the high price. Autoslash stands behind their price guarantee although I don't know if this applies since you called in and may have inadvertently triggered a reprice.

 

[leebee]

I have been renting cars via AutoSlash for years and have never had a problem. I've also rented cars where the company was "out" of the vehicle rented; they always ask if we want an upgrade, and when I say no they rent the larger vehicle to me at the quoted price on the reservation. I ALWAYS have hard copy of all my reservations- airline, car, hotel- with me. Showed it to them at Dollar, and they didn't care one bit. Autoslash and Priceline both recommend calling if arrival is several hours late as car companies will consider you a "no show" and give away the car; the last thing I wanted to do was arrive at MCO to find no vehicle and I'd have to do a walk-up reservation. The receipt today shows Dollar added on $125 a day- plus taxes and fees- as an "upgrade." It's pretty clear that they were out of the size vehicle I reserved and gave me the next size "up" and charged for it. I even ASKED about a smaller vehicle and they said that wasn't possible, that would become a walk-up reservation. I think Dollar has found a way to make money, and will go with it. So far Autoslash and Southwest (their scheduling issues were why we were so late arriving) have been responsive. It just makes me so angry that Dollar can take advantage of people like that.