Pushy Rental agencies ?

[rvchat]

I remember being really pushed into buying lots of insurance (when I didn't need it ) last year but forgot who I rented from taht trip.

Want to stay away FAR AWAY this month from that.

Was it Dollar? Budget? thanks all.

 

[bdcp]

How about you just say no? They all try to get you to take insurance. Of course, we use the same one all the time and they have DH's preferences so no pushiness at all. In fact, rarely any face to face interaction.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I've never had a pushy rental agent but then again when we rent it's usually from Alamo and we check in at the kiosk. Easy peasy and it doesn't nag.

 

[rvchat]

How about you just say no? They all try to get you to take insurance. Of course, we use the same one all the time and they have DH's preferences so no pushiness at all. In fact, rarely any face to face interaction.

They were telling people they could not rent out cars unless insurance was purchased. That's why NO ONE said no.

 

[Nermel9]

I always use Alamo, and we have used the kiosk once, done online check in once, and used the counter twice-for some reason when I rent through Costco, it doesn't always let me use the kiosk or do online check in. Both times I used the counter, they tried to push me into getting the insurance. The first time I did, but the second I said no, and assumed my insurance would cover rentals, but I should probably check.

 

[n2mm]

I'm a National member, but in the past we have had to rent from Dollar and Budget because we needed a minivan. I've gotten a hard sell from both. At Dollar, we got the "we don't have the size you reserved" speech and they wanted us to pay to upgrade. We refused and they finally gave us a larger vechilce for the same price. My DD used Budget in November and declined the insurance, but when she went to sign the contract, the agent HAD included the insurance. She checked the total, saw the "mistake" and asked them to do it correctly this time.

I used National about 90% of the time and on rare occassion have used Alamo. Generally those are the ones we stick to. But on very few occassions we've had to take our business elsewhere.

Just stick to your guns and check the contract before signing.

 

[bdcp]

They were telling people they could not rent out cars unless insurance was purchased. That's why NO ONE said no.

I don't think that's legal. Usually a credit card used to rent the car or personal auto insurance covers the driver.

 

[seashoreCM]

They were telling people they could not rent out cars unless insurance was purchased.

That is an outright lie.

A few agencies reserve the right not to rent to you unless you either show that you have your own insurance that covers ,or you purchase theirs, but this must be spelled out in their written rules (policies).

Now if you don't have your own insurance that covers and you don't have a credit card that covers, then it would be a good idea to buy the rental company insurance.

It might be interesting to gather statistics about whether agents are more pushy on certain dates such as at the end of the month, but I don't have the time to run such a survey.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

 

[DVC-Don]

Over the years I've gotten the hard sell from National, Alamo, Hertz, Dollar, Avis, Budget, L&M. It kinda varies. Whenever the hard sell started I'd show my company ID and business card from the countries largest auto insurer and they'd back off. (I had one agent at Alamo tell me I did not understand the "insurance principal" before I showed her my ID.) Nowadays I use the kiosk at Alamo so I don't have to deal with the agents.

 

[laurabelle]

I usually rent from National or Alamo and get to skip the counter. The only human being I meet is the person manning the exit gate, who simply checks paperwork, driver's license and credit card. The only thing I've been asked is if I want to add the return at any level fuel option. Never pressed about additional insurance. I highly recommend either. It sure makes for a nice way to start the trip.

 

[goofy4tink]

I rented from Budget at Sanford last April. The agent started the speech about that stuff...I just stood there and said, politely...'Nope, no thanks.', 'No thanks.'...'Nope don't need it.' almost with no breaths inbetween. The agent just looked up and said...'You've done this before, haven't you??!!' Too funny.

 

[thepwa]

Payless was extremely pushy about purchasing insurance. They went for the "loss of use isn't covered" angle to get me to buy, but I just said no. And no again. And again. And again.

And now, I never use them. Ever. And I tell people how awful they are every chance I get.

 

[Disneyhayes]

I work for a major Credit Card company and most credit cards have Car Rental insurance embedded into them. It's usually secondary insurance so it will cover what your personal insurance doesn't. Most credit card companies also have a program that you can enroll into that will be primary insurance. this is usually a a extra charge only applied when you actually rent a car on you credit card.

 

[kbeam]

Dollar gave us the same bout of lies. Told us since we didn't have proof on us of our personal insurance, we HAD to take out theirs. At the time, we were clueless, so we signed. We now carry an extra insurance card in our wallets.

 

[bumbershoot]

How about you just say no?

The OP is likely referring to posts every so often (like the one by kbeam) that indicate one rental place is not allowing people to say no. They are absolutely positively NOT renting to you unless you take the insurance.

That's likely who the OP is trying to avoid. Not just a hard sell, but a no-sell situation.

 

[seashoreCM]

As far as I know all the legacy agencies must rent to U.S. citizens in the U.S. even if your proof of insurace lacks the kind of coverage they are looking for and you decline their coverages.

Payless, L&M, and EZ have the no-sell situation ace up their sleeve.