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BAIT & SWITCH SCAM
In good faith, I used your site, carrental.com. In good faith I did the right thing and bought your insurance through Travel Guard. In good faith I trusted you as a trusted advisor and in doing so I, in good faith rented a vehicle from your site from Fox Car Rentals in Seattle Washington. I was slated to pick my vehicle up tonight at 6PM. I was basically bulled over by the woman at the counter who basically told me your insurance was no good; that it did not cover me for liability, that it did not cover me for loss of use; that it did not cover me for any damage over 25K AND that they don't acknowledge it as valid insurance in the event I have an accident. Furthermore since I wouldn't CANCEL your insurance and purchase theirs at a much higher rate she handed me a form and showed me where to sign and initial. This form stated I declined roadside service should the car malfunction, loss of damage waiver, personal accident coverage, liability protection, renter liability and all the fees associated with each should an accident occur. I rented the vehicle for 6 days, in good faith I bought the insurance knowing full well my own insurance will cover me but in a reimbursement fashion which is THE ONLY REASON I buy insurance so that if there IS an accident I am covered. Fox is telling me your insurance is NO GOOD, and WILL NOT COVER ME any more than my own insurance, which would incur a lag for coverage. Furthermore they are telling me I am responsible for the daily rate of their vehicle for every day of loss of use by using YOUR insurance.
Course of Action: I will be contacting the Attorney Generals Division. I will be registering a complaint with the BBB even if youre not a client, as they will post the complaint on the web client or not. I will be filing a small claims suit against Carrentals.com, travelguard and Fox Rental. Frivolous or not, I am going to pursue this course of action for the mere fact that you all felt my time and my plans were worth nothing and basically put me in a highly compromised position in which I will now be losing time and money in an effort to restore the disaster you have created. I will be following up with this action when I return from my trip in 6 days. I intend on involving all three parties in the suit and the complaint. You will be hearing from me shortly.
Posted 09/08/09 | Report Abuse
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Beware CarRentals We booked a car through them and when we arrived we were told there were no cars available. The clerk said, 'Yeah CarRentals overbooks all the time." Seems your phone number doesn't go to the car hire company when you place your request, so if there is a problem the hire company has no way to reach you. It cost us an additional $95 to rent from a company down the street. And don't bother with any of the phone numbers you might find for carrentals. They either don't work or they're the 'wrong department'. We will not be using them again.
Pros: cheap prices
Cons: they don't bother to verify if any cars are available
Posted 03/12/09
I've used them 2 years.
Pros:
Displays multiple providers' options/rates (saving much time) & "Total Cost" for complete rental period*.
Cons:
1) (516) phone # invalid.
2) Can NEVER talk with a human**.
3) There's an expensive & un-waiverable, daily-based, Panamanian insurance charge. IT MORE THAN DOUBLES THE DAILY RATE & ISN'T INCLUDED IN "Total Cost". Notified CarRentals on 2 occasions. However, & honestly, since it cannot be waived, it's a charge that must be paid in Panama (maybe elsewhere). There may be a disclaimer somewhere in their web site which deals with this. But, if there is, who's going to bother looking for it & where would one find it?
I would have rated CarRentals 5 stars instead of 4, but I feel the noted "Cons" are worthy of a downgrade.
* Unwaiverable Panamanian insurance is NOT INCLUDED in "Total Cost".
**A recent error in their reservation system caused me much grief. I'm a retired mainframe-computer programmer, therefore the details.
Dollar Rentacar 800# (my selected rental Provider) Customer Service was dismal. His "pat answer" was to cancel the reservation & re-book it (resulting in the same error, TWICE). One other suggestion was to reserve the rental incorrectly and then have the issue resolved upon dropping-off the car. Unacceptable.
He wouldn't "take this to a higher level" nor report the problem to the appropriate entity. He simply continued to be robotic with his "solution".
Within a "Contact Us" email to CarRentals, I thoroughly documented the problem. Step-by-step (13 of them), each process, & identified where the error appeared. I submitted my findings. Asked for resolution.
1st reply sounded like Dollar's.
3 more emails before resolution (acknowledgement of program problem, specifically related to Dollar/Panama & an apology for the inconvenience - no renumeration) with one reply indicating there is no Customer Support telephone number as it's an "online booking system" (which they believe is perfect).
Pros: More/less "One Stop Shopping" with competitive, or better, rates.
Cons: Misleading "Total Cost" in some circumstances
Posted 02/25/09
