Originally Posted by
WChiCC
I just wanted to warn people who rely on the Amex Insurance (I have the Premium Car Rental protection) that rent with Thrifty.
This summer I had a rental with Thrifty for 1 month (the first of two 1 month rentals with them) in Denver and on the day before I returned the vehicle a rock flew-up and cracked the windshield while driving down the highway. I immediately reported the crack to Thrifty and Amex Insurance.
Well, Thrifty first sends me a bill for the new windshield ($150), loss of use ($12.25) and administration fee ($50) to my Chicago address when I am still listed as renting a vehicle with them in Denver (2nd 1 month rental). In the letter they ask me to pay for the windshield within 5 days, so I can avoid the loss of use and admin fees. Two problems: 1. I wasn't in Chicago to receive the letter and 2. it was already submitted to insurance, so Thrifty would get a double payment if I sent them money.
Over the course of the next few months Thrifty called me to tell me that Amex refuses to pay for anything beyond the windshield replacement specifically. I call Amex, who tells me that they will pay the fees, as long as Thrifty provides documentation of their validity. I call Thrifty back to inform them of this and never hear of it again for over a month. Just yesterday I got a letter and a call from a collections agency stating that I owe them for the two fees that Amex won't pay. I immediately leave a voicemail for my contact at Thrifty who returned my call today to say that Thrifty has tried in the past to offer Amex proper documentation, but Amex never pays them. She said that Thrifty will no longer attempt to provide documentation because Amex just refuses to pay anyway.
So now I have to deal with a collections agency at a time when it would be really terrible to get a bad mark on my credit report. All because Thrifty gave up on cooperating with Amex Insurance. I just don't feel that that's a very customer-friendly way to handle this situation and left my Thrifty contact a voicemail stating as such. Now I know it's not a large amount of money, but I'm a grad student and every little bit counts. I also know I'm a small fish because I'm a student right now, but I'm graduating and hope to be a big shot business traveler sometime soon!
I don't know if the other agencies are as bad at handling damage, but I'm sure not going to try my luck with Thrifty again.
P.S. I hope I explained the situation well, but I welcome all questions and comments!
The simple solution here for you is to ask AMEX all the paperwork they need and then call Thrifty and ask them to fax it to you. You will have to play the Liasion role, but that will solve the matter once and for all for you. I have used AMEX for the last 8 yrs and have used many of their benefits (Extended Warranty, Purchase Protection etc) and never had an issue even once. I have not used the Rental Car Protection and I hope I never have to use the same, but with my past experience with AMEX, I am sure if that ever happens, it will be a breeze to deal with them. And to the other posters, AMEX is 1000 times better than Citi and Mastercard for such benefits. I had a 30$ phone that got accidentally damaged and when I tried to claim the Purchase Protection from Citi Mastercard, they sent me a bunch of documents to fill plus they wanted tonne of notarized documents. They won't even take my claim on the phone. I had to wait for snail mail (2 weeks) to get the claim forms. It would have cost me abt 3 - 4 hours to get those together and then god knows what else they would have asked. As for AMEX, one phone call and everything is taken care of by the 3rd business day. That is what I call Service !!!! Simply Amazing.