Trip Reports - Thrifty Rent A Car- Bad Experience

I recently rented a car from Thrifty in Las Vegas. Paid $29 per day for an economy car, in this case a Hyundai with 32,000 miles on it. Drove about 4 or 5 miles after renting and was about 50 yards away from my hotel, the Orleans, when without warning the left rear tire went flat. I limped off the road into the hotel parking lot and inspected the tire. It was dirty, worn and appeared to be old.

I have no idea why the tire went. I hit no bump, pothole, curb, etc. I had not driven the car far. With the tire appearing to have simply worn out and with me only driving 4 of the 32,000 miles on the odometer when I called Thrifty I was expecting them to be apologetic and to offer a replacement vehicle. I was not angry, things happen after all.

I was shocked when Thrifty's reponse turned out to be that I need to get the jack out, change the tire and return the car to them! I could not believe it. I consider this to be a mechanical problem. As a renter, I am not responsible for maintaining their vehicles. I have no way of knowing exactly why that tire blew but under the circumstances, I believe the chances are very good it was simply worn out.

After complaining, Thrifty agreed to bring another car and waive any additional fees since the car had a problem so soon after rental. This seems fair. After all, I lost an hour of vacation time waiting next to the defective car waiting for a replacement and new tire for a Hyundai only costs about $20.
While its possible I hit something in the road causing the flat, I believe strongly the chances are better upon inspecting the tire it was just old. So it seems fair to both parties for them to just come and give me a working car. ( Actually, I believe I was the one put out, I lost vacation time and the car had a mechanical defect, but I am not one to squabble. Just give me a working car, I'm paying $29 per day for a compact for darn sakes!)

When I returned my car a few days later, they reneged and added a $55 "tire fee" and a $35 " Service fee" to my bill.
They said the tire was " Gashed beyond repair". Well of course it was, it blew on a busy road, I limped into the nearest parking lot and I'm sure driving that short way on a flat did gash the tire. It was already blown and worthless anyway. It was just old.

Why Thrifty feels it neccesary to attempt to stick their customers with routine maintanence costs is beyond me. I have given them chances to back away from this craziness, but they won't. I explained nicely how wrong they were and how angry I was with this when the problem occured and when I returned the car. I also e-mailed the President of the Thrifty Las Vegas location and received no reply.

I am now forced to dispute the charges with my credit card company. It sounds as if the transmission blows or anything happens they will try to stick you with it.

I rent cars for myself and am in charge of all travel reservations for my employer.
I will never rent from Thrifty again. I suggest you don't either. Over a $20 tire which I honestly believe was worn out and not my responsibility, Thrifty will lose a lot of business. This is a shoddy company with poor management and shoddy cars- good riddance!!!

The only other time I ever had a problem with a rent-a-car was my fault. I left the lights on at night and in the morning, the battery was dead. I called Dollar and explained honestly what happened. I had no idea what they would do. They offered to bring me a replacement car, an upgrade too, as soon as possible and drop it off at my hotel. Wow! That is fantastic customer service, really above and beyond as this was my fault. I intend to give Dollar more business after seeing how Thrifty handled a situation where I had done nothing wrong. What a difference.

Posters on this board are frequent travelers. I suppose many of you have experiences with rental car breakdowns. I would be interested in hearing how they were resolved. I believe Thrifty handled my case in a bizarre, unfair and reprehensible fashion.

Forgot to mention- before going public with this I also e-mailed Thrifty's national office ( thrifty.com) and asked for a credit for the service charge and the tire fee. ( As I had when I returned the car and when I e-mailed the Las Vegas location President).

It was denied. I was told they abide by decisions made by their fleet department.

I tried to resolve this amicably. I was the one put out by their car's problems and they insist on trying to stick me with its maintanence!

Just dispute it with your cc company. Would be great if you had some pictures of the other tires' condition. But even if not, just dispute. I assume, that you didn't purchase the comprehensive insurance coverage right? If you did, that takes care of it right away.

no- did not purchase insurance from Thrifty.

I am disputing the charges. I wanted to post my experience so others could consider it when looking for a rental car.

The only time I had an experience similar to this one was with Hertz in Tucson. I had a small Mazda that blew a tire. I changed it and returned to the rental location where they apologized profusely and upgraded me to a premium class car for no additional charge. No additional charges whatsoever.

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I had a tire blowout on the freeway in So.Cal with Hertz at 1AM, since it was on the LEFT side of the car, no chance I was going to change it and get run over.... Here is what they did

1) Called Hertz roadside and they ordered a tow truck to come out and change the tire

2) CHP came by to ensure I was OK while the tow truck was in route - said they would come by and drop me off the freeway if they don't show up within 30 mins (next time they patrol down this way)

3) Tow truck driver changed the tire, and I was on my way - returned the car to another Hertz location the next morning and told them what happened - they knew about it when the pulled up the car in the computer and gave me another vehicle. No extra charges showed up when I returned it...

[This message has been edited by NickP 1K (edited 01-04-2003).]

Fletch,

Sorry for your troubles - that is a disgrace re: Thrifty actions.

I totally agree with you - you had only gone 5 miles - I mean, give me a break..))

Well I'm glad to read the replies so far indicate I'm not crazy for expecting Thrifty to have handled this much better. I know some customers can be obnoxiuos in their expectations of service but I believe I had done nothing and just asked for a reasonable response ( a working car) from Thrifty.

I will make one alteration to my story, upon refelection I think its more like 7-8 miles from Thrifty to The Orleans instead of the 4-5 I posted. So divide 32,000+ miles on the odometer when I rented this beast by 8 to figure out how much of the milege I was responsible for on this $20 tire.

By the way, I know what a Hyundai tire costs because I once owned one. just after college I was poor and needed a car. i had a chance to buy a low milege Hyundai for $800 that was worth about $2700. I had the car for about 3 years and had virtually no problems with it, Hyundai's bad reputation aside.

This absolutely should be handled by the rental company. It's eactly for these sorts of situations that I rent only from one of the "big three" rental agencies. They cost a bit more, but are oriented toward the business traveler, and take care of stuff like this. Even when I'm on vacation, I don't want to have to worry about this sort of thing.

One time I locked my rental keys in the car. I had rented the car from National at LAX, but was now in LAS. Since it was a GM car under original warrany, the GM roadside assistance plan that they give with all their cars was applicable. So, GM paid to send a locksmith out.

steve m,

I used to think people who rented from the
" big 3" only were crazy. why not take the lowest rate? a car is a car. but now I see.

I will give dollar first consideration in the future based on my good experience with them ( good rates, good customer service) and I do see what the big 3 offer for the extra money now. I can't imagine them pulling this....

Book with Priceline and get the best of both worlds: a cheap car from one of the majors. For example, I just booked a fullsize car in Denver for the next week for only $21 per day. Turned out to be with Avis.

I too like Dollar, but be aware that Dollar and Thrifty are both owned by the same parent company.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fletch4:
steve m,

I used to think people who rented from the
" big 3" only were crazy. why not take the lowest rate? a car is a car. but now I see.

I will give dollar first consideration in the future based on my good experience with them ( good rates, good customer service) and I do see what the big 3 offer for the extra money now. I can't imagine them pulling this....</font>

I've had nothing but bad things to say about Thrifty. I was at Denver airport. Anyone rented from Denver know that the gas station at the airport is only a cew hundred yards from all rental agencies. I filled up the car there and proceed to Thrifty return area. There was no one outside to do return so I went inside. After a brief wait it was my turn at the counter. The agent asked me if I had filled up the tanl. I told her yes and it was at the station just down the road.

She went outside and check the guage. She returned to the counter and said the tank was not full and I will be charged with additional charge. I repeated told her that the tank was full and asked her to turn on the car and wait because the gas guage needs time to adjust.

She wouldn't do that and proceeded to charge me additional $9.00. I asked to see a manager. I asked to see a manager and guess what, she IS the manager. So needless to say I carefully chose a few choice words for her.

After I returned homw I called their corporate HQ and talked to 6 people and wrote 2 letters before that $9.00 was taken off.

Give Thrifty another call and refer them to this thread to see how much serious damage one of their worst franchises is doing to their name throughout their system. Perhaps they will then care!! Here is my post from last spring regarding my horrid experience with their LAS location (yours is NOT an isolated incident):

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum93/HTML/000046.html

[This message has been edited by Altaflyer (edited 01-06-2003).]

I rented a Neon from Alamo in Vegas ad the tire kept going flat for 2 days. I spent alot of quarters at air machines refilling it twice a day before I decided to take it back and complain. They were going to trade it for another of the same size and were out, I pitched a fit and ended up with a Chrysler 300M (great car). Anyway, I look back as I am picking up the new car and notice that the one I just turned in was cleaned and was being rented to a new sucker (er.... customer)!! I ran over and informed the customer of what was going on and he was annoyed.... You would think that they would have at least fixed the leak before sendig it out again, especially since I made a huge deal out of it.... Nothing like the almighty buck....

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Steve M:
This absolutely should be handled by the rental company. It's eactly for these sorts of situations that I rent only from one of the "big three" rental agencies. They cost a bit more, but are oriented toward the business traveler, and take care of stuff like this.</font>

I can´t agree to you saying that the "big three" are offering generally a better service than the cheaper companies. A few years ago I rented a car from AVIS in IAD and I was asked about the gas option and declined. The problem was that the guy was speaking very fast and some kind of slang that was difficult to understand for me. He filled out the rentel agreemant, said "sign here and here and your initials here and there". When I returned the car in JFK a few days later I saw teh filling service charge on my bill and I said I wouldn´t pay it because I filled the car and I declined this service charge. He showed me that I accepted this fee and that I have to pay even if the tank was full. I explained that I´m german and that I didn´t properly understand his colleague in IAD but I had declined it. (not worth mentioning that he was the manager on duty). He told me that I had to pay it and that was it !!!

After I returned home I wrote a letter to AVIS in Germany, explained what happened and they refunded the fee http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

IMO AVIS in JFK should have done this automaticaly: the tank was full and they must have seen that a foreigner can´t be tha familiar with contracts in a foreign language. Image you would rent a car in Germany, speak a little german and the representative of your rental company would speak some german dialect.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fletch4:
Posters on this board are frequent travelers. I suppose many of you have experiences with rental car breakdowns. I would be interested in hearing how they were resolved. I believe Thrifty handled my case in a bizarre, unfair and reprehensible fashion.</font>


Thrifty can be quite bizarre, I no longer rent with them for several reasons.

One major one was their continual shafting of me when it came to vehicle booked vs vehicle provided, particularly in New Zealand. I once booked a Holden Commodore (the two-door version of which will soon be in the US as the Pontiac GTO, proudly built in Oz), my usual rental car in this part of the world, for a one-way trip from Whangerei to Auckland International.

When I showed up, all the pricks had to offer was a gutless Honda Accord. Despite the speedo on this milksop jap car going up to 240km/h, it simply refused to go any faster than about 180km/h.

When I returned the car at AKL International, I filled in the complaints/ problems section of the card. I didn't say anything about the screw-up on the vehicle booking, but simply wrote "vehicle will not achieve maximum indicated speed".

About two weeks later I got a generic apology letter, and a voucher for a free upgrade on my next rental. Go figure.

I stick with Avis now, infinitely more reliable and incredibly efficient since I got myself a Wizard card. They've also upgraded me for every single booking I've had with them in the past two months (4 cars). Can't complain about that.

I heard from my credit card company today- the $35 service fee has been re-imbursed by Thrifty, but they will not refund the $55 " tire fee" and I am stuck paying for it.

Thrifty is a garbage company, its worth $55 to see what an awful company they are and to steer me clear of them in the future.

That's certainly not the end of it. Inform your credit card company that you further dispute the charge, it was unauthorized, and will not be paying it.

QL

Thrifty in LAS is the worst rental car experience I ever had, and even though they are the preferred vendor for my company, I refuse to use them, except when Hertz is sold out.

They said my reservation was cancelled because I was 2 hours late (due to a flight delay) and there was no car for me. Then they found a car, but only a compact, when I had reserved a full size. THey then refused to honor a coupon that was documented in the reservation. They lied, were rude, and didn't want to be of service.

They also have the crappiest fleet out there. A choice between a Daewoo, Suzuki, or Kia... umm maybe a Dodge Neon isn't so bad after all.

This happened to me with Thrifty in New Orleans severals years back. I was staying in the quarter and renting at the airport. In the rental office they said "WOW we have a new &lt;insert big ... truck here&gt; upgrade for you". I said no thanks - I'm staying in the quarter and want a small car. Well then the truth - no small cars. So I drove this beast through the quarter to my hotel on Boubon and Toulouse (can you imagine!) The next day I pull out of the lot and have a flat. I call Thrifty and got the same speel - I could not even find the frickin jack in that mother of a truck - I had to talk to 2 managers to finally get them to send some one with to change the tire. get this that joker could not even change the tire and had to go back to get me a new car.

fortunately they didn't try any tire fee or service fee BS.

[This message has been edited by Mopti (edited 01-24-2003).]

Sorry for the bad experience fletch4 -

Other good things will come your way...

:-)

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Patrick A. Inouye

This fall Thrifty at LAX refused to honor a coupon that had been repeatedly confirmed by the toll-free reservations. I was furious, but too busy upon my return to write my usual angry letter. (And I was paying less than $20/day anyhow.)

I try to remember to check the entire car over carefully before I drive away. I will now pay special attention to the tires.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fletch4:
steve m,

I used to think people who rented from the
" big 3" only were crazy. why not take the lowest rate? a car is a car. but now I see.
..</font>

I always rent from Hertz maybe 10 times a year & the only problem I have ever had was getting a flat tyre on a dirt road by Lake Meade, the spare was only an 'emergency skinny' tyre that should only have been used for 50 miles.
As I was over 100 miles from LAS, I called them & they told me to find a tire shop & they would reimburse me up to $100 for a new tyre, I couldn't find one, but made it back to LAS where they gave me a new car & gave me a credit for a days rental.

I have heard so many horror stories about cheap rental companies, that I wouldn't even think about using one.

Fletch4,

Thrifty sucks.

Crap cars, crap rates, crap attitude.

Your $29 rate was VERY HIGH for a LAS economy car.

Dollar, Hertz, Avis all much better.