Dollar - Late car, and the wrong car, despite reservation

This weekend I flew into Ontario (CA) airport, having reserved an economy car through Dollar. Silly me, I thought that would mean they'd have a car ready for me, preferably the class of car I "reserved." After all, that's the way it's worked for virtually every car rental I've ever done in the last 30 years.

But that's why I will never rent from Dollar again. The girl at the counter got my name & info, and then told me to take a seat and they'd call my name. I asked why that was, and she said something about how they have to bring the cars around, or words to that effect.

35 minutes later (!!), they called me up, and offered me a mini-van. I said No. I'm not used to driving those behemoths and might get into an accident. She said it'll be just two minutes. 7 or 8 minutes later, she offered me a Jeep 4-wheeler. Exasperated, I took it.

40 minutes to give me the wrong car! Hey Dollar, whatever new algorithm you've got going there, it's clearly designed around your own convenience, or profits, or something. It's obviously NOT designed around living up to your commitments to your customers. Screw you. There are plenty of other car rental companies.

You booked a cheap Economy and got a better car, not a bad deal for a 40 min wait.

well the wait it a bit of an issue, but your reservation gives you a car of equal or higher class than you reserve. it's pretty standard operating rules for any rental car company.

when I got a SUV in denver just after ski season, I requested something smaller becasue of the gas cost and I was planning to put over 1000 miles on the car over the week. dollar eventually (after two other cars with mechanical issues) got me a sedan, but my alternative would be to ask for a lower rate or a free tank of gas to offset the higher cost; doubt i would have got it though

Had you enrolled in the complimentary Dollar Express program, then perhaps your 40-minute wait would have been reduced. I have rented out of LAX during "short-inventory" times, and Dollar Express gets me to the head of the line. As for forced upgrades, I would probably decline a minivan too (it's just so un-hip!). Before gas prices went sky-high, the "trick" was always to book the el-cheapo economy car and get complimentary upgrades since companies keep so few in inventory. (I think at the PHX station, Dollar doesn't have a single "economy" car.).

Nowadays, everyone wants the tiny efficient cars, so much so that often the economy rates are higher than large cars!

That said, if you ever do rent again from Dollar, join the Dollar Express program. IMHO, it's astonishing how differently they treat the "masses" vs the "express members".

ChiTownBob1
"....Late car, and the wrong car, despite reservation...."

I think your experience wasn't that bad .... It happened to a lot of renters during X-Mas at MIA that they didn't get a car at all .. from Hertz, Avis, others. :mad: Some/many renters just didn't bring the car back, kept it some more days :)