Dollar - Dollar overcharges on Fastbreak Reservations?

I've used Fastbreak confirmed reservations three times now, and all three times when I compare the charges to the confirmed rates, the charges are higher. Each time it is about $10 - $15, usually for a three or four day rental. They're good (and quick) about refunding the excess when you email them about it (using the link in the electronic receipt), but I'm getting a little suspicious about the regularity with which this happens.

Fastbreak (actually, Fastbreak doesn't exist anymore; it's been revamped and renamed Dollar Express) should not affect your rate. The same thing would happen if you just booked it as a regular (non-Express) reservation. All Dollar Express does is load your address, phone numbers, and credit card into the rental screen so that the agent can do your paperwork before you get there, ideally saving you time at the counter.

As for why that's happening, what exactly is different? Can you compare the breakdown from the estimated charges to the breakdown on the rental agreement? What's different? Is the actual T&M (time and mileage) charge different (if so, is the rate itself higher, like $32.78/day vs $24.94/day), or is it just a difference in the way the taxes are calculated? Have all three rentals been at the same location (perhaps that location's tax table in the reservation system needs updating) or have they been at different locations?

My receipt still says FASTBREAK on it, so maybe the marketing geeks never talked with the programming geeks? It also refers to RapidRez on the second page.

It was a good idea to compare the receipt with the reservation confirmation. Unfortunately, Dollar aggregates and disaggreages the various charges and taxes differently between the two, and calls them different names, so they aren't easily comparable. The only charge which matched exactly was for the GPS system. The base car price was different, the coupon code showed up differently on both docs, the taxes were different (which makes some sense given that the car/coupon pricing varied) and the receipt has a cryptic line that seems to refer to a surcharge, which was never referenced on the reservation confirmation, though it still doesn't account for the difference.

Of the three rentals I've had with them in the past year, two were at LAX while the latest was at BOS. All three had errors in Dollar's favor, each between $12-18. For rental cars I use my Upromise account link & discount rather than mileage, since they add a charge if you want to use mileage but don't add a charge to get the Upromise college credit.

Hm. That's strange (both the discrepancy and the Fastbreak being printed on your receipt).

Well, all I can suggest is that next time it happens, when you call to have it fixed, ask the agent exactly what the problem is...or perhaps ask at the rental counter before you leave (bring the reservation printout and breakdown of charges with you).

I can testify that both from my personal experience (renting cars) and in my professional experience (in the industry) that I've never seen any Dollar Express thing mess up the rate like this. Perhaps it's related to the fact that you have an old Fastbreak account...?

Strange...

I've used Fastbreak confirmed reservations three times now, and all three times when I compare the charges to the confirmed rates, the charges are higher. Each time it is about $10 - $15, usually for a three or four day rental. They're good (and quick) about refunding the excess when you email them about it (using the link in the electronic receipt), but I'm getting a little suspicious about the regularity with which this happens.

Perhaps the rate is different than Dollar Rental Car quotes because you are using Budget.

FastBreak is the Budget frequent renter program. RapidRez is budget.com.

This is the Dollar forum. Dollar and Thrifty are co-owned. I think Budget belongs to Avis these days.

Perhaps the rate is different than Dollar Rental Car quotes because you are using Budget.

FastBreak is the Budget frequent renter program. RapidRez is budget.com.

This is the Dollar forum. Dollar and Thrifty are co-owned. I think Budget belongs to Avis these days.

oops. It was Budget. Sorry about the brain fart. (But the discrepancy is still there.)

Er, duh. I should have caught that.

Fastlane was the old Dollar program (which, confusingly, is also the name of the computer system used by corporate Dollar and Thrifty locations). But don't worry, even I can never keep them straight in my head.

Maybe that's part of the reason they renamed it Dollar Express...

And yes, Avis and Budget are owned by the same parent company (formerly Cendant, owners/former owners of many other travel brands, including Orbitz, but they were recently spun off to Avis Budget LLC). Avis and Budget are collocated/dual-branded in some markets but not all, similar to Dollar and Thrifty. Neither brand (Avis Budget nor Dollar Thrifty) are (supposed to be, anyway) fully co-branded, like Alamo National are at many locations (one rental counter/staff operating both brands, same fleet, same everything, and no real distinction between the two brands), but there is a lot of behind-the-scenes consolidation in the rental industry. ezmonee once posted a guide here of Avis and Budget corporate car cleanliness standards, and it mentioned cars getting failed at Avis if any Budget paraphernalia were found in a car, so I presume that at some locations, at least a fleet is shared, but general perception by the traveling public isn't that they are the same company (and they want to keep it that way, basically to double the potential for sucking in business--two brands is better than one...).

Oh, in case you hadn't heard--Enterprise just bought Vanguard, a.k.a. Alamo National. They will remain completely separate operations for the time being, but some consolidation is happening at the high corporate levels (executive vice presidents trading places, etc.). This really leaves only four major players in the rental industry...