Help: Cheated by Thrifty Agent in SFO
Jun 8, 2015, 8:12 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2010
Location: MSP
Programs: AA Exec Plat, DL plat
Posts: 70
Help: Cheated by Thrifty Agent in SFO
I am sorry for my bad English. Below is my terrible rental experience in Thrifty SFO Car Rental location.
I would like to file a complaint to Thrifty [agent] in Thrifty Car rental SFO International location for his contract cheating and misleading.
I am a budget traveler. I always book the cheapest rental car for my trip by using coupon codes or prepaid website. On March 24 2015, I booked a prepaid Economy Thrifty Car rental through Capital One Car Rental Portal. The total price for this 2 day and 3 hour Economy rental including tax is $43.12. I paid the $43.12 to Capital One Car Rental on March 24 2015.
On May 9, 2015 my wife and went to Thrifty Counter in SFO airport to pick up my car. I met Thrifty [agent]. and I told him that I have a prepaid car reservation through capital one. He asked if I need any insurance or any prepaid gas. I declined all of these and I told him that I had my own insurance and I would fill in gas myself. Then He asked me if I want to pick up Hyundai or Ford. I told him that I could do with Hyundai but I wanted to stick to my original prepaid contract because I did not want to have any extra expense. [agent] told me that there would be not extra and I would still just pay the same rate on my prepaid contract. Then I said it was fine as long as the rate was the same. After that, [agent] asked me to press “Yes” buttons on the monitors. After pressing couple of “yes” buttons, in the end I saw that the total price showed up for $390 dollars. I immediately told [agent] that something must be wrong and my prepaid rate including tax totally was only $43.12 and this monitor showed $390. [agent] said to me that it was fine. He said that because I am on prepaid contract and there is some issue in Thrifty system to print out this Capital one reservation, he cannot print my prepaid rate out. He said that $390 dollars just like the deposit and since you are on prepaid and you have paid, there would not extra charge to you when you return your car. Since I know that most of rental companies charge some kind of deposit, I began to trust his word. But I still felt uncomfortable and I said I need to get my cell phone to call Capital One. [agent] said that you do not need to worry about that and you would still stick to your original plan. He said when I return my car, the $390 dollar would be refunded to me. He also said to me that if there is any problem, I could always come back to talk to him. He convinced me that everything is fine so I finally signed my name.
However, on May 11 2015, when I returned the car, Thrifty agents charged me extra $390 dollars directly. Unlike the word [agent] told me before, Thrifty agents told me that this $390 is not deposit and it is upgrade and $390 would not be refunded to me. I cannot believe that including $43.12 prepaid, I totally was charged $433.12 for a Hyundai car for 2 day and three hours. My total car rental bill increases from original $43.12 to unbelievable $433.12($390 + $43.12). I told them the whole story but no one really care about. My wife and I immediately went to the counter and tried to find [agent] but I was told that he is out of office. Then we contacted the [manager] and told him what happened. I told him that it is [agent] who told me that $390 is just a deposit and also [agent] has never asked me for any upgrade. Without [agent]’s cheating and misleading, I would never sign this contact. It is insane for a budget traveler to book $433.12 for two days and three hour travels. I also told him that if I really want to a Hyundai, I could easily book through Capital One, Costco, Priceline or any AAA coupons to just pay $60 or $70 totally. However, it looked like that at that time he did not care about truth and he did not care about customer. I asked him to call [agent] to clarify the whole issue here. He said he did not have time. I also told him to contact Capital one to sort the whole thing and he said that it was company headquarter issue and he had no time.
I have tried to call and email Thrifty and also BBB them. However, I never got a chance to talk to Thrifty [agent]. Also, there is no any positive response from Thrifty Customer Service.
I think this is a good lesson to me even I am in travel business over 12 years. I should never trust any agent's word without writing. Hopefully this bad experience does not happen to you. Since I have already tried all ways I could do, I would like to file a complaint to small business court for justice and fairness. Could you give me some help what I should do if you have some experience? Thanks.
I would like to file a complaint to Thrifty [agent] in Thrifty Car rental SFO International location for his contract cheating and misleading.
I am a budget traveler. I always book the cheapest rental car for my trip by using coupon codes or prepaid website. On March 24 2015, I booked a prepaid Economy Thrifty Car rental through Capital One Car Rental Portal. The total price for this 2 day and 3 hour Economy rental including tax is $43.12. I paid the $43.12 to Capital One Car Rental on March 24 2015.
On May 9, 2015 my wife and went to Thrifty Counter in SFO airport to pick up my car. I met Thrifty [agent]. and I told him that I have a prepaid car reservation through capital one. He asked if I need any insurance or any prepaid gas. I declined all of these and I told him that I had my own insurance and I would fill in gas myself. Then He asked me if I want to pick up Hyundai or Ford. I told him that I could do with Hyundai but I wanted to stick to my original prepaid contract because I did not want to have any extra expense. [agent] told me that there would be not extra and I would still just pay the same rate on my prepaid contract. Then I said it was fine as long as the rate was the same. After that, [agent] asked me to press “Yes” buttons on the monitors. After pressing couple of “yes” buttons, in the end I saw that the total price showed up for $390 dollars. I immediately told [agent] that something must be wrong and my prepaid rate including tax totally was only $43.12 and this monitor showed $390. [agent] said to me that it was fine. He said that because I am on prepaid contract and there is some issue in Thrifty system to print out this Capital one reservation, he cannot print my prepaid rate out. He said that $390 dollars just like the deposit and since you are on prepaid and you have paid, there would not extra charge to you when you return your car. Since I know that most of rental companies charge some kind of deposit, I began to trust his word. But I still felt uncomfortable and I said I need to get my cell phone to call Capital One. [agent] said that you do not need to worry about that and you would still stick to your original plan. He said when I return my car, the $390 dollar would be refunded to me. He also said to me that if there is any problem, I could always come back to talk to him. He convinced me that everything is fine so I finally signed my name.
However, on May 11 2015, when I returned the car, Thrifty agents charged me extra $390 dollars directly. Unlike the word [agent] told me before, Thrifty agents told me that this $390 is not deposit and it is upgrade and $390 would not be refunded to me. I cannot believe that including $43.12 prepaid, I totally was charged $433.12 for a Hyundai car for 2 day and three hours. My total car rental bill increases from original $43.12 to unbelievable $433.12($390 + $43.12). I told them the whole story but no one really care about. My wife and I immediately went to the counter and tried to find [agent] but I was told that he is out of office. Then we contacted the [manager] and told him what happened. I told him that it is [agent] who told me that $390 is just a deposit and also [agent] has never asked me for any upgrade. Without [agent]’s cheating and misleading, I would never sign this contact. It is insane for a budget traveler to book $433.12 for two days and three hour travels. I also told him that if I really want to a Hyundai, I could easily book through Capital One, Costco, Priceline or any AAA coupons to just pay $60 or $70 totally. However, it looked like that at that time he did not care about truth and he did not care about customer. I asked him to call [agent] to clarify the whole issue here. He said he did not have time. I also told him to contact Capital one to sort the whole thing and he said that it was company headquarter issue and he had no time.
I have tried to call and email Thrifty and also BBB them. However, I never got a chance to talk to Thrifty [agent]. Also, there is no any positive response from Thrifty Customer Service.
I think this is a good lesson to me even I am in travel business over 12 years. I should never trust any agent's word without writing. Hopefully this bad experience does not happen to you. Since I have already tried all ways I could do, I would like to file a complaint to small business court for justice and fairness. Could you give me some help what I should do if you have some experience? Thanks.
Last edited by IAHtraveler; Jun 9, 2015 at 5:15 am Reason: deleted names
Jun 9, 2015, 5:17 am
#2
Moderator: Avis and Rental Cars
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 8,032
Moderator's Note
Please note that per the Privacy Rules of FlyerTalk:
I have redacted names in the OP.
Please note that per the Privacy Rules of FlyerTalk:
Originally Posted by FlyerTalk
Respect the privacy of other members and non-members. Do not post private information of others. Do not post the names or contact information of travel company and program employees unless they hold executive management status (e.g. presidents, vice-presidents, managing directors).
Jun 9, 2015, 5:20 am
#3
Moderator: Avis and Rental Cars
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 8,032
OP, I'm sorry you are going through this. Unfortunately, this is very common in rental cars in the US and other countries as well.
The typical routes for resolution are: complaint to the agency, complaint to BBB and a credit card dispute. Seems like you've gone through at least 2 of these already. Good luck with your attempts, but most likely you will not be refunded all of the money since you signed for/agreed to the charges.
The typical routes for resolution are: complaint to the agency, complaint to BBB and a credit card dispute. Seems like you've gone through at least 2 of these already. Good luck with your attempts, but most likely you will not be refunded all of the money since you signed for/agreed to the charges.
Jun 9, 2015, 6:39 am
#4
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
OP - The law only allows you until July 10, to file a dispute, although some CC issuers may voluntarily permit you longer. Having tried to resolve with Thrifty, you should initiate the dispute immediately and not let time pass.
Make the dispute short. 2-3 sentences is all you need. The back and forth with the agent is irrelevant. All you need to do is say that he promised that the amount was incorrect and would be refunded and that it was not.
Unfortunately, you signed the document (electronically) in which you agreed to pay. That may be all Thrifty has to show.
A suggestion. As you note, your English is not good. There is no shame in that. Please make certain that you have someone fluent in English proofread your dispute before you file it.
Make the dispute short. 2-3 sentences is all you need. The back and forth with the agent is irrelevant. All you need to do is say that he promised that the amount was incorrect and would be refunded and that it was not.
Unfortunately, you signed the document (electronically) in which you agreed to pay. That may be all Thrifty has to show.
A suggestion. As you note, your English is not good. There is no shame in that. Please make certain that you have someone fluent in English proofread your dispute before you file it.
Jun 12, 2015, 6:18 am
#6
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Cambridge, MA
Programs: AA EXP, UA1k, AmEx Plat, Global Entry & Pre✓
Posts: 852
Jun 12, 2015, 12:34 pm
#7
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Chicago Illinois
Programs: 1MM UA
Posts: 1,753
I just went on the thrifty.com web site to see the maximum charge for
a 3 day rental. It came up $341.58 for a "premium" mid-size SUV.
They didn't list "Hyundai" on the site, but rather "Nissan or similar".
That total is smaller by $100 than what you were charged, so
something is certainly fishy.
What kind of car did you get? Was it a big SUV?
a 3 day rental. It came up $341.58 for a "premium" mid-size SUV.
They didn't list "Hyundai" on the site, but rather "Nissan or similar".
That total is smaller by $100 than what you were charged, so
something is certainly fishy.
What kind of car did you get? Was it a big SUV?
