Originally Posted by
doctor15
If that is the only car they have.. then yes I would expect a free upgrade to whatever was available. Offering a choice of a paid upgrade or no car is an insult. Not saying they were doing.. but what stops a location from claiming no cars were available in their class, just to force people who needed a car immediately to pay an absurd upgrade fee.
I do agree with you. I usually only rent prestige or adrenaline collections, just need to be sure what I'll be driving. But it wasn't possible in NPL last August, so I booked an automatic compact because of the huge lack of automatic cars in Europe. The only other one available was a Mercedes 220 CDI but terribly overpriced.
When I arrived at the counter, I was told my car wasn't there and they had no other automatic car. I got more than upset (long flight+wife and son under a 104°F sun outside+ no car...) and let it know loudly. And guess what? A Mercedes became available right away with no upgrade fee.
They made a mistake so it's fair enough to get a free upgrade...