Originally Posted by NationalCCW
You've hit a goldmine and its name is Dollar rent a car at Newark airport. The counter help is trained to pad there pay check by telling you your car class, economy, is not available and will not be for 15-20 minutes. They will tell you if you want a car now, you'll have to pay more. Another trick is if you are a few minutes late from your reservation time to rent the car, they will tell you, you have to pay up for a more expensive car because your reservation is invalid. If you show that you will not be intimidated and demand you car now at the reservation price you will get your way. You want a made for TV moment. Send someone with a hidden camera to Dollar at Newark airport at 6:30ish PM on a Friday and arrive a few minutes late for your pickup. They'll try to pull this scam on you. Have not rented from them in over a year because of this.
That's a horrible story! It appears most of us are savvy enough to go to the big companies, where they don't normally try and pull any tricks.
A rental company normally won't force a customer to upgrade, what they will do is offer the upgrade. If you decline, you may get the upgrade for free if they don't have the car grouped you have booked available. No rental car company has ever forced to me to pay for an upgrade over my last 200 reservations.
As for arriving early. Hertz has never tried to pull any tricks with me. I have also arrived days late to pick up a car, even when my reservation has been cancelled, but they reinstated it without any problem.
I choose Hertz because I think it has proved to be one of the best. I have used Avis a lot in the past, but they seemed to be more problematic. They have built a reputation (in my family) for billing for damage that was not apparent when the car was returned.
I think the car companies billing customers for disputed damage is a far bigger problem than forced upgrades, since the excess is often $750 per rental.