Now I know that all car hire companies work on the principal of trying to scam their customers, but Dollar is the worst.

A couple of years ago at ATL, I arrived at the Dollar counter to be told that my car was not available because I was late. Yes, I was a bit late due to baggage and immigration procedures at ATL, but my reservation included my flight number which I assumed meant that Dollar would track my flight and keep my car for me. I had booked a Compact and was told I would have to pay to upgrade to another car. I refused to pay more and was eventually offered a minivan. I absolutely didn't want a minivan as this to me is not an "upgrade" and is in no way a good substitution for a compact car. I had a 6 hour drive to do and I was already tired after my long flight, but I had to wait at the Dollar depot for an hour before I was finally given what I had reserved.

Anyway, I booked with Dollar again a few months ago at ORD and nearly the same thing happened! I was told that I was too late (again they had my flight number) and that they didn't have the car I booked (an intermediate). They again tried to offer me a minivan which I would not accept. I was there arguing with the guy for an hour and finally I had to go outside for a bit to cool off. Then I noticed that there was an intermediate car parked in the lot. I went back in and demanded that car, and after 15 more minutes I got it.

I wrote to Dollar after each occasion and received replies that "they would look into things further" but nothing more. I've had problems with Alamo, Enterprise and National too, but nothing was as consistently bad as Dollar. Are the "high end" car companies such as Hertz and Avis just as bad?