mshah

Hi All,

I think this is common sense but I am being little paranoid (due to some reasons, I'll explain in this post). Once I've a confirmed reservation from dollar, I should receive the car, correct? I should not be worrying about not having car there, correct?

Now the reason for asking. I planned out Christmas trip to hawaii. But I was late and yesterday I found out that there is a not single car on Christmas time frame where I was going to be. I was searching online and found that another island had premium car available for the same time frame. I reserved it and right now I changed my hotel reservations accordingly. I am also planning to change my flight to this new island (extra fee + fare difference). But, just now I checked again on the same dollar location and it shows sold out.

My paranoia comes from 2 things. First good rate on Christmas on premium car and second everything else was sold out and now dollar/thrifty also shows sold out.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

jackal

Sometimes, a rental car agency will be in an oversale situation (just like airlines and hotels, who also typically slightly overbook due to a relatively consistent no-show factor).

Ultimately, though, as long as you fulfill your end of the agreement (meet all rental qualifications and show up on-time for your reservation [within 2 hours of scheduled pick-up]), it is Dollar's responsibility to accommodate you. If they do not have your reserved car, they should offer you a better car at no additional cost to you. If they do not have anything better to offer, they should make arrangements for a comparable car at another company at no additional cost to you. If no one else has a comparable or better car, Dollar should either offer you a smaller vehicle with appropriate compensation or make other arrangements for your transportation at no cost, minimal hassle, and appropriate compensation to you. That usually takes the form of transporting you to your hotel at their expense and offering to bring the car to you when possible, but I know some managers who have been pretty creative with their solutions to this problem.

You may need to hold their feet to the fire a little bit (be polite but firm) to get what you fairly deserve, but it is ultimately their responsibility to fulfill their obligation to you. Do not let them just tell you, "Sorry, we can't help you."

If you'd like to post or PM me with the airport you're flying into, I may have access to a connection that can help ensure things go smoothly.