Dollar in Germany ripped me off, what are my recourse options?
 

Hello fellow FTers, I'm in a bit of a situation here. This past Thursday I picked up a car that I had reserved online in Germany. I had reserved a VW Sharan with automatic transmission. This car is similar in size to a dodge caravan, however what I received was a VW Touran, which is smaller and basically a taller station wagon which could have been rented for half the price. By that time, I had already been standing there for an hour before it was my turn and an hour to get my car, so two hours total, and I had my two elderly parents, wife and 10 month old baby with me, so I accepted after a brief arguement. The customer service rep also claims that I had to be charged $20 a day for insurance even though I told her that my United Xplorer card already covers it as well as 2200 euros deposit. also, The rate that was given to me is also higher 388 euro per week vs 238 euro per week, than what was on my reservation confirmation. I accepted all these just so my family wouldn't have to endure any longer, however, here is the straw that broke the Camel's back. I received an over limit transaction notice from chase notifying I am over my $5000 credit limit. Apparently, the rental and deposit fees were charged immediately, causing my credit card to be over the limit. What recourse do I have? Can I dispute these charges so I won't have over the limit charge? I have already emailed dollar customer service to voice my complaint

I don't think they "charged" you the deposit. It's called a "pre-authorization" which basically means they are putting that amount of money on hold from your credit card, but not charged. A "pre-authorization" can cause the over limit alert too because the available credit = total limit - any authorization or charge, so the available credit in your case becomes 0, despite the fact that they didn't "charge" you.

Automatics are very rare in Germany and I think you still got a fantastic price. Maybe this was the only automatic van they had available. I just looked on the Budget.de site and the price for a Fiat van without automatic was already close to 3000 EUR per week. I would still call Budget and complain.

Deleted. Accidental duplicate.

I can read a calendar and realize this thread is old news and the OP's situation is long-since over one way or the other, but:

Some North America Dollar/Thrifty locations, meaning I had multiple occurrence's with them and few or none with other vendors, really have charged me for the full cost of the rental plus a further reserve deposit on the front end. This was not every location, was a charge put all the way through and not just a credit line hold, and was promptly refunded upon return of the car.

I had credit line to spare and the price was good enough to not care about it. Finally had enough other issues I left them for good, even if I pay more.

hi,

vergesst Dollar Thrifty in Deutschland. Man hat nur Probleme mit denen (siehe meinen heutigen Thread). Sie sind unprofessionell, unhöflich und nicht kundenorientiert.

Come on it is not a fantastic price. The OP was downgraded quite heavily. Touran is half the size of Sharan.