Car Rental Fiasco
Complaint
Totally Dissatisfied Customer
Country: Canada
Thrifty car rental company is the most disorganized, discourteous and unprofessional car rental company I have ever had to deal with. Before making my reservation, I made enquiries into other possible dates and rates. I chose my particular dates and made the reservation. When I received the confirmation by email, there were two reservations, not one. I had to call back to Thrifty's call centre, which by the way is located in the Philippines, so they could explain why there were two reservations as I had only booked one. It was a mistake and was assured the outstanding reservation had been cancelled. While finding out information, they put you on hold for ever and ever.
Fast forward a week later (today) and the second reservation shows up in my email as a confirmed reservation. Had to call back to the Philippine's, again, to get this straightened out. I was treated with great disrespect by the people manning the phones and when I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was put to the main selection line. I called back to speak to a supervisor and finally after being on hold for forever, again, I explained what had happened. During my explanation the supervisor connected me to the main Thrifty's line. I now understand why the call centre workers feel they can be so rude. It is what they are being taught by their superiors!! There is such rudeness within this organization and the people they have working for them.
I questioned some of the charges that are automatically applied to the rental, one of which is a charge to check your drivers license to see if it is valid. I spoke to the RCMP and ICBC where I live and was told that my driving information is totally private and cannot be accessed with out my approval. This charge is a money grab. Another charge for vehicle maintenance was for upkeep of the vehicle, I was told. There should be no separate fee for this, as it is part and parcel of the rental amount. The rental fee should cover car maintenance and cleaning. I called all the other car rental companies in Canada and America and they had never heard of these two fees before and were surprised that Thrifty charges them to clients.
It seems as if Thrifty feels that they can manufacture any kind of fee that they want and pass it on to the customer. The customer service is almost non existent, however if the people at the counters have to be the fall guy for the greedy owners and their policies, I can understand if they feel pressured to be rude. On the other hand, they are working in the job by choice so their lack of proper customer service skills are unacceptable. The office that I dealt with had all young girls as staff, so I am assuming they do not have a great deal of experience in proper customer service. When you are paying all the fees on top of all of the overcharged coverage's, you would think they would treat you with more respect. I am a mature adult who has dealt with customer service in many different industries over the years and I call tell you that true professionalism in public sector is no longer in existence. Thrifty's organization and its policies and procedures and how customers are treated, is appalling.
Trying to speak to someone in authority is not possible. I have been hung up on more times than remotely acceptable or put on hold for ages or put through to voicemail systems that take you through the car rental process again and never being able to talk to someone that has some authority. I know that they will continue to rent and cheat people all over the world, but I will not be one to receive their disrespectable treatment ever again.
Of the car rentals I have taken over time , I have never ever been treated so badly as I was by Thrifty's. I can only express that if anyone rents from Thrifty's, has poor treatment and doesn't say anything is doing such a disservice to those who would be potential victims to the shoddy business practises of Thrifty's Car Rental organization. Their vision statement is about greed and self-servicing agendas and NOT customer service.
Check your credit card company for insurance details for car rentals so you don't have pay their outrageous fees. If you credit card does not cover rentals, check with your insurers if you don't have a car, to see how you can arrange insurance without having to get coverage from the rental agency. Save yourself some money to spend on your holiday!!
BEWARE TO ALL WHO THINK ABOUT RENTING FROM THRIFTY'S. LOOK AROUND AND MAKE ENQUIRIES ABOUT THE FEES AND OTHER COVERAGES FROM OTHER CAR RENTAL AGENCIES. YOU CAN DO BETTER!!!
Fast forward a week later (today) and the second reservation shows up in my email as a confirmed reservation. Had to call back to the Philippine's, again, to get this straightened out. I was treated with great disrespect by the people manning the phones and when I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was put to the main selection line. I called back to speak to a supervisor and finally after being on hold for forever, again, I explained what had happened. During my explanation the supervisor connected me to the main Thrifty's line. I now understand why the call centre workers feel they can be so rude. It is what they are being taught by their superiors!! There is such rudeness within this organization and the people they have working for them.
I questioned some of the charges that are automatically applied to the rental, one of which is a charge to check your drivers license to see if it is valid. I spoke to the RCMP and ICBC where I live and was told that my driving information is totally private and cannot be accessed with out my approval. This charge is a money grab. Another charge for vehicle maintenance was for upkeep of the vehicle, I was told. There should be no separate fee for this, as it is part and parcel of the rental amount. The rental fee should cover car maintenance and cleaning. I called all the other car rental companies in Canada and America and they had never heard of these two fees before and were surprised that Thrifty charges them to clients.
It seems as if Thrifty feels that they can manufacture any kind of fee that they want and pass it on to the customer. The customer service is almost non existent, however if the people at the counters have to be the fall guy for the greedy owners and their policies, I can understand if they feel pressured to be rude. On the other hand, they are working in the job by choice so their lack of proper customer service skills are unacceptable. The office that I dealt with had all young girls as staff, so I am assuming they do not have a great deal of experience in proper customer service. When you are paying all the fees on top of all of the overcharged coverage's, you would think they would treat you with more respect. I am a mature adult who has dealt with customer service in many different industries over the years and I call tell you that true professionalism in public sector is no longer in existence. Thrifty's organization and its policies and procedures and how customers are treated, is appalling.
Trying to speak to someone in authority is not possible. I have been hung up on more times than remotely acceptable or put on hold for ages or put through to voicemail systems that take you through the car rental process again and never being able to talk to someone that has some authority. I know that they will continue to rent and cheat people all over the world, but I will not be one to receive their disrespectable treatment ever again.
Of the car rentals I have taken over time , I have never ever been treated so badly as I was by Thrifty's. I can only express that if anyone rents from Thrifty's, has poor treatment and doesn't say anything is doing such a disservice to those who would be potential victims to the shoddy business practises of Thrifty's Car Rental organization. Their vision statement is about greed and self-servicing agendas and NOT customer service.
Check your credit card company for insurance details for car rentals so you don't have pay their outrageous fees. If you credit card does not cover rentals, check with your insurers if you don't have a car, to see how you can arrange insurance without having to get coverage from the rental agency. Save yourself some money to spend on your holiday!!
BEWARE TO ALL WHO THINK ABOUT RENTING FROM THRIFTY'S. LOOK AROUND AND MAKE ENQUIRIES ABOUT THE FEES AND OTHER COVERAGES FROM OTHER CAR RENTAL AGENCIES. YOU CAN DO BETTER!!!
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