EconomyBookings.com review: Thieves with terrible customer service

My experience and interaction with Economy Bookings below.

Hi there,

I previously booked a rental car from Thrifty rental through Economy Bookings at Chicago O'Hare Airport on the 22nd of September (Booking B74488217).

This rental was successful and at no point did they tell me that they would not accept my debit card but instead said they would take a $500 holding deposit from my debit card in order to complete the rental.

I then had another booking through Economy Bookings but this time at Fort Lauderdale Airport and when I presented my debit card they flat out refused to take my debit card and provide me with the rental car by taking a $500 holding deposit like they did from their branch in Chicago. 

I then read through ALL of the fine print of the Economy Bookings voucher for my rental from Thrifty in Fort Lauderdale and in very fine print near the bottom I saw that it said they would only accept credit cards.

With that said I understand that the T's and C's stated that it had to be a credit card but because I had no issues with the exact same rental company just 9 days ago in another state I did not expect to have this issue today when I went to collect my new rental car from Thrifty. 

For this reason I would like to please request a full refund for the amount of €994.92 for the car rental (Booking B94063902) that I was refused by Thrifty due to them deciding that they would accept a debit card in Chicago but not accept a debit card in Fort Lauderdale. 

Your understanding in this matter would be highly appreciated. 

I look forward to your favorable response. 

Many thanks, 

Joe Cattaneo 

Dear Mr. Cattaneo, 

Thank you for booking through Economybooking.com

We're sorry to hear you couldn’t pick up your hire car.

You did not inform us about the cancellation of your booking prior to your pickup.

You failed to pick the car up at the arranged time and date.

You failed to provide the documentation that is required to pick the car up.

 You failed to provide a credit card with enough available funds and with the main driver's name printed on it.

If you were blacklisted by the car rental company.

Unfortunately, because we didn't know that you weren’t going to pick the car up, we cannot give you a refund.

As well information regarding was available during booking process, as well in your voucher:

 https://www.economybookings.com/en/voucher/Qjk0MDYzOTAyfGpvZS5jYXR0YW5lb0BnbWFpbC5jb20=

When you complete the reservation, you have read, understood, and agreed to the Cancellation and Non-refundable Policy disclosed during the process of booking, therefore, you accepted and agreed to the transaction, made the reservation and received confirmation.

We’re sorry you couldn’t enjoy your rental this time, and we do hope that your experience hasn’t put you off.

Best Regards, Anna

Hi Anna,

Note the following:

- How can I inform you about a cancelation of my rental car when I had no intention of canceling my booking? The rental car company refused to give me the rental car that I paid your company €994.92 for.

- I was there at the exact pickup time and date. You can call the rental car company and they will tell you exactly when I tried to collect the car. 

- I provided the rental car company with ALL of the necessary documentation. Just like I did 10 days prior when I collected a different car from their branch in Chicago and they had NO issues giving me the rental car then.

Further to this, I provided them with my debit card which had my name on it and +/-€10 000 available in my cheque account which is linked to my debit card which would have covered way more than they needed, AGAIN, I used this debit card at a Thrifty branch in Chicago and they happily gave me the rental vehicle that I booked through your company just 10 days prior.

Now, Thrifty made it clear that they would not be receiving any of the money that I paid because they did not allow me to pick the car up, which means that Economy Bookings has essentially TAKEN €994.92 from me and given me absolutely nothing in return for it and you are telling me that you won't even consider giving me a refund because "we didn't know that you weren’t going to pick the car up". 

If your company is serious about keeping its clients happy and having them return and not sharing their negative experiences on social platforms and websites which is exactly what I am going to do if I do not receive at least a refund minus a minimal penalty admin fee for your company's time and effort to process the refund, then I would appreciate you taking the necessary steps and reversing your decision so as to keep me as a loyal customer and to not have your poor service and decisions displayed for other potential customers to see.

I look forward to a favorable response. 

Regards, 

Joe Cattaneo 

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