RentalCars.com
Reviews and Complaints

I am writing to complain about an issue with Car Rental.

I have already raised my issue within your organisation, but I feel that my issue is still unresolved, hence my need to involve you in helping to resolve this problem.

Here is what happened: I went to pick up my rental car in Budapest Hungary at the 11am reservation time but the car rental company Koala Auto rent was closed. I immediately called Koala's customer service number but there was no answer. I sent numerous emails to RentalCars.com stating this information and to cancel the booking. I made other arrangements to travel to my destination as I could not wait. RentalCars.com stated Koala told them they were open and without a picture as proof they would not refund my cancellation fee. It is simply not true Koala was open. I have numerous emails stating they were not.. This happened on August 16th, 2020

I would like a refund of the cancellation fee due to the fact that I was not able to pick up the car due to the negligence and fraud of Koala Auto rent. Koala should also be investigated to determine if there is a pattern of negligence and/or fraud.

A representative named Gaynor offered to refund the cancellation fee due this circumstance but once he found out I had also filed a dispute with my credit card company he declined to refund the money owed to me. I will keep all complaints open until my cancellation fee is refunded. I believe I am owed an apology as well for the time it is taking to obtain this.

This is a list of events that have occurred.
1) I booked a rental car with Fox Auto on RentalCars.com
2) My rental was changed to Koala Auto Rent on the day of the rental (is Koala even a legitimate company)?
3) Koala Auto Rent was closed. I called but there was no answer
4) I sent numerous emails that I cancel the reservation as the company was closed and that I did not expect to be charged. I have included the first 3 emails.
5) I called customer service who refunded 2/3 of my money but said I am responsible for the cancellation fee unless I opened a complaint and provided the emails I sent.
6) I opened a complaint and provided the emails.
7) A representative named Cecilia stated she cannot refund the cancellation fee unless I provide a picture of the closed gate
8) I did not accept that answer and filed this resolver complaint and a dispute with my credit card company
9) I received a reply to my resolver complaint stating my cancellation fee would be refunded by Gaynor but after he found out I also filed a dispute with my credit card company he said he would not refund the cancellation fee.
10) The cancellation fee is due back to me regardless of what complaints I have filed. I will pursue all avenues to receive what I am due.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Illes

Correspondence:

Rentalcars.com [protected] RC: jLPxvf, TKT: ihtJW6]

Good morning Michael,

My name is Gaynor and Im one of the Complaints Executives at Rentalcars.com.

Im contacting you via your Resolver email address as requested.

I can see that you are looking to have the cancellation fee of 12072.00 HUF refunded to you due to you stating the location was closed when you arrived.

I can also see that you have emailed us at the time letting us know and the emails were at the time of the pick up. We did call the location and they stated that they were open however we did call them several hours after the pick up time so we could not be certain that they were open when you arrived to pick the car up at 11am.

The cancellation fee is 12072.00 HUF and on this occasion as a goodwill gesture I can look at refunding you this amount as a full and final resolution to your query.

If you would like to accept this please let me know at your earliest convenience and I will get the money refunded to you.

Please have a nice day.

Regards

Gaynor

On 4/30/2020 I rented a toyota corolla from rental cars.com for 6/13/2020. The amount charged to our credit card at that time was $177.66
The car rental company was easirent. We were to pick up this car at fort myers airport in florida.

Upon arrival we were instructed to go to the car rental area. Once there we followed the signs to the fox and easirent area, where there was a sign to press the black button for service/pick up. The black button did not work. My husband and I waited with our two kids in the rain for over an hour!

Finally, we walked back to the rental car area, where we were told that there is no easirent cars at that airport, and they encounter this situation often.

In the meantime, we tried numerous times to call the number we were given. We did reach the rentalcars.com customer service agent who also tried calling easirent with no success. She apologized and advised us that she would make notes in our file for a credit, but that the credit could not be issued until the end of our trip.

I am requesting a full refund.

Many thanks,
Kimberly oxandale
148 prairie ridge road
Salina, ks 67401
[protected]

I rented a car online from Rentalcars.com (reference# [protected]). When I arrived at Orlando Airport on January 18, 2020, after an hour of calling Economycars they never answered the phone to pick me up from the airport. I was forced to take a cab 45 mins and 65$ later to my destination. At 11:30 PM on the 18th I called Renatlcars.com, they could not reach "economy cars" either. I asked for a refund. Rentalcars.com said they would refund my money once I re-booked a new reservation. After repeated attempts to book a car online, I was unable to book a car near my current location in the middle of downtown Orlando. I was staying directly across form an Enterprise rent a car, which I tried to book through the rentalcars.com website. Having no luck booking a car locally, at 10 AM eastern time on the 19th I called Rentalcars.com to re-book a reservation reasonable distance to my location. After 4 hours (I have the phone log) on the phone with the Rentalcars.com agents in the UK. they told me I had to go all the way back to the airport (45 mins and 65$ in cab fare) to pick up a car, at more than double the price I had already paid! Eventually an agent from rentalcars.com was able to book me a car through another third party named "Unitedrentalcars" (Ref #[protected]) at Alamo which was 15 mins and 20$ from my hotel. I was forwarded a conformation email from United rental cars that the new rental cost would be $172.00 from Alamo ($8 less than my original rental from the airport). I arrived at Alamo rent a car the moment Alamo opened, on the morning of Monday the 20th. The Alamo agent at the desk inside the Crown Plaza, laughed when I told her the story and said the rental car was going to cost me $352.00. I showed her the conformation e-mail from Unitedrentalcar, that clearly states $172.00, she understood completely but was unable to honor the price. She was actually very nice and did her best to help me. I picked up the phone to call United but was placed on hold. I was scheduled to be at a meeting in 40 mins over an hour away. Needless to say I had no choice but to pay the $352.00 and be on my way. During my hour long drive on the 20th, I called to try to get my original $180 refund from rentalcars.com because I did in deed re-book to a vehicle at twice the original cost. Once I got an agent on the phone, they stated that I couldn't get a refund until Economy cars (remember them) confirmed I did not pick up the car. So I patiently waited a week from my original pick up date (January 18th) until Friday the 24th. I then called Rentalcars.com to ask the status. An agent at rentalcars.com said they sent a request to Economy cars but haven't heard anything, so I would have to wait. I contacted Rentalcars.com this AM January 29th, they gave me the same story! They couldn't confirm with Economy cars that I never picked up the car. After a very stern discussion with the agent at rentalcars.com, I informed him of the "statue of frauds" in the state of Florida that they were in violation of. Rentalcars.com reached out to Economy cars by phone directly. The Rentalcars.com agent was unable to reach anyone by phone at the local store in Orlando (big surprise there). He eventually reached a national reservation representative from Economy cars, who in fact confirmed I never picked up the original rental car, therefore he could refund my $180.00. Rentalcars.com cost me well $250.00 (difference in extra rental cost and cabs) not to mention 6 hours of my time. If anyone would like the information and proof please contact me using the above reference #s you have my information. I use rentalcars.com for my personal and business travel often but after this I cannot see myself using or recommending rentalcars.com in the future. I would welcome rentalcars.com the opportunity to make this right.

We hired a Goldcar through you. Goldcar contract number [protected], client code [protected]. When we returned the car, the Goldcar attendant agreed the tank was full, but we were still charged for not having a full tank. I have been in contact with Goldcar customer services, who told me I must speak directly to their site in Catania (where we picked up and returned the car), however this was not possible as phone calls continually went through to their office in Spain. We have filed an incident with them online, but we do not have proof of having filled the tank. We have never had this kind of problem before, but this has made us very wary of booking through you in the future. Can you assist us. Regards, Marion Brown

Dear recipient

I booked a Jaguar F-pace between the 31st of October until the 5th of November. According to the website the make and model should be guaranteed (see attached screen shot). I called to you and got this confirmed the day before pickup. However, at the arrival at Malaga airport I was provided with a Range Rover Evoque. A completely different car than I was promised.

In addition; the car was not cleaned properly, there was still garbage, stains and crumbles from some kind of food in the car. Furthermore, the right front of the car had been crashed. The damage from the crash had been solved by the use of sticky tape. Please see attached pictures.

All and all I an not pleased with my rental.

Best regards
Joakim Fick

30october2019
Via Rentalcars.com we booked a "volkswagen polo or similar car" at Munich airport.
Pick up in Munich, drop off in Freilassing, Germany.
The all-inn price 'total cost" for one day was €62, 25.
When we arrived at the counter of Europcar (being the supplier of the car)
the woman at the desk threw three car keys in front of us.
This is what I have for you, she added. A Scoda, a Volkswagen Golf or a BMW.
We answered that we booked a Volkswagen Polo or similar car with Rentalcars but she said these were the three choices.
We had little other choice than to take the Volkswagen Golf but we had to pay €20 extra.
Then she told us that we had to pay another €40 for the fact that the drop-off location was different from the pick-up location. Something also already included in the Rentalcars booking.
So the original €62, 25 "total cost" price of Rentalcars.com was increased with an extra amount of €60!

When we disagreed with the invoice from Europcar and argumented that she charged us for things (a Volkswagen car, another drop-off location) which were already included in the Rentalcars payment, she just said "Rentalcars hat es falsch gemacht" (Rentalcars has done it wrong).
We were not amused at all. Rentalcars appears to not be reliable at all and probably Europcar takes advantage of it.
What a way to make business guys! But never with us again.

I booked a car through rentalcars.com for 4 days and paid AUD$222.43. I collected the car from Budget and completed my journey and retuned it back a day before. Budget advised, rentalcars.com owe me a refund of AUD$102.45 for returning the car back a day before. Budget has charged rentalcars.com AUD$119.98 only for three days as agreed by rentalcars.com. However, rentalcars.com does not want to refund. Following are their comments.

"As we are a third-party broker, we do not own any cars or have a fleet of our own. The companies we work with give us lower prices because we arrange so many rentals. Once we have covered our costs, we can still pass a saving on to you. On the final invoice there is a total deduction of 119.98 AUD, which is the amount that Budget charged Rentalcars.com (in additional to other possible charges) for your rental.

On 14/09/2019 at 08:11 am UK time you have booked your reservation online and agreed to a total price of AUD 222.43. Therefore, no refund is due. "

I have seen so many complaints and unhappy customers and still don't undestand why rentalcars.com is allowed to operate. Surely, there must be an Ombudsmon to review and slove these issues.

I rented a car on a Tuesday for a Friday and canceled within 24 hours on Wednesday. They billed me for the entire rental fee because they said I was within the 48 hours of cancelation.
I spoke with a Hector Sanchez, manager (so he said) of Rentalcars.com, and told him I know I canceled within the 48 hour period and he refused to listen to my complaint and refused to let me speak with one of his managers.
For an act of using renting a car via Rentalcars.com and canceling within 24 hours, it has cost me over $100. And then to be treated like that through their customers service was and is absurd.
I will continue to take my complaint to their highest management for Rentalcars.com stealing my money.

Good day,
I rented a car for the 26 October 2019, i was advise when i arrived at First car rental in OR Tambo that the credit card had to be in my name, we then cancelled the booking and my partner made a new one.

Later in the day i received a call from to assist with the cancellation and was advise that i would get my refund within 27hours. I have been calling and making follow up and still havent received my refund.

This is highly unacceptable.

My ref: (3343556) I want my money back and will never do business with this service provider again.

Placed aN order to rent for one day. Came to Thrifty counter the car was not ready and was asked to wait 10-15 min. After 15 min was asked to wait more time. Since I was already late for court appearance I voided the reservation. Thrifty refunded their part but rental cars refused under the execute that I had to call them within 24 hours. They kept my money despite didn't have to
Pay Thrifty. No phone number to call on their invoice, nor condition of 24 hours cancellation. Reminding me a classic Nigerian scams.

Booking ref [protected]

Paid £119.83 Rentalcars.com which included full insurance.
We collected the hire car from Hertz Germany and when we received the final invoice we were charged additional items which were already included in the Rentalcars.com payment.
We were also charged for vehicle upgrade. We never asked for this, nor were we told at the time this was an upgrade.
I put a claim in with Rentalcars.com. It took a long time to get a response from them and had to chase them up. They finally got in touch after they got a reply from Hertz but was told the charges stand. I then got back in touch with Rental.com advising them this is unacceptable and we should get a refund from them or Hertz for the duplicate charges. I did not get a response and sent another email chasing this up. I'm still waiting for a response.

Dear Sir/ Madam,
I wish to make a complaint regarding a vehicle I hired from you. The details of the booking are: Booking reference no [protected]
Pick up - Sat 20/8/19 from Brindisi Airport
Drop off - Sat 24/8/19 at Bari Airport
I paid in full for this rental car some 6 months or more in advance. When I got to Brindisi airport to collect the vehicle on Saturday at around 11.30am, having spent a very long time queuing as the rental department was extremely busy, I was astounded to hear from one of your representatives that they had let the car go to someone else because I was not there to collect it between a certain time!
This is absolutely unbelievable. I have never heard of this before in my many years of hiring vehicles abroad. We had flown into Brindisi the night before having been delayed by almost 2 hours hence the reason I was slightly delayed in getting back to the airport in the morning. I did not for one second think that you would let the vehicle that I paid the sum of £1, 126.53 for over 5 months ago (6/3/19), out to someone else. I was travelling with my wife, 2 children, my parents and my sister and her family who hired a vehicle through a different company. Never the less we needed two large vehicles between us whilst we were on holiday in Italy. I had paid for a ford c-max or similar and I was advised by rental cars that they were unable to provide this type of vehicle through Hertz but could find one with Budget, however, this would not be available until 3pm that day. I could not wait for this as my family were waiting for us and had checked out of the hotel. I therefore had no option than to cancel my booking with you and seek alternative car hire. Would you believe, as I cancelled via yourselves, I was stood at the Hertz desk and the rep there said he had a a suitable sized vehicle which I could rent directly with them! I was told by rental cars that there would be a cancellation fee of £150 and this would be deducted from the price I paid for the vehicle and the rest credited to my card. At the time I didn't have any alternative than to do this, even though this cancellation fee could have been avoided given Hertz did have a suitable car for me! I ended up renting a like for like car (renault scenic) from Hertz.

To date, however, have only received a refund of £830.13 credited to my card on 22 August 2019. I should have received the sum of £980.19 if you had processed the refund correctly.

However, my complaint is you did not make it clear to me that that you would let the car go if I was not there within a certain time, and also I would question whether it is even legal for you to let the vehicle go to someone else when I had paid in full for it well over 5 months earlier? That is an absolute disgrace. Even if I didn't turn up for it at all, it should remain parked at your site for 2 weeks as I have paid for it. Why should you benefit twice? At the very least I would expect the full amount of the rental price to be refunded to me, i.e. we are still owed £296.40.
I await hearing from you.

Regards

Matthew Hammond

Dear Rentalcars,

I have rented car, pls see below invoice, but have been charge for this twice. See below details:

1st charge
Date: 24.06.2019
Amount: USD 110.53 (initial amount)
Charged by: Rentalcars.com Manchester (booked through booking.com)

2nd charge
Date: 19.08.2019
Amount: EUR 141.5 (see below invoice)
Charged by: Europcar MRST

Please return 1st charge amounting USD 110.53 asap, thanks.

I booked a rental car from Beirut Lebanon (airport). They refused to give me delivery as I did not hold what they classify as a valid credit card. I had booked with a Visa Debit which they debited in full.

When I asked for the order to be canceled they referred me back to the website which does not have an option to cancel. Until now no one has made an effort to discuss despite several Calls.

My family and I were on our way back to the US from Paris. While at the airport I went through Rentalcars.com to book a car upon our arrival in New York. When we got to Thrifty after a long flight they said because we didn't have a European Driver's License they could not allow us to rent a car even though we had a valid US issued Driver's License along with a passport. This was NOT expressed to us in any of their Terms and Conditions. Even under Rentalcars.com Driving Licence section, it does not mention that the person renting a car has to have a particular licence issued through a particualr country. I believe this is a scam business and they could care less if you are conned out of your money. My belief has only been reinforced after reading the other numerous complaints supplied by other victims. I have never disputed a transaction on my credit card before until I have dealt with Rentalcars.com. I understand this is a fee for booking a car but you cannot claim the validity of a charge when the service you are supposed to be providing has been denied with all required documentation provided at time service is supposed to be supplied.

After making reservation and paying Rentalcars.com in full I was charged an extra 163.80 pounds before I could collect the car. Goldcar reps could not explain the reason for this charge.

Could rentalcars.com please provide me with an email address where I can take up this issue. I tried their chat facility but it does not appear to work work.

Brian Leitch

We triedto cancel our rental online but it keeps on giving us the error messages.I already called the actutal car rental (Enterprise in Lemon Grove and they cancelled the reservation). Since the main driver had to go to work, I tried to call the number I finally found (they do not let you contact on the phone. They hide the info) but they insist main driver must call to cancel this booking) but they insist cancellation can be done by calling (not online) by main driver. This is absurd as he is in the meeting and we book online so that we do not need to call to make or cancel bookings.
They knew I called twice - I say spend the manpower and money providing a legit better service. I feel I was ripped off and they will not refund us money.

Hi, I booked and paid for a rental car on 26/08/19 to collect the next day. I was due to attend court on 28/08/19 went to collect the car, but didn't realize you only accept credit cards only, they gave me an amount double than what I had already paid. So we came home with no car but still the payment was made. I would like to request a refund please as I did not use your services ? Also am I able to find you on twitter or Instagram? as I've heard many customers are facing this problem as the gentleman in Green motion highlighted. My reference is [protected]
Email address is [protected]@yahoo.com

Regards

Anita