National Car Rental, Manchester, New Hampshire - poor experienc with rental desk

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on June 9, 2002:

From:

RE: National Car Rental, Manchester, New Hampshire - poor experienc with rental desk June 9, 2002 Lawrence J. Ramaekers

ANC Rental Company

200 S. Andrews Ave.

Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33301 CC: Better Business Bureau, complaints.com, e-pinions.com, planetfeedback.com National Car Rental Reservation number: 410042515 To whom it may concern: On Saturday, May 25th, I arrived at the Manchester, New Hampshire airport and proceeded directly to the National Car Rental desk. A week prior, I had spent a few hours on the internet researching rates. As a 21 year old University of Oregon student, I knew that I’d need to pay a premium of some sort – after researching rates, I learned that this is called a “young renter’s fee.” National seemed to have the best rates for my May 25th through May 29th visit and so I called the toll free number to make a reservation. Customer service treated me very well when I called in to make a reservation – I made it clear that I had very little money to spend and the person I spoke with seemed sympathetic to that fact. He told me that it was National’s policy that if I kept the vehicle past closing time, I would need to pay for an extra day. We discussed this because I felt that it was unfair to charge me for an extra day when I would be dropping the car off very early in the morning (around 5:30 am) before National Car opened for the day. He told me that he could waive that fee. I asked if there were any other ways I could get a discount – student discounts, etc. He asked if I had any frequent flyer cards, and I began to list the cards that I own.

When I said “Delta Airlines” he told me that would give me a break on my young renter’s fee. He also told me that the Memorial Day weekend would give mea weekend rate for Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of $20.99 per day thereby avoiding the $47.99 weekday fees. He quoted me $178.04 including taxes, an excellent rate. When I arrived at the National Car Rental desk late Friday night (11:45 pm) on May 24th, there was just one woman working at the desk. She had an accent of some sort and when I asked how many people lived in Manchester, she said she didn’t know because she doesn’t live in Manchester and mentioned some outlying town that I do not recall. She looked up my confirmation number and told me that the rate would be closer to $260. I was upset that the $178.04 rate couldn’t be honored.

She was reading back my reservation details – and told me that I had been recorded by the reservation agent as a Delta Airlines employee. I told her that was not the case – and that the reservation agent had asked if I had a frequent flyer card with Delta, not if I was an employee. She said that she would ignore that because I was going to get a Delta Airlines employee discount. The woman explained to me that the car would be filled with gas, but that it was “to my benefit” to return the car without any gas at all.

She gave me the impression that if I filled the tank with gas, I would be in effect providing the next renter with a free tank. We continued arguing about the rate discrepancy until she radioed for the lot attendant to come in and speak with me further. I waited for about 20 minutes until he arrived. He was very friendly but told me that he couldn’t give me the $178.04 rate but that if I called customer service at some point, they could refund charges if necessary. He did tell me that I would not have to pay for the Wednesday weekday if I returned the car before they opened that day.

My reservation was for a Pontiac Sunfire, the cheapest vehicle I could rent. He told me that there were none on the lot, and gave me a 4-door Mitsubishi – he said that they would not charge me for the upgrade because they did not have any of the less expensive cars I had expected on the lot. My friend and I took the keys and found the car on the lot and left the airport to start our East coast adventure. We returned the car with very little gas (less than a quarter tank) at about 5:30 am Wednesday, May 29th an hour before our flight back to the West coast was to depart. When I returned home I called customer service to discuss the $80 rate discrepancy. The woman I spoke with on the phone informed me that the charge was not going to be $260 as I had been told at the Manchester desk, but that it would be $360 because I did not rent a Pontiac Sunfire and because I left the car without gas. She told me that as a Delta Airlines employee I should have experience renting cars and should know that renters cannot return a car without a full tank of gas unless they are willing to pay a $5.00 per gallon premium to fill the tank. I told her that I had never rented a car before, and that I was specifically told to leave the car without gas when I returned it by a woman at the Manchester desk. The customer service agent told me that she knew most of the employees at the Manchester office and that they would not make such an error. She then put me on hold and called the Manchester desk directly to discuss the situation. When she came back on the line she told me that no one at the Manchester desk had or would ever say such a thing. The story is a bit complicated as you can see, and I was trying to explain to the agent that I had been told a few different quotes, none of which were being honored, and that I had been given bad information by a rental desk worker in Manchester, and that there were no Sunfire available on the lot to rent, that I was not a Delta Airlines employee, and finally that I was specifically told to take the car to the airport with just enough gas in the tank to get it to the airport in the morning. The customer service agent was very confrontational on the phone – I felt like I was being relatively calm and was taking care not to blame her for a mistake someone else had made. She told me that as a customer service agent, she wanted to believe what I was saying but that I had given her conflicting information that clearly showed I was lying. She said that everyone knows that when you return a car you fill it with gas – and that I would need to pay for the gas I used as well as for the upgraded car I drove. When we ended our conversation she agreed to charge me $260 as the Manchester office had told me. This rate is still $80 more than the $178.04 I had expected to pay. I had a very bad experience with National Car Rental that left a bad taste in my mouth and a major hole in my wallet. I think that the customer service agent I dealt with was very defensive and felt that I was trying to rip off National Car Rental by fabricating details about my rental. In reality, I feel that I am a very responsible young man and I didn’t deserve to be treated poorly over the phone. I wish that the rate I was first quoted had been honored. I traveled with a friend from Montana, James. He was not present for any of the telephone calls I made to National’s customer service department or their reservation line, but he was at the Manchester desk when I rented the car and heard the desk agent tell me to return the car without gas. If necessary he can verify some parts of my complaint.

Sincerely, Gabe Silverman