Friday Frustration

Welp, I've got a good one today. If I say "rental cars" do I really need to say more? Probably not, but I'm going to. Here's the story.

Last March, when my friends and I decided to go to the beach in September, I rented a 6 passenger van. At that time, they charged my card $399. I immediately set up the Splitwise. You can click on the link to find out more about it. Basically, it's an app that helps you keep track of joint expenses and who paid for what. It's fabulous!! Anyway, at the time I rented the car, I knew that there would be an additional $140 due when I picked it up.

Okay, all was good until we actually took the trip. Upon arrival at the airport and picking up the vehicle, I discovered that they were giving us a Suburban instead of the van. 

Now, mind you, I've never driven a vehicle that big. At that time I added my friend, Pam as an additional driver. When we walked away from the counter, I had this receipt in hand:

That made sense and seemed reasonable. Basically, it was $100 to add the extra driver. Okay, that was fine. 

The next day, I checked my Visa account and found that they had charged me $326. Now I have no idea where that number came from. I decided that I was going to call them to get to the bottom of it. I thought that what happened was that they were charging me extra for the Suburban. That's not okay! I actually would have preferred the van, but that wasn't an option. 

I stayed behind while everyone went off to the beach. What I found out was this: YOU CANNOT TALK TO SOMEONE ON THE PHONE! What?? You've got to be kidding me. And so it begins.

You have to contact them through their Facebook page. So, I did. Here's how that went (I'm the blue):

Dollar Car Rental

Typically replies within a few hours

Car Rental

Oct 1, 2021, 11:45 AM

You sent

Re: rental record 160635156

You sent

I need to understand the charges. When I picked up the car, the estimated charge was to be $238.11. My credit card has been charged $326.00. I would like a breakdown of what these charges are/mean.

Oct 1, 2021, 4:30 PM

Dollar Car Rental

Thank you for reaching out can you confirm your relationship to the primary renter?-Tonya

You sent

I am the primary driver. Barbara Eads

Oct 1, 2021, 6:28 PM

Dollar Car Rental

Thank you I see the difference in the charge is an additional authorized operator.-Tonya

Oct 2, 2021, 8:27 AM

You sent

With the additional driver, the estimated total was $238.11. I want to know how it's $88 more than the estimate. I was charged $326. on my card. Also, what is a concession recovery fee?

Oct 2, 2021, 3:07 PM

Dollar Car Rental

The difference is the taxe and fees that are assessed by the location, one of which being the concession recovery fee.

Oct 3, 2021, 3:07 AM

Dollar Car Rental

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Needless to say, I didn't feel like I got an answer that I understood. I just gave up and put $326. on the Splitwise. I told all of my friends doubt it. And boy did I respond to the survey!

Fast forward to after I dropped the car off. I noticed that I was charged another $239.00. OMGosh! Now I'm going crazy! As I studied my credit card account, I realized that they just completely dropped off the $326 charge---didn't credit it back or anything, it just disappeared! I hope like heck that's what happened because I have no way of knowing if that amount was added back.

Then I had to go back to the Splitwise app and take off the $326 and add the $239. I don't understand any of it. It seems like the most ridiculous thing. There has got to be a better way. A simple way that reasonably intelligent people (of which I consider myself one) can understand how they are being charged and what the charges mean. Check out all of those crazy fees!

All I know is--I'm not renting the car the next time. I can't take the stress! It's so dang frustrating!