Help! My rental company ran out of cars

Woooo – thanks for this good info. I generally go directly thru Hertz but also occasionally use CarRentals.com. I’ve never had this problem, but appreciate knowing in advance what to do if something like this happened! :)

I agree. Dollar should have paid for the difference. They usually do, too, so I’m not sure why they didn’t in this case.

The only thing to keep in mind, though, is Dollar is not responsible to honor the reservation if the customer doesn’t hold up their end of the deal and show up on time. Dollar’s nationwide policy is to hold local market reservations for two hours after scheduled pick-up and airport reservations for six hours after scheduled pick-up (any variations in this should be noted in the reservation’s terms and conditions). If Ms. Luna arrived past the no-show cutoff for her scheduled pick-up time and did not call and have her pick-up time changed, Dollar was perfectly within its rights to give the car to another waiting customer and cancel her reservation.

Also, Ms. Luna says, “no one from Hotwire or the rental car company had contacted us to tell us we wouldn’t have a car.” That’s not a reasonable expectation. Not only does Hotwire have no way of knowing this (rental car companies’ reservations systems aren’t set up to calculate real-time availability like airline reservations systems, since assets are not fixed like airline seats, and so they can’t check up on oversell situations), rental agencies often doesn’t, either, until the customer shows up. With no-show rates from 5% all the way up to 30%, it’s impossible to plan for whether a car will actually be available. When availability is tight, it often happens that a current renter returns his/her car just moments before another customer needs to rent it, and in that case, a car is available (with a short delay for cleaning and servicing). If the customer returning his/her car keeps the car even ten minutes longer, for all the rental agency knows, it has no cars at that time. On top of that, most travel agencies (not sure about Hotwire) don’t transmit the customer’s contact information to the rental agency, so even if they were in a massive oversell situation and needed to contact customers ahead of time, they often have no way to do so.

Sounds like a really bad experience. Sorry to hear you paid so much more.

Contrary to what has been said I happen to be of the opinion that a rental car company who takes a reservation should be able to honor said reservation. We’re not talking dinner here where you could wait a little longer or go next door to another restaraunt. We’re talking about someone being able to even leave your doorway and be able to get anywhere with heaps of luggage in a city that they may not know at all. Rental companies knew they had a lot of cars being rented and could have trucked in many loads for rent and to be sure they had cars available for those who have reserved an auto.

The agents at the location could have easily taken the time to contact people to see if they would indeed be coming to pick up the car the next day, hour or whatever in order to secure additional transport. Last, they should have gotten a vehicle from a competitor at the original rate.

I rented almost exclusively with Dollar for business and the only problem I ever had was at the Austin Airport. I arrived about 15 minutes before my reservation time. I was in the Dollar frequent renter program and reserved my car, using my porfile, online. I was directed to go directly to the lot on arrival. When I got to the window there were no cars on their lot ready for rental. I was told it would be a few minutes as they were cleaning cars at a nother location. They strung me along with this line for close to an hour. When I bugged them they said they had a car in a higher class than mine ready, but I would have to pay the difference. I told them this was unacceptable and all they said was that I had to wait. Finally, almost 50 minutes after my reservation time, Dollar offered a minivan, or else I would have to wait longer. I took the minivan. No one at Dollar ever offered to help in any way, nor did they offer any explanation as to why they had no car for a reservation made weeks in advance by a frequent renter. As much as I liked my experiences with Dollar, I say DO NOT use them at the Austin, TX airport.

I know of no one who calls ahead to confirm that a car rental company actually has a car to honor their reservation. I know of no incident where anyone, at the time of a problem, has been able t call a 1-800 number and both get through and actually get help. As to the efficacy of JD Power ratings, yawn.

I recently left employment at Dollar rent a car in Austin, TX. NEVER rent a car there. They are the biggest scamming thieves on the face of the planet. The management encourages employees to rip people off and charge them for Roadside assistance (RSD), and then lie to the customers about it and tell them that RSD is just a fee that is mandatory. I have contacted the better business bureau and a few other businesses about this. these kind of things are why our economy is in the situation we are in right now, its ridiculous. if anyone reading this ever goes to Austin and rents from dollar or thrifty there make sure you get what exactly your itenirary says because they WILL rip you off. I would just avoid both companies all together. I do not speak for all Dollars, because the one in austin is a franchise. Clearwater transportation if anyone wants to know.

I recently rented a car through Hotwire for San Jose. They placed the rental with Hertiz (with whom I have ALWAYS had problems).When we arrived, there was no car available. I called Hotwire. Now since Hotwire decides what agency you rent with and you pay them, I think your contract is with Hotwrie not the rental agency. After speaking with the customer service agent for 25 mintues, I finally got the supervisor. she informed me that they would refund my money. That was it!!! Not find another car, not anything. Well that does you a lot of good, I didn’t want the money, I needed the car. I will never use Hotwire again. I think it is implicit in their contract that a car, at the rate you paid will be available at the time you agreed to. If the agency with whom they placed the reservation can not meet that requirement, it should be up to Hotwire to find another car at either the same rate, or they should be liable for the any difference.

Sounds like you were treated very unfairly Kristin. I work for a car hire brokerage called Auto Europe. The whole car hire process can trip you up with hidden costs sometimes, but don’t be put off. Generally speaking (and certainly when you hire a car from Auto Europe) when you book a hire car in advance, you’ve guaranteed that the vehicle will be waiting for you at the collection desk – otherwise what’s the point!

A number of the major car hire suppliers are experiences shortages and sell-outs in popular holiday destinations this year (they’ve bought and replaced fewer cars due to the recession) so it’s definitely a good idea to book in advance if you need a rental vehicle. Rates at the collection desk could be a lot higher.

Some people don’t really understand how the rental business works. You book a daily rate, not an approximate total. Your printed reservation with the confirmation number is an ESTIMATE, not a guaranteed total. Working in the rental business is quite funny. You deal with people who complain about the economy, yet cry over a fifteen dollar difference for a two day car rental. I’ve seen too many whiny, tight-ass consumers wait HOURS because they didn’t want to spend $10 to upgrade. Fine. Wait. And when you’re time comes, I’ll be damn sure you get the car that had previously been on-rent to a fat, sweaty family that had never experienced a Texas summer.

Again people, you book a base rate. Your printed itinerary is good for your base rate only, so don’t start waving it in my face when your bill is slightly higher than you expected. Spend you money, and stop crying over a few dollars, it keeps the economy moving.

If you want a good experience at a rental agency, be prepared with your driver’s license and credit card before you get to the counter, be nice, don’t request a specific color, and buy something (upgrade, LDW, GPS rental, etc.)

Normally car rental companies will direct you to other car rental companies should they ran out of cars. This should be the usual practice.

For a business trip to Texas my company secured a reservation thru Avis for a mid-sized 2 or 4 door. There were no cars available on my arrival and I was told there wouldn’t be till much later in the day. Avis presented me with keys to an 18 passenger van which I refused. They sent me out with a representative to look at the 18-passenger van; I told them I need a car- I”m 5’2″. They insisted that they DID have a rental available, but since I declined to take it, they were under no obligation to do anything more. They refused to find me a car with another agency. I was left stranded and ended up paying considerably more elsewhere. Anyone have ideas on this?