Car Rental Reservations

[Orlong]

Why is it that every time you need to rent a car they never have the car (or even the class of car) that you paid for and reserved? This should be illegal. If you pay for a reservation (car or otherwise) They should be required to give you what you paid for. Ive rented cars approximately 15 times in my life and not once time have they had the car Ive reserved. I understand that unpaid reservations shouldnt be set in stone, because people often dont show up and then they are losing money because they couldve rented the car to someone else, but when you prepay for a rental, they have your money and shouldnt be allowed to double book a car. Its called a reservation because the car is supposed to be reserved!

Its even more insulting when you book a luxury sedan ( I always do) and get offered a Chevy Cruz, or Nissan Versa instead because thats all they have. Why even have reservations at all? The reason they always have those cheap assed tiny cars is because nobody wants to drive them yet they still continue to overstock them.

All rental places do this so its not like you really have any alternative than to deal with the bullshit

[serenka]

Same happened to me with a rental car, i can't remember what car i even reserved now, but i got there and they tell me they don't have that one, and they only have this weird little nissan or something available right now, was the most annoying car to drive, one of those ones with all the controls on the steering wheel as buttons, and all the dials are awkwardly placed, i hated every second of driving that car.

[Jakexe]

Personally never had an issue, the whole 2 times i've rented a car they had to exact type I asked for.

First thing that came to mind.

[alemaite]

They usually say that they cannot guarantee that one specific car and that, in case the one you want isn't available, they will provide you with a "similar" one (this is somewhere in their terms or service or some bs). Of course it's up to them to decide which car is "similar" to the one you reserved. And of course they advertise the most popular cars on their websites which sometimes aren't even available. If you really want to rent a specific car the best way is to call and ask if that specific model is available and tell them you're picking it up in a few minutes. The problem is many people reserve a car online and never show up and then call their credit card companies to refund any fees.

[cuafpr]

rented a car around 5-10 times in my life always got what i wanted or if they didn't have it i was upgraded to a higher level car, heck most of the time they would just do an upgrade for free when i showed up cause they had plenty on the lot.

[zenkai]

I think the turnover rate at car agencies are high and it's not ran by the brightest to begin with.

[Independent voter]

I think they are trying to get you to rent a more expensive car. It's a scam. If they tell you you can rent a kia and you get there and they tell you they only have a lexis left, you should only pay a kia rental fee even though you get the lexis.

[Xarian]

99% of the time, when you rant a car it states with smaller text what class the car is within, if the specific car is unavailable you will be provided with a car of the same class, so being offered a different car is not unusual and very standard

[Nengal]

Go with a different company? I've only used enterprise. I just walk into their lot and pick whatever I want. The price never varies much ($1-5/day difference). Also always had plenty of similar options to choose from had what I wanted not been available.

[Orlong]

99% of the time, when you rant a car it states with smaller text what class the car is within, if the specific car is unavailable you will be provided with a car of the same class, so being offered a different car is not unusual and very standard

Yes but most of the time they either dont have any of that class or they put cars into that "class" that they dont belong in. Last time I rented, I reserved a premium class vehicle expecting a car such as a Chrysler 300, Ford Taurus, Chevrolet Impala, or Nissan Maxima (like they show on their website), and they try to give me a Ford Focus (which conveniently isnt listed under any category because they probably make an excuse to put it into any category that they run out of cars for). I said hell no, thats a compact cheap assed car, and they said they classify it as premium because it has 4 doors and air conditioning. Thats total bullshit! I eventually talked them into giving me a Chevy Traverse (which still sucks but at least it has room) for the same price.

[Chaelexi]

I think they are trying to get you to rent a more expensive car. It's a scam. If they tell you you can rent a kia and you get there and they tell you they only have a lexis left, you should only pay a kia rental fee even though you get the lexis.

Everytime they have not had the car I selected I have been upgraded to the next higher class or more for no additional charge. It has happened 4 times a year and I rent about 20-30 vehicles a year for business. Las couple times I can remember were I reserved a 300C and got a BMW 335x. reserved a full size(nissan altima or similar) and got a Jeep Grand Cherokee fully loaded and my favorite was rented a Maxima and they only had MB C Class.

[McFuu]

Why do you keep going to the same rental place if they keep burning you. If your answer is that are the only one, you just answered your own question.