One problem with rentals is they’re usually in parking garages, which are dark. D3 and I gleefully drove off in a little Fiat once but she didn’t like the twitchy brakes so we switched to a different car (we could pick anyone we wanted). I had left my cell phone in the Fiat and we didn’t notice until we were a few miles away and stuck in Phoenix traffic. Went back and by some miracle the car was still there and we got my phone. Phew…
Car rentals came up recently on another thread and I posted this…seems appropriate for this thread too.
One of my favorite scenes from Seinfeld…
Greenwich, no wonder the car was still there - it was a Fiat! 
Last few times I have rented cars, I’ve prepaid. So there’s no upcharge possible.
I also carry my insurance letter too. So they can’t force me to buy theirs.
We once left a bunch of charger cords for our cell phones in the car and of course the rental agency denied they were there and never gave them back, even though we called them while on the shuttle bus to the airport. We were very irked and it was a long time before we would consider renting another Budget vehicle. 
I would avoid Dollar/Alamo at any rental site. We had long lines at Kennedy and only 2 agents. At any given time one would go on a long break. We were on line for at least 1/2 an hour. Our other bad experience was at the site in Manhattan at Battery Park. Also long lines and then the only agent working told everyone that they had no more cars. Most people left but we hung around long enough to get one, luckily. I almost missed my nephew’s wedding.
My worst experience is when poor car sick kid threw up in the back of the car…
It was a brand new car too. Oh man…
Dollar, and probably other rental companies, has a program where you put in the information (that you would normally give at the rental counter) on the web site ahead of time, so that you can just show up to the special rental counter, find all of the forms are filled in already, show your credit card, and get the key to the car. Dollar’s program is called Dollar Express, and does not need any special frequent renter or reward program status.
It was the difference between waiting in line for an hour (without Dollar Express) and no line at all (with Dollar Express) on two different rental instances at the same location.just
Budget charged in a bill later a $200 smoking fee at DFW. It took a month to get them to delete it. We never have smoked, ever. Good luck so far with Enterprise. Had to use budget in Iceland and it went fine. I read that the location managements can be different. For now sticking with enterprise but will be checking the roof from now on.
My “bad” stories all have relatively happy endings. Picked up a car at Logan Hertz, drove to our hotel on the cape, wife opened the passenger door, and it fell onto the ground. Was able to exchange it at the whatever little airport the next morning.
Picked up a “self-leveling” Peugeot at Heathrow and drove to the Cotswolds. Handling seemed very weird, but I’d never driven a Peugeot before so I was … whatever. Got worse the next day, so I called and they sent a Royal Auto Club who confirmed that it was in no condition to be driven. Took until the next day for Hertz to send a tow truck to haul it and me to the nearest outlet, but, guess what? They’re all independent franchises and he didn’t want to let one of “his” cars go because he wasn’t sure he’d ever get it back from London. Took a super-supervisor to intervene, but I had great fun driving the little pocket rocket Ford Focus I talked him out of.
Dropped a car at Logan one time and was running late, so I waved to the guy checking the cars in and told him I had to run and left the keys & rental agreement as he nodded agreement. Imagine my surprise when the bill came and the car had been on an extra 7-day jaunt and Hertz wanted money for the miles and the days and the failure to return it on time. I faxed my boarding slip for the trip home and suggested they talk to their crew at Logan. Charges withdrawn.
I would never want to buy the full tank. How the heck do you return it empty? You’re always going to pay for something you don’t use (unless they’ve started refunding that quarter tank or whatever, which I seriously doubt). You know how the fuel gauge in your own car doesn’t move at first after you’ve filled the tank? I fill up about 20 miles from the airport. Still shows as a full tank when I drop the car, and I’ve never been charged a refueling fee. I’m sure there’s an ethical lapse in there somewhere, but I’m not going to lose sleep over it
And then there was the time we flew into Manchester and, instead of the Ford I had reserved, they gave me an Alfa Romeo sedan with leather seats. Oh wait, that was a GOOD trip. Even my sullen tween daughter thought it was pretty cool …
I was at Enterprise today to rent a car for the weekend. I was planning on going car shopping and I knew enterprise had a rental place close to the car shop where the car could be dropped off. (to return) I was told that if I didn’t return the rental to the location where it was picked up from there would be an extra $50 fee.
The drop off fee is not that uncommon. However, if you plan to drop off at a place where cars are in short supply, there’s no fee. I suspect the dealership location is swimming in cars.
Yes, that’s standard that there is a drop-off fee if you don’t drop off at your original rental location.
Hertz is pretty good about the dropping off thing these days. I usually just park the car in the dropoff area and walk off without waiting for somebody to check it in. They normally email me the invoice by the time my flight lands. It’s really helpful when I’m a little tight on time for a flight.
In SV, rental agencies literally beg renters from SFO and OAK to drop their cars off at SJC. That car rental mega garage is almost always half empty, and we never encountered a drop off fee between those locations.
Always check your reservation if there is a fee. It is usually spelled out there.
Today was our first bad uber experience. They couldn’t figure out how to get to the area where the uber drivers were allowed/required to pickup customers, so after over half an hour of waiting in the heat, he gave up and cancelled our call! So we had to go back to the long taxi line and take an overpriced taxi to our location.
Often when I rent, it is in town and then airport drop off. Usually it costs me $20. More if a different city. Bunsen, good to know about SJC drop off. I rented last fall in SFO for the first time. What a time consuming rental process!
Two years ago I rented in San Diego, and then drove to AZ, dropping off at Sky Harbor. They tried to ding me for a few bumper scratches that were not obvious in the dark ramp where I’d rented the car that I noted when I got to daylight. I opened claims, fought them on it, and the company finally looked through the old records and found those same bumper scratches on that car. This took many phone calls, and wasted far too much time. Wish I could remember which company.
This year, renting, I was inspecting and filling out the pre rental form with a vengeance and they sort of laughed at my pickiness, saying that as long as the mirror and doors were still attached, there shouldn’t be a problem. I explained my previous experience…
We rented a car in Sn Diego a number of years ago right after a Super Bowl game was there. We figured there would be plenty of rentals. We were using a major vendor. We got a dodge Interpid that had 50,000 miles on it. It was one step above a rent a wreck. We didn’t really notice how dirty it was inside until the next morning. We kept,the car for the week, but when we returned it…I mentions that it was really filthy, and old. And that I had paid for the same rental car type that anyone else would have received. Using the dirty car want the best experience. Actually, it was pretty bad. But they did reduce my cost to $50 for the full week.
I wondered where that car actually came from. Most rental coma ones don’t rent cars with 50,000 miles on them!
^ Gotta love autocorrect: “rental companies” to “rental coma ones” !!