Car rental damage cases are usually disputes between two parties — the renter and the agency. But not always. Ron Goldstein recently rented a car from Thrifty in Los Angeles. He left the car with a parking valet at the DoubleTree by Hilton Guest Suites Santa Monica. It’s a decent hotel about a block from [...]
THRIFTY
The late-model Chevrolet that Sukumar Thanawala rented from Thrifty Car Rental in Munich in the spring looked “absolutely fine” when he returned it, he said.
Amy and Kevin Roeder are stuck with a $1,600 bill from Thrifty Car Rental for damage they say they didn’t do. Thrifty insists they’re responsible, and isn’t backing down. And now I’m stuck, too. What do I do next?
Ah, the ol’ Mexican car rental scam.
Here’s a problem travelers are running into more frequently: Months after a trip, they get a bill from their rental company charging them for an unknown traffic violation, plus a handling fee. Often, there’s little recourse.
Like most travelers, Bette Waterstreet doesn’t expect much when she rents a car. A clean, running vehicle that’s in the same car class she ordered will do just fine. But that’s not what she got when she rented from Thrifty in Ontario, Calif., recently.
Kristin Luna reserves a car in Austin, Texas but when she checks in, her car rental company is out of vehicles. She’s free to rent from another company, but will have to pay an extra $245. Shouldn’t her car rental company or travel agent help her?
Tom Gainor pays for a rental car through Hotwire.com, but when he gets to the car rental counter in Mexico, an agent strong-arms him into buying insurance that more than doubles the cost of the car. Neither Hotwire, nor the rental company seems to care. Is there any way of getting his money back?
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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