Thrifty Car Rental

rr73

Avoid Thrifty Car rental at all costs. The only thing that they are Thrifty with is the truth. We booked a car, confirmed the price with the desk at Cork Airport and arrived at the airport to be told that our actual price was more than triple the quoted price, as they had not added insurance. (despite having confirmed that the price quoted was the full amount.)
We reluctantly paid the exorbitant amount they were demanding. As my husbands driving licence was expired we could not add him as a driver at the time. The very pleasant lady at the desk assured us that as soon as we emailed or faxed the renewed licence, he would be covered, and there would not be an extra cost. We emailed the licence as requested. 5 days later we received an email stating that not only would a fax/email not suffice, but they wanted an extra €9.08 per day on top of the already exorbitant amount they were charging us. We would also have to drive 80 miles to our "nearest" Thrifty office to present the licence in person. (insurance for 17 days cost more than it had cost me for the whole year for a much bigger car, last year.)
Bottom line- avoid them. Overpriced and economical with the truth, with no concern for customers at all. Another prime example of Irish companies ripping off tourists. (and Irish citizens)

jhegarty

rr73 wrote: »

Another prime example of Irish companies ripping off tourists. (and Irish citizens)[/COLOR]

Thrify are an American company.

munchkin_utd

Sounds like a fair cop to me.

If you want full insurance with no excess as opposed to you paying the first 1000euro, then you are going to pay something between 10 and 20 euro per day extra with nearly every operator
If you want an extra driver it's often an extra charge not just with thrifty.
Multiply that by 17 days and it's a crazy cost (as you found out) but that's normal for car hire.
To present the physical licence in person is also an issue I've had before so not exclusively a thing only thrifty insist on.

I'm actually driving to Ireland from Germany this summer (costing 700euro+ for ferries and petrol) as car hire with all companies is just so much more expensive at peak times than me bringing over the car, and the extra charges with all companies (not just the one you mention) for longer term hire just makes it even less attractive again.

ProudDUB

As some one who has felt the sting of additional airport fees more than once, I now know to always, always, always question any quote that I get. When making the booking, I get them to break it down for me, penny by penny, so that I know EXACTLY what is and is not included in the amount quoted. That's a good way to know where you may be hit up for additional charges.

It is very important to do this with insurance especially, as that is usually the biggest add on expense. Don't trust what a reservations sales clerk tells you over the phone. They are paid for every successful reservation that they make. It is in their best interest to keep certain charges and fees from the customers, unless they are asked about them explicitly. That is the same for all car hire companies, not just Thrifty. :mad:

Who shows up at an airport with an expired license and expects plain sailing when it comes to renting a car? That is a bit much imo. Am not surprised that the OP was told that they had to bring the actual license to a Thrifty office. Anyone with a colour photocopier and a good working knowledge of Photoshop could make up a fake license that looks perfectly ok in a fax or email.

However, I do agree that it must have been frustrating to be told by a Thrifty employee that a faxed or emailed copy of it would be ok. But that could have been just a misinformed employee who has never faced this issue before, as opposed to an intentional plan to lie, coz really...who shows up to rent a car without a valid license? :rolleyes:

Harpic

same problem with Budget Car Rental,not only rude but added extras without me knowing about them .Frrst and last time with them

rr73

A reply to two posters; firstly we still had an insurance excess of 1200- I fully expect to pay more to waive the excess but don't accept being hammered for a policy with such a big excess.
The reason we were objecting to paying for a second driver was because we had specifically been told at the airport desk that there would not be a charge for this.
Also ProudDUB we did not "turn up at the airport with an expired licence expecting to hire a car." We live overseas, and do not use our irish licences where we live. My husband did not realise his licence had expired till we arrived but did not object in the slightest to not being added there and then- the issue was being told (misinformed is not an excuse imo) that a faxed copy was ok.

Bicycle

If you had a valid licence from the country you are now living in, you could have used that instead.

Savman

Welcome to the wonderful world of Rental Cars, OP. Nothing in your post is unique to Thrifty, maybe they could have handled it better but that doesn't excuse your ignorance of what you were getting yourself into. Read the small print, Car Hire agreements are worded so vague they would put most Credit Card contracts to shame.

Some insurance is mandatory, some is optional, you are just asking for trouble if you don't brush up on terms like 'CDW' and 'LIS' etc. The desk staff are sales agents at the end of the day, the onus is always there to upsell. You can politely decline any extras you don't want or need.

As for the license, well that's entirely on you/your husband. If it's expired it's no good, in the eyes of the law it's worthless. Didn't think this needed explanation