Thrifty Rent A Car

A great car at a fair price. My only problem was that the staff seemed overwhelmed and made me nervous that they might make a mistake.

Stuck at Oakland airport. They had no cars in the lot but checked in about 20 of us without warning us so we sat and waited in the lot until cars showed up. What a lame process. I get that you might be out of cars but tell the customer before you take their money and info so you can do an alternate plan.

The cars where not very clean inside, they need a really good shampoo on the seats, the outer.
When it came to the pick up, they tried to over charge me by stating I came in before 10:00am stating I picked up my car at 9:59am.My Flights did not land until 10:15am, so how could I have picked up the vehicle at 9:59am?Nice try to the guy at the blue chips counter (SIR).I pointed this out to one of the counter people at the shuttle entrance, and she noted the error and fixed it. what these people try to get away with, wow.
Would I recommend this company to rent your vehicle from? I see know reason to say yes.

Demanded my social security number which is TOTALLY ILLEGAL because I was using a debit card. I didn’t mind the exorbitant $ 350 deposit but the social security number demand is crazy. Then after the nice representative went through all this with me, he found out I was Blue Chip and would not finish the rental, sending me to a kiosk instead. Very disappointing. I must remember to never use this company again. Requiring social security numbers is illegal.
Had to add 2 more stars because the guy at the next counter got me the vehicle I wanted in the color I wanted.
The folks were nice. The company policies suck.

I rented a car about 3 weeks ago. It was a smooth transition until check in time. The attendant made a comment about him not being able to tell my sister and I were twins because her hair was «kinky» and mine was «straight». I’m not sure why that comment was needed but ok…

Landed at Oakland airport and there was ONE person working the counter at 11:45. Everyone other company nearby had two or three clerks. We waited in line 45 minutes and then it took the second lady 30 more minutes to get our car. Our kids were so tired and hungry and it ruined our first day of vacation to deal with such poor, inefficient customer service.

I give these folks no stars! Everything everyone says and more. They may save you money, but the time you waste with these fools is ridic. I too was led to believe the rental kiosk was at the airport, but since I used to live in the Bay Area, I was not too happy about riding a shuttle bus to a rental car center. My adventure started when I followed the Thrifty sign to an outdoor metal shack, only to learn that was the express counter and I needed to return inside. Once there, I overheard the customer at the counter exclaim, «What the hell do you mean you don’t have any more cars!» Since I had a reservation, I overcame my reservation that I’d made a mistake. The next customer was at the counter for an inordinately long time. Then, came my turn. This passive aggressive woman was determined to guilt trip me into one of their upsells; when this didn’t work (as in no, I don’t want to buy a whole tank of gas), well, you’ll need to bring us a receipt that you purchased the gas within a 10-​mile radius of the airport since that way we’ll know you’re bringing back a full tank. After all, you wouldn’t want to rent a car without a full tank.) I.AM.NOT.MAKING.THIS.UP. I asked her since when was this the policy. Her reply: well, when was the last time you rented a car? Aaaaand, it went downhill from there. After we concluded our transaction, she waved me toward the outside, where I walked around looking for aisle E since she’d marked that letter on my little folder (I actually found my model, got in it only to discover the car belonged to Firefly). After 15 mins, the customer who was behind me and now finished, told me I needed to go to (wait for it): the little metal shack! At that point, I noticed a line of people standing up against the wall of the bldg. I asked her what that was about: oh, they’re waiting for cars to be bought from the overflow lot, cuz: THEY DON’T HAVE ANY CARS. I should mention that this was Memorial Day weekend, but all the other car companies had customers and cars flowing in and out smoothly. When I approached the clerk in the metal shack, he asked me how it was going. I told him about my interaction inside. He asked: what did she look like and after my description, he replied: Oh yeah, her! So this witch was a known quantity. He didn’t have the car class I’d reserved, but pointed to a Ford Focus (that I’d walked by earlier) and told it was available. I jumped in it and took off, not however, b/​f taking pics of all the scratches on it, just in case). I got to the little booth before the gate. Again, the clerk asked me how it was going and I told her. Again, she asked me what the woman looked like and replied: Oh yeah, her! Just so you know, when I returned the car, the process appeared to smooth (and yes, I stopped and bought gas at a station by the airport and got a receipt). The clerk gave me the all clear, but didn’t ask for a receipt. So I inquired and she told me she didn’t need it! I then had to pick my way through rows of cars to the shuttle bus, b/​c they’d pulled the cars up so close, there was no room to take the walkway. I WILL NEVER RENT FROM THRIFTY IN OAKLAND; I SUGGEST YOU DON’T EITHER.

I must have been lucky because I didn’t have any problems renting with Thrifty. My one problem was calling them and no one would answer the phone. I wanted to change my pick up time and call after call, the phone just rang. I tried the Thrifty 1 – 800 number and they helped me change the time of my pickup. Then, I needed to change the time again and eventually after a few hours, someone at the location finally picked up but they told me to call the 1 – 800 number (the 1 – 800 representatives were very helpful). When I finally arrived around 7pm, the clerk was very nice and she got me in and out. They only had one car to rent and it looked freshly washed and very clean on the inside. I did get the toll pass as I rather pay money upfront to not worry about paying the tolls. There were scratches and dents on the car so I took pictures and let the person at the exit know. He noted those scratches down and off I was. There is a shuttle ride to the airport but the shuttles were running one after another the day I left. I didn’t have any problems with the car or service so I’d rent there again.

I was a little mislead to believe that the rental site was AT the airport… I was in a bit of a hurry so I had a tight schedule and did not realize that there was a 15 min shuttle ride to the location, but the fault lies mostly with me here.
The car rental process itself was pretty cool, you see your type of vehicle (economy, midsize, compact, etc.) and they point you where to go where you can take any available vehicle in your class. I tried the first VW I saw, loaded it up, and then plugged in my iPhone charger (phone was dying) and it didn’t work. Luckily there were two other vehicles there in my class so I jumped in the next one and tried the charger first, and eureka, it worked! So I moved my stuff and was on my way.
The only thing I didn’t really appreciate was being upsold for pre-​paid gas; Im a little new to the concept and didn’t realize that I was going to pay the full tank regardless of how much I was gonna use. I only drove 90 miles and was charged $ 70 for the tank! And the agent knew where I was headed, so that wasn’t cool. I understand why you have to up-​sell, but when you trick me into it, you prob won’t be seeing me around again.
The return process was quick and easy, but again, the prepaid gas thing really left a bad taste in my mouth.

Worse car rental ever!!! The car was sh! And the customer service sucks I you fly into to Oakland try to go through a different rental car company I will never us thrifty ever again! If I could give no stars at all or minus I would!

This deserves no stars! WTF! What happened to customer service? Why is there no manager available??? I used my debit card and they say sorry your credit score is not high enough??? I never gave permission to run my credit!!! When I asked why they ran my credit, their response was «company policy»!! I asked why and they said «company policy»! No matter what I asked, every response was «company policy»!! WHY??? Worse customer service! I have a very high credit score but that’s none of their business!!! I was left stranded at the airport because of this. I asked for manager and they said NO!

First, Thrifty, Dollar, and Firefly «brands» are (as of 2013) all owned by Hertz, yet, for some reason, are keeping it on the down low. As a result, they’re causing needless confusion to their (non-​Hertz) customers.
The three non-​Hertz brands (as the Hertz step-​children) seem to share staff, wear one of three logos, and operate whatever branded terminal (under whatever branded sign) is available. With only one staff person dutifully engrossed, helping the next customer, this eventually forces their customers to ask each other for help (e.g., «Is this the… line for Dollar? …return area for Firefly? …pick up kiosk for Thrifty?» and so on…)
Thus, a transaction that should be fairly clear and (ideally) not too time consuming becomes a patience and flexibility gauntlet. On a Friday night, with one person (sometimes) working the outdoor kiosk and a couple of others (from Dollar? Firefly? Who knows?) wandering in and out, it took about an hour to get a car, with a reservation. Others were told to «pick any car in (clerk pointing out a dark window) that row, the key is on the dash» only to return when the car door was locked.
On return, the same confusion ruled. With a Thrifty sign at the entrance, but then only Firefly logos on signs and staff shirts, it wasn’t clear where to go before parking. Not what you want when trying to catch a plane.
It’s not all bad though. The staff were, to a person, amazingly calm and polite, despite their management’s cluster-​chaos. The car was a clean, peppy Passat. And the price was cheaper, by far, than what their favored sibling brand was charging.
In the end, if ease of getting in and out is important to you, look elsewhere. If, on the other hand, practicing mindfulness on a budget is your thing, this arrangement is a great drill.

Will never rent from Thrifty again. They’re idiots, don’t maintain their cars and their cars almost all smell.
Before renting, you should ALL check out Costco’s car rental programs. It may give you a good price but with a good company.
1. Rented from Oakland. Had 12 cars to choose from in that group. I opened the door to all of them and they reeked of either heavy cigarette smell, nasty candy perfume and one of pot. Finally out of 12 cars there was only 1 car that had a normal smell and so I chose that.
2. Rented the car to drive from oak to hearst castle and back for one day. So that’s about 230 miles each way so about 3 ½ hours roughly. That makes a total of about 7 hours of driving.
— Well, on the drive back, I noticed a sensor blinking saying «check oil». I hit some buttons to check the percentage of oil left. It was at 0% oil. I’m like wt flying f! How do you rent a car with not enough oil left for a day trip? What if I was renting it for a week!!! This should be checked each time before the car is rented out!
— I really didn’t wanna stop and didn’t wanna spend my own money to keep their piece of crap running so I called their customer support and was hung up on 2 times (maybe bad connection). Finally got one on the phone and told her the problem. I was still 220 miles away from Oakland with 0% oil and I told the lady. She said just keep driving it’s fine. I told her when my personal car runs out of oil it sputters, loses power and we all know it can really damage the engine. She goes oh ok and didn’t have a clue about cars. I then told her I’d just add a quart and she agreed and said I’d be reimbursed and I was.
3. I complained to customer service after I returned it. They didn’t care and there was no sort of compensation or anything; not even an apology.
The point is, you’re really just gambling with a car breakdown (Example: Unilocaler Sandra G and almost me) with this company. Next time I will dish out the extra 10 bucks or whatever to be on the safe side.

The THRIFTY Rental car company is a group mongering thieves! I rented a car and returned the car 20 minutes late and they charged me a second day of rental for insurance and some other BS, like GPS or something. It was about $ 50 extra they charged me. I asked to speak to the supervisor and they took more than 20 minutes debating it and then decided they couldn’t refund my money. How they came to the conclusion that 20 minutes out of 24hrs was valued for an entire day is beyond me. My time is valuable and they wasted 20 minutes of my time. Well, they lost a customer and I hope I can cause them to lose a few more.

I had to rent an SUV for 17 days while my family was here, and I went with Thrifty because they were the least expensive of the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards partners. On-​line booking through the Rapid Rewards portal was no problem.
The young man at the counter was clean-​cut, polite, and efficient. When we got to the part in the rental process where he had to inform me that Thrifty holds an extra $ 250 over the quoted price during the term of the rental, I paid close attention. I had seen a few other reviews of Thrifty in which the reviewers had needed to fight to get that extra charge back, and I wanted to know exactly what the deal was. I still don’t know, and I don’t think the clerk did either (it’s not like HE was going to see any of that money).
I ended up with a Dodge Nitro, because someone else was already sitting in the one Ford Escape. Rare are the instances in which I lament NOT getting a Ford, and my lamentations were not baseless. The Nitro is a poorly-​designed vehicle, huge on the outside with horrible sightlines, and yet tiny and cramped on the inside. Of course, the design isn’t Thrifty’s fault. What WAS their fault was the unbalanced component somewhere in the right front wheel assembly, that caused an very loud roar at freeway speeds. I’m sure it did not occur spontaneously upon my arrival — their maintenance department should have caught and repaired it.
Aside from that annoyance, the vehicle functioned properly — no breakdowns or other operational anomalies. I returned it with a full tank of gas, as required, but get this: they now require a receipt showing that you just filled up at a gas station less than 10 miles away. When the bill finally posted, it was for the correct amount, and in fact I never saw the extra $ 250 get billed to my account.
I would have no problem using Thrifty at OAK again, nor would I have a problem using another company if it had a more competitive rate than Thrifty.

This is the Thrifty at Oakland Airport … they suck. *fume* *fume* *fume*
1. Our mini-​van broke down. Luckily, this didn’t happen until after we were safely out of Death Valley. They did not give us any discount/​compensation for this. They didn’t even seem surprised when we called. :-(
2. They sent me a bill for a parking ticket … dated 3 months before I rented the mini-​van. They even sent a copy of the citation and a copy of my rental summary, which together clearly showed that I coudn’t possibly have anything to do with the ticket.
3. Without notifying me, they took the money out of my checking account — two weeks before the date on the bill.
4. The bill itself asked me to mail them the money (or sign the authorization to bill my credit card). Despite the fact that they had already taken the money two weeks prior. They were double billing me for something that had nothing to do with me.
5. Their «violation» department doesn’t take calls after 3pm CA time.
6. They kept me on hold for more than 30 minutes when I did manage to call before 3pm.
7. Did I mention they suck?
– Very very unhappy former never-​again customer
P. S. The people who work at the location were nice. It’s the company I blame.”