Thrifty Car Rental

I chose Thrifty because I booked a flight package that included the rental. I showed up to the ticket counter and was politely greeted by a very nice employee… Until we started talking to her. We chose a compact/​economy car. She asked if we wanted to upgrade to a larger car because my husband is tall. Um, no thanks. We told her the car we opted for was fine. She continued to ask if we were sure and we assured her we were. She then asked if we wanted to purchase insurance for the car. She started high, and when I said we both had insurance she suggested that we at least purchase insurance on the car. Even then, we were trying to say no, but she kept asking so we eventually said yes. We also paid for the gas so that we wouldn’t have to worry about filling up when we bring the car back. We went to go get our car and the attendant nicely lead us to the car. She was the only pleasant experience we had with this company.
Bringing the car back, we had a lady come out to greet us. She was nice at first and did the inspection. She then turned around and told us there was damage on the car. I told her that those scratches were there when we picked up the car and she said that it’s our responsibility to report any damages to the car before leaving. Fine. But she did but bother to ask if we had purchased insurance on the car. She just kept reiterating that we were responsible for all damages on the car. When we finally told her we bought the insurance she backed off. She then sat in the drivers seat and looked at the gas gauge. She then said to my husband «oh. You didn’t fill up before coming back?» At which point my husband just told her to look at the paperwork we had in our hands the whole time (she just kept referring to her tablet). She finally saw on her tablet that we paid for the gas and she said «oh okay I see it now» and then we left.
Thrifty, you need to send your employees to a customer service course or retrain them. They don’t seem to understand that concept very well.
I will most likely never come back to Thrifty. As another reviewer has said, I will gladly pay a little more for Enterprise or Hertz for better service.

Staff was helpful at the counter getting me to the car quickly and without any hassle. The rates were very competitive and checking in and out was very efficient.

AVOID at all costs!!! If you rent from them, you MUST CHECK EVERY FEE AND FIGHT TO DECLINE ALL «UPGRADES»!! I rented a car from them at what sounded like a great price. However, once I got to the counter the guy repeatedly tried to get me to upgrade. However, he phrased it as if it was part of the process. «So Mr _​_​_​then we will do this or that and that will bring your total to $$$$$$$.» Being low on sleep and after traveling, I let one of these get by me for «insurance» or something useless that I did not need, was not required, and was super expensive. This was after I managed to decline a host of other options. The guy at the counter was blatantly dishonest in my opinion.
The fees added on in addition to the rate are substantial. They added $ 172.42 to my bill AFTER the dishonest upgrade and AFTER the initial rate which I thought I was getting. Positively ridiculous, blatantly dishonest, and robbery in my opinion.
They also have a host of confusing fuel options, and if you go with the sensible one you have to bring in a receipt from a gas station within 10 miles or vague, bad things will happen to you.
The car was nice, clean, and worked great, but that was the only positive part of the experience, along with the nice shuttle from the airport that takes you to the car rental place. But if at all possible, try to get out into the community and rent from a non-​airport affiliated rental agency. Some rental agencies will come to the airport to pick you up, and that will save you a bundle. But if you do rent from the airport guys, avoid Thrifty.

I rented a car over Christmas. The shuttle bus got us to the shared garage/​rental facility just fine. The line at the Thrifty counter was pretty long, but they did give out water bottles to people in line, so that was cool. The lady behind the counter was nice, and did try to upsell me on a couple of things (refilling gas, extra insurance) but wasn’t pushy about it. The car itself was in good condition for an older rental — we did notice that the trunk was a little loose, but for a rental with ~35K miles, it ran smoothly. The check-​in was quick and uneventful. For the price, I would rent with Thrifty again.

Worse experience ever. Customer service lady at the front desk at the airport location totally screwed me. i told her that i would not want any loss damage or insurance. I booked through expedia and was only going to pay for prepaid gas. She showed me the total amount i would be paying and 100 $ would come off my card as soon as the rental was returned. I ended up being charged 85 additonal dollars for loss damage waiver which i reiterated to her would not be needed. She made me sign the contract and i did not completely read it and that is where she screwed me. I went with what she had told me and got billed an extra 85 on a total 44 dollar rental. I never review on Unilocal but this lady really screwed me and i will never use thrifty ever again. Hope that extra 85 $ really made your day Thrifty.

Well thank goodness they were there! I originally rented at hwy99 location but they closed at 3 the day I needed a car. So the airport was great. Nice people and they gave me my same price from other location. Happy

The staff was really friendly.
So I lost my driver’s license and didn’t realize it til I came to pick up the rental. My destination was Vancouver BC and this is Dec. 23, 2015.
Even with my passport, driver’s insurance, student and work IDs, I was still turned down.
I wish there was a policy to help people out or some kind of way to check someone’s license if they have lost it and are out of state.
I got no help. I don’t blame the people, but I am angry enough to see why a big corporation (all these rental cars) wouldn’t have a policy in place to help people (and I reserved too).

From the start the counter person tried to up sell me. I boughtba package on travelocity and ended up getting a rental car here. Person said I got a subcompact. had no idea that there was this category. I looked at my invoice n it said compact/​economy. No mention of sub compact. Counter person proceeded to upsell n try to convince me that as a single person, i should go with a mid size. ummm yeah, me n my travel on bag. i asked what type of car a sub compact was, and she showed me a fiat. I said. oh like a versa. she said no. a Nissan Versa is one level.up. i decline to upgrade.
Then she tells me i need to buy a toll pass for a week when i am only here for 5 days. It cost $ 56. i asked what the daily price was and if i could pay cash. She says no.
Lets just say that i ended up with a Nissan Versa that was suposedly not a compact car and i saw the signs at the toll roll stating y could pay cash and u only had to pay for it on ur way out. basically, i spent $ 56 on a toll that should be $ 5… thrify… i will never rent from u. Dishonest employees and policies… not worth the savings if any… i will pay full price elsewhere and never rent from Thrify or Hertz.

I googled online to find a car to rent for 6 days while my car is getting repaired and it gave me Thrifty USA. So I paid for 6 days but my car was done within 3 days. I called 206) 224‑9806 and spoke with Laurie? and I asked If I could get some refund if I return the car 3 days early?
She said YES, No problem, Just bring the car in.
When I went there to return my car. Horrible customer service, I was told they couldn’t refund my money because i booked online and I have to call the online company that I book with
(Too late for that don’t you think? since you already have the car)
They couldn’t help me because… they just don’t know… because I booked online… what kind of customer service is that?
They cant look up my info base on my reservation? Nope…not even trying to help me at all… I was being pushed aside while other people where checking in. They got my money and they got the car back early so they don’t care.
She should have asked me in the first place when I called to ask to return my car early… what kind of reservation I use to book the car? If it was too much trouble getting my money back by returning the car early. Then I would have happily kept the car for 6 days.
I AM NOT RENTING FROM THRIFTY EVER AGAIN!
YOU NEED BETTER TRAINING ON YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE!
Giving Wrong info on your customer, then not making it right is just horrible!

Service at the counter: I asked if I could add an additional driver and was told I could. I was not informed it would increase the cost of my rental from $ 82 to $ 132 until AFTER the transaction was complete. When I expressed displeasure, the man at the desk told me, «You don’t have to rent from us if you don’t want to.» In addition, he informed me that a failure to provide a receipt from a gas station within 9 miles of the return location would result in «penalties». In the parking lot, Melissa was kind enough to greet us and help us select a vehicle. At the exit, when we asked to have damage recorded on the contract, Melissa stated, «That’s nothing.» I insisted the damage go on the contract stating I had already had problems and didn’t trust Thrifty to which she responded, «You don’t have to rent from us!» while bobbing her head with an attitude. I explained I didn’t intend to spend the first day of my vacation trying to find another car. She then rolled her eyes, turned her back and walked away while stating something I couldn’t hear. When I asked for the name of the employee, I was originally told no one knew it. When I refused to move until I got it, I was given a card with her name and a website to take a survey. A manager showed up and I expressed my dissatisfaction and she said she would address it. Upon returning my vehicle I learned that a receipt for gas was not required. In short, Thrifty lied about the terms of the agreement, did not notify me of additional charges before they were put on my bill and maintains employees who are rude and uncooperative.
I couldn’t find a single number anywhere on my documents to call and complain or get real-​time help. The card I was given to provide feedback was an invalid process. I will NEVER use these guys again.

The emergency number doesn’t work. This was great when I actually had an emergency. The online car I picked out 4 months ago was not the one I got was forced to upgrade to get the space I needed. Was put into a car I didn’t want.
Then I informed the guy I just wanted a basic 4 door not a charger. He said it will cost more and you have to go back up stairs to change it.
The charger was not cleaned lives of trash and food in the car. The 2^nd day after having it and only driving 10 miles the oil change light came on. Are you kidding me!
On day two I emailed them because the customer service number is busy or you get disconnected if you have a complaint. So I left a detailed email and provided me phone number, email and many other ways to get in contact with me because I wanted a new car. That was 10 days ago and I return the car in a few hours. So frustrated with my service the added price and the crazy car.
I will never use them again and I recommend no one else does. This company doesn’t care about there customers at all and will find ways to charge you more after you get the deal to pay less. Shady and sad.
I want you to contact me about this terrible experience! You should have all my info I have left it with you 3 times now!

I read the reviews here and became extremely anxious about what to expect for this car rental experience. I rented an economy vehicle, paid pennies compared to competitors, and overall had a very positive experience. Based on previous reviews, I made sure I declined all additional charges — including fuel and insurance. The employee was respectful with my requests. Rental car pickup and return was very fast. Overall, based on the experience I would definitely rent from thrifty again.

I am updating this one star because the Twitter girl was helpful and provided me the refund. However the refund was on a good faith effort and not because they misrepresent the vehicles… So HOPE was a great customer service agent, however the policies at thrifty will have me going else where in the future.
I am writing this in hopes that thrifty reads and someone will get in touch with me. My frustration is with the toll free line.
The call generated from the $ 90 we were charged to upgrade our vehicle at the Seattle airport. We reserved a compact car-​ford focus or similar… Upon arrival a Chevy volt was offered as ‘compact’ a quick survey of the website and the volt is still the smaller economy. But hey I’m on vacation I’ll deal with later.
We drove off in a Toyota Corolla… Ford Focus similar right??? They are now saying that is midsize… Although the the website still does not define it that way. Was not going to let it affect my amazing vacation but when I got back I called to inform them of the misrepresentation or fraudulence on their website.
I called the 800# and the first girl was not even empathetic. Asked to speak to a supervisor and was transferred to pay toll fees.
I called back to speak to a supervisor and was denied. A case was opened but no new reference number given. What if a customer service rep was aggregious to me? How can I report that if I’m denied ability to talk to anyone above that level.
I will no longer be renting from thrifty or their new parent company hertz.

This is my review for the Thrifty Sea-​Tac airport location (there appear to be two businesses on Unilocal fitting this description):
Clearly the only requirement for applying for management positions at Thrifty is having failed Business Ethics. Between the fast talking CSR pointing to stickers on the counter and the computer screens full of fine print and fees I had to keep paging through, it’s no wonder I was overcharged for fuel (told them I would bring it back full, brought it back full, but was charged for a full tank of gas).
When I called later and demanded a refund, they did so immediately, because — get this — it was obvious from their own systems that they’d overcharged me. I wonder how many thousands of customers they’ve knowing ripped off based on their own computer data?
If this is capitalism in America, I’m voting for Bernie Sanders in ’16.

They charged me the cost of a full size vehicle for a mid size. Then when I called the first two transferred me back and forth between the two of them. The middle three hung up on me and the last one had me on hold for an hour. They know I’m right so they’re giving me the run around. I will never recommend anyone to thrift. I’ll pay the extra money at another service and get the respect I deserve. You don’t get to blatantly lie to me in my face and think I’m going to continue using or recommending you too people. YOU SUCK THRIFTY RENTAL CAR!

Borderline illegal practices heres…
Got a car through a third party booking service, paid in advance. Went to pick it up and they went through the typical sales deal of trying to upsell on a ton of different things (sidenote — it is worth going through the slightly more expensive car rental companies, as they do less of this). One of those things was insurance.
I know the insurance world better than the average person, and am very familiar with what my coverage handles. But as the typical tourist, I don’t know individual state requirements. So when they started pushing me on getting coverage for loss of use, among other things they claimed Washington mandated, I fought a bit.
Here’s the key. After a lot of back and forth, I said «What is the minimum legal requirement?» and the counter guy danced around and finally said that I needed their low tier upgraded coverage. This nearly doubled our rental car rate.
Did they break the law? Pretty much, based on how they answered my question. Would I ever win in court or would it be even worth fighting? Of course not, not over $ 150 or whatever it was. Will I ever book with Thrifty again? Doubtful.

Amyr was so disrespectful and when i asked for a Manager he left for a moment and came back without one. Then I asked him «do you know a good customer service is» he said no I do not. then why is he working there? after a long flight and miles of walking to get here, I don’t expect to deal with an ass like that.

I booked this because it was cheap. Most of the annoying things were typical of any rental car place, super long wait, hard sell on expensive add-​on insurance that is usually unnecessary if you have reasonable car insurance, etc. The thing that really pissed me off was the toll road talk they gave us. They asked if we would be taking any toll roads, including the Tacoma Narrows bridge. We weren’t sure, and they tried very hard to sell us a $ 20 upgrade to have an electronic thingy to pay our tolls. I asked whether there was any way to pay in cash, and was told «no». If we just drove through it, we would pay the toll road’s penalty for driving through without the electronic gadget, PLUS a $ 25 forwarding fee for Thrifty. Nice. I didn’t want to deal with it and said we didn’t want it.
Well, it turned out we did need to take that bridge. The toll only applies going from west to east across the bridge, and there is a very clearly marked exit to the toll plaza to pay with cash or credit card. Many many road signs told us not to stay in the direct lanes unless we had a special pass, and it was super easy to pull over and hand them my credit card. I did not appreciate being lied to by the employee. It seemed like a very slimy way for them to make an extra $ 20.

TERRIBLE customer service.
I live in Seattle and occasionally will rent a car when I need to travel down to Portland or if I have car repairs or for some reason we need a second vehicle.
Saturday ⁹⁄₂₀ I rented a car from Firefly (new company) and I ended up arriving a little after they closed so I went over to Thrifty (Firefly recommended Thrifty).
The counter rep was friendly and quickly explained they match the price of Firefly (because they are a sister company) and booked us as a walk. I explained we were getting our car repaired and I might need to extend. She said it was no problem and that all I need to do is call the 1 – 800 number and extend my reservation and they just charge the additional days.
Monday night by car still wasn’t done so I called and extended the reservation. The person on the phone said it was no problem and that they just needed to pull the cost of the additional 2 days plus a $ 50 deposit. I said «that’s perfect!» and went on my way.
When I turned in the car two days later and was handed the receipt. it was $ 45 more than I expected and I noticed I was not getting my $ 100 deposit back (so $ 150).
I went upstairs and waited in line to talk to a rep, she went and got a manager. The manager came out and started yelling at me that the extra charges were listed in my contract. I pulled out my contract and said «where?», she then said «well it was one of the screens you signed when you picked up the car» and I said «that wasn’t explained to us at the counter nor when we called and extended the reservation. I wouldn’t have extended for two additional days if I would have known it was an additional $ 25 per day on top of the daily rate»
She said «you signed for it I can show you»
I explained that it wasn’t in writing nor was it explained at the counter or when we called to extend, she continued to argue with me (rudely I might add)
I said «I hope $ 45 was worth all future business from our family and my friends.» and walked away.
I worked customer service for a long time and when something as little as $ 45 is standing in the way of a happy customer. typically it gets waived. I have been cursed at and had scamming customers and so many bad things that I felt the customer didn’t deserve a discount when it was given. But apparently Thrifty doesn’t care about the customer experience.
I don’t care about the $ 45, I care that the manager was rude, that we can easily get overcharged with no warning, and that the company does not value the customer.
I will never recommend Thrifty or rent from them ever again.
Go to Sixt, they are awesome.

SCAM ALERT! I’d give them zero stars if I could. After reserving the car (and airfare) with expedia and specifying that I DO NOT want the lame daily $ 26.99 insurance, they sold it to me anyway!
Here’s how the scam works: you get there with the reservation already made. They ask you AGAIN about what you’ve already said (insurance or no insurance) and even when you verbally say NO, they input yes in their computer and rapidly click through a small touch screen device (giving you no time to read the screen, but making you initial each time they click through) and wallah, hundreds of dollars are stolen from you!
I had to call them, they refused a refund, then I had to file a Better Business Bureau report and refute the charge with my credit card company. A manager called in response to my report and refunded the charge a few weeks later.
Additionally, their fuel thing is a scam. They offer advanced payment (you pay them about $ 47) for fuel telling you they’ll charge the average daily rate making it appear as though a refund will come if you don’t bring the car back empty, but even with ¾ths of a tank (which they document) they refund $ 0. Free gas for them! The worst. Never, ever again. Ever.