DebitNM

On a recent trip to San Diego, we rented a car from Dollar. We have used Dollar a lot and have found them to have been very good to deal with and prices that were really good.

I found a super deal for a compact car and reserved the car through their website. The website indicates that Compact car is Caliber or "similar" car.

The young man helping us when we picked up the car was very chatty and nice. When it came time to sign, he really used a hard sell to get us to take the insurance. We said we wanted the basic car rental only. He contiues on and tells us that is will be $36 for basic for the 4 days. We again say, we don't want ANY insurance and he starts to tell us about the laws in Calif and insurance. We again tell him, we have car insurance that will cover us and VISA for secondary. He tells us that his wife is an insurance agent and he knows that he always takes at least the basic insurance. We finally get the point across that we do not want any insurance. He is pretty snippy with us at that point.

He tells us we have a Caliber [which means nothing to me] and to pick it up outside. We go out and see that the car is a hatchback, with no cargo cover or anything like that, which means our luggage will be quite visible in what is clearly a rental car.

We arrived early in the morning and intended to drive around most of that day and then do the same thing on our last day, with a 6 pm car drop off. I am a bit paranoid and am concerned that we will be out of the car in severaly tourist spots and that the luggage is so visible. I go in and ask for a car with a trunk. The guy says, Compact car on the website says Caliber and that is what we got. I know that it said "and similar" but figure that I am not going to get far with him and I can't tell what other cars are available in lot.

So we take the car and nothing evil happens. But that isn't really the issue.

So, beware when you rent about having [or not having] a trunk for your luggage. It's not something I would have given too much thought about before this as we usually don't have luggage in car for such long periods of time.

Deb

Nikki

This is something I have become very aware of, and the last time we rented a car and we walked out to the parking lot and saw that it had no covered trunk area, I made my husband go back and get a different car. He was not happy about it, but I just don't feel comfortable leaving our luggage visible in the car, not since we had our luggage stolen out of a station wagon in New York over twenty years ago.

Andrew

I rented a Caliber once (from Dollar at ABQ), and I seem to recall it does have a retractable trunk cover? (Did you check yours?) Since I had my laptop and camera bag in the car often, I would have been very wary about that.

I have had better luck with Dollar than other car rental companies. (ABQ lost its Dollar franchise within the last six months - now there's a Thrifty.) The Alamo at ABQ was awful when I tried to rent there last year; I wanted a compact car and they kept telling me how lucky I was to get an "upgrade" to a full-sized (read: gas guzzling) car for the same price. No one could tell me when a compact would come in and be ready for rental, so I canceled my Alamo car and just got one at Dollar for the same price (and no hassle).

I think the sales people make a nice commission on the add-ons like insurance and thus some of them are pushy about selling it to you. But it seems to vary by the franchise.

DebitNM

We did check, there was no cover. I think the agents do get a % of the add ons. And yes Andrew, I love the upgrade to a bigger, gas hog car!

The rate was almost 50% less than everywhere else, I couldn't get even close to that rate thru Priceline, so $ wise it was a good deal. If the luggage had been stolen and windows/car doors jimmied it would have been a terrible price.

I didn't know Dollar was gone from ABQ; we always have our own car when in the Q. How was the flight home with the cat??

Deb

gyppielou

I think it is unfair to alert a whole travel forum and take a whole corporation down due to a single incident with a single person.

Andrew

Perhaps a cover was installed on the one I was driving? I am fairly sure I would have worried about such a thing. With some googling I see that a trunk cover is not a standard feature of the Caliber but it's a common add-on for obvious reasons. Maybe some Dollar versions had them?

(I actually thought my Caliber was a fun little car to drive, though gas mileage was a bit disappointing for a car its size.)

Yes, I made it home with the cat just fine. She is adjusting to her new temporary home.

DebitNM

My post is meant to provide food for thought for those making car rental plans; that I mentioned the name of the company may be important as well for some people who also would have a problem leaving their luggage in a hatchback car all day.

I believe I also stated that I have had many good rental experiences with Dollar as well.

I believe this forum is for exactly this purpose, i.e. to share travel experiences with other travelers - isn't most of what gets posted here related to actual experiences people have had while traveling, to them singly?

Deb

Deb

gyppielou

Sorry Deb, but I find the title of the thread you started to be alarmist.

Perhpas Be Wary of Rental Car Agency in Chelsea New Mexico Across From the Coffee Shop That Sells Stale Donuts

would be helpful.

To start a thread with a title as you did, is damaging and misleading. From the information you have given us, you have no real problem with Dollar, but with a specific agency. So it is unfair to paint with such a wide stroke.

That' all I meant. What you meant is much less clear. Perhaps you should start a new and clearer thread.

november_moon

I'd contact the location manager or the corporate headquarters for the company. I've always had good luck with Dollar, which leads me to believe that the company would want to know about any PTA employees.

And I have driven plenty of hatchbacks and they have always had a trunk cover, so I don't think it is unreasonable to expect the Caliber to have one as well.

J62

Thanks for the heads up. I've had very good experiences with Dollar, especially in SF. I'm not sure any rental car co guarantees a covered luggage space - there are a lot of hatchback models on the road these days and sometimes you gets what you gets.

Here's a trick I learned about politely but firmly turning down rental car insurance add-ons.

When asked I say no, once, then I completely shut up and just stand there. No dialog. No explanations about my visa/MC, or my own insurance. If they ask again I simply ask if they heard me the first time.

Same trick works on the phone when a solicitor calls offering me something.

Seamus

Not sure Dollar has cornered the market on this - I've had the hard sell from several companies. In fact, I believe a few years back Enterprise lost a court case around this and had to agree to back off on what amounted to near fraudulent marketing. And the agents absolutely do get a commission on this. It's a big moneymaker for car rental companies.

DebitNM

I guess I must not have posted this as clearly as possible.

I wasn't really trying to make the issue about the hard sell on the insurance. I related that onlyto indicate why I thought the clerk brushed me off when I asked for a different car.

My real point here was about getting a hatchback car and having your luggage visible. I wanted to give readers a heads up about being aware of the type of car you might get when renting.

This was the first trip where we landed at 8:30 am and couldn't check in until much later in the day, so luggage was in car with us as we visited various areas during the day.

The same thing happened on our last day, with an 8 pm departure. We checked out in morning, visited various places during the day and again our luggage was in that hatch.

I simply wanted a car with a trunk, the clerk wasn't going to make that happen. He didn't even try to get me to pay more to upgrade and get a car with a trunk - he couldn't be bothered and it wasn't that he was very busy either. I do think us turning down the insurance caused him to write us off, but still, that wasn't really the point of my OP.


Deb

Seamus

I do understand the concern about the luggage being exposed. What I would have done is gone back to the counter (or to someone in the car lot if present)and say very pleasantly, "Looks like this car we wee assigned is defective - there is no storage area cover. I'd like another, please."
And if he got pissy, call the manager.

Andrew

These days I usually reserve rental cars at two competing companies for cases like this (since there's no obligation to leave a reserve with a credit card or anything). So if a company doesn't have the right kind of car available, I walk over to the next counter.

NeoPatrick

I've rented many hatchback type cars and I have yet to see one that doesn't have a cover that hides the luggage. And that includes renting several Calibers from Dollar. I'm curious if this car was missing its cover or is this a regular issue?
I agree that you had a right to complain that the luggage would be exposed. There's something wrong there!
Oddly enough I'm supposed to pick up a Caliber from Dollar tomorrow! But it's just to drive to the airport and drop off, so I'm not too concerned about the cover.

yk

I almost rented from Dollar on my recent trip to SF, but found a better deal via Budget. I haven't rented from either one for years, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect (I usually go for PL/HW, or Hertz if rate is comparable.)

And as a HEADS-UP on Budget, the fine print states that if one drives less than 75 miles during the rental period, Budget will automatically add on a $10.95 fuel surcharge unless the renter provides a gas receipt as proof of gas purchase. I guess many people didn't bother refueling the car if they only drove for a short distance, hence this policy.

starrs

I agree. Every hatchback or SUV I've rented has a cover for the back storage area. It's strange that the car you were given didn't. I think I would have gone back in and switched cars - even for another Caliber.

DebitNM

Dollar in San Francisco [not at airport, but at O'Farrell Street location] stipulated in contract that you must show them a gas receipt that indicated it was within a certain distance from office within a certain time frame of return.

We did that, had the receipts, but they never asked to see it, any of the times we rented from them.

We did return a car to SFO and we had a real challenge finding a gas station near the return for Dollar. We found a Costco nearby, but we didn't belong and you can't get gas unless you swipe a card.

It was the only station we came across and we pulled in and saw that you had to have a card [we don't go to Costco, and we know that at Sam's you can buy without a card], some kind person was nice enough to swipe their costco card so we could fill up.

Deb

yk

Deb, we almost missed our flight because we had trouble finding a gas station near SFO! I had imagined there would be plenty nearby or just off Rt 101 and can be easily spotted, but NOT! Thank goodness we brought our GPS along which had a feature to search for the nearest gas station. I think it was a Chevron we found in Millbrae, the exit just before SFO going on 101 N from the south.

Budget didn't ask us for a gas receipt - but we did drive over 75 miles.

DebitNM

I usually make a note of gas stations when we first exit the rental lot, but since we picked the car up at Union Square, I didn't have the chance to do so. I also just "assumed" that there would be gas stations close to return rental area.

Maybe that should be another thread here!
Deb