Dollar Car Rental

Do not rent a car from Dollar !!! They are unresponsible, and unprofessional… I had very bad experience.

The person working the desk at the Columbus airport was just rude. When I asked to talk to a manager he said it wasn’t going to matter because the manager was just going to agree with him. To my surprise he was right. The Manager didn’t even listen to what I had to say. I returned to ask for his boss’s number and the manager didn’t even come out of his office. He passed the info on a post it note. I called that person on the post it note and left a message 3 days ago with no response.

The rental process went ok, but the «upgraded» car they gave my wife, a small kia, was terrible. A really poor riding vehicle, not especially cheap either. maybe ok for a quick business trip into town, but miserable if you are in it for more than a half hour at a time. I know, we had a choice, but still…
Then we decided to extend our trip. Calling their service center was a nightmare. First, the connections were terrible. Foreign call center-​constant static and disconnects. The reps not only had very poor english, but did not seem to understand the car rental business, long waits. Very difficult to get business done.
I called to extend the rental for a few days and to find out about charges for dropping the car. It turned out the charges were very high, so when I told the rep I would return it to the original site, he never updated the return date. Then we got threatening phone calls and emails saying they were reporting the car as stolen, then we had to go through the whole thing again with another ESL rep who could hardly hear us over an awful phone connection and who we could barely understand.
The people at the airport were OK, but could not overcome the poor equipment and lousy customer service. This company is bad news and since their rates are no better than any other car rental, who needs them. c-​ya

I received a message on Unilocal in response to my review. The message basically said «we’re sorry, but our financial policy is on our website.»
Here is my response: My opinion of Dollar Rent A Car is unchanged by your response.
The financial policy is irrelevant, given the fact that I didn’t use your website for this car rental. A more customer focused policy would be to require that Orbitz pass on your financial policy on to its customers.

If I could this place would receive negative stars I would!
Terrible customer service! Will not accept reservations from online third party vendors and make frivolous excuses to avoid having to do any work.
Ended up paying a lot more at the enterprise next door but were treated well.

I made the reservation on Expedia as part of a package; I’d never rented from Dollar Rent a Car before, but I figured rental car companies are all pretty much the same. (Protip: They are not.)
The first sign that something was wrong was the guy in front of me, who was loudly complaining to an agent that his daughter had been ripped off and charged $ 400 to rent a small car for four days and had been told that optional things were mandatory, etc, etc. He was trying to get his daughter’s money back; good luck to him!
As I stood in line, I noticed that the other rental car desks were booking it and their lines were moving fast. Not in Dollar. I was the first person in line and waited over fifteen minutes, which isn’t HORRIBLE, but Hertz moved through probably seven people in that time with the same number of agents.
The agent was initially very nice until I declined the insurance, which would have doubled my car costs. My personal car insurance covers me in a rental car, so this wasn’t needed. He said okay but put that I wanted the optional insurance anyway. I told him that I would not sign it; I did not want the insurance. He then tried to tell me that this was a required fee — nope, it isn’t. I told him no, it is not required and I would not sign for it. He then became quite angry and insisted that I hand him my auto insurance card (which I did), which he looked over for a few minutes before declaring that it wouldn’t cover anything if I was hit by an uninsured driver (untrue). I told him if he was unwilling to rent me a car without requiring the optional insurance, I would gladly talk to his manager. He then let me proceed before practically throwing the rental agreement in my face and telling me to «go upstairs.»
I’ve never been treated that poorly while renting a car, and I definitely won’t rent from this company again.

What a terrible experience. After a long delay I finally arrive to the airport and proceed up to the dollar express area. They find my contract which says that I rented a mid-​size car. He looks at his available cars and says that I can pick from 2 Chevy Sonics or a Kia Rio. All Compact cars. Fortunately, I rent 2 – 3 cars a month for work and I laugh and refuse to take a compact car when I paid a lot more for the mid-​size. Well, it took 15 minutes of back and forth until he agreed to put me in a standard. I’ll never try to save a few bucks again in Columbus. Very uncool. I can’t wait until I see what charges they hit me with when I get back.

Unclear signs leading you where you need to go first at Port Columbus Airport. I went upstairs to the 2^nd level WHERE THE SIGNS LEAD YOU TO.
Optional additions to the car rental are said not to be optional, but mandatory.
I contact the place by phone. I am told that indeed the optional additions are not mandatory. The kicker: I, the consumer have to go back to the airport location or any location to have the charge taken off.
Nope. You should have taken the charge off on the phone when I was talking to you.
Not renting with them again. Don’t like liars or laziness.

Be very carful to get all your belongings out of the car when you turn it in. The manager said they don’t always check the glovebox. I left a iPhone in the glovebox and they said I must have left it some place else. No one I talked to, even the manager were not friendly at all. I was very nice to them and did not in any way say I think they kept it, but they all acted guilty. I’ll never rent from this company again.

well… I have to start with, I booked on Expedia. So I cant vouch for their prices.
HOWEVER, I can say when I got to the desk at Columbus Airport everyone was NOTHING But nice. From the front desk, till my drop off it was literally nothing but a pleasure.
I actually rented a GPS from them (I KNOW I KNOW its 2014, but my mother made me). It ended up not working. I called the 800# and received a full refund on the additional GPS charge.
I see all the bad reviews, but I have to say I would recommend them.

Aggressive salesman turned red and scary when I wouldn’t buy insurance. Car was fine but difficult to find in lot. Really turned off by rental agent though.

Worst rental car experience EVER! I travel often & have never had any issues renting a car from any other location. For starters, once I actually picked out my car it took them approximately 20 minutes to even have an attendant let me out the gate. In addition, they charged me insurance when I specifically stated that I have insurance through my current car insurance company. Their signature pad where you sign the contract is up on a high counter and being 5 feet tall I was not able to see exactly what I was signing, so their customer associate was helping me and basically lied in stating that I was declining insurance, which resulted in me getting charged an additional $ 136. Never again will I use them!

Their communication is beyond crap. Not just with me as a consumer, but with each other.
I called because I was going to be late to pick up my car. If you need to talk to someone, you can’t talk to the people who are actually at the desk. The woman I spoke to via their 800 number was incredibly rude and unhelpful.
Me: Hi, I think I’m going to be about 15 minutes late on my 10:30 reservation.
Beyotch: That location closes at 10:30.
Me: Exactly at 10:30?
Beyotch: Yes.
Me: Is there anything that can be done?
Beyotch: Silence… then, «They close at 10:30.»
Me: Well, is there another Dollar where I could pick up a car.
Beyotch: They all close at 10:30.
Me: Well, do you have a partner or affiliate company that might have a car for me?
Beyotch: Silence… then, «You could try calling Budget.»
Me: Could I come and pick that car up tomorrow morning?
Beyotch: It’s not available tomorrow.
Me: Uhmmm… since I’m supposed to have it all week, how could it be gone tomorrow if I don’t pick it up tonight?
Beyotch: It’s not available tomorrow.
Me: Is there ANY car available tomorrow.
Beyotch: Yes.
Me: Like what?
Arrrgghhh…and this goes on until I hang up on her.
I arrive at the airport after calling someone to come pick me up…11pm and the Dollar Rent a Car counter is open. WTF?
Me: I’m so glad you’re open. I was told you close at 10:30.
Counter dude: Who told you that?
Me: Your rude customer service people on the 1 – 800 number.
Counter dude: Harumph. They’re just out there. They don’t know nothin’. We’re always open until at least 11:30.
Off to the lot. I hand my paperwork to Metal Box guy #1.
Metal Box guy #1: I don’t know why they told you you could have this car. We sent the last one of those out hours ago.
Me: Do you have ANY car?
Metal Box guy #1: Lemme see.
Metal Box guy #2 attempts to make small talk.
It’s too dark to see if there are damages and I’m too tired to care. The car is covered with bug residue and dirt. I huck my 50+ lb suitcase in the back.
Metal Box guy #2: Where are you going?
I look at him blankly.
Metal Box guy #2: Are you going straight to your hotel?
Me: I’m not going to a hotel at all.
Metal Box guy #2: Well, maybe you should put your luggage in the trunk instead of the back where people can see it. I can do that for you.
I look Metal Box guy #2 up and down. He’s weighing in at at least 300lbs and is shorter than me.
Me: If I wanted it in the trunk, I’d put it in the trunk myself.
As I’m getting ready to go, I hear Metal Box guy #2 mutter something to Metal Box guy #1 and they both look at me and snicker.
S’alright boys, this stellar brain power is perhaps why your job is sitting in a metal box at an airport all night long.
Returning the car in Cleveland, the Dollar return is not in the main plaza with the rest of the rental car returns it’s in another complex… and then you have to take two shuttles to get to the terminal.
God, I fucking hate Dollar Rent A Car.

Oh man, where do I even start?
My rental agent was super nice, no problems there. And the nice lady who found the keys did her job well. The problem started when my rental car broke down. Yes. Broke down. In Gahanna, OH. I tried to start it with that fancy push start crap and it turned over but never caught. It had ⁷⁄₈ tank of gas and drove me to the restaurant just fine.
I specifically requested a Jeep Laredo because that is what I wanted and the ONLY reason I went to Dollar over every other company. Never doing that again.
I called the ²⁴⁄₇ roadside assistance and after being on hold for a few minutes, they couldn’t find my «contract» number and said I wasn’t a current customer. I told the guy that I definitely had a rental car from them that I was sitting in and was broken.. . and after a few more minutes of «searching other databases» he apologized and said they would get another car to me within 90 minutes. He also assured me that I would be given a discount when I returned my vehicle. I was around 15 (maximum) minutes from the airport where I received my rental car.
90 minutes later I had to fill out an accident report that was completely irrelevant to receive a GMC terrain. I was willing to pay premium to get a Jeep Laredo, don’t give me some crap mini-​SUV when I can clearly see online that you have Jeep SUVs available. I was NOT given a choice as to what vehicle they brought me.
I tried to get passed it, but I barely drove the damn thing after that because it felt cheap and I did not like anything about it.
When I returned the vehicle, the manager was a complete asshole and told me I could only get a discount if it wasn’t my fault and I had to go down to some shady mechanics room at the airport with him to check. Maybe I watch too many movies or maybe I had bad experiences as a kid, but when a creepy old dude tells you to go to the basement of an airport with him.. . don’t do it.
No discount. Missed 3 house showings that were arranged by the bank for me on days I would be in town. Now I don’t have a house to move in to unless I fly back to OH.
DO NOT EVER COME HERE! THEY WILL FUCK YOU AND THEN BE COMPLETE ASS HATS ABOUT IT!

I travel pretty frequently and renting from this Dollar was by far the worst car rental experience I have ever had!
First, the rental agent was very rude about insurance. My auto insurance plan, like most, covers me while I’m driving a rental car. This makes their extra coverage plans a rip-​off. The agent informed me that if there was an accident, I would be responsible for a daily fee while the car was being repaired that most insurance companies won’t cover. Total scam! I have never heard of this practice with other rental car companies.
The next problem arose as I was exiting the garage. There were several scratches on the rear bumper. It is customary to inform the personnel as you exit to avoid being charged for any damages when returning the car. When I did so, the guy told me that all the cars were pre-​inspected and wouldn’t even look. In the end I wasn’t charged, so it was ok, but it is very nerve-​wracking to know they could decide to hold you responsible if they so chose.
Finally, I filled up my tank before returning the vehicle. I had to return the car before anyone was working due to a very early flight. I was charged ~$ 30 to fill up the tank despite the fact that I had just filled it up near the airport. I called to complain and they basically told me it wasn’t their problem.
This was originally quoted as the best price for a week rental but it certainly didn’t end that way. Do yourself a favor and pay a couple extra bucks to rent from Alamo or Hertz. It will wind up costing you the same in the end and avoids all the headaches!