America Car Rental

I would also give this dump of a company 0 stars if that was possible! Worst car rental company EVER!!! I thought they were a normal company at the airport– and they are def not! They aren’t even located at John wayne and they don’t tell you that either! I called, paid for a reservation, then realized this place isn’t at sna like they told me! Whatever you do, do not rent from them. They are super friendly– until you return the car you have rented. Bait and switch! They keep your deposit no matter what and make up bogus reasons why they won’t refund you back the deposit. I rented a so-​called «brand new» car that was infested with ants. They didn’t do anything about it when I called to let them know. They also called me two days earlier than the day I was to return the rental telling me it needs to be returned– how do you not keep track of this stuff?! After some time and a lot of Unnecessary paperwork, I got my deposit from these a-​holes because they refused to refund me and I had to take it up with my credit card company. Save yourself the headache and stay away from this shady business!

We went to San Diego for our son’s graduation from the Marines. This company was part of the ones that popped up through Hotwire and we booked a car for two days. I refused the insurance and was charged a deposit of 600.00 dollars, to be refunded upon return of the car. It has been over a month and I have yet to see the refund on my card. I have started the dispute w/​Chase, I have called numerous times to their 949−724−1899 number and their mailbox is always full. The employees at the SD office, Frankie Lui and Gustavo have stated that they have processed my refund over three different times and again I have not seen any refund. I spoke with a Ms. Mesalina Moreno supposedly in corporate, again stated that my refund was being processed, this over two weeks and nothing. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. MILITARY STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. It’s best to spend a bit more and save the stress, then go through the pain of trying to get your refund back like I’m having to do. I would give no star it’s that bad, Unilocal makes you give star to complete the process, if we could go into the negatives I say they deserve –5 stars and then some. PLEASE I REPEAT STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!!!

I reserved a car for what I thought was a fair price, got a near immediate confirmation, then next day got an email that it was NOT confirmed, payment had not gone through. Same email next day. So I made another reservation thinking first was void. Big Mistake, as payment for first HAD gone through. And due to medical emergency had to cancel my trip and rental car. Apparently the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing, so only the second reservation was cancelled. The first, which they said was NOT confirmed was not cancelled (because it was not confirmed??). However credit card bill shows they charged their end on the day I first tried to reserve. AND I get a confirmation yesterday, 5 days after I cancelled the only reservation I thought I had. And now they want to stick me with a $ 30 cancellation fee. No «I’m sorry, it’s our fault. you’re right and we’ll waive the fee.» Apparently everything is «automated and computerized» and these things happen. Poorly run organization

Got an email the night before, THREE MINUTES before they closed for the evening, telling me the 8am rental I had reserved would not be ready until after 11 am. I replied that that was not going to work, as we had a wedding to attend and would they please arrange to have SOME vehicle available at the agreed upon time. More important to get to the wedding on time than to arrive in style in a convertible.
The next morning we arrived at the airport and called at eight, when they open. No one answered until after 8:30. And no they didn’t have a car, but they would shuttle us to our hotel and then pick us up when the car was ready. Uh huh. Even if we did have the morning free and were willing what hotel allows 8:30 check-​ins?
What a charlie foxtrot…
Called Enterprise and got a car right away.
Made it to the wedding on time. No thanks to ACR.

Like many other reviewers, this is one of the worst rental services I’ve delt with. They took 45 minutes to pick me up from the airport in San Diego, California and drop me off at their hole in the wall rental office. On top of that, they took 30 minutes to process and get my car checked out. Then, they charged me another $ 100 deposit for «cleaning fees» if the vehicle comes back dirty which was quite odd at the moment, but I was running late and needed a rental car. Their car return service was quick without any issues. However, it’s has been over a month and I never got my $ 100 deposit refunded even though it was supposed to come at least 3 weeks ago.
I regret renting their car since the advertised rental prices was $ 250/​week on a mini-​van or equivalent vehicle but I ended up paying more than double with insurance, processing fees, and that stupid deposit. I’ll NEVER COME BACK TO THEM AGAIN. You’re better off using brand name car rental companies with discount coupons.

I join a chorus of voices here to warn you about the way that they handle the deposit. I had very nice little Nissan for 4 days, great price. But they put $ 400 on my credit card and have not given it back. I have called 4 times and each time I was told that it would be in my account by 5:00pm … 9am the next morning at the latest. I just looked and it is still there, despite the woman’s seemingly sincere apology and absolute promise that it had been handled. I just turned it in as a dispute on my credit card and I will not work with them again. Further, I am going to call
and let them know that they should not carry this supplier. Do not use this service. I am at this moment not sure I will ever get my money back, and I am mad at myself for not reading reviews before me of folks who had the same experience.

This company is a joke. Unfortunately I didn’t review Unilocal before renting a car from this place otherwise I would have chosen another company. If you don’t take their insurance, they charge a $ 400 deposit, which I have yet to be refunded from a rental I had over a week ago.
I honestly don’t know how places like this stay in business. For whatever reason, the car rental business has gotten sleazier and sleazier and this is a great example.

I agree with the other reviewers and really really wish I had read these reviews before I rented from this company. It is NOT, I repeat, NOT worth the money you «save.»
1. There is only one person working the office + shuttle at any point in time, which is a HUGE delay in getting picked up or dropped off in any kind of timely fashion.
2. The weird $ 400 deposit that immediately gets posted to your account has a mysterious delay in getting returned. Despite repeated calls and confirmations that I am «in the process» of getting it back, I had to put in dispute claim on my credit card. The credit card reimbursed me, but they never did, 2 weeks later. They are THIEVES. I hope they get their end.

This is the weirdest, most random company I’ve ever used — for anything — ever.
First of all, I booked my rental car last minute — grabbing whatever company popped up first at a reasonable rate. BIG MISTAKE.
When I arrived at the John Wayne Airport, I went down to the car rental desks and couldn’t find America Car Rental among the big name counters like Budget and Avis. Oh no, I thought.. . I’ve purchased a rental through a bogus website — gave them my credit card information — and they don’t even exist.. . So, I called the number on my «confirmation.»
Someone in the office picked up.. .This company does exist and IS legit (I guess? Maybe?) but is not located on-​site. What is the point of an airport car rental business that is NOT located at the airport??? I mean, there are just too many other alternatives onsite that are reputable and offer deals lower than those at America Car Rental. But anyway, I was told a van would pick me up shortly. So I waited. BIG MISTAKE.
Thirty minutes later, I was picked up and shuttled to the America Car Rental headquarters — an abandoned-​looking office located between a deli and a gym. Something in my gut told me this was not a legit business — that I needed to head right back over to the airport and put in my order for a car at Avis.. . But I was too tired so I hung in there. BIG MISTAKE.
The real zinger came when the attendant told me I needed to put down a $ 400 deposit. It would come out of my account immediately (causing my account to overdraft, so what seemed like a great deal at first glance turned into the most expensive car rental once I paid all of my overdraft fees). This made NO sense to me, and I still don’t really know why I was required to pay a deposit, which was probably more expensive than the piece of tin I drove around for 3 days.
The strangest part of my experience was yet to come when I dropped the car off. I was told that I had 2 options:
1. I could drop the car at the office and then call my own cab to drive me to the airport??? (WHY WOULD ANYONE CREATE MORE WORK FOR THEMSELVES BY GOING THROUGH THIS BUSINESS WHEN YOU CAN JUST DROP THE CAR AT AVIS AND THEN WALK RIGHT TO YOUR GATE?) Or,
2. I had the option of driving the car to the parking garage at the airport, leaving the car inside, then texting a picture of where I parked it to a random person’s cell phone.. . So I did.. .For some reason unknown to even myself.. . because apparently I was a voiceless idiot on this vacation and never spoke up ONCE about how shady this all seemed.. . I dial the 949 number to ask if I understood the process correctly (might be smart before I lock the keys in the car and take off)…
America Car Rental: «Hey honey, why are you calling me»
Me: «Uuuummmm, I was told to send you a picture of where I parked the car?»
America Car Rental: «Well, I’m at home right now.»
???
An hour later I received a phone call from a man who couldn’t find where I had parked the car. 15 minutes passed and he dialed me again, in search of the rental car.. .
This was the weirdest, most random rental experience. Ever. In fact, the whole time I had a fear that I’d return to drop the car off and the entire «office» would be abandoned. I also wondered if I was on that hidden camera show, «Candid Camera.»
I would hate to imagine what the America Rental experience would be like if I were EVER in an accident or had pretty much any issue at all — because the process of renting through this company is stressful enough even when everything is going right.
This business is beyond weird.
Stick with Avis, Budget, Dollar, Joe Shmo Rentals located ONSITE, with a reputable name, set protocol, etc. You’ve been warned, folks.

NEGATiVE 10!!! Made reservation, paid. PAID!!! Paid to drop car off at 5:30am Sunday. When I went to pick the car up they said they’re closed Sunday and I would have to pay the fee for parking at the airport until they could come get the car. Total bullshit. Keep the car. I’ll take my $ 540 back, thank you.

They double charged me on the reservation and charged $ 500 deposit on top of that. They returned the reservation overcharge but have kept my deposit for over 2 weeks. They tell me it will be returned in few days each of 4 times I called back every few days.
The break on this SUV were going out.
I rented for 3 days but they still charged me for 4 days.
Avoid this place unless you are prepared to ask your credit card service to do charge back on them.

I would give a zero as well. They were over an hour late with having my car so I could pick I up. Then they charged me a 400 dollar deposit which they still haven’t reimbursed. It’s been over 2 weeks now. Every time I talk to them they say, «it’s going in today!» Lol. They have no idea how to run a business. I would not recommend them to anyone… Ever!

Would give no stars if possible. Customer service was terrible. We showed up around 8:30am to pick up a rental car, but no one was there even though their open sign was lit up and their hours were clearly marked on the window that they were open starting at 8am. I understand this is a new company, but there’s no excuse for not even being present in your office at your own self-​appointed office hours!
Calling their local number only gave us their answering machine, and after about 10 minutes of loudly banging on their windows to get someone’s attention, we gave up and left.
They call us 2 hours later and ask if we were going to come and pick up a car (the wrong model that we ordered!!). When we told them we had ordered a different car than the one they said they had for us, they argued with us saying they didn’t have any record of our order. Only when we forwarded them a copy of our confirmation email did they believe us. Ridiculous!
Then when we finally drive all the way back to their hole in a wall office, they don’t even apologize for not being in the office during their own hours! To top it all off, they don’t even comp us for the incredible inconvenience and delay they caused us. Wow…
Tl;dr — terrible service with no customer respect, avoid this rental service like the plague.