Dollar Car Rental

If I could give this ZERO, that would be more appropriate. We reserved and pre-​paid about a month before our trip. Where do I even begin to explain my horrible experience at Dollar?! First, the line was the most ridiculous wait time ever! After waiting for more than 50 minutes, we get called to the counter to only find out that the overbooked their reservations so we would be put on a wait list with more than a hour wait to get our rental in addition to the 50 minutes I already waited to get to the counter? Why was I not notified about this? Overbooked? Send me an email so I can make other travel arrangements.
The clerk at the counter explained this situation way to easily and without any remorse so my response was does this happen often? He said all the time! So here we are sitting on the floor at the San Francisco airport WAITING 2 hours for our rental car.
Beware! Do not ever book with Dollar. The worst experience of my entire life.
Nice way to start my anniversary vacation. Thanks dollar

I dont understand why there’s always a line, not just with a few people, but at least 8 and over… tic toc tic toc… waiting!!!
Stop trying to sell me gas! I can refuel the car at a gas station prior at a cheaper price.

It was all I could do to get my car at the price I had on paper as the agent kept aggressively trying to upsell me on various options which I politely declined, then was told to wait ½ hour or be charged for another day (make sure you have the estimated paper bill). After waiting ½ hour I went back to the counter and had the same struggle with another agent although not quite as bad. But he kept insisting it was more than the paper estimate and I was determined not to budge. Finally after almost an hour I got the car for the price I agreed to which was a brand new Impala and a very good driving experience but I needed a drink after I got to my hotel after all the hassling. Rate them 5 for the car and 1 for the counter experience!

Quick and easy pick up and drop off for rewards member.

Service was slowwwwww. We just got in late at night from Oahu and didn’t want to deal with bs, but we waited for a half hour while three agents attended to two people. Two of the agents flat out argued with a customer about how she could pay for her group, and kept telling her to wait 15 minutes for the manager to come back. The other agent had to walk a customer through her expected charges line by line and explain each and every one as the customer was a complete idiot who was convinced she was being over charged.
Finally got up once the «over charged» customer was satisfied, and the girl checking me in put us in just the worst car, a mini van type looking Mazda. It was just so embarrassing, but we booked the cheapest rate and this is what they gave us. Whatever. It’s late and I don’t want to talk to anyone, but she insists on finding out my life story. I tell her were going to napa that night, staying there for two days, then driving back and immediately flying home to New York. She tells me she has a restaurant recommendation. I don’t care at all to here it, but she cares to tell me all about it. Come to find out ten minutes later it’s in downtown San Francisco. I’m going straight to Napa and then straight back to the airport you dope. She also kept going on and on about how she couldn’t wait to be on break after she was done working with me. Less talking and you’ll be on break sooner.
The car was fine though, if not the most horrendous clown mobile I’ve ever been in. It got us from a to b and the price was good. If I booked again, I’d prepare myself for the check in shenanigans. Oh, and even though it took me 20 more minutes to get my keys from this chick, the other person taking up two agents at the same time was still arguing with them. The line was about ten deep at this point at like 1115 pm on a Wednesday.

Pros: You get a car, like any other rental car service.
Cons: Here we go… Rented a car on kayak which advertised Dollar as being 82 $ unlimited miles… Cool. It was 82 $ like advertised. The agent asks me casually, will you be crossing the toll bridges into San Francisco. Yes I will. We leave with the car and come back 4 days later. I crossed the toll twice. Once into the city, and once out. Total price of two toll crossings? 12.25 $
How much was my bill at check out? $ 190… Turns out, there are a dozen admin fees for renting a car at the airpot etc. Ok I get that, there are taxes and surcharges for renting a car at an airport. But what was the 11.99 $ a day fee for toll fees? It was at that point that the check out rep explained you can use their fast trak for 11.99 a day. Good thing the initial check in guy explained it to me. Oh wait he didn’t. The check out guy was nice enough to remove the fees and explained to go online and pay the toll fee… which I did.
1 week later… I received a notice charging me 12.25 $ for the toll crossings and an additional 15 $ for each crossing; an admin fee. Called the third party agency in charge of the fine. «They are not affiliated with Dollar» is what the rep told me. Thanks guy.
The pricing is competitive like any other car rental service. I get that. It’s the dishonesty of the whole process I disliked. For that, I’m giving one star.
Edit: Damn, I probably should have checked other reviews on here before renting. I’m not the first.

HORRIBLE! Booked on line at one price which then changed dramatically once I brought the car back. Long line getting car at the airport. Was the only car rental place with a line. When I went to pay my bill for 2 days upon returning the car it was $ 272! I knew something was fishy so I waited in line at the counter to get the bill itemized. When I did the guy working there adjusted it down to $ 180! Rip off scammers. Always check your bill with this company. Better yet, CHOOSE ANY OTHER CAR RENTAL COMPANY!

Today I went in to retain my rental at Dollar Car Rental. After taking my information, the representative informed me that it came up to $ 37 and some change. This had me confused since I had previously reserved it through priceline and it came up to $ 20.48
After arguing with the representative about it, she talked to another representative from thirfty. She made the changes but proceeded to talk about me after I had taken no less than 5 steps from the counter. Not only that the representative next to her proceed to lie to the customer that a economy car was as small as a smart car so he would upgrade. This entire experience was not only unprofessional, it was unethical and disgraceful. I am displeased at the business procedures set in place that would allow representatives of this company to act this way.

Make sure you clearly understand (because the agents at the counter here, won’t tell you), if you do not get the daily rental «Toll Reader», anytime you cross a Bridge in SF, there are NO MANNED TOLL BOOTHS, meaning, you have no choice but to drive through without paying, and subjecting yourself to a Bill and additional $ 15.00 (per occurrence) fine.
I am more than happy to pay the toll (since there was no way to pay it at the Booth (unmanned), but considering we were never made aware that boothes are un-​attended, basically, it’s either, rent the Toll Reader, or pay a fine. Nice Communication, Dollar. Probably will never rent from you again. Not to mention the 35 minute wait on line to get to an agent at the counter. Poor process all around.

Very easy to rent and return car from dollar in sfo. They even upgraded me to a brand new Ford Focus with just 800 miles on it. I love the service.

Generally no issues renting from Dollar but beware of the wishy-​washy Loss Damage Waiver hard-​sell by the counter agents. They’ll vaguely say «California law requires it…» which implies you have to buy their LDW insurance (which adds at least $ 10 per day to your rental), but do your research.
Most credit cards have some form of rental car coverage (if you use them to pay for the rental), and if you already have auto insurance for your own car, it may also cover rental cars. Call them first.
More info here or google it:

After reading the reviews on Unilocal,I was terrified of renting from Dollar fearing that I would go through the same experience as about 95% of the reviewers on here. Fortunately, I had the most stress free experience after booking a car from Priceline!
My family and I needed a car to accommodate 6 people and some snow gear for an upcoming Tahoe trip, so we scrambled to find the best rate for a car literally 2 days before our trip. It seemed as if Priceline had the best deal, so we booked a van for $ 47.20/day + $ 40 in taxes and fees + $ 11 for insurance, which was offered through Priceline. Since I was under 25, they charged an extra $ 35 due to the underage policy and I decided to get the liability insurance for the other parties for $ 13.99, which brought our total to around $ 140.
If you’re renting during the wee hours like I did (3am) make sure you head on over to the 2^nd floor where all the cars are and you will find a little kiosk where Dollar and Thrifty are located right next to each other. If you are using your debit card, they will take $ 350 regardless if your rental fee is less than what was quoted. The employee (didn’t get his name) was an absolute sweetheart and gave us the newest car they had!
Overall, I thought my experience with Dollar was great!

This place is terribly run. There was a massive line (see my picture) and they only had two people working the desk. They finally brought in another employee, but they all appeared to be moving at a glacial pace. Other rental companies (right next to Dollar) had self-​service kiosks that were much more efficient. The price was fantastic — so that’s good — but that doesn’t justify the obscene service. There’s a problem with your operation when it takes 15 min for each person to get a car, you only have two people working, and there are 30 people in line.

I had booked a full size car for a family trip during Christmas and was given a Mazda 3 — a car half the size. The person was rude and claimed that Mazda 3 was a full size car. He asked me to check the Dollar website — I did not see Mazda 3 listed anywhere.
Anyways, long story short, this as you can see this business has a Unilocal rating of 1.5 (never seen for any business I dealt with) and a dedicated Tripadvisor page filled with complaint.
Dishonest, unscrupulous, cheats — not sure how else I can describe them.

LONGEST. LINE. EVER. Nobody’s got time for dah. I actually ended up leaving the line to take the Bart to Embarcardero, as it would’ve taken a good 3 hours to even get into a car. RIDICULOUS — it’s almost 2016 and you don’t even have kiosks? This place is the definition of INEFFICIENT UNPRODUCTIVE BS.
Please get your shyt together because the wait is absolutely atrocious. I was dry heaving when I first saw the line. We had the car for about 2 days, used it to drive to Googleplex, and then returned it. I realized that we didn’t need a car in SF. The car itself was fine, but don’t attach an annoying GPS monitor and then warn customers not to use it thereafter — it keeps turning back on! Hell with this.

Hello there!
Heres a better name for this place: (Two Hundred) Dollar Rent A Car! :)
Theres the old adage, you get what you pay for. If that was the case, not only I should have gotten a Ferrari, but I should have been carried to my car in a silk hammock, had grapes fed to me and have someone carry my bags.
In all seriousness, this is my FIRST and LAST time using this place.
Not only are the charges not explained to you. They will not explain that you will get charges later on. So basically, nothing is explained to you at all.
I thought it would’ve been a good idea to have a navigation system in the car. WRONG. Not only was that an extra charge of $ 14.65 per day, the «navigation system» was a tiny little screen that was bolted on to the front of the dash. This «hi-​tech» «navigation system» was probably pulled out of the smithsonian as a prototype unit from the early 90’s. It was slow, clunky and completely useless. Like Dick Cheney.
The car I received was probably a 5 year old Nissan Sentra that smelled like the inside of colonoscopy probe. It was unwashed, loud and dark.
To top it all off, I tried to submit a complaint online on their website and received this message:
«Error Processing Your Request
We are sorry, but we cannot process your request at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this message, you can contact a customer service representative for assistance.»
Is this a business or a ponzi scheme?
If you are considering this place, don’t.
Don’t be a fool.
thanks for reading my review!

We rented a car this past weekend, and I have to say that I’ve never been insulted as much by a representative from a company. In addition, he blatantly lied to us.
1. Previously when I’ve rented from Dollar, the representative would ask if we wanted insurance. However, with this particular representative, he did not give us that option. He asked if we wanted liability, standard and full. When I asked if we had to buy insurance, his mood changed to an insulting derogatory mood. He asked for my insurance which I produced. Then he went on to question how much my deductible was, arguing that the insurance offered by Dollar would be cheaper than the deductible. Specifically, he stated that we should be asking him for insurance. When we finally politely declined, he was even more furious, in a mood as if he were washing his hands clean of the entire affair, curtly stating «fine then you take the responsibility for the car» which is what we pay our auto insurance for. Again, my wife and I felt entirely insulted and offended as customers.
2. He blatantly lied to us about the cost of the gas. I normally do not pay for the option to fill up the tank, however he told us that Dollar would charge us $ 3.60/gallon and that the nearby gas stations were charging $ 3.80/gallon. When we left the SFO airport area, it was obvious that the charge of the gas was $ 3.23−3.40/gallon, much lower than he quoted, lower even than what Dollar was charging us. Again, we felt lied to, leaving us feeling even more insulted.
I am not sure if this is Dollar’s normal policy. I assume not since I have rented from Dollar before without ever feeling this level of insult. I feel that this representative should be re-​educated on proper customer care and service. Specifically, they should not blatantly lie about the cost of gas in order to get you to buy an entire tank of gas from them.

One star and I don’t have a car yet. If you make me wait 90 minutes to get a car, you get one star. Please — believe the crappy reviews. They really do suck.
One positive — you know how you have to wait 4 hours to check in a second time on Unilocal?With Dollar SFO, that is not a problem! You will be able to check in twice!
Look At the pics, read the reviews. Its true. Find another agency

Obscene line at the SFO rental car facility on a Saturday at 1pm.
All the more distracting given that they don’t have all the staff they could have.

Even if the first 5 reviews on google were terrible I still tried and… Terrible experience: booked online, well in advance, they overbooked of course and ended up not getting ANY car for my family arriving from the other side of the world for Christmas eve. It would have been too nice of Dollar to try to help find one at one of their competitors naturally. Congratulations, I do recommend warmly NOT to USE Dollar’s services

They steal money from exhausted tourist on arrival by making them sign pages of insurance options they do not need while telling them it’s part of the contract agreement.
Result: I pre-​paid online the full rental amount for 10 days rental (460 USD), when I left SFO, I got billed for an additional 780 USD of insurance and options.
I didn’t know how it worked, they told me sign here, sign there, don’t refill the car it’s OK it’s the same price as any gas station…
I was tired, just landed after a 12 hour flight. I trusted the agent, I didn’t think this could happen.
Total for 10 days rental 1240 USD. Thieves, crooks. Never again.