Dollar Car Rental

It will always be Dollar for us from now on! Not only was the car just what we wanted and the service people gracious and helpful, as we have found them to be in the past. It is the fact that on my most recent trip I lost my wallet with a lot of money in it and NO ID.
I thought I searched the car thoroughly, but didn’t find it. The Dollar crew found my wallet after we returned the car at the Portland airport, and went to great lengths to contact us at the airport and return it with all the cash in it. It would have been so easy to have kept it, and no one the wiser.
Such conscienciousness deserves loyalty, and Dollar rental has gained mine.

As always, I did a search on
for the most affordable standard or full-​size rental car in downtown San Francisco. I was a little surprised when the search showed Dollar had the best rate, because usually Enterprise or Alamo is the least expensive. I went ahead and booked, thinking I’d get something like a Toyota Corolla, but they stuck me with the much smaller Nissan Sentra. In fact, they only gave me the Sentra because they didn’t have something even smaller.
The one good thing I have to say about Dollar is that their phone customer service staff is very friendly and helpful. On New Year’s Day, I discovered what I thought was a problem — the trunk could be opened manually even when the car was locked. The CSR explained to me that the car actually detected that the key was in my pocket and would not truly lock the trunk unless the key was at least 5 – 6 car lengths away.

This location is in the heart of the downtown area and shares the block with a dozen other car rental competitors (Alamo, National, Hertz to name a few).
My experience:
Computer errors happen from time to time and are impossible to predict; it is these situations that test the merit of the leadership — and the management here failed completely.
My experience (along with 14+ other hopeful patrons) were subjected to an egregious error. The Dollar car rental computer system accepted my reservation and provided me with a confirmation number, but Dollar failed to have a sufficient supply of cars on hand to honor the guaranteed reservations (due to ‘a computer error’). As such I was put on a «wait list» along with 14 other hopeful patrons — several of whom had been waiting for nearly 2 hours.
Considering the entire debacle as a whole the worst part was the response from the manager «I’m sorry, but there is no solution. You will just have to wait until a car is available.» No time estimate or consolatory gesture was offered. This was totally unacceptable.

If I could give ZERO stars, I would. Worst experience I’ve ever had with a rental car agency. I was quoted more than $ 100 LESS than I ended up being charged. It took over an hour to pick up the car at the airport because the woman was not at the desk and then when she finally came back she was talking to the people in front of us about random things that had nothing to do with the rental car. And THEN, a couple weeks after our vacation, I get an invoice in the mail for $ 16 for a $ 1 toll. This was because in Florida there was a toll which you CAN’T pay. There is no toll booth and they run your license plate. I assumed Dollar would charge the toll to my credit card, which they did… on top of a $ 15 administrative fee! So the $ 1 toll ended up being $ 16. Beware renting from them. They are a rip off and I will never use them again.

This was a nightmare. My friend and I visited the Bay Area Labor Day weekend and needed a car to get back to the San Jose Airport. We arrived 15 minutes before our scheduled reservation, and it took the two clerks 45 minutes to serve 3 people. I get that a holiday weekend is busy, but why not have more clerks on hand?
When I get to the ticket window, the clerk asked if I lived anywhere in addition to the United States. I said no, with a brooding feeling. The clerk told me the rate I selected is only valid for international customers. How in the heck could I get an international rate from DOLLAR’S WEBSITE when making a reservation in Arizona? He threatened to not give me a car and I pushed back, showing him my email confirmation.
During the runaround, I looked up Über rates and saw that it was $ 99 – 135. In light of all the crap we had to go through, Über would have been a much better deal.
Anyway, the clerk upgrades us to a Chevy sedan and talks it up like he’s doing us this huge favor. We walk downstairs through the sketchy parking structure and the parking lot attendant can’t seem to find our car. We make our way through the minefield of trash and broken glass, and alas, there it is.
Thanks to all the run around, we were 30 minutes late for our San Jose drop off, in spite of speeding to try to make the deadline. I know renting a car is always a pain, but there’s no way in hell I’d rent with Dollar again.
To make things worse, when I got home I saw EIGHT credit card charges from Dollar. Most of them went away a few days later, but I was stuck with a $ 1.79 foreign transaction fee. HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL THEM THAT I LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES? Check my driver’s license, it really isn’t that hard. One 30 minute call with my bank later, the charges were resolved.
My car rental experience was a disaster. Go with someone else.

This is the worst car rental place I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. I waited in long for almost an hour while several employees appeared to be doing nothing. During the long wait, I overhear they are all out of SUVs. I reserved an SUV two weeks in advance.
After 10 minutes of typing, she said would not honor my reservation ($ 102). She re-​quoted me $ 381 for a different car.
Go to Hertz next door. You get what you pay for!

Currently have been waiting for an hour for a car. We’ve already missed rezzos in Napa because of this. Don’t waste your time with these guys…

Simply awful experience I wanted to rent a car for a day and the attendant told me that nobody would rent me a car for less than 3 days! Then he later suggested a price of around $ 400
All I’m asking is fair business, if there is no possibility to rent a car for a day then post it somewhere or remove the offering in first place, but don’t try to steal people’s money like that

Do not use this service! This is the WORST rental car experience I’ve ever had. I made a reservation in advance and waited in line for over an hour as the two available employees took over 15 minutes per customer. When I finally reached the counter, the employee pushed me through and then had me wait in a holding area for the car to be ready, even with a reservation which was an hour and 45 min prior. Once our car was finally ready, we went downstairs and confined to wait for our car. Total wait time is an pushing an hour and a half and counting…
Stay far away!!!

Just had the EXACT same experience as Alexis. This place sucks! I know it’s a holiday weekend, but staff up if you know you are going to be busy! We have been here for 100 minutes. Stay away.

Easily the worst customer service experience of my entire life!
I’m not a huge complainer as you can probably tell from my previous reviews but this experience nearly pushed me over the edge.
I’ll start you off with explaining the pick up scenario. Walked in to the office and there was a pretty big queue, but that’s to be expected right? Yeah sure there’s always going to be a queue but this queue was different, it was toxic — it was clear that everyone in the queue was irate. About five minutes in to queueing we found out why the atmosphere was so bad — the clearly flustered assistant shouted out,
‘We don’t have any cars?‘
So, there we were in a car hire queue waiting for nonexistent cars — obviously everyone else in the queue got even more angry and began to question why there were non cars to which the assistant said,
‘It could be worse, you guys could be at the airport, in that branch you’d be queuing for 6 hours!‘
This was such a ridiculous statement that we actually laughed and it’s become a running joke of our trip.
When we eventually reached the front of the queue we filled in our paperwork and were told that we wouldn’t have a car until at least 4pm — that’s 5 hours later than what we booked.
We made the best out of the situation and went and did some more touristy stuff in SF so although this was frustrating it didn’t completely ruin our day. When we eventually got our car they upgraded us to a Jeep — If this had of been the end of the experience they might have clawed back another star for this expression of good will. But this is not the end of Dollar being absolute clowns.
When we hired the car they said that because of our wait we could leave the car back as late as we wanted but when we left it back just over an hour late we were hit with a nearly $ 200 dollar bill. To make this worse there was no explanation, we were handed a receipt and they said,
‘This will just come off your credit card!‘
So casual, so cool it’s like they say that every day, which they probably do!
Guess what we had to do to talk to the manager about this, that’s right we had to wait in a queue! When we finally spoke to him he took what seems to be the default approach of,
‘Computer says no!‘
Not one ounce of common sense was being applied by these guys. so we get our car 5 hours late and then return it 1 hour late and get stung for $ 200! What a joke!
After much complaining they finally refunded us but sneaking on a charge like that really leaves a bad taste in your mouth, especially after what had happened previously.
Avoid Dollar at all costs unless you want to spend your holiday queueing and being told it could be worse you could be in the airport!

This car rental company has the worst customer service on the planet. They screwed me by overcharging for insurance costs and when I brought the issue to their customer service department they said I should resolve the issue through my credit card company. WTF! It’s not the credit card company’s fault ! Anyone reading this please avoid Dollar at all costs. Just the worst experience ever.

I’m writing this review to express my concern toward my car-​rental experience with Dollar and my unresolved case with Dollar. This is my first and also last time rental from Dollar, and it is horrible.
I booked a mini van online, and got confirmation from dollar saying I can pick up my car in San Francisco airport when I arrived, however, when I got off the plane with my entire 7 family members to celebrate Christmas at San Francisco, I was told that there was no car available for us. Dollar agreed that we can rent car from any companies in the car rental center, and they will pay off all extra expenses for us. And we did get a car from another company and drove it to Las vegas. After I finished my trip, I turned my receipt to Dollar at Las vegas airport on January 2^nd 2015, the assistant told me that I would get my funds back for 10 – 15 business days. However, after 15 days, when I try to contact Dollar via phone, the Customer Assistant on the phone told me that my case didn’t even show up on their records, therefore, there is ABSOLUTELY NO ONE was handling my case. So I re-​sent my receipt to Dollar customer service, and waited for another 10 days with ABSOLUTELY NO RESPONSE. After my several requests, finally, on Jan. 23, 2015 I got an email saying that they would send out a check and it will take up to 15 business days for the check to process and arrive. Even with previous un-​happy experiences, I think I would forgive their ignorance of my case before. BUT! It has been almost ONE MONTH after that email, and I get NOTHING! I called back this morning to ask if there anything wrong with my case, and they told me, the check is NOT ISSUED AT ALL! No kidding, but if you guys never issue a check, why did you send an email to me saying my check is on the way to my home??? This is completely RIDICULOUS!
From my point of view, this happens either because they are completely ignorant, or they try to fool their customer and treat their customer like an idiot. I cannot even find an excuse for them to explain the whole thing. My experience with this case before today is so horrible that I think it cannot be worse, but their attitude and the customer service showed me so clearly that THEY CAN BE WORSE! This issue now is totally unforgivable to me, I JUST WANT MY CHECK BACK IMMEDIATELY!
You guys are fine to rent cars from Dollar. But I hope you don’t want same thing happen on you guys. Think carefully before you place your order online.

Be careful with Dollar Rent A Car! I choose the «return with full tank» option before signing the rental agreement.
Before I returned the car after 6 days I topped off the car completely (⁸⁄₈) with the dashboard arrow clearly on the F (full).
Although the tank was visibly full, they asked for the receipt that showed where I topped off the car before returning.
For me that was the first time ever a rental company asked me for such a proof. Luckily I paid the gas with my credit card and kept the receipt to show them, otherwise they would have found a reason to upcharge me.
Nor in the rental agreement or at the counter something was mentioned about showing a gas receipt when returning.
So be careful! When you return your car at Dollar with a full tank (to avoid $ 9 /​gallon or the overpriced pre-​paid fuel option) make sure you keep the receipt with you or they might still find a reason to shake money out of your pocket!

Long lines!!! 2 hours to rent a car???

1 h Warten bei Ausgabe und die erste halbe Stunde Intransparenz über Wartezeit; Aussage, dass nun mal in der Saison Autos schwer zu bekommen sind, wenn man ¾ Jahr vorher bucht; lustlose unmotivierte Mitarbeiter; anscheinend völlig unorganisiert «ich musste durch 9 Parkdecks und immer wieder auf den Schlüssel drücken, um den Wagen zu finden»; nach der 2. Woche Elektronikprobleme beim Auto; Wagen kurz vor Ölwechsel Intervall übergeben, obwohl Mietdauer und Routendistanz bekannt waren — wir waren nachher ca. 3.000 mi über die Wartungszeit

Won’t come here again. Waiting for car for 1 ½ hrs. currently. There are no cars available due to the Oracle Convention traffic. Could they not research upcoming events in the city and make necessary adjustments?
I asked for a credit for the delay. They said «no.» I called customer service and they also said,” No, please bear with us. «
I’m more peeved that I need to wait and pay full price. Enterprise has this same issue with the marathon traffic and have me a 50% discount and said they should have been more on top of traffic conditions and city events. I spent less time for the car there to.
Since Enterprise probably owns Dollar I am surprised at the lack of customer service with Dollar. It’s an apathetic company that is in its way down.

One star for their new prices. I love this location and the staff, but their prices have doubled this year.
I even called dollar about matching the Enterprise rate $ 19/​day. Dollar Express said they do match prices, but when they transferred me to reservations, they said no. I don’t have a car and I have been using Dollar for personal and business for almost 10 years. I also recommend them to anyone visiting from out of town. No longer. They really need to change the name if price is no longer going to be their competitive position.

If I could select 0 stars I would, right from the beginning this rental car company greets you with attitude and bad service.
Person we collected car from seemed more interested in getting back to her smart phone than providing detailed information about the rental agreement.
Which might I add is exhaustive and costly if you’re not familiar with Dollar car rip off’s.
Returned car FILLED to the top and just because I filled it just outside the airport they rip you off a further $ 10USD For a gallon of fuel which I’m
Sure they won’t be rushing out to go fill the car with.
This company has no customer service orientation hold times for info on the phone can take up to 30 minutes with staff that don’t provide any solutions to your concerns regarding being overcharged ALSO in Vancouver but that’s a review for another dollar car rental worth reading.
Thanks for taking my money and being useless
DO YOURSELF A favour DONT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY ANYWHERE

Guess I should have checked their Unilocal reviews before renting a car here…
Hands down the WORST car rental experience of my life, perhaps the worst customer service experience period. Arrived at 12:03pm on Sunday, August 3^rd to pick up a car that was supposed to be ready at NOON. The line was probably 50 people deep and stretched out the door.
Talked to several people in line ahead of me who had already been waiting for over an hour and a half. Probably should have left at that point…
Around 1, noticed about half of the 6 person staff who was working abruptly got up and left (I guess for lunch?) even though there were still 30 — 40 people waiting in line… many of whom had now been in line for over two hours.
At 1:45pm, I was about 10 people from reaching the front of the line and began noticing that the people leaving the line DIDN’T have keys…
But, of course, none of the agents bothered to address the situation or EVER apologize to anyone for the long wait. They just kept calling people up… telling them the car they reserved had already been given away… and then getting angry AT the customer if they had the audacity to ask why their car wasn’t ready.
Even more sickening was listening to the agents shamelessly and relentlessly try to upsell the customers at the desk (many of whom were foreign and spoke little English) on everything under the sun. Heard things like, «Do you understand if you are in an accident you will be SUED and it will could cost you THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS???»
At 1:57pm, I finally made it to the front of the line. Of course, the car I reserved was not available… and the agent was unable to tell me when one would be available. Was told it could be as little as 15 minutes… or as much as a few hours. I asked if I would be credited for the time I had been waiting in line. NOPE. That’s not how it works. You pay from the time you reserved the car… regardless of how long you wait in line… or when you get the car.
Was also told that if I returned the car early, I would have to pay a $ 29 penalty… and if I returned it late, I would also have to pay a $ 29 penalty. Just what you want to hear after waiting in line for 2 hours for a car that isn’t even there.
At 2:30pm I finally got a car. Not the one I had reserved. And it was covered in dents and dings, but, of course, there was no one in the garage to point it out to. But that’s okay, I was just happy to get the hell out of there and NEVER look back… or do business with Dollar again.
Save yourself two and a half hours of misery and rent elsewhere!

They didn’t have enough cars so your wait time on a Saturday morning is an extra half hour or so once you get through the long check-​in line, so plan to get there at least 45 minutes before your departure time if you are on a tight schedule. The check-​in people kind of go through the motions, don’t ask questions, you need to tell them specifics you need like insurance, car size, etc. They won’t ask you, whatever you ordered is what you get. You go downstairs to get your car and drive the winding levels up to street level.
Car return was easy. The guys will wave you in and let you know where to park. They print up the receipt for you and you’re out. If you have any special requests or follow-​up, you go back upstairs.
We got a Ford Fuse hybrid and it was a decent drive. I might try Dollar again. I will just get there early and have my questions ready when I get to the counter.