Working Towards a Resolution
(3-31-02)

Well, this fiasco with Dollar Rent-A-Car continues. A few weeks ago, I received a letter back from the manager of Dollar Rent-A-Car's customer service center. Here are the details of that letter followed by my analysis:

February 25, 2002
Mr. Michael W.
Ref # 112364
Dear Mr. Michael W.:

Thank you for notifying us of your experience with the Dollar Rent A Car website. On behalf of Dollar, please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience you experienced.

Please allow me to clarify what you saw on our web site regarding rate availability for drivers over the age of 25 versus the Student Advantage Rates. Rental car rates are competitive based on many factors, including vehicle acquisition costs, vehicle availability, and current market conditions. Black out periods are established in an effort to monitor and control these factors. For the rental period you specified, Student Advantage rates were under a black out period, making them unavailable. I can assure you that you received the best possible rate available at the date and time of your rental.

Dollar Rent A Car Systems, Inc. makes every effort to quote all necessary information applicable to the rental on our web site. This is especially true of driving restrictions, underage and additional driver fees, airport fees, credit card restrictions, and any state surcharges. We do not intend, in any way, to deceive the customer or misinform him/her about our policies. Our Internet Marketing department is constantly developing new ways to improve our web site to eliminate any potential problems at the Reservations level. If an error does occur, we make sure whenever possible that the customer is satisfied and that
their rental is not affected.

We appreciate your business and hope you will allow us another opportunity to fulfill your car rental needs in the efficient, professional manner you expect and deserve.

Thank you once again, Mr Michael W., for taking the time to notify us of this situation. We look forward to serving you again soon at Dollar.

Sincerely,

Alicia Andrews
Manager, Dollar Customer Center

While it seems like what Ms. Andrews has to say may be believable, I decided to test this out, and I re-priced another rental for different dates, again both with and without the Student Advantage discount code. The first time around, their website failed to accept my discount code (producing *no* error message of any kind though), and gave me the identical price for the rental with/without code. Considering the background of this complaint and thinking that this quote must be inaccurate, I spoke online with a Dollar customer rep, who quoted me a higher rate for Student Advantage, but gave some interesting insight. In addition to telling me that Student Advantage rates could not be booked online (which I don't believe is accurate since the website is now working properly and giving Student Advantage quotes), this person also shed some light on the reason for the higher rate. Her reasoning casts some suspicious shadows over Ms. Andrews' written explanation ... here's what the rep had to say:

13:40 Michael W> Why would that be more expensive than the regular rate quoted, if the underage fee is indeed waived?
13:41 Chat10> This is a student advantage rate.
13:41 Chat10> It has to take into account the 30.00 underage fee for this location.
13:41 Michael We> But that fee is supposed to be waived, isn't it?
13:41 Chat10> Yes, it is waived that is why the rate is a little higher than the normal rate.
13:42 Chat10> It is all included.
13:42 Michael W> Because it's sort of built in to the regular rate cost?
13:42 Chat10> Yes, the student advantage rate includes the underage fee.
13:42 Chat10> That is why it is waived.

I find this very disturbing that Dollar Rent-A-Car would do *exactly* as I had expected ... include the underage surcharges within the rental rate so they can then claim that this surcharge is waived because it's not explicitly added on to the rental cost. This is a *very* misleading and deceptive business practice at the very least, outright against the law at the most.

I have re-documented this complaint, and I have since sent a 3-page letter with 8 pages of supporting documentation to the Better Business Bureau of Tulsa (Dollar's corporate office is based in Oklahoma) as well as to the Offices of the Attorneys General for the states of Oklahoma and Connecticut.

I'll keep you posted as to what the BBB as well as the Honorable Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma State Attorney General, and the Honorable Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut State Attorney General, have to say about this. In the meantime, stay away from this company that's looking to rip you off, and is now knee-deep in a world of baloney with this Consumer Advocate! Stay tuned ...