The Case

The year 2001 couldn't go out without one last pursuit of consumer advocacy for the year, so here it is. For those who are members of the Student Advantage program, through numerous colleges and universities nationwide, many discounts can be had from local participating merchants in college towns ranging from free / discounted pizzas, snacks, hair cuts, or books. In addition, there are a number of national corporate partners who offer discounts at their many locations, including Foot Locker, Tower Records, and Linens n' Things.

My issue here is with national corporate partner Dollar Rent A Car, whose advertising seems to promise a terrific deal on a car rental for Student Advantage members. However, that deal doesn't appear to be so terrific when one prices it out; once again, let us salute that old adage Caveat Emptor ... Buyer Beware! Read on ....

Dollar Rent A Car Systems Inc.
ATTN: Customer Center 7082
PO Box 33167
Tulsa, OK 74153-1167

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this letter of complaint in regards to, what I believe, are your deceptive marketing and pricing practices as it relates to students, particularly through the Student Advantage program.

I am a Student Advantage member, who is under the age of 25. For an upcoming trip to Central New York State, I priced out the potential costs of renting a car for the journey, originating at Anytown, USA at 10:00 AM on February 20 and ending at 4:00 PM on February 24 at the same location (reference supporting documentation enclosed).

According to the Rates / Reservations section of your website, if I were a renter age 25 or above, the regular cost for rental would be $99.25 (base rate of $19.85 per day), plus applicable taxes and fees. Local policy, which is also included on your website, indicates that this Anystate location charges an additional $25.00 per day for drivers between the ages of 21-24. Doing the math, this would result in a total cost for me of $224.25 (base rate of $44.85 per day), plus applicable taxes and fees. These rates were generated at your standard rate, utilizing no discount codes or special rate pricing plans.

Being a Student Advantage member, I am aware from both the Student Advantage website as well as your own website that Dollar Rent A Car offers “up to 15% off on most rentals, and no underage fee for renters ages 21-24.” I called the Student Advantage customer service center and obtained discount code “SX6008” for the appropriate rate discount for underage renters. However, upon inputting this code on the website for the same trip as described above, I was surprised to receive a total cost for rental of $260.00 (base rate of $52.00 per day), plus applicable taxes and fees. Interestingly enough, if one does the math, this figure represents, not a 15% discount, but rather a 15% increase from the regular rental fee of $99.25 plus the $25.00/day underage renter charge.

Upon checking prices with some of your competitors, including Hertz, Enterprise, and Alamo, I found that this $260.00 rental charge was in-line with their price quotes for the same trip, at their base rate with their underage driver surcharge. This would seem to indicate clearly to me that the price quotes on your website, utilizing the appropriate student discount code, do not accurately reflect the discount advertised on both your own website and the Student Advantage site.

I would appreciate it if you could please get back to me with the reasoning for this discrepancy, particularly between the $224.25 and $260.00 rates, and why these discounts are advertised in such a manner when they do not appear to be discounts at all.

Sincerely,
Michael W.

Cc: Student Advantage, Inc.
ATTN: Michael Phelan, VP Corporate Marketing & Integrated Partnerships
280 Summer Street
Boston, MA 02210