Confessions of a Rental Car Agent
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Confessions of a Rental Car Agent
Navigate the rental car experience with an insider who tells you all the secrets.
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His schpiel in the comment section is almost identical to what they teach you to say to customers. Most of them know it's nonsense, but some of them, after screwing over as many customers as they do, almost convince themselves that what they're doing it the "right" thing to do. They will pull out one or two anecdotes of when the insurance may have come in handy (do the math - 1 or 2 positive insurance anecdotes out of tens of thousands of sold insurance packages where people got screwed.)
They operate on fear - it's like the lottery in reverse: the chances that you would need their insurance in any event is so remote as to be almost 1 in a million - but they make it sounds like it's almost certainly. So it's like the lottery, but you don't have a chance of winning anything, and you're certain to lose.
Always ask for the total. Make sure to find out exactly what your bill is going to be before you leave.
Above all, remember this: these people are humans, they're like other people - mostly - and they will be super friendly with you. But you have to remember that they are NOT on your side. Don't think of them as "having your back" - they do not. Their job is explicitly to get as much money as they possibly can from you. Period. As long as you go into an interaction with them knowing that, you can do okay.
Oh, one other thing: your experience is likely to do with the rental location you go to. Always take your own camera - or your phone now - take pictures of the car before you drive it off the lot and send them to someone else you know so they have a record of it until after you return the car. Most places are not going to outright defraud you, but some of them absolutely will if given half a chance.
PS. They will almost always try to sell you "peace of mind." Don't let them get going. If you have insurance, politely decline the insurance and don't let them go any further. They may not be happy that you're not letting them screw you, but if you're nice, they usually won't try and punish you for it.
Good luck.
And watch out for the salespeople like the guy who posted in these comments. They're the worst.
I cannot stand some of these high pressure agents. I typically rent a car 2-3 times a year when Im going away or on vacation because I have an older truck, and its cheaper and better in the long run to rent a car. Better mileage, and less mileage on my truck... I book my reservation online, so if I wanted any extra services or upgrades, i would have done it right online.
Im fully and double covered under my personal insurance and credit card insurance. So there is no need to purchase this overpriced ripoff insurance these companies offer, and I tell the agents right off the bat that I dont want it. Typically they get the feel from me and know I dont want to hear their sales tactics. I tell them I want the midsize rental I reserved. No gas, no insurance. no upgrades (Unless they are free). They are all tactics to increase the companies bottom line. That is it. The gas tank offer is the worst!
There are definitely some smaller agencies out there who DO NOT pay commissions to their rental agents. They do train them to offer various upgrades and services but they pay them a higher salary than the big companies do and assume they will offer those add-ons because it is part of the job. Probably not the best way of increasing a company's bottom line, but it does tend to create a less-pushy rental agent.
Having worked claims, I now for a fact that every company I worked for adds loss of use into the recovery fees. There is legal case precedence for charging loss of use and, although people may think it is a scam, it is no different than what your own insurance company does when you are in a no-fault accident with another car. That other company pays for a rental vehicle while yours is being repaired (same thing). So, if you get into a fairly major accident and it takes weeks or even a month for that car to be repaired, you WILL be charged the daily rate for every day that car is out of commission. Very, very few insurance companies and practically no credit cards will cover renters for loss of use. They word their policies in such a way to make it seems like you are covered but you really aren't, adding sentences like "We cover loss of use when the car rental companies show us a fleet utilization report showing all of their cars were on rent for the loss of use period" - something the courts have held that car rental companies DO NOT have to provide (and none will). I, personally, always take the loss of use or full coverage if loss of use is included in it if I am only renting for a few days. It's stupid not to - especially driving in a town on unfamiliar roads or any town that is a tourist destination where you are surrounded by many other drivers who don't know the roads. When renting for a couple weeks or more, however, there is little to be gained by taking the coverage.
It is definitely true that paying for the full tank of gas is a no-win situation. You have to bring the car back with less than half a gallon of gas in it to break even or better - something quite frightening when that low fuel light has been on for 40 miles.. However, many airport locations around the country have the highest gas prices in the area because they KNOW that the vast majority of people who use them are renting cars and that they are stuck paying those high gas pump prices or the even higher rates they charge you at rental counters when you return a car that is not full. No amount of night-before planning can keep you from having to at least "top off" at one of those stations. If you know you are going to be on a very tight timeline (say, from business meeting to flight), and if you can manage to make sure that your car is nearly empty the night before, it sure doesn't hurt to pre-pay for a full tank, rather than risk being late for your flight - even if in the end you get "ripped off" by a couple of bucks because there is an extra gallon or two in your tank.
As far as upgrades go, use your head and reserve the size car you are going to need in the first place. Know how much luggage you are going to have, the number of people and plan for a few extra souvenirs that will take up space on the trip back to the rental agency. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a situation where you are at the car rental company's mercy when they see you unload from the shuttle with five people, five large suitcases and a compact or economy car booked. They see that and I can guarantee your upgrade will cost $20 - $30 more per day!
Finally, you painted only one scene around the "book your car early" mantra. There are just as many or maybe even more cases of rates increasing at the last second - especially during big events or holidays. It certainly doesn't hurt to book your car early and keep an eye on rates as the date approaches. If they fall, cancel the reservation and re-book (assuming you didn't do something stupid like paying in advance to get that 5 or 10% discount).
All in all, though, this was a very good depiction of the rental agency scene - especially at the major brands.
The insurance company (hers) refused to pay loss of use, so Dollar sent me a demand letter. I sent them the same language that her insurance company used - prove what days the van was out of service. After a round or two of that, the rental company caved. Too much hassle for too little return I figure.
I've rarely used the rental company's insurance, rather, I use Amex, or my own. In Europe, however, I do use their insurance, as it seems like peace of mind and less drama if something does happen.
I've prepaid in situations where the prepayment discount is large. I am looking at renting in Germany in a few months, and I can save 20% if I prepay. I doubt rates will fall that much between now and then, just need to finalize the dates. I've never prepaid for gas.
One thing that many people fail to realize is that every car on the lot is NOT the same. They have different colors, sizes and mileage. Companies balance out their fleet usage, sitting some cars that have high mileage and renting out cars with low mileage in order to not lose money when it comes time to sell them. If your accident was in a low-mileage car, it is highly likely that car would be rented 100% of the time time until it caught up with others in the fleet that were intentionally sitting, due to high mileage. Next time you truly believe a car is a car is a car, we'll see how you react when you get stuck with a puke green car for your next rental that has high mileage, quite a few renter-induced dings and scratches as well as stained, cigarette-burned seats. You'd be a hypocrite if you asked for another car!
In most cases, the vast majority of loss of use charges are the result of the other insurance company dragging its heels - waiting weeks to send out a claims adjuster before the car can be sent to a body shop. Of course, in most of those cases, they have no real urgency to get things moving quickly, since they have fooled their customers into thinking they will be covered for loss of use.
BTW, the comparisons of a personal car and property are 100% apples to oranges (unless you rent out your personal goods and use them as a revenue stream), and are even a more unfunny joke.