Standing on the LGA sidewalk, i see Hertz, National, Avis shuttles driving by and I keep waiting for an Economy shuttle, because that's the website and company that I placed my reservation with. After 25 minutes and 2 phone calls, I'm told that I shouldn't be looking for an Economy shuttle, rather a Holiday Inn shuttle - WTF, how is anyone supposed to know that - it was NOT mentioned on their website when I placed the reservation and nobody informed me of that. Ok, so now I'm looking for a Holiday Inn shuttle that I was told would be there no later than 3:20. 3:50, I board the shuttle that finally shows up.
I let off some steam on the shuttle and I'm in an okay mood by the time I get to the Holiday Inn, I'm on vacation so I should be in high spirits. The desk clerk was friendly enough and I was out of there and on the road within a few minutes. I did an outside inspection of the car, prior to leaving, with the representative and we noted the various dings and dents. I then got in the vehicle and noticed the 'Check Engine' light was, but didn't really pay any mind to it - it's my first time renting a vehicle and I figure these things get kinda beat up, so it must be normal. Within 10 minutes of getting in the vehicle and driving through Queens on my way to I-80, I notice that the CVT transmission (it's a 2012 Nissan Versa) is acting funny in that with steady throttle pressure, the RPMs were jumping up and down, up and down, but that happened intermittenly so I continued on my way.
About 80 miles outside of NYC on I-80 headed West, the car begins to lose power and I find myself decelerating in the fast lane of the interstate. Naturally, I apply more throttle pressure to accomodate, but I'm still decelerating. 60, 55, 50, 45, 40, 35!!!! I'm now going 35 miles per hour with the throttle pushed to the floor. I immediately called Economy customer service to see what can be done. I tell the representative that they failed in their duty to provide me with a safe and reliable vehicle and she instructed me to deliver the vehicle to their Philadelphia location. ...Did you not hear what I just told you? This car is unsafe. I'm NOT driving this heap another 2 hours to your location - Please send a representative from your location with a replacement car to meet me. No can do, they said, but if I can't make it to Philadelphia, I'm authorized to take the car to a mechanic to see what was wrong with it. Another WTF moment - I'm on vacation and these people want me to either completely cancel my plans so that I can deliver their broken vehicle to the other side of the state, OR spend my enormously valuable free time taking their broken vehicle to a garage. I can't help but laugh out loud at the phone representative.
Eventually, I was put in contact with their fleet manager. This man seems like he can make things happen, so I was starting to feel a little better about going 30mph on the interstate; I felt like I would get a resolution from him. He tells me that I should go rent a car from Enterprise, upon reaching my destination, but after paying an unannounced $500 deposit, I really didn't have the extra cash to go rent another car from another rental agency. He then tells me that he'll have to call me back. Hours pass and I finally get a call back. He now wants to tow the car to a garage and I tell him that I cannot be stranded without a vehicle. He assures me that the fix will be quick and I won't be stranded long, but after investigating the issue, the car was going to be towed to a garage over an hour away and it wouldn't have gotten to the repair center until well after they had closed for the day. I call the fleet manager back and he tells me, again, to go rent a car from Enterprise. We talked a little while longer about how he is completely failing me as a customer, and eventually he asks me to call the tow truck company and cancel the towing service. Yet another WTF moment - he's treating me like his receptionist, I'm not his employee, I'm not on his payroll, why is he asking me to handle his tasks?! I couldn't handle the conversation any longer and didn't feel like I was going to receive satisfaction, so I curtly ended the phone call.
I'm now anxious to see if they're going to keep my $500 deposit when I return to them their broken and malfunctioning Nissan, even though I received it in this very condition.
TL;DR : Do not rent from this rental agency. I thought I was being savvy by finding a car for $100 cheaper than their big name rivals, but after this experience, I would gladly pay that for a safe and reliable vehicle. read more