... So it was that I became a customer of Dollar Rent A Car.
THE WEBSITE and MAKING A RESERVATION
This will most likely be your first point of contact with Dollar so they want to make a good impression right? Well, yes actually! The site is nicely laid out, with the "Rates and Reservations" ... Read review
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A review by DarkDave on Dollar Rent A Car Worldwide February 26th, 2006
Author's product rating:
Available selection
Satisfactory
Customer Service
Friendly and attentive
Vehicle Quality
Good
Value for Money
Good
Advantages:
Friendly staff, lots of locations, good selection of cars, accept younger drivers
Disadvantages:
pricey for younger drivers, no inspection of car prior to rental . . . not always a bad thing . . .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
After a last minute visit to friends in the US was arranged, it was quickly decided that I would need some form of transport when I got there, as the US is rather big! So I jumped on Google and started checking out car rental companies. Those of you that have found yourselves in a similar situation will be aware that there are rather a lot of rental companies out there, fortunately I was spared the agony of deciding between Thrifty, Alamo, Hertz, Avis et al by one deciding factor…. My age! Very few car rental companies in the US will rent to anyone under the age of 25, and only one of these had an office in Providence, Rhode Island. So it was that I became a customer of Dollar Rent A Car.
THE WEBSITE and MAKING A RESERVATION
This will most likely be your first point of contact with Dollar so they want to make a good impression right? Well, yes actually! The site is nicely laid out, with the "Rates and Reservations" screen displayed by default. From here you can select your pickup and if different, drop-off, point. Although I am reviewing my experience with Dollar in the United States, it is worth knowing that they do have sites throughout the world in a good selection of locations.
Anyway, once you have chosen your location(s) you then select your dates, times and car type. In the USA, you are given the choice of Economy, Compact, Intermediate, Full Size, Premium and Luxury cars with Economy cars at the lower end of the market - think Hyundai Accent etc, moving up to Luxury cars such as Daimler-Chryslers mighty 300C. As expected Economy cars are the cheapest option at around $20 (£12) a day + fees and taxes moving way up the scale to $250 (£145) a day + fees for a Luxury vehicle. Also available are Minivans, Convertibles and SUV's, all at a higher rate than a standard car.
A box on the right hand side of the screen shows you the cost of your choice including fees and taxes, and a link is available to display a comprehensive breakdown of said fees. Below this box is a link titled Important Local Policy Information, which I would strongly suggest you check out as it contains all sorts of useful information about driving restrictions and other terms and conditions…it was here and only here that I found out about the $30 a day surcharge for 21-24 year old drivers!
When you are happy with your selections, click proceed to continue. You will then be asked for your name, phone number and email, but not a credit or debit card at this point. Once you have provided your details, you are ready to make your reservation by clicking the green "Reserve Now" button. You are then given your confirmation number and rate breakdown and details of your itinerary are emailed to you. I would suggest you print a copy of this and take it with you, just in case.
THE PICKUP
Arriving at Providence Airport, I was directed toward the Dollar rental office by the main entrance (not all offices are located within the airport building, check before you leave!) a friendly and efficient clerk asked for my name and confirmed my reservation - I didn't need my printed copy but better safe than sorry!- I was then asked for my Driving Licence and credit card which I duly provided. At this point, the clerk asked if I would consider an upgrade from an Economy to a Compact, which I declined as I was on a tight budget as it was! Having confirmed all my details, the clerk got on her 2 way radio and asked for a Hyundai Accent to be made ready for me. A garbled response came back followed by a lengthy pause during which many buttons were pressed on my clerks computer…it turned out there were no cars suiting my needs available. I was not best pleased to say the least, but I was swiftly placated by a free upgrade to a Compact Dodge Neon, coincidentally the car my mother owns in the UK!
Having confirmed there was a Dodge Neon available, I was then offered the "Gold" insurance package, covering me against every possible eventuality including uninsured drivers. I would have liked to have taken this but at $49 a day it was beyond my means. I was then offered the "Silver" package which wasn't so comprehensive but still covered me for collision damage. At $25 a day this was still beyond my pathetic budget so I had to take the $11 a day "Liability" insurance. This is mandatory in the US and is equivalent to our Third Party Only cover. This meant that if anything were to happen to the car, I would be liable and would have to pay a $350 excess, fair dinkum, I'd just better be careful. At this point I was also advised that I would be charged a fuel surcharge of $40 but this would be deducted if I returned the car with a full tank of "gas". My card was then swiped on a manual card machine (one which takes a physical copy of the card on a sales voucher rather than electronically.) This is because your account is not debited until you return the car and an inspection is made.
Paperwork signed off, the clerk told me to wait outside the airport where I would be met by a driver. After 10 minutes waiting, with no sign of my blue Dodge, I went back inside to ask what was occurring, only to find out was being met by a bus driver who would take me to the Dollar Rental lot and office. How stupid did I feel! Stepping back outside I now got on the bright yellow Dollar bus I had somehow failed to notice! After a couple of minutes drive I was dropped off at the Dollar sales office proper. Handing the clerk my paperwork, I was given the keys and a map of the local area and left to get on with it!
Getting into the car my first thought was "Right, where's the steering wheel gone" Getting into the correct side of the vehicle enlightened me somewhat and I had a look round to get myself familiar with things. Fortunately I knew where everything was as my mum's car was pretty much exactly the same, albeit with the steering wheel on the proper side! This car was an '05 model 2.0 Auto in metallic blue and was spotlessly clean inside. There were a few marks on the bodywork but I had been assured that they had already been noted and I wasn't going to get the blame for them!
Setting off proved to be a bit of an adventure - I kept looking for the rear view mirror above my left shoulder instead of my right and kept opening the door instead of pulling up the handbrake! Driving on the left also took some getting used to, especially at the first junction when I totally forgot what way the traffic would be coming from and ended up looking both ways about 20 times to be sure the road was clear, god knows what I must have looked like! After the first drive on alien territory, things started to fall into place, and it started to feel natural being on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road! I had the car for a week, and in that time put over 500 miles on it. Not a massive amount I know, but for my first time it was enough!
THE DROP OFF
After a thoroughly enjoyable week tooling around in this nippy auto it was time to take the car back to Dollar. At some point in the week a largish gouge had appeared on the rear bumper of the car so I was freaking out, expecting a $350 bill on top of my $560 rental charge. When I returned the car I reversed into a parking space, went into the office and gave the clerk behind the desk my mileage, fuel report (full tank) and the keys. He smiled nicely, accepted the paperwork and printed off my receipt…for $560! I made no mention of the damage, and he didn't ask. Result!
The big yellow bus was waiting outside to take me back to the airport and I hopped aboard. The driver pulled away, only for me to yell at him to Stop! I had left my luggage in the "trunk" of the car! Running back to the office, I was dismayed to find the car gone already. Explaining my predicament to the smiling clerk, I was told to wait at the far end of the car park by a roller door. This was raised and there was "my" car, already washed and dried! The valeter popped the "trunk" and I reclaimed my baggage, all too aware of the gouge in the now very shiny bumper. Still no mention was made and I was free to get back on the bus. Somehow I had gotten away with it. Either they didn't care that much, or they weren't aware of the condition of the car before I took it. Whatever the explanation, I was one happy bunny!
CONCLUSION
All in all, I had a very enjoyable experience with Dollar, the staff were friendly and efficient, the choice of cars was very good and the booking process was hassle free, with no hidden costs other than the insurance which I should have expected. Definitely recommended for everyone, especially younger drivers.
Advantages: cheaper then alot of its competitors Disadvantages: nothing to report
I have used Dollar Car Rental twice now and have had absolutely no problems whatsoever.
The first time was back in 2000. We were heading to the States to do a road trip and I was looking for a three week rental that wasn’t going to charge the earth. On all my searches, Dollar came up consistently cheaper than the other nationwide companies. Sure there were heaps of cheaper options but I wanted to steer clear of the mum and pop type deals so only ... ...over the net using the Dollar website and while there, noted a coupon promising me an upgrade. I printed it off and tucked it in with all my travel papers.
We arrived at LAX very early morning after a tedious long haul from New Zealand and found our way to the free-phone to the Dollar depot. They said to wait out front and the shuttle bus would be along soon to pick us up. We seemed to wait for quite awhile but eventually we spied the Dollar shuttle ...
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Advantages: Dollar offer a personal service Disadvantages: all the extras you have to pay for...but its Universal
...Florida I have always used Dollar Car Rentals, usually opting for the Airport Pick up and Drop off...We've used them at Tampa, Orlando and Kissimee..
Everyone hates paying those extras, and that ' including free car hire' that we keep getting thrown down our necks everytime we pick up a Florida Brochure is very misleading until you've read the small and smaller print..
On average a Family of say four people will pay around £400 for a two week car ... ...be more comfortable..
Dollar make things very easy and they have always thus far helped us as much as we have ever needed a helping hand, we prefer Dollar and always hold out when offered an upgrade ( usually because we have booked the car we need) .. One of the favourite tricks in Florida is to try and get the passenger to upgrade to a slightly better car...this is often done even if they do not have the car you originally booked, because if you ...
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...so it was back to Dollar to request yet another car.
They were always very helpful, and even gave a free upgrade to a better class of car, in view of all the problems, but my concern is that they obviously do not check the condition of the vehicles before they rent them out. The car we ended up with was practically brand new, only 300 miles on the clock, so we felt fairly confident that we were safe, but I shudder to think what may have happened, ...
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Advantages: Good transfers from the airport and quick service Disadvantages: No-one checks the state of the vehicle before you take it
...We were steered towards Dollar Car Rental, (pardon the pun).
We arrived at L.A. Airport and only waited a few minutes for the bus to arrive which would transport us the the pick up point. There were quite a few of us waiting but the driver was helpful to everyone with their luggage.
We arrived a the Car lot and didn't have to wait long for our turn. The receptionist was very organised and helpful. It didn't take long for all the paperwork to be ... ...maps to help us to our destinations and were given what turned out to be easy to follow directions. We had upgraded the vehicle as there were four of us and we didn't fancy being cramped up in a saloon with luggage all over us. We had to find the car ourselves which I thought was a bit off, as there were so many. We checked over the vehicle for knocks and bumps as we did not relish the thought of being charged for damage we had not caused. We did ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Wide range of vehicles / ease of transactions Disadvantages: None
Dollar or $……it’s not. Dollar rent a car provide a wide range of vehicles for those who are fly-driving in Orlando from Sanford Airport. Having just returned from a fly-drive holiday there (the first I have done) I was really impressed with the set up. Having arrived at the airport after a 9 hour flight, waited for ever for the luggage whilst having to listen to some poor tired kids cry their eyes out, I walked out of the terminal and to the Dollar ... ...fill it up again, it’s all included in the price. Mind you at around £1 a gallon who would care !!!!! Certainly the next time I do a fly-drive I may cut out the middle man and go direct to Dollar and arrange the vehicle it would be even cheaper……. ...
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