A DISAPPOINTING EXPERIENCE

Item: Dollar Thrifty Car Rental South Africa
Rating: 1
Author: john J

I have copied the response I received from Thrifty Car Hire. the correspondence below reads from the bottom up. Dear Mr Kirsten Thank you for your inquiry. Our rates at the counter and the internet can vary at times depending on the availability of vehicles and the branches the reservation is made at. Our internet reservations do have a lead time of 1 to 2 hours. Our counter rates are available and the vehicle can be rented immediately. Kind Regards Liesel Pope Branch Manager Cape Town International Airport Tel +27 21 ********** Email: ********** Central Reservations (SA only) ********** International Reservations + 27 11 ********** Websites: www.thrifty.co.za or www.dollar.com On 24 February 2017 at 12:41, Antonio Swartz ********** wrote: Good day Liesel Please see below email, I have already rep**** to client regarding charges. Kind Regards, Antonio Swartz Admin Manager Cape Town International Airport Tel: +27 21 ********** | Email : ********** Website: www.thrifty.co.za l Central Reservations: ********** Websites: www.thrifty.co.za or www.dollar.com ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Customer Care ********** /> Date: Fri, Feb 24, 2017 at 12:40 PM Subject: New comment - [#500386] An unpleasant experience To: ********** There is a new comment in the ticket submitted by APOLLO PROJECTS to Dollar Thrifty Car Rental Comment added by : APOLLO PROJECTS Comment Content: Dear Antonio, I thank you for your response and the refund of the additional fuel. I have no issue, regarding your calculations. However, you fail (or I did not correspond correctly) to have understood the reason for my displeasure. You are offering a quick response without understanding what I have written, or are unwilling to accept and respect constructive criticism. Confirming my sense of Thrifty’s practices. Kind regards, John Kirsten From: Customer Care ********** Sent: 24 February 2017 12:23 PM To: ********** /> Subject: New comment - [#500386] An unpleasant experience There is a new comment in the ticket submitted by APOLLO PROJECTS to Dollar Thrifty Car Rental Comment added by : Antonio Swartz Comment Content: Good day John Kirsten Thank you for your inquiry. Please see below reasons for payments made to your account: All inclusive daily rate is R329.00 P//D R2353.03- 7 days rental and contract fee of R50.00 R987.00- 3 days rental ( vehicle was extended from 22.01.2017 to 25.01.2017. R949.33- 1 Day and fuel charge (vehicle was returned 1 hour and 20 minutes late) Please be advised that I will refund additional fuel charge of R151.11, please allow 4-7 working days for amount to reflect. Kind Regards, Antonio Swartz Admin Manager Cape Town International Airport Tel: +27 21 ********** | Email : ********** Website: www.thrifty.co.za l Central Reservations: ********** Websites: www.thrifty.co.za or www.dollar.com On Fri, Feb 24, 2017 at 11:30 AM, Ntsakisi Chauke ********** wrote: Hi Antonio Please kindly see mail from client and advise Ticket: https://dollarthriftycarrental.freshdesk.com/helpdesk/tickets/500386 Ntsakisi Beatrice Chauke Customer Care Tel : +27 (0) 11 ********** I F2E : +27 (0) 86 ********** Email : ********** l Website: www.thrifty.co.za Central Reservations: ********** l International Reservations: +27 (0) 11 ********** On Thu, 23 Feb at 11:05 PM , APOLLO PROJECTS ********** wrote: To whom this may concern, I wish to high light my experience with your Thrifty branch at Cape Town International airport. I entered into contract no. 960276 with Thrifty on 15 January 2017. I initially had lunch at the airport and viewed your website looking for the best possible deal as I was on a tight budget and had to enter into an unplanned expense. I saw a rate of R179 per day, which seemed to be my best option, and so decided to walk directly to your office and hire the car. Upon being welcomed by a friendly staff, I requested that they provide me with the best possible deal and jokingly asked if they had a tricycle, as I had a tight budget. I was then made an offer, which I showed some dissatisfaction and then was given what I was told was the best deal they could give me. This was at R 301 – 84 (incl VAT) per day. Disgruntled and questioning the possible misrepresentation you illustrated on your website I took the deal and left with the vehicle. I a telephone conversation with Anwar (Thrifty representative), I was told that the deals shown on the website do not necessarily get offered at the branch. This I found to be strange, and some what unfair ! At the end of the contract, I returned the car to swop the Class B vehicle for a Class P vehicle, which I had booked with you via your 086 ********** number. I had now booked the vehicle for the price I originally wanted. This is contract no.964397. Very pleased with myself I drove away. I was then debited by Thrifty for an amount R987 – 00 for the following: 1. A day for bringing in the car late. Which according to my calculation is R 301 – 84 for the day. I found this opportunistic as Thrifty knowingly new that I was swopping the car, and could have advised me before the time that I was going to be charged a full day, for being 30 mins late, in which case I would have had the option, to keep the car for an extra day, and save myself some money without depriving Thrifty of any undue income. 2. A 10% charge for refuelling the vehicle at R 62 – 29 3. A further R622 @ R12.89 per litre, which is a refill of 48.26 litres. Items 2 & 3 were acceptable as I had not refilled the vehicle. I do point out that the vehicle was low on fuel, but was not on reserve yet. When the debit of R987 reflected with me I called the Thrifty branch, and requested an explanation. I expressed my dissatisfaction with Item no.1 and was told that the branch manager would call me. To date this has never happened, with an array of reasons from staff members for not calling me. Then on the 28 January 2017, I am again debited for a further R151.11: 1. R137 – 77 for a further 10.66 litres of fuel 2. A 10% charge for refuelling the vehicle at R 13 – 34. When I questioned this matter with Thrifty I was told that they had estimated the first fuel amount, and that this was a top up amount. Let us assume that the tank did not have a drop of petrol in the tank (which was not the case) when I delivered the vehicle, Thrifty’s refueled the car with 58 – 59 litres of fuel. The problem I have with this is 2 fold: 1. The Renault I was driving only has a 50 litre fuel tank. 2. How do you estimate the fuel remaining in the tank. I would assume that this vehicle was fuelled on two seperate occassions. Then, last but not least, the amount of times that I call the Cape Town Airport branch and the phone is not answered, was close to about 3 – 5 times on a day. I eventually gave up calling the branch and waited for them to call me when I wanted to extend the rental period. My expereience this time round has been very unpleasant and I question your ethics, especially in a South Africa where *******ion and a lack of service appears to be the order of the day. I am not convinced that Thrifty is improving the situation in South Africa with this kind of service. I would like to compliment Miller at the 086 number, for a very professional manner and attitude when assisting me. Kind regards, John Kirsten CELL ********** EMAIL ********** FAX **********

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