Car hire at Birmingham Airport

Cons: A REFUND ON MY CANCELLATION

Cons: Upon our return ... no one was at the booth.. we waited 5 minutes and finally a security guard walked over to advise us to go in side. No one at the counter waited 15 minutes. asked all other counters if they knew where someone was... nothing! then finally she came in, she says nothing, takes our contract and proceeds to say our final bill is 166.dollars and I said "no.. it is 65.81 bill is. and she says "no ma'm you're late and this is what the bill is now be cause you're late" I am not happy and my husband said we can't help no one was at the booth and you certainly were not here for quite a while. I then became upset and said I wanted to see her manager. she then said, well I could have adjusted it but because of your STANK ATTITUDE, I am not. The bill is 166.23. She kept repeating my bill is what it is because of mt STANK ATTITUTDE. She said this 3 times. I recorded her conversation and am going to follow up with Corporate. I will never rent from Thrifty again. Was I upset..., YES don't almost triple my charges and expect me, the consumer to be happy about it when I was 4 minutes late because they were not at the booth! The young man on our pick up was very personable and courteous.

Not a good experirence

Pros: The rate I was quoted online

Cons: The rate that i was charged when I got to the counter was nearly double what I was given online. The car was not clean. someone water bottle was in the cup holder. Front windows were greasy like they haven't been cleaned in months. The drop off was not staffed and disorganized, car lined up and no one checking them in. I waited and no one showed up and I walked away and dropped the keys at the counter.

Blah

Pros: Drop off was smooth. That was the best part. Lol

Cons: Car seats were filthy and there was a computer issue during pickup which created a 30 minute delay to my road trip. Also cars are hard to find. An employee should escort customer to vehicle. I spent 10 minutes walking in circles looking for it.

Rude customer service

Pros: Car was great. 39 mpg. Held all of us well.

Cons: Getting the car was a bear. Local phone was inoperative. Can't designate spouse as an authorized driver.

Bad Experience

Pros: We were upgraded because they did not have the car I reserved. There was no cost to the upgrade.

Cons: The parking garage did not have any attendants when I picked up the car or dropped it off. The outside satellite office was closed due to safety concerns in the parking garage. The company attempted to charge me extra hours over the return rate. I had the car back 10 minutes before requested. I had to call to get the charges removed. It was all around a bad experience.

Cons: My flight was delayed. I called Thrifty to let them know but no one answered. When I arrived they were closed. I had to take a cab and rent a car two days later from a different company which costs me more because I did not have a prior reservation.

No one available at the counter

Pros: The car I got was clean. The return was easy.

Cons: When I got to the counter, there was no one at the counter. I called different numbers and was able to talk to a few people, including a supervisor, but they were not able to resolve the issue. There were other people at the Thrifty counter, and somehow one of them was able to talk to someone from Thrifty saying that Hertz will honor our reservation. I went to Hertz counter and got a car, but it was not the car I reserved. I reserved a sedan but got a small SUV. It took an extra hour or so for me to get the car.

Wait in the cold

Cons: Remote location in back of parking garage. Had to wait in freezing temperatures for my car to be “delivered.” Upgrade offered before availability of vehicles checked.

Pros: The vehicle was a 2018 Chevy Trek with satellite radio

Cons: When I made my reservation, I informed them I was coming on a late flight. When I arrived at the airport they were closed. I had to take a taxi to my final destination. I returned the next day via Uber. I explained this to the employee and she removed $50.00 from the bill. It was a nice offer but it did not reimburse me the total amount spent on transportation to and from the airport. The money saved booking thru Kayak was thus spent, negating savings. I do not wish to penalize the employee for trying to resolve this problem to the best of her ability.

Bait and switch

Pros: very little

Cons: We arrived five minuted before the counter was supposed to open. Fifteen minutes later, there was still nobody there. A neighboring car rental counter directed me to their booth outside. Once there, I had to stand in line. When it was finally my turn, they did not have any small SUVs like I had requested. I specifically went with Thrifty because we wanted a small SUV and they had the best price, even though their other cars were not as competitively priced. They were unapologetic, told me it wasn't their fault, and told me I would take what they gave me. NEVER AGAIN!

Pickup disorganized

Pros: Arrived in Birmingham for the pickup on a cold night. Took 30 minutes to get my car. Very disorganized. Then Toyota Rav 4 or equivalent rental was not possible, got a Kia Optima. A really bad experience except the young man in the rental booth was doing his absolute best with a chaotic situation, and he went the extra mile in trying to make the situation bearable for my wife and me..

Low cost, only OK car

Pros: Cost was low against my usual rental company

Cons: The car had a bit of odor - some kind of cleaner - quite strong. The car also had a substantial ding on the hood at pickup which was apparently news to Thrifty. They wrote it up, but I'm left with the impression that they don't keep records of car condition and some other poor renter could be hit with a bill. I know I'll keep my photos and record.

Had reservation but no car.

Pros: I eventually got my car.

Cons: I had made my reservation several weeks in advance but when I arrived they were out of cars. The ladies at the counter, who were put in a horrible position by the company, had to explain to everyone that they were out of cars. Apparently, Thrifty had shipped a good portion of their cars to TX and FL to help out with hurricane victims. While I certainly applaud their effort, they had all my contact info and should have called / text / emailed that there would be a considerable wait for my car pick up. Better yet, they should have been able to forecast how many cars had been reserved and then ship the remainders to TX and FL. Maybe they should hire me as a consultant to help with their obvious data management needs.

terrible experience

Cons: had to wait 3 hrs for my rental car reservation. all the other companies at the airport seemed much more organized. Thrifty was the only company having problems with the busy weekend.

Cons: Price advertised and quoted was 100 less than actual. Hidden fees and charges that were not told to us. Awful customer service

Why you pay less

Cons: Poor & slow check in Poor signage to identify Payless booth Turn in extremely slow - only one attendant on a Sunday afternoon