It's not often I actually fall prey to an internet scam, but this time I did. I recently used an online booking company called EconomyBookings.com, a site which claims to be able to get you the best deals on car rentals. As is turned out, the price they quoted me was considerably less than other car rental agencies, thus I booked the car and pre-paid for it.
I then get an email stating that they would now find a company that would accept the price, and the next day I received another email stating FOX had indeed accepted the rental deal at the set price.
Upon arriving at FOX at Seattle's sea/tac airport, I was badgered to upgrade to a mid-sized car for an additional $150 dollars, after a few minutes of this I got angry and stated I just want the car I paid for, give me the keys. I was then told there was a required $300 damage deposit, and $166.27 in taxes and "airport fee's" due!
Thats an expense of $466.27 over the price I had already paid of $288.16! That brings the cost of renting an economy car to $30.26 per day, almost double the rate offered by other companies in the bidding process. The taxes and fees alone added 40% to the quoted price I was given online, despite the fact that my receipt clearly in large letters stated
PAID IN FULL. This is essentially a bait and switch scam that I personally haven't dealt with while renting cars before; I rent cars quite often, and I've never encountered such trickery and deception while renting. I'll be surprised if they even return the deposit, I'm quite sure theres a trick to scamming one out of that.
After searching the net I've discovered hundreds, if not thousands of such complaints with this company. Apparently upon returning the car, which I do in a few days, they will likely claim I damaged the car. There is nothing legitimate about this company, it's organized fraud on a large scale. They submit falsely low bids to you using third parties, then blame the confusion on the thrid party. They will spend 20 minutes at the counter trying to force you to uprgade and buy their insurance. They make the economy car sound like it won't even make it out of the lot.
Obviously, I will never again use FOX Rent a Car or EconomyBookings.com. See receipts for this transaction below.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Michael Creel
Bellevue,Washington,
Don't Waste Your Time with Tatiana
#4Author of original report
Fri, September 19, 2014
I also had a lady contact me that wanted to make it right, her name was Yvette, and she gave me nothing but the runaround in her emails. One email was so absurd, it was laughable:
“I sincerely apologize for the your experience at our location and assure you the complaint has been forwarded to several key individuals. I also apologize for any confusion booking with an outside source may have caused. Our records indicate you purchased a Top 1 voucher which only covers your base rate making you liable for all taxes and fees and any additional items. I understand your confirmation email may have indicated you paid in full which means you did not make payments you paid in one transaction”
I especially love the definition of what Paid in Full means.
As a matter of fact, at the end Yvette told me she was going to "look into it" and then I never heard from her again. When I emailed her it auto-replied and said she was on vacation.
I did finally get a refund from your company; but only after I plastered your name all over the net via this site, facebook, and others sites that I own. It was only after I received a call from Alexandro that the situation was resolved. I suspect the reason is that when he called, I was actually on another line with a Seattle attorney that successfully sued you for the very same type of scam and informed him of that.
The reality is that FOX is a well-organized rental scam; it’s a classic bait and switch. FOX blame’s everything on a company that is likely owned by the same men that own FOX.
You use them as a front to mislead the clients into renting from you, then when they show up to pick up their car you drop the bomb on them and say the mix-up is between you and the third party site. It's hardly an ingenious plan that no one can figure out.
FOX rentals remind me of the Nigerian scam letters people get in the mail. There’s always some sucker willing to wire the money, and there’s always some sucker willing to rent from you. My suggestion to you Tatiana is to go find a real job, one you can be proud of, and stop playing your role in this scam.
Ruthie
Denver,Colorado,
Exactly what happened to my family
#4Consumer Comment
Fri, September 19, 2014
Absolutely the worst experience with a rental company ever. The clerk was so rude saying we should have read the fine print from renting from a foriegn company. After everything was dealt with she handed me the keys to the rental and walked away, had to play Marco Polo to find the car. Never ever would I rent from them again.
Please consider paying more for a more reputable company. If I was not traveling with 2 children (5y & 6m) I would have went to another rental company. Save yourself the trouble.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
St. Louis,Missouri,
Enterprise Rent A Car
#4REBUTTAL Owner of company
Wed, May 22, 2013
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We would like to look into this further. Please email Care[at]Enterprise.com with your full name, the exact rental location and any other details. -Tatiana
When emailing, please list reference # (130522-001621) the subject line.