Complaint Review: Gulf Rent A Car - St. Petersburg Florida

CROOKS

I rented a car from them and paid a $300.00 deposit, the car broke down, I waited two hours for help in a secluded area and the FHP told me the tire was cracked and should have never been driven, the doughnut, spare tire, was also bad and unsafe. I missed a mandatory court appearance, and it took me five hours to get home going 20 miles an hour. Gulf Rental Car picked up the car from my driveway and then proceeded to tell me they were keeping the $300.00 deposit, because the car had no gas , and was three days late. Of course I was not going to put gas in the car, it was undriveable, they offered me no recourse for the safety issue that they were sending people out on the road with bad tires, or for my loss of time and money in missing the court date. The car was three days late, even then, 3 days rental and a tank full of gas was no where near $300.00. Gulf then told me, oh by the way, there is a scratch on the bumper, the car is in a body shop.  There was NO scratch on any bumper when THEY picked the car up.  This was an additional flimsy excuse to not return the deposit.  I lost tremendous time and money by forfeiting an important court date, and these people were blind and deaf about how it was THEIR FAULT. She started screaming at me, and it was clear that this was not their first time at finding ways to keep deposits.