Were you scammed by Dollar Rent a Car or its twin, Thrifty Car Rental?

Don’t panic – there might be hope for getting a refund!  I got a refund for $224 after I complained on Twitter.  Seriously.  (You can read about how I was scammed by Dollar Rent a Car here.)

Get on Twitter

I got my refund by complaining to Dollar Rent a Car’s Twitter account, @DollarCars

I didn’t try Twitter until I had exhausted the traditional avenues of complaint. I’m not a big Twitter person, in fact, I think my Dollar Rent a Car complaints constitute the bulk of my tweets. In-person help and the 800 number were useless, and my credit card couldn’t undo the charge. Twitter is your best chance at a refund from Dollar Rent a Car.

1. Create a Twitter account if you don’t have one already
2. Go to https://twitter.com/DollarCars
3. Author a tweet of your own, beginning with @DollarCars and explain what happened.  Like this:

@DollarCars I was charged $XYZ for add-on(s) I did not accept on date/place/time.

Send as many as you like, but they don’t seem to monitor or respond on weekends, so keep tweeting on weekdays until you get a response asking for your Rental Authorization number.

Be Nice

Remember, you’re an innocent victim even though you’re probably very angry.  You were just ripped off for hundreds of dollars for coverages you didn’t agree to and the smug asswipe at the airport desk refuses do a thing about it. Even better, your flight’s leaving in an hour.

I really wanted to spew a bunch of expletives at this company, but I kept my complaints factual and “safe for work” so that the issue was clearly Dollar’s rip off, not my own psycho craziness.

Dollar Refunds: What Doesn’t Work

The desk agent in the airport probably won’t give a damn about you or your complaint.  The guy I got sassed me and blamed me for being the victim.  When I complained about being scammed, all he could offer was “If that’s how you want to look at it.”

The Customer Service number (800-800-5252) is equally useless.  The best I got out of them was an offer for a $30 discount on my next Dollar rental (upped to $50 when I refused).  I refused the $50 offer as well, because 1) it’s insulting and stupid and 2) it might have invalidated my eligibility for a full refund if my complaint was marked as “resolved”.

Besides, I’m never renting from Dollar again, so what good is $50 in Dollar Rent a Car money? It doesn’t even cover a full day’s rental once Dollar’s added its overcharges onto the bill!

Still Mad? More Places to Complain

Are you a pissed off customer? I got a refund, but I very easily could not have. I think most people ripped off by Dollar won’t jump through these hoops to get a refund.  Here’s a few good places to tell your story and warn others about this unethical company:

Consumer Affairs

Consumer Affairs is a popular place to complain about lousy companies.  Add your grievances about Dollar here: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/dollar.htm

Yelp

You’ll have to create an account first, but once you’ve got one just put in the city where you were ripped off and tell everyone what happened.

Facebook

Angry victims of Dollar’s scam have formed a Facebook group, “Dollar/Thrifty Rent a Car Overcharges“. Complaining here doesn’t get you a refund, but it does get the word out to people who follow you on Facebook.