How Bad is Thrifty (car rental) - San Francisco Forum - Tripadvisor

How Bad is Thrifty (car rental)

Auckland Central...
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How Bad is Thrifty (car rental)
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Looking at car rental options for our upcoming visit late September. Rentalcars.com have good prices but only for Dollar and Thifty. I have been around the forums enough to know Dollar is a no go, but not so sure on Thrifty - they don't seem to come up as agencies recommended by regulars.

The other option is to spend a few hundred dollars more for Alamo/Hertz/Enterprise booked direct. Avis/Budget are more again so have discounted them already. I don't mind paying more for peace of mind and dealing direct, but if Rentalcars.com and Thrifty will be OK then also happy to save a few dollars.

We are staying at Hilton Union Square so will look to pick up in that area before heading to Monterey that day.

Palo Alto...
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1. Re: How Bad is Thrifty (car rental)
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Have you considered signing up for a frequent renter program?

San Francisco...
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2. Re: How Bad is Thrifty (car rental)
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Hertz Avis Alamo budget and enterprise or National are what I would suggest

Check our top question on why not have a car in SF and yes I know you plan to rent while leaving but there is a lot of information for you

Down Under
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3. Re: How Bad is Thrifty (car rental)
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Probably agree with belo but family members recently used rentalcars.com and Alamo for an excellent rate and it was a long rental with absolutely no problems.

Auckland Central...
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Have signed up for a couple of frequent renter programs tonight, interestingly the Alamo prices skyrocketed once signed in! Avis, Hertz and Alamo are all a similar price (USD$850ish) for 16 days. Enterprise/National are way higher, Budget a little higher. Alamo are right across from the hotel, which is a bonus. I made sure all included the appropriate insurances.

Belo, I had read the piece on rental cars, it largely echoed a lot of what I have seen in the forum. Still no clearer on Thrifty apart from them not being a top tier company, and ominously a sister company to Dollar.

I think I will keep away from Rentalcars/Thrifty for now and book with one of the top tier companies. Interestingly Rentalcars has a rate with Alamo that is only around $30 cheaper for the rental vs booking direct (and pickup is at SFO), not worth the hassel of a 3rd party booking.

MDE
Fayetteville...
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5. Re: How Bad is Thrifty (car rental)
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I have no experience with Thrifty, but wondered if you have used https://www.autoslash.com/ ?

It may turn up different options for you.

San Francisco...
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6. Re: How Bad is Thrifty (car rental)
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The top questions should echo what you read in the forums. It is a compilation of the general opinion of the regulars and experience from visitors

I don't think there is anything wrong with rentalcars.com as most people have had good success

Yes thrifty and dollar share the same space and we hear less bad things about them than dollar but I would still stay away

Springfield...
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7. Re: How Bad is Thrifty (car rental)
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I recently rented from thrifty at SFO and had a mostly pleasant experience. The car was clean with low mileage and level was better than expected.

The line at arrival was incredibly long but so was everyone else.

The only issue I had was that the car had no fob for entry so I had six brief but spaced horn honks (20 seconds) to insert the key and turn it to "on position" before the theft alarm went off. When I complained, they gave me 20% off the rental😀 They offered a replacement vehicle but I was having too much fun in SF to go back to the airport and deal with the hassle.

If you pre-book direct w/ thrifty far enough in advance, they have the most competitive rates.

Edited: 7 years ago
San Jose, California
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26 reviews
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8. Re: How Bad is Thrifty (car rental)
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NEVER RENT FROM THRIFTY AT SFO!! This place is has no basic human decency. The sales reps are so incredibly rude, I was shocked.

I made a reservation online the same night my parents arrived in SFO. My dad also received a confirmation email for the reservation.

But when my father went to pick up the car, his reservation was not in the system and the woman at the desk REFUSED to let him rent a car. She refused to even allow him to make a reservation on the spot. And most shockingly rude and atrocious behaviour, the desk lady actually SWORE continuously at my mother. She explicitly said, "F**K YOU!" multiple times to my mother and refused to serve my parents. I am ABSOLUTELY APPALLED at this unprofessional behaviour. Not even considering customer service, this sort of behaviour lacks even the most basic human decency and common courtesy. Regardless of whether the employee is having a bad day, feeling stressed, or annoyed by the customer, they should never stoop so low as to swear and scream at customers. NEVER rent from Thrifty unless you enjoy being told to "go f**k yourself" by sales reps. I will unquestionably NEVER rent from Thrifty and neither should anyone else since their staff are extremely vulgar and freely curse at customers. I would not wish this experience on my worst enemy.

Not only was the customer service at the SFO Thrifty unspeakably despicable, the Thrifty system was faulty and the reservation failed to register despite providing a confirmation email. I have never heard of a company where their employees scream explicits at customers.

San Francisco
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627 posts
118 reviews
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9. Re: How Bad is Thrifty (car rental)
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Definitely don't automatically rule out rentalcars.com. Sometimes they have an almost identical price, and sometimes they don't. I rented a while back (not in SF), and they gave me an Alamo car at 40% less than Alamo itself quoted. Maybe a fluke, but it happened. Also, close your browser and erase rental car cookies, and look again the ext day or nest week. Keep looking.Like airlines, sometimes the same company will have a different price the next time you look.

Edited: 7 years ago
arbroath
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5 reviews
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10. Re: How Bad is Thrifty (car rental)
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Pre-booked with Thrifty thru Rental cars prior to our trip in April. Picked up at O'Farrell St. First car had a problem with the in-car charger (for the free Sat Nav supplied as part of the deal).A replacement car was quickly found and this was clean and of the standard we requested. No problems with staff or car and the return was quick and hassle free.Would def use again!

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