I was searching for a rental car on kayak for my destination and stumbled upon the hotwire surprise deal. The deal looked okay and I ended up paying for it. I was assigned a local company called NU. I didn't think much of it at that time. On the day of travel, my flight was running a bit late and I tried to contact the rental company. I kept getting a message saying they're closed. Even after exiting the airport I got the same response. I tried calling hotwire and their response was very disingenuous. They said the sale is final and no refunds. But when I asked for the car as per the agreement, their response was that the rental place was closed and I could get it tomorrow. So they took my money and not providing any services. It's only $200 but still very infuriating. What can I do now? I have filed a dispute with my credit company. Can I file a complaint with the authorities? The rental was in California
Donโt let it go. These a holes do this for enough number of customers and make millions off of it.
You did the right thing disputing it.
Had a similar garbage experience with Hotwire recently that I had to dispute with my credit card company. They have a semi recognizable name but most of their deals on paper come from pawning you off to horrible rental agencies you'd never use on your own.
Was the flight so late that the car rental company really was expected to be closed by the time you arrived? (in theory airport locations should stay open when flights are late and they know they have customers on that flight, but it's probably location and company dependent). What happened? Did you get a the car the next day?
The rental place was supposed to close at 4 (which is weird for a airport car rental place and not communicated to me before booking). My flight was delayed, but I was still able to get out of the terminal by 3:45 and called the rental place. That was not the only call I made that day to the rental company. But every time I called I got an automated message saying that they are closed
I never pay in advance for cars
Only 200. It's quite a lot of money to get ripped off from
Exactly!