How disappointing.

I was doing my best to keep down the costs of my recent vacation to South Dakota, where I rented a car in Minneapolis and drove over to Aberdeen to visit relatives for a week.

So, when I reviewed my options on Priceline and saw I could rent a compact SUV from you for $404 for the week, you were the winner. I booked it back in June for my October trip, since you gave me the most bang for my buck.

Or, so I thought.

When I arrived at the Minneapolis airport on day one of my vacation, I went to your counter and immediately was told I could upgrade my vehicle to a Ford Escape. Not really thinking it through, I assumed you were out of the car I had reserved and were shuffling me off to something similar. Ford Escape, Buick Encore–to me, same thing. After all, the rental agreement said, “Buick Encore or similar.”

I’m not alone in my thinking. Go to this website and it will show you 25 cars similar to a Buick Encore and right there at number 6:

I was told by your employee that I’d be able to upgrade to the Escape for “just a few dollars.” Having once owned an Escape, I said, “SURE!” After all, since they’re basically the same car, she was probably just saying “upgrade” to make me feel special and accept something other than I reserved.

I had paid $256 to Priceline back in June to reserve this vehicle. The balance on my rental was $147, for a total of $404 for the week. I felt that was a screaming hot deal. That is, up until I saw you charged my credit card $377 (“just a few dollars” more) after I had turned it in.

Bottom line, the rental that was supposed to cost $404 actually bit me for $633—$229 more than I was planning on!

Since I doubt that will be refunded, I’d like to ask that you remove $229 from that employee’s next paycheck, telling her beforehand that her check this time around is going to be “just a few dollars” short and see how she handles it.

I felt swindled. I felt deceived and for the sake of all the other consumers out that might fall prey to this sleight of hand cheat in the future, I felt I need to make sure my experience is made known to the masses. To give you at least $229 worth of publicity to even the score.

Oh, I’ll no doubt rent another car in my lifetime and, being a frugal person, I’ll shop around for the best value. However, the second I see that Dollar Rent-a-Car logo, it will be completely ignored.

Fool me once…..

Tim Hunter