Just had the most frustrating experience with Costco car rental.

[sun starved Gayle]

My husband's Costco car rental through Enterprise dropped $70.00. He picks the car up in less than 24 hours so I confirmed through Costco on-line chat that I could still cancel, and the answer was yes.

I re-booked on Costco website using same rental company, same type car/pick up dates and canceled the previous reservation online as I have done numerous times before, getting a message that the reservation was canceled. But I never got an email with a cancelation confirmation. And the reservation I canceled was still showing up in my Costco account.

Went back on Costco website to get another customer service rep on line and spent 46 minutes trying to get this straightened out. Bottom line was "loyalty number does not match the name of renter" and I needed to apparently call Enterprise to cancel, even after I had canceled on the Costco site, and the site had a message come up that said that the rental is canceled. There was no message on the site saying I needed to contact Enterprise. If I had not checked, I would have had two reservations through Enterprise. And why could a BOOK a car with a wrong loyalty number, (in my name apparently, and not my husband's) but not CANCEL?

Now the reservation is canceled on the Enterprise site, but is still showing up on Costco's own site. I have no cancelation email and I am very frustrated. Need to go soak my head for a while and come back to this.

Bottom line is double check and make sure your reservation is truly canceled even if the web site says it was!

 

[remowidget]

It's been my experience that it isn't a big deal if you don't even cancel, unless maybe you have prepaid.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

 

[PigsDad]

Yes, I have had extra rental car reservations through Costco that I never cancelled or used, and nothing was ever charged to my CC. I wouldn't worry much about it unless it was a pre-paid reservation.

Kurt

 

[sun starved Gayle]

Arrrggggghhh....Just got a call from my husband and his friends at the Enterprise car rental at the airport. There is NO reservation for them, apparently both reservations were canceled. I am really annoyed. They are going to try and find them a car, but not sure they can get another SUV like they need. This was not worth it to save $70.00.

 

[VacationForever]

I don't find a place to put loyalty number and I have never bothered with a loyalty number.

Maybe the Costco system cannot handle cancellations within 24 hours of usage?

 

[RX8]

This is very confusing. If I understand correctly you cancelled and rebooked another reservation. The original reservation never cancelled, which shouldn't matter since rental reservations are not binding. Is that all correct?

Did you get a confirmation for the rebooked reservation?

I have cancelled and rebooked Costco rentals often to save money and never had an issue. I have never done however within 24 hours.

 

[sun starved Gayle]

This is very confusing. If I understand correctly you cancelled and rebooked another reservation. The original reservation never cancelled, which shouldn't matter since rental reservations are not binding. Is that all correct?

Did you get a confirmation for the rebooked reservation?

I have cancelled and rebooked Costco rentals often to save money and never had an issue. I have never done however within 24 hours.

You bet it is confusing ! Yes, I did get a confirmation email when I re-booked. I also got an email at 8:03 from Enterprise this morning saying "your rental car is waiting", with confirmation number on it. Enterprise people at airport told my husband they would make it right, and re-book with same car for same price. I just got an email confirmation with price that is $182.00 more than yesterday's booking. I am quite annoyed.

And yes I communicated with Costco via their live chat and asked if I could cancel and re-book with less than 24 hour notice and they said yes. I printed off both live chats with Costco, and I am very glad I did !

 

[RX8]

Not sure that this is a Costco problem. If you got an email directly from Enterprise the morning of the reservation saying they had your car ready then it appears to be Enterprise's problem.

 

[Rjbeach2003]

I've booked dozens of times thru Costco, that includes booking, rebooking and canceling. I have never had any kind of problem.

Sounds like you were a victim of a very rare glitch. People shouldn't use your experience as a reason to avoid Costco.

 

[DaveNV]

Gayle,

Every time you book with Costco you get a different reservation confirmation number. On that confirmation it should also list the rental car company's confirmation number. One of those two numbers should be in effect on the day you go to collect your car. That same reservation confirmation should also list the amount of the rental. On the day of your recent rental, when you got the message from Enterprise saying your car was ready, the confirmation number should have been listed, and t should have matched one of the Costco confirmations you'd received, with the total price listed. The difference of $182 may have been taxes and such. Costco includes them in the rental quote, but Enterprise may not. So they may have matched the amount you were quoted by Costco, but then added their taxes and fees on top, perhaps unaware that the quote you had included those taxes and fees.

I'd suggest you gather all the pertinent information, emails, codes, and such, and call Costco Travel on the phone. Do not chat with someone. Do not do it by email. Call them, at 1-866-921-7925, and calmly tell them what happened. Ask them to make things right. They should either give you a credit, or some sort of refund, if they were at fault for this screw up. If they say it's Enterprise's fault, ask them to request compensation for you from Enterprise. This is the sort of thing Costco needs to know about, to avoid similar things in the future.

Costco grants contracts to their rental agencies on an annual basis - if Enterprise did something wrong, Costco is going to want to know about it. If Costco did something wrong, they are also going to want to know about it. Either way, they will want to know, so they can take steps to prevent something like this happening again. Costco makes a lot of money for a lot of vendors through their travel services. A mess up on this level is not a small thing, and they'll want to take action on your behalf.

Keep us posted, please.

Dave

 

[WalnutBaron]

Gayle,

Every time you book with Costco you get a different reservation confirmation number. On that confirmation it should also list the rental car company's confirmation number. One of those two numbers should be in effect on the day you go to collect your car. That same reservation confirmation should also list the amount of the rental. On the day of your recent rental, when you got the message from Enterprise saying your car was ready, the confirmation number should have been listed, and t should have matched one of the Costco confirmations you'd received, with the total price listed. The difference of $182 may have been taxes and such. Costco includes them in the rental quote, but Enterprise may not. So they may have matched the amount you were quoted by Costco, but then added their taxes and fees on top, perhaps unaware that the quote you had included those taxes and fees.

I'd suggest you gather all the pertinent information, emails, codes, and such, and call Costco Travel on the phone. Do not chat with someone. Do not do it by email. Call them, at 1-866-921-7925, and calmly tell them what happened. Ask them to make things right. They should either give you a credit, or some sort of refund, if they were at fault for this screw up. If they say it's Enterprise's fault, ask them to request compensation for you from Enterprise. This is the sort of thing Costco needs to know about, to avoid similar things in the future.

Costco grants contracts to their rental agencies on an annual basis - if Enterprise did something wrong, Costco is going to want to know about it. If Costco did something wrong, they are also going to want to know about it. Either way, they will want to know, so they can take steps to prevent something like this happening again. Costco makes a lot of money for a lot of vendors through their travel services. A mess up on this level is not a small thing, and they'll want to take action on your behalf.

Keep us posted, please.

Dave

Awesome advice from Dave, as always.

 

[taterhed]

Advice after the fact, but....

DaveNW's advice is very good...

Also, Anytime I make a Costco reservation, I always go to the actual car rental site (Enterprise for ex.) and check the reservation. I make sure it matches and has all my loyalty info on the reservation, including the fast pickup/checkout option. I usually do this once I'm pretty sure I'll use the reservation or have made a last-minute reservation.

Anytime I CANCEL a costco reservation, I cancel at the Costco website and then move to the actual rental company (Enterprise for ex) and cancel the reservation ON THE RENTAL CAR WEBSITE if it still exists. Also, if I made a new reservation (as you did) I insure that the new reservation is intact and is not cancelled.

I've had some hit/miss with the Costco cancellations; they apparently take a while to show up in the rental car system (sometimes).

 

[Luanne]

I had a rental earlier this year where the car company (Budget I think) charged me more than the confirmed confirmation I'd received through Costco. I was able to resolved it with Budget by emailing them the confirmation. They adjusted the charges immediately.

 

[VacationForever]

I had a rental earlier this year where the car company (Budget I think) charged me more than the confirmed confirmation I'd received through Costco. I was able to resolved it with Budget by emailing them the confirmation. They adjusted the charges immediately.

Same thing but I let it go. I boycott Budget from that point onwards.

 

[Luanne]

Same thing but I let it go. I boycott Budget from that point onwards.

I've had some great experiences with Budget. A couple of years ago we (well really dh) had a slight accident with a Budget car in Canada. The Budget agents in Canada were WONDERFUL! Provided me all of the information I needed for my claim, and also told me that if the insurance didn't cover a possible $20 administration fee, they would take care of it. I will definitely use Budget again. If a company makes things right I'll definitely give them a second chance.

 

[Elli]

Advice after the fact, but....

DaveNW's advice is very good...

Also, Anytime I make a Costco reservation, I always go to the actual car rental site (Enterprise for ex.) and check the reservation. I make sure it matches and has all my loyalty info on the reservation, including the fast pickup/checkout option. I usually do this once I'm pretty sure I'll use the reservation or have made a last-minute reservation.

Anytime I CANCEL a costco reservation, I cancel at the Costco website and then move to the actual rental company (Enterprise for ex) and cancel the reservation ON THE RENTAL CAR WEBSITE if it still exists. Also, if I made a new reservation (as you did) I insure that the new reservation is intact and is not cancelled.

I've had some hit/miss with the Costco cancellations; they apparently take a while to show up in the rental car system (sometimes).

Good points, I've rented quite a few cars through Costco, but never went to the actual car rental site - never had a problem renting cars through Costco and have cancelled and rebooked if the price dropped.

 

[Talent312]

I just did two one-way rentals w-Budget. No problems whatsoever.
Even upgraded a car size for the same cost (other location needed it).

OTOH, I wouldn't go near Thrifty. They tried to charge dents/scratches
... until I sent them the dent/scratch map made at time of rental.

.

 

[VacationForever]

My last 2 Budget rentals included more than an hour wait for an available car after standing in line for about 20 to 30 minutes.

My last Budget rental was for 2 days and when I returned the car at the airport, there were about 8 cars ahead of me with only 1 person processing the retutrns. That particular airport indicated that if receipt for gas fill up was not shown as proof, they would be charging some exorbitant rate per mile travelled. I left the receipt for gas from the airport gas station on the front seat together with the rental paper work and left the car in the queue because I was in a hurry. I even spoke with the attendent briefly that I had left all the paperwork on the seat before I took off.

My card was charged $105 instead of $86. I just did not want to deal with them as I had already sworn off Budget due to the long wait to get a car.

My next rental at the same airport was with Avis. Even though it is a sister company of Budget, there was not a wait. When I returned the car I offered my receipt and the attendent said it was not necessary. Avis is worth the extra few dollars over Budget. I am booked again with Avis for my next trip, through Costco. Interestingly, my rate is around $170 when I booked 2 months ago. It is still 2 months away but rate is now $250 to $400 as I have been checking regularly on Costco site.

 

[Luanne]

I maybe be changing my mind about Budget. I have an upcoming rental, in two days. This was made through AutoSlash and Priceline. I printed off the confirmation from AutoSlash/Priceline, then when to the Budget website to be sure it was there. It was, but at a higher price. I called Budget. They won't do anything about it. This happened to me one other time and Budget did adjust the price. I told the agent that this seems to be a problem they (Budget) has, and they need to contact their third party bookers to be sure they are all on the same page. I went back and double checked two upcoming reservations also made through AutoSlash, one with Priceline and without, to see if the pricing is the same on the car rental site, in both of those cases Hertz, and it matches. So I'm thinking Budget is the problem.

 

[isisdave]

I also had an Autoslash reservation for Budget in Ireland recently. When I got there (it was a small in-city office) they couldn't see it, but their IT support guy in another city could. I had the details on my phone, so they hand-entered it at the same rate. This was also a problem, because, like everywhere else I've been in the last two years, they're a dual Budget-Avis location and they do all their walk-up trade through Avis, so they needed more tech support to do one through Budget. Not sure why they didn't just do it through Avis. Anyway, the IT guy walked them through it for 20 minutes.

Anyway, all this took an hour and they were so nice and kept apologizing for the delay.

As I said, I haven't been anywhere in two years where Avis and Budget were not co-located and operated by the same humans, although with different computer systems (on the same terminals).

I HAVE seen locations where they say that if you drive less than 75 miles, they want to see a fuel receipt. I don't think they can arbitrarily charge you without actually putting in gas, but you know they'll cram more in than you would/did.

 

[sun starved Gayle]

Thanks for all the helpful comments. He is home and got printed confirmation of the original price charged before he left the car rental return..

 

[Talent312]

I rented from Budget at a hotel - cheaper than the airport.
The folks at the Avis-Budget desk were very pleasant, even congenial.
On returning, I self-reported the fuel... took me at my word for it.

I expressed concern becuz I found their Sunpass transponder in the glovebox after going thru toll-booths. They said not-to-worry... The Sunpass peep would know its a rental from the plate and bill just the toll.
.

 

[Luanne]

I maybe be changing my mind about Budget. I have an upcoming rental, in two days. This was made through AutoSlash and Priceline. I printed off the confirmation from AutoSlash/Priceline, then when to the Budget website to be sure it was there. It was, but at a higher price. I called Budget. They won't do anything about it. This happened to me one other time and Budget did adjust the price. I told the agent that this seems to be a problem they (Budget) has, and they need to contact their third party bookers to be sure they are all on the same page. I went back and double checked two upcoming reservations also made through AutoSlash, one with Priceline and without, to see if the pricing is the same on the car rental site, in both of those cases Hertz, and it matches. So I'm thinking Budget is the problem.

Update on this. When I got to the rental counter in Vancouver they had the price I'd been confirmed through AutoSlas/Priceline so all is well.

 

[sfwilshire]

I don't find a place to put loyalty number and I have never bothered with a loyalty number.

Maybe the Costco system cannot handle cancellations within 24 hours of usage?

I called to do it, but I have cancelled Costco reservations at or slightly after the actual pickup time. No problem.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Whenever I make any reservation through a third party site, be it Costco, Priceline, Hotwire, booking.com, hotels.com, Discount Hawaii Car Rental, etc., I always confirm that my reservation appears at the vendor's webiste.