What started off as a very affordable trip with the purchase of cheap airplane tickets, and discount hotel rooms, or cheap vacation packages can end up much more costly if you are not careful when renting a car. Being pleasant to your car rental agent can make a very big difference in the price you ultimately pay to rent your car.
Car rental employees have the power to make your rental experience a positive one, upgrading your car or not charging you for a chip in the window, or they can make your rental experience miserable.
The following are things that have been known to happen to people renting cars who are unpleasant to rental agents:
An upset agent can adjust the rate you are paying, surprising you with a higher price, claiming that the rate you were initially quote was an estimate only.
A car rental agent who wants to retaliate against a difficult customer can pre-check the box indicating acceptance of optional insurance on your unreadable (at least for those of us not lawyers and who do not have the inclination to read the contract) rental agreement. Sometimes insurance boxes are accidentally checked by agents because collision damage waivers are a very profitable add-on for car rental companies.
Rental agents, like airline agents, are given a lot of discretion in dealing with customers. It is not uncommon to hear stories about charges that rental agents insisted upon that contradict the car rental companys own website. In such cases customers should ask to speak to a manager before leaving with the car.
Vindictive car rental agents have been known to assure customers that pre-existing damaged pointed out to the rental company prior to leaving the lot will not be held against the customer. When this still happens a forcefully worded letter to the car rental company with the state insurance commissioner copied, usually results in such charges being reversed.
The best way to avoid being mistreated by a rental agent is by being polite, accommodating and even tempered when renting a car.
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