The company's name could not be more ironic…read more
I rented a van from them at the end of July this year for my band to use on a weekend gig. When I called them to make a reservation a week prior, they initially told me that they did not have any 15-passenger vans available for that weekend, but they had 12-passenger vans. A 12-passenger would have been too small, so I asked if he could double-check. After a bit of investigation on his part, he told me I could have a 15-passenger van if I was willing to pick the van up a bit later. We set up a pickup time for 4:00pm, to allow them time to prepare the van for our use. So far, so good, right?
Problem #1: the confirmation e-mail they sent me is for a 12-passenger van. I called them immediately to correct it, and they said they would handle it promptly. Four days and two irritated phone calls later, they finally sent me a revised confirmation. Four days. How timely of them.
On the day of pickup, they called me an hour before the pickup time to tell me that the previous customer was running late with the van return. I was told that they would be picking the vehicle up from the customer in Marin, and then bringing it to me. They said it might take an extra half-hour with the traffic across the Golden Gate Bridge. I was already on board a bus to the pickup site and I could not turn back, so I thought to myself: I can just wait in their office, right? Apparently not...
Problem #2: I arrived at the pickup site and discovered they don't actually have an office there. It's a shopping center with a large parking lot. I called to ask about this, and they told me they recently moved and haven't updated their information yet, but they still use that parking lot as a pick-up and drop-off location. Very shady, but with a tight band schedule I wasn't about to cancel my reservation and walk away.
Problem #3. The van didn't arrive at 4:00pm, or even 30 minutes later like they suggested. After a few follow-up phone calls, it was delivered to me around 5:47pm - nearly 2 hours late.
Problem #4. The van was subpar, even for the price. It was delivered with a dirty floor and minimal gas. We stood to lose a lot of money and disappoint a lot of fans if we cancelled the gig, so I dealt with it but I notified the staffer who delivered it that I was not happy about the condition of the van.
Afterward, I drove the vehicle to Oakland and noticed the steering was lousy. I expected noteworthy wear and tear on a van with over 100,000 miles, but it was much worse than expected. We drove to our weekend gig and back, several hours in each direction, and found ourselves exhausted from overcompensating for the bad steering. At least the engine was solid and the gas mileage was good. I returned the vehicle Monday morning, and decided I would never rent from them again.
But the story's not over yet...
Problem #5 - A few days ago, I received a phone call from 5 Star Rent A Van saying they had tried to charge my card for a toll violation they received on the van, and could not do so (my card was cancelled and replaced for unrelated security reasons). They wanted me to provide new card information. I told them there was no way I could have received a violation; I have records of the toll receipts and other expenses on file for the entire trip. I asked them to send me a copy of the ticket first.
Guess what the ticket was for? A toll violation on the Golden Gate Bridge at 5:17pm, on the day I picked up the van. That's right, ladies and gentlemen... half an hour prior to me receiving the van, on a bridge I never crossed. It seems their delivery driver was in a hurry to get the van from Marin to me that day and decided to try and cheat the system. And they wanted to charge ME for it, almost FOUR MONTHS LATER. Obviously, that's not happening.
As the old saying goes: you get what you pay for. And for 5 Star Rent A Van's prices - the lowest in the industry - you get poorly maintained vans, lousy customer service, and some of the shadiest business practices I've ever experienced.
