I would like to preface the fact that I do NOT write reviews but I am an avid review reader on…read moreyelp. So with this, I hope I can help others when they are searching for reviews like I did! I'm sorry this is long lol
I rented a car from Fox Rental Company in Fort Lauderdale this weekend, and while the initial rental process was great and the gentleman who helped us was very nice, the experience overall was extremely frustrating.
First, if you don't like unexpected fees, I would be very cautious about renting from this company. The rental initially appeared to have very little added on, but then there were $70+ in taxes and fees, and by the time everything was finalized, we were paying around $500. I understand that rental cars come with taxes, fees, deposits, and other charges, so I'm not saying every additional charge was necessarily Fox's fault. However, the pricing felt very misleading compared to what we initially expected.
The part that really ruined the experience, though, was returning the car.
We had to return the car around 4:00 AM, and the directions for getting into the parking garage were extremely unclear. There was no one outside directing customers, while the rental companies around them, such as Hertz and Enterprise, had much clearer setups. When I pulled up to Fox Returns, there were spikes on the curb and a sign that only said not to reverse onto the spikes, but there was no clear indication that customers were supposed to drive OVER the spikes. (To those who may be in the rental car industry may think this is a dumb question however for someone who is NOT, I am unfamiliar with how these things work.)
I noticed there was a woman sitting on her phone near the outside office and asked my friend if she thought I should ask her. We decided we should drive down further to see if there was another entrance first. For starters, it was a little annoying that the lady watched us sit there for at least 5-10 minutes before we pulled off and didn't offer any assistance as the other companies did. Unfortunately, there was not another entrance and we had to pull back in. By this time, there was another vehicle that had appeared to have just pulled in given the man was unloading his bags.
Again, I was in a rental car and did not want to assume I could drive over something that looked like it could damage the tires. I wasn't sure whether the spikes had been lowered for him or whether he had simply driven over them. So I did what I thought was the most reasonable thing--I politely asked the employee standing there doing nothing but sit on her phone:
"Excuse me, ma'am, are we allowed to drive over the spikes?"
Instead of simply answering the question, she immediately pointed toward the other customer and said, essentially, "Clearly, he didn't ask me that question." I explained that I was in a rental car and had no way of knowing whether I was supposed to drive over the spikes. Her response was extremely rude and dismissive. She told me that the other customer didn't "waste her time" asking that question and accused me of coming up to her with an attitude, even though I had approached her politely and asked a very legitimate question. I genuinely was so shocked at this point because I had NO idea how I could've asked in a nicer way or where she had gotten this from??? I am always respectful to people who are doing their jobs, and I genuinely did nothing to provoke the way I was spoken to.
This was completely unnecessary. I was trying to avoid damaging a rental car. If I had driven over those spikes and damaged the tires because there were no clear instructions, I'm sure the company would have had an entirely different attitude.
I eventually had to stand up for myself because the way I was spoken to was completely unacceptable. I understand that it was 4:00 AM and that employees may be tired or dealing with difficult circumstances, but that is no excuse for speaking to a customer that way--especially when the customer is simply asking for clarification because the company's return process is not clearly marked.
I learned that this woman's name was ROCHELLE.
All of this to say, I am not looking for a refund or monetary compensation. What I am asking for is accountability.I would genuinely like a supervisor or manager to review what happened and speak with the employee who handled my return. I want her to understand how unacceptable the way she spoke to me was and how easily this situation could have been avoided by simply answering a reasonable question.