Last time renting from Dollar. This was a prepay rental at the Cleveland Airport. Car was not ready but I did get an upgrade. My problem is 1 of 2. First they changed the tax on a prepay. No one else does this, the airline and hotel didn't increase their price so why is Dollar stating the taxes changed on a prepay??? Second, I had an early morning departing flight so I filled up the car the night before. A few weeks later I received a letter stating the car was 3.3 gallons less from full and I would be charged $38.00. I kept the receipt so this will be disputed with Visa. Be advised, STAY AWAY from Dollar car rental!!!! read more

Customer service is terrible. Juan told me the car was clean and didn't have damage. He said I had to return it clean. The car was dirty on the outside and there was visible damage. I immediately returned to the counter and asked to cancel the transaction and get a refund. Juan took the key and rental agreement. He refused to give me any proof that I had cancelled the contract. He said the manager was busy washing cars and didn't have time to help. Do yourself a favor and stay clear of this place. They are unprofessional. Avis is a few steps away and very professional! read more

Dollar Car Rental - Scuff marks above the tire - Car Rental Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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I booked my rental through booking.com. There was only one time slot which was 10:00 a.m.. My plane didn't land until 3:30 and they canceled my reservation. When I found the place, the first thing he said was "We're short staffed and we have no cars" He told me it was going to be at least 2 hours until somebody returned a car. I decided to grab a bite to eat while I was waiting. When I came back, they said they had a truck and they wouldn't charge me any extra. It was a Dodge Ram Warlock edition and it was awesome! Way better than whatever economy car I booked for. So for that I was grateful. read more

literally the most unorganized cooperation I've ever seen. I am 24 and I was allowed to reserve online. when I got to the counter at the airport I was directed to the hertz counter and then told I couldn't rent a car because I only had an Apple Card then I couldn't rent a car because I am under the age of 25. everyone at the counter was unprofessional. read more

First, this is an independent car rental company. They are quick to tell you that at the counter while finalizing the paperwork. Second, if your rental breaks down on the road due to mechanical issues, this company will not respond. They expect YOUR insurance to return the vehicle to them (even if its 6 states away) and YOUR insurance company to pay for a new rental car. They do not stand by their rentals UNLESS you buy their additional roadside insurance. Third, they expect YOU to sign a piece of paper before actually seeing the vehicle stating that there is no damage to the vehicle. If you get out to the car and there is damage, you are required to walk your happy ass back into the terminal and report it to the agent at the desk. They are automatically defaulting to no damage unless you state otherwise. They are putting it on the customer to do their customer service jobs. They don't want to leave the desk to do anything. Fourth, I was given a truck with trash (water bottles, soda cans, aprons, paper, fast food trash etc..) in the bed of the truck. I was fortunate to find a Dollar representative out in the parking garage and brought this to his attention. He told me that is was due to people walking by the vehicle and throwing that trash in the truck. I looked at him and stated, its not my responsibility to do Dollar Car Rentals job. I'm a paying customer. He apologized and walked away from me and said he would annotate that slip I mentioned above. Fifth, they do not accept Debt/Credit cards as forms of payment. They also don't accept cash or checks. If you don't have a credit card.... Don't rent from them! Overall, the truck was new and mechanically reliable. However, the policies of this company and customer service is terrible. I would not rent from this independent company again. They seemed shady to the point if something went wrong and it was their fault, they would hold the customer accountable. read more

This car company provided me a car that wasn't clean and smelled like marijuana. I didn't notice it immediately and went to return it two days later. Unfortunately they were not able to provide another vehicle so I transferred to a different company. I had the car two days but they were unable to change my agreement so I was charged $200 dollars for two days (this is a compact car). Clearly I don't agree and believe that they should of tried to help with this. 1 star because they were polite. read more

Customer service sucked. Stuck with an unwanted vehicle. Ask for a vehicle that was cheaper, they declined and said they would charge a change fee which result in higher prices. Smh. Buyer beware. Will never ever rent from them again. I wouldn't have given them any stars with this app but it requires you to give 1. read more

DO NOT RENT A CAR FROM THIS LOCATION. The front desk clerk Jessica was late coming in and when she started working their was a line. And because she's moves slower than molasses....we waited almost 2 hours for a car while our daughter was stranded at boot camp waiting for us to pick her up read more

Avoid even if you have to pay a higher rental rate. I reserved a full-size car weeks in advance of my arrival but when I got to the desk (10:30pm on a Monday night) there were no full-size cars They put me in a Jeep Renegade which is a category lower but they did adjust the rental price, so minor annoyance. The car was in a different parking slot than I was told but close, so again only a minor annoyance. The Dollar cars are at the far end of the parking structure so it is about a 300 yard walk from the desk through a non-climate controlled area. When I got in the Jeep it had a faint odor I could not quite place but at 10:45pm after a long flight connecting through Atlanta I felt it wasn't worth walking all the way back, switching vehicles (if that was even going to be possible) and then walking all the way back out. The vehicle had the oil change needed indicator on but I've seen that on rentals before I wasnt going to be driving a lot anyway, so another just minor annoyance. Here's the major annoyance. I turn the car in on time with a full tank of gas. I find out the next week that Dollar charged my card an additional $250 above the rental costs for a "cleaning fee." A manager decided the interior smelled like smoke. I do not smoke. I have never smoked. No one else was in the car at any point during the rental. I did call Dollar at the Columbia Airport and was referred to a LaDonna Fernandez at two different numbers and I left detailed messages at each and was promised a call back at each. That never happened. I went on Dollar's website and filled out a contact form which did get me a cordial response that the charge was valid and would stand. I have initiated a dispute through American Express. In retrospect I should have refused the car, obviously, but I did not associate the slight odor with smoke and certainly never imagined it would trigger a $250 "cleaning fee." In my opinion, this is a poorly disguised method this particular Dollar location uses to inflate revenue and is an absolute trap for customers. Rent from Hertz, use Uber, do anything except rent a car from these people. If you must, for some reason, take pictures of the interior and have the counter person come out to the car, sniff it, and sign the contract that the vehicle does not "smell like smoke." If they wont do that, refuse the car. read more

Horrible customer service Representative and they trick you with a fee increase if you travel across different states. Wth??? Never use dollar. read more

I needed a one-way rental for just 5 hours to go from one SC city (Columbia) to another (Myrtle Beach). This was the cheapest company available on such short notice, but I was troubled by the low reviews here (though I still needed to take my chances). My online rental reservation said that the cost was $93, but the fine print said there might also be an additional one-way rental fee (ie, when you pick up a car in one city but then drop it off in another). I found it odd that a reservation would not tell you what any such one-way rental fee would be. So I called the local Columbia Airport rental company (got no answer!) and then the corporate company to try to figure out what that additional one-way fee would be. After all, how could I know how much this rental car cost without someone telling me what this extra fee was??!!?! I had a funny feeling about the whole thing, so I called using one cell phone which I put on speaker and recorded using video on another cell phone. I eventually reached a corporate representative who looked up my reservation number and reviewed my travel plan, and then confidently told me that there was no extra one-way rental fee for my trip. Great, I thought! Glad I checked - so $93, it is! Well, sure enough, days later when I go to pick-up the car at the Columbia Airport, the front desk staffer tells me there is an additional one-way rental fee. I forget what she says that fee was ($50 maybe...I forget exactly now. But it was large enough that I was greatly alarmed.) The staffer also said that the local Columbia Airport rental shop is independent, and that corporate could not waive any such local one-way fee. I protested and told her that I had a recording of my whole exchange with corporate where I was clearly told there was no fee. The staffer called her manager, and the manager told her that if she listened to the recording and heard them tell me that there was no fee, that they would honor it and take it up with corporate later. So I played the 10+ minute recording for her so she could hear that, indeed, I had been told that there was no fee. So, thankfully, I did not have to pay that extra fee. But what if I hadn't been forward-thinking enough to have recorded the call??!?!?! No one would have believed me, even though it would have been just as true. And I would have been stranded in Columbia, with a reservation that was now way too expensive for the quick trip I needed. This should not be! Also, when I got fully rung up (without any so-called extra one-way fee), the cost ended up being $96. I was a bot puzzled and told the staffer that my reservation had been a little less than that. And she said that it was probably just a matter of taxes being added in. I, again, thought that was odd, but I had been at the desk for 30+ minutes now so I just wanted to move things along. Fine, I'll pay the $96+. Well, when I'm signing and initialing all the various screens presented to finalize the reservation, I get to a screen that says I've accepted an additional $3 charge for roadside assistance. HOLD UP! WAYMENT! First, of all I already pay $130+ a year for a AAA membership. Second, the credit card I used for the reservation also provides roadside assistance when you use that card for a travel purchase. So, no, I absolutely did not agree to pay an extra $3 for roadside assistance. I raised that with the front desk staffer and she said that every online reservation automatically includes that. No, it doesn't! And I never agreed to that. So she ends up having to take that charge off and--lo and behold--my costs finally get down to $93, which is what it should have been when I approached the desk an hour ago! When I finally got the keys and made the arduously long trek to the car (SN: please note that the spaces for Dollar are the farthest out). I was STRUGGLING to roll my various suitcases and then find my assigned car, which actually was not easily located. I finally had to resort to setting off the car alarm to find it. By the time I got on the road, I was nearly 90 minutes behind pace (which is why I'm glad I had built an extra 2 unneeded hours into my reservation). I actually got the car to the drop-off at the Myrtle Beach airport with just about 10 minutes left on my reservation. Then, while there, the man working that desk was soooooo slow. It took about 30-40 minutes (and I was first in line behind the family he was helping when I arrived) to turn the car in and get on my way. In sum, this whole rental car experience was a nightmare. I lost a tremendous amount of time dealing with all the nonsense and the tacked-on fees. The only thing I can say is that the front desk staffers in both airports were both nice and professional throughout the experience. But it still was a poor experience overall. Use Dollar Rental at your own risk! And record EVERYTHING!!!!! read more

If I could give negative stars I would! The counter was dark and empty at 10:15am when I went to pick up my confirmed reservation. I walked around the airport for over half an hour looking for someone to help me out. I eventually found a car maintenance person to call another location and have them walk her through the rental process. An hour later I left with the only car they had left. It was WAY bigger than I had reserved and I was unhappy because I was going to be driving a lot and did not want to pay for gas for a large vehicle. The plate were also suspicious. They were cardboard and not from the department of transportation (which I guess is common in the south, but I had NEVER seen in my life). Also the date had clearly been changed with a sharpie marker from 5/29/18 to 6/29/18 by drawing over the number 5 to change it to a 6. I ended up calling the company, being kept on hold an transferred around for over three hours before just calling the local sheriff to ensure that the vehicle was legal to drive. When returning the car to the counter I met Jennifer. She is the rudest and worst customer service agent I have ever encountered in my life. I explained the entire situation and asked that a significant amount be refunded due to all of the issues. She said she would refund $8.40 for the extra 2 hours I had needed the vehicle. I explained the entire struggle and she kept insisting that they had upgraded me. I told her that it wasn't an upgrade, it was the ONLY car they had left on the lot and that it cost me a lot of money to fill it up. More than a standard. I also explained about the lost 3 hours of my life due to trying to make sure the tags were legal. She laughed at me. I asked for a supervisor. She refused to give me any information. I asked for the name of the company that owned the rental counter (it was independently owned) and she refused. I ended up walking away and she condescendingly said "Have a nice day" in a way that was just so rude and hurtful. NEVER RENT FROM THIS COUNTER! They are the worst. read more

This location never has cars, and they always nickle and dime you. The GM Jennifer Thomas does not understand hospitality and is very disconnected from her team. The treatment of clients is horrible. The front desk agents try their best to help people but it does not help when leadership is 100% disconnected from clients. read more

Absolutely atrocious. Waited over 2 hours to get a car, overpriced and poor quality. The had taken more customers than they had cars and backlogged the entire line, very underprepared. read more

Avoid at all costs. Bad customer service. Cant get anyone on the phone. Was overcharged and i was able to get my credit card company to intervene. They even had trouble getting a live person on the phone and had calls transferred over and over. read more

I've have been trying for 9 days for a return call from a manager. They do not have the decency for anyone to call me back. I was clearly double charged in the amount of $857.92 on 30 November. It was under a government contract. They do not take questions seriously. I will never give Dollar my business and will do everything in my power to prevent the government from using them as a preferred rental company. Stay Away!! read more

I've had nothing but trouble with this company from the beginning. Unfortunately my travel was work-related, so I had no choice of who to book with. You can not reach the desk at this location on the phone. You talk to a go-between. My oil light came on so I called to see what I should do. They told me to come back to the airport and they could change it in about twenty minutes. What actually happened is I got there and was told to go fill up the gas tank and asked what my mileage was because I needed to switch cars. The next week Iforgot a pair of sunglasses in the glove compartment of the vehicle I brought in for the oil change. When I called I was immediately told that they weren't found. They didn't even ask what vehicle I was in. The sunglasses are either still in the glove compartment or someone stole them. I'm leaning toward the latter. read more

OMG Beware!!! ...never though a national chain would steal from me but these folks are frauds by hitting you for fuel charges when you return the car full. I refilled a Nissan Versa 5 mins from airport and when I got credit card statement they charged me for whole tank at more than $8.00 per gallon -$71.22 and were impossible to deal with by phone or mail.. despite my credit card statement showing gas purchase in West Columbia, SC on date of return. Stay away unless you want a dirty car ( mine was covered in stickers where the doors had been sealed at some point.. no garage attendant) -and a lot of stress from being robbed. read more

I can see by the previous reviews that dollar rent a car has a very poor reputation at the Columbia airport. I picked up my car and was told at the countered the vehicle was washed it was completely clean and brand new. The car did have 200 or so miles on it and it was not clean at all. The windshield had the dust on the interior of the windshield from the factory and you could see where the suction cups that were used to mount the windshield at the factory was still marks on there too. Also a poor attempt to remove a sticker from the windshield and there was another sticker stuck on the carpet in the back floorboard hump. The car had not even been vacuumed. And you can tell the vehicles are not checked before they're put in service because this vehicle had up to 48 pounds of tire pressure in some of the tires and the sticker in the door jam recommend 32 pounds of air per tire. I'm sure that later on they will determine that the tires are wearing in the center and they will blame it on the customers. read more

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Worst experience ever. Took incredibly long. They offered us a discount for taking so long, and consequently took off $5. Big deal. You wasted over 2 hours of my life. I could create a better rental car business off of my iphone. This company is a disgrace. read more

I would never use Dollar again! I filled the car with fuel and dropped the key in the drop box after hours. They billed be $8.00 for a gallon of gas because they said they drove the car 1 mile to their tech who attempted to top off the tank and since there was still a little room it is "not full" so I was fined. Crooks!! They refuse to send me my receipt. I have called them 40 times in two days and they answered a single time and failed to send me the receipt I requested. I must have a receipt to be reimbursed by my company. I have never had so much trouble with a rental car service. I called Dollar Car's parent company but they informed me that the airport "Dollar Car" is a local "Dollar Car" vendor and that the parent company can't help. read more

Do not use this service worst experience ever reserved a car two weeks notice got to location no vehicles available made my family late to Fort Jackson family day if i can remove that one star i would make it a zero sad nobody take there jobs serious anymore read more

I recently had a one-way rental from the CLT location, which I returned to the Columbia, SC airport location on Jan 5th, and 12:20 pm. On jan 8th, I received multiple phone calls from the security dept. of the CLT location. After talking to a number of customer service reps, we ascertained that the CLT location had no indication of my return. Understandably, I was confused and upset by this, being that I'd returned the car 3 days prior, and was now being forced to handle an issue on my only off day. To make matters worse, the current manager of the Columbia location was extremely terse and unapologetic when she called to say she'd contacted the CLT location (finally), and informed them of my rental return. I let her know of my dissatisfaction of both the situation AND her attitude, as well as my hesitation to utilize the franchise again, and her response was "I did what I was supposed to do...and that's fine if that's your choice". I understand that this may be a franchise, but I think everyone should be aware of employees that are putting a negative connotation to the Dollar/Thrifty name. I work for a company that has procured a multi-million dollar contract with the military, which is why we are based in Columbia, SC certain times of the year. Honestly, after this last interaction, Dollar/Thrifty will NOT be one of the rental companies we consider. read more

If I can give them a minus, I would. We flew in from California so it was a long day. We had received a confirmation from here stating that our vehicle is ready. We arrived at the counter to be informed that they have no more vehicles left! What company does that. Luckily, someone was returning one and we waited for it to be cleaned and gassed. We were offered no compensation for our troubles. Thankful someone returned a vehicle since we have to drive an hour and a half tonight. Horrible. Will never use them again. read more

Disaster!!! I had a family emergency that I had to go to my parents' home in Pennsylvania for several days. I decided to rent a car because flights were expensive at such last minute. I looked at several rental car companies and all were running around $550 for the twelve days I would need the car... except for Dollar Rent A Car which was quoting me a Grand Total of $266. I even called the desk at the airport where I was going to pick up the car to confirm that this was actually the Grand Total. I was told at that time that was the actual cost so I booked the reservation to pick up the vehicle early Sunday morning. On the morning I went to pick up the car, I was asked where I would be taking it. When I told the very rude agent that i was going to Pennsylvania, I was informed it would be an additional $20 per day because I was taking the car outside of their geographic area". So much for unlimited miles and no hidden fees. At that point, I had no choice. There were no other rental car companies open and i had to leave that day. I was never informed of this policy and it is particularly frustrating since I had called the specific desk I would rent the car from. The truly sad thing is that I could have put more miles on the car than I did just driving around the Columbia area for twelve days since once I got to PA, I hardly drove the car at all. So my message to anyone considering renting form Dollar at the Columbia airport, DON'T!!!. And my message to Dollar is that I live here in Columbia. I know a lot of people and I am letting anyone everyone know of your deceptive practices. In addition, my husband who works for a local corporation in which he has colleagues that come into Columbia all the time needing to rent a car. We can guarantee that they won't be renting from Dollar. read more

Had this been 2013 this location would have had 5 stars. Wish I could give it 0 stars. I am not sure what kind of issues they are experiencing but they need to get it together. The first person that checked me out was very sweet but seem like she was new. She quoted me a price and said that it was including the rental the airport fees and roadsafe. Then she proceeded to offer me what she called "Optional" protections, and I declined them. When I saw that the amount of roadsafe I called back and asked if it was indeed optional and the person on the phone was rude and snapped at me that the person who rented it to me would have told me that, I explained that I was not told that it was optional nor did I know what it covered. I then was charged an hour late fee but I was never late. I picked up at 16:25 and I was in the Airport returning at 16:25. The rude girl in the pick jacket was flirting with the male that was a head of me. So I had no other choice but to wait. When it was my turn 5mins had passed and it was 16:30 and she was very matter of fact that there was nothing she could do because it was the computer charging me, but they had my due back time as 16:00 and not 16:25 as when I picked it up. So I was charged a whole hour that I did not use, a whole day on the roadsafe, and another day of airport taxes and fees. And I am still waiting on a call back from a manager. If you can avoid this place you better save yourself the headache. PS. They most likely get commission off their "Optional" protections, so if you must rent there make sure you DOUBLE check to make sure they are not charging you for additional services, because they will and say that YOU agreed to buy it. read more