empire rent-a-car

On July **, 2016, *** *** came into our rental office to rent a car for one day. At the time of the rental, a $deposit was taken on
his *** card to cover the rental and any incidentals that may have occurred during the rental period. The customer was made fully aware of what the deposit was going to be before the vehicle left our rental yard. Upon return, the difference was put back onto the same *** card that was presented at the time of rental and return. Again, the customer was made fully aware that the difference would be returned at the time of return
The total cost of the rental was $91.68, and when *** *** returned the vehicle, a $refund was made to his card. The deposit and refund were made to the same card on the same day, July **, 2016.
Any time you rent an item, whether a tool from *** ***, a car from ***, a truck from U-Haul, a deposit is taken in case the item is returned late or damaged, or what have you. When you stay at a hotel, a deposit is also taken for incidentals in case of damage to the room. Taking money above the cost of the rental is the norm and the customer was made aware of such
The money was returned upon the completion of the rental. The refund was immediately taken out of our bank account, and in the banking industry, it is up to the card issuing bank to release the funds back to their customer, which is usually three to five business days. Once the funds were refunded through our credit card terminal, we have no control on how long the customer’s bank takes to return the funds to the card holder
We have been in business since 1970, and we treat all of our customers with the utmost respect and inform them of all charges and policies upfront. There are no hidden agendas, whatsoever.
Not only do we do local and warentals, but we advertise heavily on the Internet, and we have many regional, national, and international customers that come from all parts of the country and the world. If you look at our reviews, you will see all of the positive feedback left from customers all over the country and the world
Everything was done professionally and properly on our end, and I guess the customer was thinking the money would be returned immediately, as if he paid cash. There was nothing done wrong or intentional on our part for this customer to complain. The deposit was taken and the refund was given on the same day
Please do not post this negative complaint, as it is information on the card holder’s part and Empire Rent a Car did absolutely nothing wrong with regard to this situation.
See attached copy of his contract, showing the $deposit taken and the $refund on the same day, along with a copy of our credit card batch receipt showing both the charge and refund was issued on the same day, 7/**/

Review: Today I reserved a 15 passenger vehicle (E-350) online on their website for pick up at their [redacted] location. I received email confirmation that the vehicle was reserved and paid for with my credit card. When I called their office to ask for an upgrade which is advertised as $180 for the tv/dvd Sprinter vehicle, the trouble started. The lady answered and immediately said the vehicle is not available, while I was asking about the upgrade. I confirmed that I just received a confirmation online that the vehicle is available. The next minute she says she will be calling me at 10am tomorrow morning to confirm whether the vehicle will be available for Sunday for pick up as per my reservation. I was trying to understand how she could say they needed to call me when I already had a confirmed booking via their website. At this point, she puts me on hold and the next minute I am speaking with the manager/owner who is yelling at me that my last minute booking is not valid and he was going to call me tomorrow to confirm. There was so much confusion after I tried to explain I already had the online confirmation, he over-talked me and hung up. When I called back, I asked to speak to the manager and the lady said she was the manager. When I identified my situation she then transferred me to the "manager". The owner didn't even apologize for hanging up, he immediately said he was cancelling the order and I should go elsewhere. He was rude. I am disgusted at their unprofessionalism and my concern is that their misleading advertising that there is a van available and giving email confirmation, catches people in a bind and then on their receipt of payment it says no refunds if cancelled. They already have my credit card information and I received a 2nd email from them cancelling the order. The manager/owner knows that their website is used to pull people in and then starts fights with the customer who has already paid and received confirmation of the reservation. This is a bunch of shysters.Desired Settlement: In addition to the apology in the absurd treatment where they yelled and hung up the phone on me several times, I need their website: [redacted] to reflect TRUE availability rather than get the customer's credit card information and then jerk them around.

Business

Response:

I would first like to apologize for the miscommunication that was had between the customer and our corporation. No money is taken when an inquiry is taken online. The confirmation that was sent to the potential customer is computer-generated and is not confirmed until one of our representatives speaks to the person making the reservation. It is clearly stated on our website that the Sprinter is not available and to contact our office. At no time did we guarantee a Sprinter to this person. The customer was told they would get a call back to see if a vehicle was available at the time that she requested. No confirmation was made between our company and the customer that a vehicle would be available for pick up at her desired time and date. Only when it is confirmed, does the card get charged, and if it is cancelled, no refund would be made. I resent the fact that we are "shysters," and we have been in business for over 40 years, and we run a legitimate company and try our best to fulfill every reservation and customer's need. Our website does not "pull people" in. I would be willing to offer a discount to this person on their next rental, and would ask that they give us another try by calling the office instead of making the reservation online, so there is direct contact and a binding reservation can be taken. Our phone number is ###-###-####.

Business

Response:

I have responded twice to this allegation that [redacted] has made against our company. We are not going around in circles, whatsoever. If anyone is going around in circles, it is [redacted].

We explicitly described the policy and procedure to the customer over the phone and in my last response that I sent in last week concerning this situation. If I were to explain again the online and rental procedure again like I previously did, then I would be, in fact, going in circles.

When the inquiry was made online, it could have accepted [redacted]’s and someone else’s at the same time, and that could possibly have been the reason why her inquiry was taken by the online service.

Like I mentioned before, there are certain unforeseen circumstances that do happen, and we tried to make good on her misfortune by offering her a free one-day rental for her troubles, but she declined.

I believe that we have been nothing but courteous and professional during this whole procedure, and to take stabs at, name call, and accuse actions made by our company, I don’t think that is very civil.

Not to make excuses, but similar things happen in the airline industry. Sometimes, an airline overbooks, and they over free flights and a credit if a customer is willing to get bumped from the flight. This is very inconvenient to be stranded either in an airport on the departure or return trip.

We gave [redacted] plenty of time to reschedule her trip and plans, as opposed to having her come into our office on the day of and then telling her we did not have a van for her.

As per her stating about the calling the office for the best price in her email, it is not in the email, but it is on the top of the information form that she filled out online before she even submitted her inquiry.

The rude and fictitious comments that [redacted] is alleging that was said by our receptionist and [redacted] are false, and nobody hung up on her. Doing this would create issues with the Revdex.com, negative feedback reviews online, and, in turn, would be detrimental to our future in business. In order to succeed in business, whether it is retail, service, or online, you always must be polite and courteous to the potential customer. Without a happy customer, you have no business and no future.

Again, nothing about our company, employees, or website is misleading at all. Everything is spelled out in black and white. The inquiry was cancelled by one of our representatives and conveyed to [redacted] when the vehicle she requested was unavailable at the time and place that she inquired about.

We do not take reservations and not provide the vehicle to suit that reservation. If the unfortunate and unforeseen circumstance does arrive that the vehicle is not available for the customer, they are made aware before the fact, as was the case in this situation with [redacted].

There is no game playing or circling, whatsoever. We do honor legitimate inquiries and reservations.

We are sorry for the inconvenience. We offered a free rental van for your troubles. Instead of going back and forth in circles as you are claiming, please close this case as resolved.

Thank you.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

[I tried to rent a 15 seater passenger van through Empire Rental for my daughter's birthday party. I inputted my credit card information, and got an email from them confirming the booking. When I called about upgrading the initial booking, I was promptly told the vehicle I had reserved is not available despite the email confirmation.

Subsequently, I found out to my dismay that I am dealing with a bunch of amateurs who hang up on their customers, yell at them to "lose the attitude", make snide remarks such as "welcome to New York" and then play "who is the manager" games to confuse the issue. Furthermore, without considering the consequence, they cancel the vehicle already confirmed as a reservation.

When I asked for a simple apology for the unprofessional manner in which they handled the incident, they simply change the story around saying it never even happened despite the fact that I produced both their email confirming the reservation and their email cancelling it.

To add insult to injury, they justify their means of conducting business by equating themselves to airlines who bump passengers off over-booked flights. They also have the audacity to offer the shoddy excuse that "people don't bring back the vehicles back on time" and they need to confirm telephonically that the vehicle is available even when the email confirmation has already been sent out. Are we back in the dinosaur age.....email is not confirmation enough? The email does not state that any additional confirmation is needed via the telephone. Any other rental place only requires the print out of the email when you pick up the vehicle, not so at Empire Rental...according to them they need to confirm that the vehicle is available over the phone after the customer receives the email confirmation.

I would advise anyone making an internet booking/reservation for a vehicle rental with this company to spare themselves the headache and confusion as Empire Rental does not honor the email confirming the reservation, it sends out. And when you call about the upgrade you are bombarded with ludicrous behavior followed by a speedy cancellation of the initial reservation. This seems like a cover up to fishing credit card information in its online process of reserving a vehicle. When the time comes for the actual rental, you are given an option that may or may not work, but they falsely advertising online and falsely confirm that the vehicle you want is available, when in all likelihood is not. Since you are pressed into a needy position, you are forced to accept their alternative and thereby guaranteeing them the business.

Do not put yourself through this terrible scam of being led to believe that the vehicle you had reserved is available and that the email received confirming the reservation is legit because you will end up being "bumped" off on the day you are counting on having a vehicle. This was a nightmare I certainly would have wanted to avoid for all the bitter after-taste it left in trying to do something as simple as renting a vehicle. ]

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,