Extortion attempt
Avoid this company by all means.
On 14/08/2022, we rented on line on the Thrifty Car Rental website a Category L / Standard SUV car from the period from 16/08/2022 to 26/08/2022 for the amount of MX$ 5402.24, totally paid upfront through my American Express card.
On 15/08/2022, we visited the Thrifty/Hertz office at CDMX Campos Eliseos to check that everything was in order for this reservation and that there would be no surprise on the next day.
We were given assurances that everything would be organised for the next day.
I left my mobile phone number in Mexico in order to be contacted, should there be any problem.
On 16/08/2022, when we arrived at the Campos Eliseos office at 9:30 am, we were told us that a car was available but that it was of a higher category and that we had to pay additional fees amounting to MX$ 1,000 per day or MX$ 10,000 for the total rental duration, in other words an increase of about 200%.
This is clearly a rip off or extortion attempt.
We were also told that, if we did not pay this amount, we would not receive any car.
Extorsion and blackmailing are simply not acceptable and constitute very serious unethical behaviour and we refused to pay any additional fees and requested a refund which was received within the next 4 days together with a standard letter offering us a one day voucher. In view of the seriousness of the issue, this definitely looks like a joke.
We wrote emails both to the CEO of Thrifty Mexico and to the CEO of Hertz in the USA to complain about this highly unethical commercial behaviour. Without surprise, both remained unreplied.
August 16, 2022
Unprompted review