Thrifty Car Rental NZ Reviews 29

The rental company charged my card instead of doing a hold authorization; and did not return the money afterwards;
I contacted the support, but despite providing early and complete proof of this, with charge transation ID by VISA, they insisted it was just a hold, did not provide a proof receipt identifying the transaction as hold and simply never returned my money;

The rental charge on the website seemed reasonable for the two days I needed the vehicle. At pick up, the person at the counter announced that I was given a "free upgrade" which I was reluctant to take. It appeared they didn't have a car available as the one I booked. When I was faced with the real car, it lacked the luggage cover that I needed for privacy and security reasons (I didn't book an incomplete car with only one window or lacking the glove box cover!). I walked back to the counter and I managed to have a smaller car that according to the Thrifty person had the cover that I required. This car was the size and model that I originally booked. He insisted that there were no more cars available to have it swopped if this one was unsatisfactory. The second car didn't have the luggage cover either. I took the car, I couldn't waste more time.
The car was comfortable, clean and worked well.
HOWEVER, charges that did not match the vehicle appeared into my credit card account. These charges were deleted, then after a few days, brutal charges appeared corresponding to another vehicle that I did not take, Thrifty even attached photos of the vehicle the charges applied to; Colour, model and license plate of the car they are charging now are not the one I used.
Thrifty has been very slow to correct the issued and very hard to contact. They are now, unnecessarily, holding my money hostage, and taking my time for granted.
Very unhappy with the payment mess Thrifty has done.

Beware. I made a reservation over the phone and was quoted a price. When I went to collect the car the invoice included a “credit/debit card surcharge” on top of the quoted price. I offered to pay by cash or by electronic transfer but was told that they only accepted payment by credit or debit card surcharge,
When I raised the matter with customer services, they made one fatutous and patronising excuse after another without any apology for their mistake - indeed they didn’t even acknowledge that I should have been told of the mandatory surcharge when being given a price. It was not a large surcharge, but the way my complaint was handled has left me with a bitter taste. No more Hertz/Thrifty for me.

Recently used this firm from Palmerston North Airport. The deal promoted was modern Kia Stonic "or similar". Got a crappy old Mazda 3 instead. We are on old couple - need a "high" car for mobility reasons. Young girl in office just shrugged [not her problem]. Manager nowhere to be seen when car returned. Not a frequent user of car rentals - so got suckered. However possible breach of fair trading act when they advertise one thing and supply another. Plenty of other cars in the parking lot that could have been supplied as an "upgrade" instead of a miserable customer losing downgrade.

Ordered a Kluger got a Mitsubishi Outlander, good Car. Yes was Advised by Thrifty to Insure fully Did that, I made the Mistake of Waiting to find a Service Station Close to Domestic Airport, not a Service Station in Site Hire Car was Half Full $127 Charges against my Credit Card. To find Thrifty charges $5.00 a litre. Thanks for Nothing Thrifty.

I’m from Australia and hired a Mitsubishi Outlander from this rental company for a week while travelling around New Zealand. At pickup, the staff made it sound very relaxed, telling me not to worry about taking photos or videos of minor scratches because “NZ roads are full of gravel and rocks” and that light marks wouldn’t be an issue. They came across as trustworthy and encouraged me to just sign the paperwork and be comfortable.

What they didn’t know is that I still quietly recorded a video of the car, capturing all existing scratches and dents.

When I returned the car, the very first thing they pointed out was a tiny black mark that wasn’t even a scratch or paint damage. Before showing my video, I reminded them of what they had said at pickup, that small marks weren’t a big deal due to gravel roads. If that was truly the case, why suddenly make an issue of it at return?

It felt like a classic tactic to lower your guard at the start so you don’t document everything, then try to pin minor “damage” on you at the end. I’ve experienced similar scams in places like Thailand and Bali. The difference this time is that I was prepared.

Once I revealed the video proving the mark was already there, they had nothing to say.

If I hadn’t been cautious or experienced, I’m confident they would have charged me a hefty fee for damage I didn’t cause. Because of this, I strongly recommend staying away from this rental company. I would not return and do not recommend them. 🦈 Thrifty-Shifty I call them now.

Ripped off
We had a very minor mishap & ended with a little bit of damage to the bottom of rear passenger door. On returning the vehicle the woman who served us was very rude & unhelpful. They have now charged us $3,227 to repair this damage. Instead of repairing the small amount of damage they have actually replaced the door. I had booked this vehicle & then found that the accident insurance was with a 3rd party & when collecting the vehicle we were told we need a further vehicle damage policy as well.
This is a complete rip off & I will not be using Thrifty or their associate Hertz again.
I write to Thriftys claims department on 20 January querying their invoice & have not received a reply

AVOID them , Thrifty Auckland Airport scammed me for $1200 to repair a stone chip mark which was pre existing . Thankfully I’d photographed about a dozen stone chip marks so got them to pay up . Normal cost for stone chip repair is $200 and normally considered wear and tear and they clearly hadn’t bothered to repair it previously
I have reported them

The lovely lady I have dealt with a couple of times I have hired a car is Amazing!! No hassles, all paperwork ready and absolutely no hidden fees. Would highly recommend Thrifty Wanganui

Post rental charge imposed for $5,500 for "chipped windscreen" actually noted by them on the rental contract. No luck talking to anybody with a brain in customer service so far. I suggest you video SLOWLY, the entire car pre and post rental in NZ. They are inderstaffed.and have nobody to accompany you with inspections. You will have to confirm their inspection and photos, which you are not sent, before you are given the keys. The process is unlawful. Good luck!

Thrifty Car Rental appears to have levied unexpected additional charges. Our online booking indicated a $200 bond and a rental fee of $313 for three days. However, upon collecting the vehicle, we were surprised by extra charges, resulting in a total payment of $865 instead of the expected approximately $500. It's useless to book online.

The worse car rental company ever. Tried to add extra hidden fees when the prices are very clearly listed on the website. They don’t allow you to pay online at time of booking if you want to add insurance and then they add all these extra fees when picking up. Customer service was terrible. Worst customer experience of my life.

Ripped off!
Quoted $212 for 3 day booking via airportrentals.com
At Sydney Airport Thrifty counter they added location fee, rego recovery fee, admin recovery fee, and others. Total cost $399.

The car hire rep at Auckland was fast and efficent,car new, clean and lovely to use.

0 stars is what Thrifty USA deserves. Don’t ever use them. I booked a car through Economy Cars for 5 days in San Francisco to go 2 hours to Calistoga. I paid $535 USA having ticked all the boxes for full coverage and so on. When I finally reached San Fran and stood in a queue for 1 1/2 hours I was told that the Wild Car option I had chosen was the ‘Managers Choice’. No mention of this at booking time. Anyhow his/her choice was an Electric. No good to me so of course the option was to upgrade. I was then subsequently told there was full coverage or anything else and it subsequently resulted in a further $594US. Total cost resulted in over $2000 NZ for 5 days. Just to top it off the service rep was rude,unhelpful & difficult to understand. It was a disgrace. In the end my husband said just pay & let’s get out of here. I left in tears. She didn’t even have the common decency to help me with tolls or where the car should be returned to at the airport. It’s difficult enough driving on the opposite side of the road even when you know where you’re going. We are 1 day in so I guess I’ll spend the next 4 days trying to figure out how to get it back into Airport. Be very aware, hindsight is a great thing and I should have booked through a travel agent.

Having booked a one way rental from Auckland to Hamilton, I arrived at the Auckland airport counter to pick up my car. They had my name and the paperwork and it appeared that all was ready to go. I am then informed that there is a $5,900 excess should I have an accident. No, I replied, I have already paid for the top insurance so this is not relevant. Ahh they said, you must have paid the insurance through the website that you booked the car on. This means that if something happens, you pay the excess to Thrifty, we receipt you and then you get to argue with the place that you bought the insurnace from for a refund. When I explained that I did not have $5,900 lying about doing nothing, there was just a shrug and a statement that I was free to go anywhere else to rent a car. Result - I paid an extra $39.13 for their insurance. Then I was told that due to the car being at a premium location, ie the airport, they were going to charge me an extra $45. No previous mention of this and no choice but to pay. Once all this was done, I was then informed that they would hold $200 on my card for a deposit, which i would get back some 10 to 14 days later. This deposit despite paying all of the costs up front.
NEVER use this company unless you like being ripped off. fee upon fee gets added that were not mentioned at the time of booking. My cost went from $371.24 including the top insurance to $426.78 (plus $200 held for some reason).
NEVER AGAIN

The day we came back from our holiday, we woke up with $5,500 GONE from our bank account. Thrifty blamed us for damages to the car - damages that were already there and that we reported at time of pick up (uploaded photos to their system as per THEIR instruction). After a few weeks and a lot of our time wasted, we got an apology - apparently there was an error in their system - and they said they would refund us. YOU WOULDN‘T BELIEVE IT, but instead of a refund, they took out another $5,500. I mean, seriously….. need I say more!! Now 2 months later, we have been refunded most of it, but they STILL HAVE NOT FULLY REFUNDED US. What an absolute disaster. We just want our money back and not having to deal with this company anymore.

Suraj at the Greymouth location went above and beyond to provide me with advice and guide me through the whole rental process, which can be frustrating if you book it two hours before you get there and you didn’t check everything. Note, there was a $200 deposit that they took on my card and returned it after my rental was finished.

I hesitate to waste more of my time on writing this - but people should be careful of Thrifty. The website is terrible (often doesn’t work), the booking has hidden charges (you can’t finalise all costs on the initial booking), when you join their ‘membership’ (blue chip) they don’t send you any confirmation email so you know your details to get the advertised discount, even when you call they “don’t have the credentials” to send you the member number and tell you only over the phone! Seems very dodgy/not legit… I almost considered paying full price just because it was a hassle to get this info, even though I had signed up! I think I will report them to the ACCC. @Thrifty you can contact me if you want to try resolve this (though unless you change your operating model, I think the ACCC should investigate you).

Where do I start with the shortcomings & deceptive conduct of Thrifty Car Rentals NZ, but here I go :-
1. The car wasn't cleaned when we picked it up - even had a big blob of chewing gum on the rear bumper.
2. Was overdue for a service before we started our 3 week drive around the South Island.
Everytime we started the car was reminded with a dash message that it was overdue for maintenance service.
3. The biggest which we didn't notice until day 2 of our trip wad that the two front tyres were seriously bald - so much so they were almost like slicks.
So we were given an unroadsworthy car. Especially considering driving the winding roads of the South Island sometimes on wet & slippery roads with severe drop-offs had we got into a slide.
Was conscious that if ever stopped by the police they would have rightly so impounded the car as unroadworthy.
4. Like others we were ripped off for fuel after returning the car.
We filled the car before during ~15kms to the airport.
Were charged $28 for 1/8th of a tank @ $3.26/L equates to ~ 7-8 litres. This is absolute BS.
6. They could not even read the odometer correctly on their final invoice - they showed it 1,000 kms less than the actual odometer reading. No consequence, and actually showed we did 1,000 kms less than we actually travelled, but again shows incompetence & lack of attention to detail.

Conclusion : Never ever hire a car from Thrifty / Hertz.