Dollar - Sanford

[Duh_Prez]

Come on Dibbers. When someone is asking for advice it should be given regardless of it being good, bad or indifferent. That's what makes the Dibb so good.
Although I have not had a bad experience with Dollar, clearly many have.
The OP should have all the information, experiences from Dibbers in order to make an informed decision on whether or not they should go for a certain car hire company, villa complex, flight company etc.
At the end of the day we have all taken experiences from Dibbers into account prior to ordering. Is that not why we ask in the first place?

[Rowlf]

If you are given 'dogs that were dirty and full of prangs' you simply refuse to accept them - the same as you would with any car rental firm. It's really not that hard and many times they'll give you an upgrade to keep you happy.

I never accept an unsatisfactory car (I rent twice a year with various firms: Avis/Budget/Dollar/Alamo usually) - the key is to stay calm but be very insistent.

[TEL N KEL]

Originally Posted by Rowlf

If you are given 'dogs that were dirty and full of prangs' you simply refuse to accept them - the same as you would with any car rental firm. It's really not that hard and many times they'll give you an upgrade to keep you happy.

I never accept an unsatisfactory car (I rent twice a year with various firms: Avis/Budget/Dollar/Alamo usually) - the key is to stay calm but be very insistent.

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Unfortunately Dollar did not operate like this.
They had many dirty cars with dents and prangs.
They always had no more cars in your class when you complained
They would not upgrade as they were offering you a road worthy car in your class.

Believe me I would not take any old rubbish but they used to make it very hard and stress full.
In the past I have even had to look for virgin rep to intervene and help with a bad experience, that was the last time I used Dollar and also the last year Virgin used them.
The Dollar staff were even rude to the virgin rep who soon put them in there place and I could not thank her more.

I have had bad experiences with other rental companies but none as bad as Dollar hence my reasons for staying clear.

[Rowlf]

Originally Posted by TEL N KEL

Unfortunately Dollar did not operate like this.
They had many dirty cars with dents and prangs.
They always had no more cars in your class when you complained
They would not upgrade as they were offering you a road worthy car in your class.

Believe me I would not take any old rubbish but they used to make it very hard and stress full.
In the past I have even had to look for virgin rep to intervene and help with a bad experience, that was the last time I used Dollar and also the last year Virgin used them.
The Dollar staff were even rude to the virgin rep who soon put them in there place and I could not thank her more.

I have had bad experiences with other rental companies but none as bad as Dollar hence my reasons for staying clear.

See more...

Yep but with respect you're talking about the past. As I keep mentioning on here, Dollar were taken over by Hertz (one of the top rated car rental firms worldwide) in 2014. They're no longer the same company that you're talking about. They share cars and desks in many locations. There's no longer any need to put people off using them, especially as they may be well priced.

It's a bit like people who won't buy a Skoda car because their old uncle had one that was a heap of junk. It probably was, but today Skoda are owned by VW and the cars they produce are low priced but excellent quality.

[PPM]

Originally Posted by Rowlf

Yep but with respect you're talking about the past. As I keep mentioning on here, Dollar were taken over by Hertz (one of the top rated car rental firms worldwide) in 2014. They're no longer the same company that you're talking about. They share cars and desks in many locations. There's no longer any need to put people off using them, especially as they may be well priced.

It's a bit like people who won't buy a Skoda car because their old uncle had one that was a heap of junk. It probably was, but today Skoda are owned by VW and the cars they produce are low priced but excellent quality.

See more...

In MCO and Sanford and many other locations I've been to since the merger/ Takeover the pool sharing has been Dollar/ Thrifty with Hertz standing alone with a higher spec product. This may have changed lately. Have you had a Hertz based car from Dollar as this may sway me back towards Dollar from my Alamo preferred choice.
Things like what happened yesterday makes me stay with Alamo. We were in MK for the morning, and leaving I noticed a nail in the back passenger tyre. So we nipped along to Alamo at CCC,and they were setting up a Lincoln SUV for us ( we had a Chevy Traverse) . The rep saw the nail and pulled it out. It was just about 1/2" long, so no hissssssss . Anyhow as we had loads of stuff in our car we just decided to keep it. The rep said we still could change out, but I decided to stick with what we had. Silly me tuning down a Lincoln

[Rowlf]

We rented a Mustang from Dollar at Sarasota airport last June and on arrival the Hertz desk was next to the Dollar one. When the paperwork was done the clerk checked her keys and then spoke to the Hertz guy who handed over our car's key. The outside pickup area was signed Hertz/ Dollar and the same guys sorted your car for you. The car was very new and obviously used by both brands.

The same thing applies at Avis/ Budget at Sanford. Our current Mustang was booked as Budget but says Avis on the key tag.

I imagine the extent of car pooling depends on the size of the location, but reckon outside of MCO and Miami you're likely to find it. It can be a real money saver tbh.

[PPM]

Originally Posted by Rowlf

We rented a Mustang from Dollar at Sarasota airport last June and on arrival the Hertz desk was next to the Dollar one. When the paperwork was done the clerk checked her keys and then spoke to the Hertz guy who handed over our car's key. The outside pickup area was signed Hertz/ Dollar and the same guys sorted your car for you. The car was very new and obviously used by both brands.

The same thing applies at Avis/ Budget at Sanford. Our current Mustang was booked as Budget but says Avis on the key tag.

I imagine the extent of car pooling depends on the size of the location, but reckon outside of MCO and Miami you're likely to find it. It can be a real money saver tbh.

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Good to know that, as Hertz fleet has to improve standard Dollar fare

[ChrisS]

Originally Posted by Rowlf

We rented a Mustang from Dollar at Sarasota airport last June and on arrival the Hertz desk was next to the Dollar one. When the paperwork was done the clerk checked her keys and then spoke to the Hertz guy who handed over our car's key. The outside pickup area was signed Hertz/ Dollar and the same guys sorted your car for you. The car was very new and obviously used by both brands.

The same thing applies at Avis/ Budget at Sanford. Our current Mustang was booked as Budget but says Avis on the key tag.

I imagine the extent of car pooling depends on the size of the location, but reckon outside of MCO and Miami you're likely to find it. It can be a real money saver tbh.

See more...

Hi Rowlf, definitely handy to know if Dollar have improved, they couldn't have gotten any worse when we used them. I certainly understand your sentiments, but a bad hire leaves a bad taste.

I used them for a fortnight in Nov 2015, after Hertz bought them out, until our Fl car was ready. It was the worst car hire experience in over 20 years of Fl travel, unfortunate stigma sticks. The Ford, with out of state plates, I collected at MCO to drive to SW Fl was knacked, I returned it 40 miles, each way, back to the nearest depot, Fort Myers airport... and there began a blasted 5 hour debacle as I refused two more, out of state plates again, pieces of crapola cars, one had a whining wheel bearing that I mentioned to the lad, he said, 'great, yet another one out of service'. The canny lass in the garage office was tearing her hair out whilst 5 of us waited for replacement motors, not one car was to be had, not uno! She was offerring 7 seater mini vans in desparation! The Dollar lads kept going to Hertz, who claimed they had none Dollar could take. She pointed to a double line of motors against the wall, around 50 or so, that had been taken out of service due to faults. At the time they were being given Hertz cast offs with promises of new motors to come, more than a year since Hertz acquired them. Eventually they gave me another Ford and having given up the will to live at that point I took it as I wanted to sleep in my own bed that night, not a Dollar bench!

5 hours! Personally I'd never touch them with somebody elses money, let alone my own.