My Credit Card Number Was Stolen from CarRentals.com. Stay Away!
Written: Nov 07 '09
|
| Full Review |
I wish I could recommend CarRentals.com, I really wish I could!
However, within minutes of booking my rent-a-car through their site, someone was running around a New Jersey Costco charging thousands of dollars on my credit card.
Yes, my credit card information was stolen from my order. CarRentals.com is located in New Jersey and my stolen credit card number was used in New Jersey. I also contacted CarRentals.com along with my credit card company with no response. Fortunately, the card company called me, immediately canceled my card, issued me a new one, took care of all fraudulent charges, and not a peep from CarRentals.com. However, my reservation remained in place. Now the question, Why CarRentals.com?
I was shopping for a rent a car for our trip in Dallas, and I used the usual suspects, Expedia, Orbitz, and the companies web sites to no real luck. I kept getting very pricey options via all the companies and saw an add for CarRentals.com on my search engine. Also, the CarRental.com was a comparison site option on Hotwire.com so I checked it out, seemed legit, and it was. The order taking process was painless. I entered:
* The location of pick up and delivery
* Dates of rental
* Drop off date
That was it. Up came 84 options ranging in all price and models, with over 12 rent a companies compared. The price was our low of $202 to a Caddy SUV of $1,100. The best price was for an intermediate through EZ Car Rental, a local and regional rent a car company. The $202 was $150 cheaper than any other car rental estimate I got through any other media. So, I booked it immediately. The intermediate car we received was a Ford Focus at EZ Rent a car, which was fair, the price of $202 was the bottom line charge all across the board, so accuracy was fine.
* I received a confirmation immediately and I called EZ Rent-a-car to verify. It was fine, but any changes to the reservation must be made through CarRentals.com.
* I received a reminder confirmation a few days from the first night of the reservation, that was a nice touch.
* I saved $150 using this clearing house for my car rental in Texas.
* A reservation may be canceled without penalty if canceled at least 8 hours prior pick up time.
CarRentals.com connect directly to the 12 or so rent a car companies inventory, guaranteeing a great price. They are the "middleman" and take their cut from the car rental company. They are also called a consolidator in the business. What I did enjoy was the bottom line rate, inclusive of all taxes, fees, add-ons, and the other line items that takes a car rental of $9.95 a day to $40 a day! What we were quoted was what we paid. We were "soft-sold" insurance on the website, with minimal persuasion. Extra options such as GPS, ski racks, car seats, etc. were also available for the ask. And the website said the credit card information was secure. Hah! Unless it was, and probably was, an inside CarRentals.com job.
The CarRentals.com site was easy to use, gave us terrific options, and allowed some thief in New Jersey to go on a shopping spree at Costco on our credit card, causing us plenty of grief and aggravation. I would use CarRentals.com as a shop/comparison site but never-ever use them again to book a car with my credit card. Get a rate, call the rent-a-car company direct and state your case. I am glad we had a few weeks to get a replacement card and the rent-a-car company did not cancel our reservation.
I am disappointed I did not receive a response from CarRentals.com about the credit card problem, even after a few calls, messages, and notification. While the service and site was easy to use and saved us some coin, the stolen credit card number was a crime.
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
JBduckling
|
 in Sports & Outdoors |
 in Sports & Outdoors |
 - Top 500 |
|
Location: The Great State of Wisconsin
Reviews written: 425
Trusted by: 186 members
About Me:
The boys have Mommy's good looks. There's a resemblance between me and cat. Poor Kitty!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.