Thrifty Car Rental

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On July 4, 2015 I rented a vehicle from the Thrify Rent A Car at the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport in Sarasota, FL. My family was taking a trip to Alabama and wanted to rent a car so that we would feel more secure on our trip. This experience has been the worst vacation experience ever! I received a great rate with thrifty with the wild card and was told my car would be a compact or higher. The first vehicle I got was two years old, had over 60,000 miles on it and reeked of cigarette smoke. I returned it within an hour and was given a 2015 ford focus. This vehicle had just come back from rental and we took it. Once we arrived in Alabama, my husband noticed that the back passenger tire had a bubble on the side wall. We immediately called roadside assistance so that it could be taken care of without causing a tire blow out. We were told to put the spare on and drive over an hour away to Montgomery Alabama to pick up a new rental car which would be a compact or better. We arrived at the Thrifty rental car and were told that we had to fill out a damage report and take responsibility for the tire or we would not be given a new car. Being over 7 hours from home what could we do? We called customer service and were told there was nothing they could do. In my mind, this was extortion. Either sign a damage report taking responsibility for a manufacturer's defect on a tire, or be stranded in Montgomery with no vehicle. We reluctantly signed the paper and were given a car. The car we were given was a chevy spark. As posted on your website it clearly shows the chevy spark is an economy car. I complained to the desk but was basically told that was all I was going to get. My husband is 6'2 and 300 pounds. We had three people in our group plus luggage. We literally had to cram into this car. This car was also older and reeked of cigarette smoke. We finally got home and returned the car. I asked to speak with the manager of Thrifty Rent a Car in Sarasota. He was very rude and explained to me it wasn't his problem. I should had fully inspected the tires before I left and hung up on me.



Our entire trip has been ruined. Not only was I charged for 5 days of a compact car in which I only received three days with a compact car, I was also charged 60.00 for a tire which was not my fault. I will never rent from thrify/budget again.