Economy Rent a Car Reviews 

This company should be out of business. I ended up with two issues.
(1) When I rented a vehicle on line the price was very acceptable. No indication of additional charges. However, when picking up the car, we were charged additional insurance for loss of use (????), and insurance of my insurance deductible (???). I provided the document from my insurer that our insurance covers all the costs and is applicable in Canada and US. Not accepted, pay or no vehicle. So they charged me for insurance of my deductible around $300 (US), and my deductible is $300 (Canadian). I was complaining that for those who are booking online, this additional insurance was not mentioned. They quoted one sentence from the middle of the paragraph explaining the use of shuttle (????) where additional insurance may be required.
2. I returned the vehicle a day earlier and was hoping to get reimbursed for the difference. Very rude customer representative said that they are not returning the money and I should talk to the manager. Since it was Saturday, I did call the manager on Monday and got a straight answer that they are not reimbursing customers for early return. Asking where is this information available I got the answer that that is corporate policy, period.
I strongly recommend to be careful by renting from this company. Who knows how many other, similar, policy issues you may experience with them. The only reason I decided to pay and took the car from them was that we arrived at midnight and looking for other companies would be difficult for us.

The rate that I paid online when I booked the car was a good price.... but when you pick up the car they charge you a mandatory $25 per day for some sort of additional insurance that is ONLY offered through them. It was a total scam, but I had to pay it or they would refuse to rent me the car. It's definitely worth it to spend more upfront through a different company.

Arrived on 11/25/24 around 5pm, agent said there was a late pick-up charge added. I said that we came directly from the airport. He replied “sorry nothing I can that’s above me”. I said I hadn’t paid for the car so I wouldn’t be charged. He then replied, “OK it looks like they unlocked it”. He asked if I wanted insurance; I replied No as I had my own insurance that would cover it. He replied with; “it’s only $25 a day, if you don’t take it and get in an accident, we’re going to charge your credit card $30,000”. We proceeded we me not taking the insurance.
When we got outside everything, I saw looked to be used cars. The agent rushed ahead to start the car and open the windows. When I got to the car there was a dirty smell, the seats were dirty/stained, the back window was full of pet hair. I said that we were not getting into the car. He replied; “what did you expect for $19 a day”. I replied “a clean car”. He replied “you called us we didn’t call you, look man I only work here”. Then he said “you can have the one behind it”. This car was in the exact same condition as the first.
At this point I made a call to Economy. The rep said that because he was in the international division, there was nothing he could do to help. This was very strange as this is the only number on the Economy web site for customer service. When I told the guy where I was, he said yes, “I know of this place, A-1 Car Rental, they are an associate of ours and we get complaints about them all the time, I don’t know why Economy keeps them”.
I then made a call to the number at the top of the rental contract, at the same time another man came out and ask me what the problem was, when I began to tell him, my call was answered. A man spoke, “what’s going on out there, you better stop making a scene and behave yourself”, baffled by his comment I replied “excuse me, how do you know what’s going on out here?”, he again stated that I better behave or he was going to kick my a**. I was stunned; at this point I asked the guy standing with us “who am I talking to?”, he asked why, I said “he just told me he was going to come out and kick my a** if I didn’t behave”, the man/agent replied “he shouldn’t have said that”. I then said to the man on the phone “screw you” and hung up.
The agent offered me to pick out another car. I found one but still not very clean, an odor in the car never went away but was much less noticeable with the windows down. At night no light came on when the doors were opened.
On day two I found a cockroach in the trunk; wasn’t horrible but I didn’t know where it came from. The next day I entered the car and found 4? cockroaches on the floor of the passenger’s side and 1? on the drives side. I wanted to take a picture but as soon as the doors opened or light shined on the them, they scattered. This occurred throughout the week (I continued to find them in the trunk as well). On the last day one came flying out of the A/C vent and landed on my chest.
If you’re wondering why I didn’t return the car; there was no way I was going to go through any interaction with the rental agent or wondering if I would be blamed for them. I did not have or keep food in the vehicle. Returned car on 12/7/24.

When I tried to make a small change to a reservation (change the return time by two hours) I was given the run around for three days. Basically I could not get my $200.00 back to my credit card. The company would give me a credit which I could use for another booking.
After this experience, I will never use this company again.

Please find below:

(1). I had selected a car from website rent per day was not more than NOK 380/
(2). We received the car with Alarm message "Windshield Washer Fluid Low" and hence filled at nearest petrol station after paying NOK149/
(3). We returned the car safely 10 Hours before the agreed time
(4). Without knowing the rate per day and without notice they withdrew from my Credit account NOK7,962.36/ on 6-Jan-2025
Date: 2024-12-24, RECEIPT #: 7258689, Voucher #: EC7DCEBB
Issued by:
Emmanko AG EconomyCarRentals
Company Identification nr: CHE-382.183.078
VAT nr MwSt: CHE-382.183.078

RRECEIPT
Car rental booking for Norway, Sandefjord
Rental Start: 24 December 2024, 12:00PM
Rental End: 28 December 2024, 6:00 PM
Rental days: 5

À éviter, à fuir !

En septembre/octobre 2024 nous avons voyagé à Montréal et avons réservé un véhicule type SUV. Cependant, le jour de la location : impossible de contacter le loueur pour avoir une navette, nous avons essayé tout les numéros sur Google mais rien n’y a fait. Heureusement que l’aéroport de Montréal a réussi à les contacter via un autre numéro qui n’étais même pas rattaché a la société car ils avaient déjà eu des problèmes avec cette compagnie.

Une fois au téléphone on m’annonce qu’aucun SUV n’est disponible et en nous rendant sur place on nous propose un véhicule 7 places, après négociation et après s’être presque fait insulter le patron nous dit d’attendre (1 heure au total et dehors) qu’une autre voiture arrive quand une précédente location sera rendue.

Nous nous sommes donc retrouvés avec une berline, mais également surprise à la caisse nous avons dû payer une assurance dont le coût s’est élevé au prix de la location alors que nous étions passé par un site de location et une voiture qui sent mauvais car jamais lavé entre deux clients, avec un problème au freinage et durant le séjour un voyant pression des pneus.

Je déconseille fortement cette société et leur manigance. J’ai également attendu pour poster cet avis de peur que la caution (prélevée au moment de récupérer le véhicule à été pré autorisé mais qui n’a pas voulu lever cette autorisation lors de la restitution) ne nous soit définitivement prélevée comme représailles ….

Worst rental company..Avoid!! I booked a car through Expedia at the Turks and Caicos location and paid for a full size car and when I arrived they gave me a small compact car and when I mentioned it the guy kept brushing it off. The car looked like someone’s personal car and was horrible. The radio was in Chinese so we couldn’t change the station, the car needed to be maintenanced, brakes were squeaking. And now I’m currently waiting to see if I will be reimbursed. Worst experience ever!!!

Very rude and unprofessional young man working at the Houston location. (He would not provide his name of course). If the company condone such behavior to their paying customers, then maybe people shouldn’t rent cars from that location. I have reached out to the company several times and was completely ignored.

Usually my car renting experience is simple and easy. Proof of Insurance, Valid Drivers License and a Major CC. Unfortunately for some reason, Economy Rent A Car needs your decloration page too! At 2am after watching George throw out of the building another older couple and waiting to get to the counter, I made sure I had all my documents to make this fast and easy. That wasn't the case. Proof of Insurance apparently isn't your valid insurance card? In the USA, its all I've ever needed to rent hundreds of cars. Economy Rent A Car, a South American company wants your decloration page too! Very suspicious? Fraud Alert! After realizing I would not be able to get my decloration page with policy limits which would easily show my "full coverage" as my insurance company was closed until 8AM. I agreed to pay for the Economy insurance policy that was egregiously higher then normal?$185 for 3 days? George explained, If you use your insurance the company puts $1,000 hold on your CC? Purchase our insurance and we only hold $10 a day? Any other company normal hold is $250 using your own insurance? So, I agreed to pay for their insurance, "Extorsion"! I said that policy is rediculas, and then George starts accusing me of being rude & disrespectful. I told him I was not yet he persisted. Then he said, thats it, and Canceled my reservation. My son was watching from the corner and he said, Dad, it was obvious, that guy wanted you to get mad. He was definitly wanting a fight. George, then said he couldn't give me a refund, told me I was now trespassing on Private property and he was going to call the cops, So I called the cops! And after I called the cops filed an official complaint with the Orange County Sherrifs dept, George amazingly figured out how to process the refund. Something is very off with George and how he treated the other couple and then me. I'm thinking about suing the Economy Rental Car co and George for Breach of Contract and the hardship they placed my son and I at 3am in Orlando! My insurance was accepted at AVIS but now I'm late for my Hotel Reservation. This experience has ruined what was supposed to be a fun time with my son!

Renting a car with this company has just been my worst car rental experience ever. I booked a Mini-van via Orbitz (Expedia) for two weeks with them with a prepayment of $1419 USD. We declined the full coverage on Orbitz. Once in Toronto, we had to call several times to get the Shuttle pick up at airport. No show after 90 minutes. Eventually we took a Uber to reach Economy-rent-a-car Office. It was late night but the welcome was even more surprising. No apologies for not sending a Shuttle. After providing all booking references and documents, desk agent informed us that they cannot give us the car because there's no full coverage from Orbitz. We explained that we can add it now from their side but they refused because they did change their policy and were not able to cover Mini-van anymore. After calling Orbitz, we were informed that we cannot add the coverage in the system. After many complaints we had no other options to leave and search for another car rental company because we were jut not able to get the prepaid Minivan car rental. Two days later we received a notification that Economy-rent-a-car will retain a same-day $200 cancellation fee although they refuse to give us the car !
Just imagine that they refused to give us the car and then stole $200 USD arguing that we did cancel the booking .....I have rented so many cars in my many travel journeys, that the first time I saw this. I strongly recommend to avoid this company. Don't be surprised by low fares .....service is too bad !

Never ever use this company. I used them thinking ‘it’s just a car rental company how bad can it be’ fml… just don’t use them. Whatever you think you’re going to save, it’s not worth it. Just run away while you still have a chance. To top it all off, customer service was completely useless, rude and used language you usually don’t expect from customer service

J'ai réservé (par Expedia) une voiture, pour la prendre à l'aéroport de Montréal. En fait l'agence n'est pas à l'aéroport, il faut prendre un taxi. J'ai réservé pour un Kilométrage illimité, la personne m'a dit que c'est limité (1000 kms pour 5 jours), et 30¢ / km. Si ce n'est pas assez, il veut m'obliger de prendre l'assurance avec eux.
Attention c'est des arnaqueurs

Cheap prices, yes! Worth the hassle, doubtful!

I booked this rental car with Economy Rent-A-Car on Priceline to be picked up at Denver International Airport and saved several hundred dollars compared to other name brand companies. I was not prepared for the hassle and extra 2 hours that it took me to complete the car rental.

There are no clear instructions on where to go to board a bus to the car rental places and I (wrongly) assumed certain things of which the renter should be aware. 1) The pick up location is at the very very end of the car rental bus island. 2) The company name that you're looking for is "York" not "Economy"...did they tell me this anywhere in the paperwork, NOPE! 3) You have to CALL for a pickup...did they tell me this anywhere in the paperwork, NOPE! Our driver finally picked us up in a van, not a bus, grudgingly loaded our luggage throwing it around and drove like a NYC cabbie for a good 20 minutes before reaching the location and driving us within inches of other vehicles to drive around their building rather than just pulling into their parking lot and backing the van into an open area. On our drive around their little building, we saw some vehicles being "washed" meaning hosed off. Then he unloaded our luggage with as much care as he loaded it.

The rental "counter" is two work tables with 2 tired looking women doing their best with limited language skills. It doesn't matter that you "pre-register" online to avoid the upsell, they barrage you with them anyway. Be aware that they only offer a toll pass for $14.95/day (every day of your rental, not just the day that it's used) and they warn you that if you "accidentally" get a toll charge you will not only be charged the $14.95/day of your rental but also a $50 penalty per toll charge incident.

They did not have the full size car that we reserved and tried to downgrade us to a mid-size SUV, into which my 6'-5" husband will not fit. We stuck to our guns and got a regular SUV - Dodge Durango. It was dirty inside and outside and while it was clearly hosed-off, it wasn't clean. You know when dirty water dries on your car and leaves dirty drop spots and drizzles? Yeah...that. The windshield is cracked also.

I have yet to return the car and will update this review after I do assuming it's as eventful as our pick up experience!

Was charged $150 extra on our credit card because the car was normal dirty. As per the contract, excessive dirty they can charge. They get to decide what that means. It had just poured and there was a little sand in the car because we were in Miami.

There is no number for customer care in USA and the number you can call cannot fix anything. They can inform you of any extra fees but they cannot refund you.

Never again, stick with the big companies it cost the same and they don’t add random unwarranted fees on after the fact.

awful company hook you in with a good price and then charge you what ever they want at the desk when you have no other options. please take a video of the car inside and out as they will try and scam you out of the deposit which they make you pay. i have sent 23 emails and made 4 complaints and still have not have my deposit returned. they say my bank is withholding my deposit my bank are not. they also would not let me use my debit card and insisted on a credit card which i don’t own and proceeded to abuse their power and triple charge me

Minor and his entire staff do an exceptional job with their customer service. I have been renting cars from economy car rental for many years. Always a great experience

Left stranded in the middle of the night when they ‘ran out of cars’. I had a reservation and was checked in to pick up my car. Woman at the desk was very unhelpful and told me I could wait for someone to return a car and take that one….at 12.15 am haha! No other help offered, stuck at the airport.

Didn’t even bother to let me know in advance. And very rude staff. Be careful, I’ve since heard this has happened to many other people with this company.

Terrible experience don't recommend its a bait and ripoff ! i booked car rental through hotel.com bought the suggested all coverage insurance. when i arrived economy refused to take the insurance imposing their own insurance which is not legal. and wouldn't rent the car without it. al they wouldn't reimburse the rental. this is a scam!

Despite having my online quote in hand, I was forced to pay additional fees on arrival. My confirmation specified total to pay at pickup including "all mandatory taxes and fees".
This practice according to online reviews is widespread (Trustpilot).
Further, I had to extend use of the vehicle for 2 days. The original (quoted) cost was $42.98 per day. The extended cost was $126.82 per day which they refused to compromise on,
I suggest you join me in writing to the State Attorney General's Office, Department of Legal Affairs in Florida to end this scam operation!

Absolutely terrible. Avoid at all costs. No responsibility. Very poor customer service