Calgary Car Hire

Ruined my trip

Cons: Nothing the staff were extremely unhelpful and patronising

Pros: The car itself was fine, although we found that the gas gauge was not accurate (ie. we filled it up to almost overflowing, and the gauge said it was not full).

Cons: The staff seemed disorganized at both pick up and drop off; at pick up it took at least 45 minutes of waiting before we could get the car. There is also no gas station near to the drop off, it was very difficult to find and then get back to the drop off. Not good customer service, not very helpful or clear at all.

Cons: Paid for upgrade to get GPS in the car. GPS did not work. Did not get refund for upgrade.

I will never use this company again.

Pros: The car was nice.

Cons: I was driving from Calgary to Vancouver. I am doing this because a family member is sick, and I couldn’t afford for everyone to fly. I am a teacher on a temporary teaching contract and my fiancée is still in school. We don’t have a lot of money to waste. When I arrived, they announced that they no longer had the type of vehicle we had been guaranteed. Upon pressing further (politely), someone told me that they actually didn’t have enough cars to give all the people who had booked rentals and that we should be ‘thankful’ for the upgrade. The booking I made specifically guaranteed that I would get the type of car I book, which was intentionally something good on gas. A trip that would normally cost $200-250 in gas ended up costing $700. I am a teacher, who will not be getting paid again until the end of September, so there is no way I can afford an expense like that. But, someone also told us the SUV had an Econo mode and that ‘everything would be fine’. During the time we were waiting and discussing the matter, someone also admitted that the company that books all the rentals for them is completely disconnected from their company and they don’t get info like customer phone numbers etc. They couldn’t call customers to find out if they were actually showing up for rentals and half the bookings that came in, they didn’t even know had been booked. Everything was incredibly disorganized. Because of their disorganization, they had to call me 4 times on my trip, because they had no clue which vehicle they had given me and when I would be returning it. Two separate employees called me to ask the same questions and forced me to go out to the car to read them the car license plate number (In a Vancouver lightning/rainstorm). This also cost me long distance changes on my phone. I asked for a discount, given the huge expenses we were incurring through no fault of our own. They said no and again told us to be ‘thankful we had a car’. This isn’t the first time this company has done this to my family and I will never use them again.

Worst Experience Ever!

Pros: Nothing

Cons: The Thrifty Car rental in Calgary was off airport, which I knew. The rates were good.. so I went with it. IMy flight landed at 5:15pm. When I made the reservation, I typed in that I would be pick the car up around 6:15. I had to Uber to the rental as they had no shuttle, which cost a whopping $70! When I got there, they were closed! They closed at 6pm. I arrived right at 6:15, just like my paperwork said. Another couple arrived right after me, with the same problem. I had to Uber back to the airport (for an additional $70). I’m now $140 into this with no car. I called the Thrifty Car rental at YYC and was told they had one car left. When I got there, I was then told they did not have any cars and that I was totally out of luck. The people at the counter were SO RUDE!! I went to two other agencies, who also did not have any cars left. My long awaited vacation was looking very bleak. Finally, the AVIS counter told me they had a car. They were very simpathetic, but the car still cost triple what my original rental was. Not a great way to start a vacation. Will never rent from Thrifty.. ever!!