Manny returned a rental car full of gas to Thrifty, yet they still ended up charging him $12.67 to top it off. Even after several days of escalating, they have yet to refund him his cash.

Manny writes:

March 4

Last week I rented a car at the Myrtle Beach airport from Thrifty. I go to this destination quite a bit (almost on a monthly basis) and always rent from the same company, Thrifty. The rental was for 5 days, Mon Feb 22 to Fri Feb 26. I returned the car (a hybrid) after filling it with gas to the point where the fuel gauge was past the full line. Then then drove about 4 or 5 miles to the airport to drop off the car. At this airport it is a bit different when you drop off. You put it in the return spot, lock the car and bring the keys inside to the same desk you rented from. I returned the car, they asked me if it was full of gas and I said yes (like I always do). They close out the rental for $107 and some change and I am done. This morning I discover two charges, the $107 and change and another for $12.67. When I called Thrifty this morning, they said that the charge was for gas. I know I returned it full and even have that charge on the same credit card as the car rental. The agent took my number and told me that they would contact the manager at that location. I am still waiting for a call back.

March 8

It has been three days and I have not heard back from Thrifty. I called them on Friday and they told me that told me again that they sent a message to the manager of that location. I will be calling them back on Wednesday if I don’t hear from them by then (I know they won’t call).

March 14

So I finally called Thrifty back, exactly 1 week after I initially called them about this phantom charge. If you recall, they told me that it was to top off the tank at $6.99 per gallon. I still don’t quite get that because when I filled it up, the little meter on the dashboard was well past the fill line. Anyway, this morning when I told them I called a week ago, the person on the other line seemed surprised and told me that someone should call me back very soon. Within 10 minutes I got a call back and I was told to send receipts. So I told them that I could send my credit card statement with the credit card number blanked out along with some other personal data. I did that when I got into the office and within 20 minutes, I got an email back saying they would credit my AMEX card. Funny thing about this is that I used a VISA card and don’t have an AMEX. I mailed him back to confirm it is my VISA card he would be crediting. Still waiting to hear back.

At this point, what I have been suspecting all along may show itself…that is that they put the charge for someone else’s gas on my card and that person happened to use an AMEX card.

Funny thing, Thrifty did the same to me, also in Florida. Sounds like a case for Captain Chargeback.

UPDATE:

March 17

I finally saw the refund on my account this past Monday. Unfortunately it took a few phone calls and me sending in a copy of the fuel fillup charge on my credit card statement to make it happen.

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