Advantage Rent A Car - www.advantage.com

Contractually agreed to return the car at 5:00 A.M. at their airport office.

When I arrived: office closed, parking blocked, nobody there. Called, but the phone number they gave me was a call center that could/would not help me. Short of options, I parked the car on the airport parking, deposited the keys at Europcar and informed Advantage per e-mail where they could find the car and the keys. Never got any response, nor an apology.

Couple of days later, Advantage charged my credit card for almost $1000. It turned out that nobody had read my e-mail until after ONE WEEK. Advantage reimbursed the $1000 minus $90. They claimed the $90 was for the fuel and that I delivered the car with an almost empty tank. This is a blatant lie. The fuel tank was about 2 gallons, maximum 3 gallons short of being full when I returned it. In the contract we Advantage charges $8,99 PER GALLON of fuel when the car is returned. I asked for a fuel receipt, but never got any. I had to contact my credit card company in order to get my money back. WITH SUCCESS.

NEVER RENT HERE!

Avoid at all costs, or at least be very careful - they will add on as many extras as possible at the time of hire. In my case I specifically asked whether I needed the sun pass for the road down to the Keys, and they lied, saying yes. I did not, and it cost me 10 dollars plus concession fee and tax per day for something I didn't need. They also tried to add on a host of other extras which I spotted and got taken off. On later studying of their bill, it was riddled with errors to my detriment.

When I returned the car, I tried to raise both issues, but was met with incredible rudeness by the manager so I opted to move on to my flight and raise a direct complaint with the company. Despite several attempts to contact them in writing, there has been not one acknowledgement or a reply.

In contrast, other car hire companies I dealt with on my holiday were professional and courteous - you get what you pay for with this outfit, pay more for a proper service.

Worst company I dealt with. On kine I put in a bid for a midsize car. They accepted my bod. When I went to pick up my car it was a compact vw beetle. Wrong I wanted a midsize they said to get the midsize I would have to upgrade. I said no My contract says compact or larger. They said that means I get a mystery car which put from paying 228 to paying 516 dollars. Called corporate to complain wasn't aloud to talk to a supervisor an d was told the person on the phone was trained and can handle all situations just say no. Poor customer relations, don't want to handle complaints, No where on my contract does anything say mystery car, Don't use them. Before I took my flight it would of been nice to know what u were getting.

After a lengthy battle with the company and my credit card company, I managed to get a refund on the car I was charged for but never got to pick up because the counter was closed at the airport. Nowhere does it say on the web site what time the counter closed, and I wouldn't have rented from them had I known to begin with. They shouldn't be allowed to rent cars to people who arrive near or after their closing time. They said I could go back the next day to pick up my car, but I'd already rented one in order to leave the airport. Never again will I rent from a "discount car rental" agency - as the manager called himself.

Our plane arrived was delayed and arrived at 11 and the rental car company for which we had reserved to rent a car had closed I guess! We waited for 30 minutes looking for an Advantage shuttle but none came. So we had to go find another shuttle for a different rental car company and rent another car.

Car rental reserved on line. When I arrived I was told that the car I rented did not meet Connecticut law for hands free driving so they were giving me an upgrade. I was handed a folder to put in the glove box. When I got to hotel and looked at it, I was charged an additional $35/day for the upgrade "I am giving you". That more than doubled the original quote. Bait and Switch. DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE! I spoke to owner who refused to remove charge. I travel frequently and have never experienced anything like this.