We just returned from Tampa where we rented for 8 days from National. It was the first bad experience I've had after being a loyal National customer and Emerald Club member since 1987 (inaugural member!)
We arrived at TPA around 11:30 a.m. on 2/15. Our reservation was for a Full Size car with Emerald Aisle service. We were the only customers at National and there were 2 women manning the 2 exit booths. After scanning the Aisle (Mitsubishi Gallant, several Mitsubishi Lancers, a Cavalier, a Malibu and a Grand Am), I went over to the booth to explain that I had a reservation for a Full Size car (Buick Regal or equivalent per National's web site) and asked if more were going to be brought up. The woman who I spoke to was down right nasty to me and said "There's a Malibu over there - that's a full size car." I countered that the Malibu is a mid-size car similar to the Grand Am. She screamed, "The only thing we are obligated to give you is an intermediate size car!"
So, thinking but not saying that their obligation was to honor my reservation, I asked if she would at least call to see if there were any larger cars being brought down to the garage and indicated that we were willing to wait if there were. (There were no full size, luxury, or SUV's in the other row either. There was a dirty, white Buick LeSabre, a "premium class" car parked in the "Luxury" spaces, but even that was not offered up.) She made the call grudgingly and barked at me, "There are no larger cars coming!" Then she said, "There's a Lumina all the way at the end of the row." Now the garage was dark and I guess I missed seeing it. When I did see the car, I thought it belonged to a National employee since it was not clean.
We settled on the dark green Lumina. The car was obviously a smoking car and National must have run out of Fabreeze. The car may have been run through an automatic car wash, but no one bothered to pay attention to the lower body panels which were dirty. The interior windows were dirty as was the rear view mirror. The car had not been vacumed, the upholstery was dirty, there was a used drinking straw in the trunk, the car had no windshield washer fluid, was down 1.5 quarts of oil, was dented on the front fender with no damage shown on the sign-out, had the wrong mileage recorded, and leaked water when it rained. I can't tell you what model year the car was since there was no registration in the car. But, Chevy no longer makes the Lumina.
This was a vacation rental and was very disappointing. The rate was good with the DC discount and coupon for one free day, but I would have paid more for a less aggravating experience and a car in better condition. The sad thing is that the day we left, the company I work for announced that after over at least 12 years, we were switching from National to Avis and Hertz for our business rentals and I was actually a little upset! Well, my wife and I were eyeing all of the nice, clean cars in the Hertz row which is right next to National at TPA. I will definitely be shopping around for my next rental!
We arrived at TPA around 11:30 a.m. on 2/15. Our reservation was for a Full Size car with Emerald Aisle service. We were the only customers at National and there were 2 women manning the 2 exit booths. After scanning the Aisle (Mitsubishi Gallant, several Mitsubishi Lancers, a Cavalier, a Malibu and a Grand Am), I went over to the booth to explain that I had a reservation for a Full Size car (Buick Regal or equivalent per National's web site) and asked if more were going to be brought up. The woman who I spoke to was down right nasty to me and said "There's a Malibu over there - that's a full size car." I countered that the Malibu is a mid-size car similar to the Grand Am. She screamed, "The only thing we are obligated to give you is an intermediate size car!"
So, thinking but not saying that their obligation was to honor my reservation, I asked if she would at least call to see if there were any larger cars being brought down to the garage and indicated that we were willing to wait if there were. (There were no full size, luxury, or SUV's in the other row either. There was a dirty, white Buick LeSabre, a "premium class" car parked in the "Luxury" spaces, but even that was not offered up.) She made the call grudgingly and barked at me, "There are no larger cars coming!" Then she said, "There's a Lumina all the way at the end of the row." Now the garage was dark and I guess I missed seeing it. When I did see the car, I thought it belonged to a National employee since it was not clean.
We settled on the dark green Lumina. The car was obviously a smoking car and National must have run out of Fabreeze. The car may have been run through an automatic car wash, but no one bothered to pay attention to the lower body panels which were dirty. The interior windows were dirty as was the rear view mirror. The car had not been vacumed, the upholstery was dirty, there was a used drinking straw in the trunk, the car had no windshield washer fluid, was down 1.5 quarts of oil, was dented on the front fender with no damage shown on the sign-out, had the wrong mileage recorded, and leaked water when it rained. I can't tell you what model year the car was since there was no registration in the car. But, Chevy no longer makes the Lumina.
This was a vacation rental and was very disappointing. The rate was good with the DC discount and coupon for one free day, but I would have paid more for a less aggravating experience and a car in better condition. The sad thing is that the day we left, the company I work for announced that after over at least 12 years, we were switching from National to Avis and Hertz for our business rentals and I was actually a little upset! Well, my wife and I were eyeing all of the nice, clean cars in the Hertz row which is right next to National at TPA. I will definitely be shopping around for my next rental!
