Terrible Experience at Routes Car Rental in Fort Lauderdale
Here is my letter to Expedia, trying to get a refund on my $150 car rental.
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Thanks for looking at my case!
In brief, my car rental experience with Routes Car Rental wasn’t “good” or “bad”, it was “fraudulent”! That company shouldn’t operate with Expedia! I suggest Expedia end its relationship with Routes. And, I believe, I should get a refund on my attempted rental.
Summary: I booked a car rental through Expedia, Confirmation: #EAPPG883451, Expedia itinerary: 73386200632053
When I arrived at the car rental location, I waited a full hour for the 1 other customer ahead of me to be served. When I finally spoke to an agent, they tried to more than double the price of the rental AND they sucked up 2 hours of my time.
The Financial Problem: The Routes agent said she needed to charge me $60/day ($240 total) extra because I showed up 1 hour after my rental was reserved, but the only reason I was “late” is because I had been standing in the Routes Car Rental line for the car for an hour! Moreso, there was only 1 person in front of me in line! The Routes agent also wanted to charge me $10.99 a day for me to decline the collision damage waiver. In their insanely long terms and conditions, that wasn’t described. In fact, it says quite the opposite. Read it here: (https://www.expedia.com/Checkout/CarRulesAndRestrictions?tripid=8bbf3973-145f-5d45-919c-b31ecf23b3a6) the closest it comes is, at the VERY bottom of the “Insurance” section” it reads:
“Collision Damage Waiver – $3000 Deductible (CDW1):10 USD/Per Day, Supplementary Liability Insurance:14.99 USD/Per Day, COLLISION DAMAGE WAIVER (CDW):24.99 USD/Per Day”
(notice it doesn’t mention a charge if I decline the CDW)
I waited an hour (yes, 60 minutes!) for the customer ahead of me. I listened to their interaction. First, it was remarkably slow service (it took 20 minutes for the agent to get to the end of the booking process). Then the customer in front of me was told their price had doubled because they were late. Then they argued for 20 minutes and the customer left, in a huff, without a car!
When I approached the agent, I had the same experience. Note that the agent was actually on a video screen, not in person. There are two video-agent terminals at FLL. It took 20 minutes for the agent and I to get through booking, even though I had already booked with Expedia. Then she told me about the extra fees. Then I disagreed, and finally left.
Moreso, I am certain that no one took the car that I was trying to rent because, in the 2 hours I was at their (crappy) facility, their 2 video-agents only served 4 customers, and only 1 of those customers successfully got a car from this (fraudulent) organization.
While I was waiting, and after, I witnessed 3 other potential customers get dicked around in the same way! I watched a family with kids have to endure this malfeasance.
For reference, when I was done with Routes Car Rental, I went back to Enterprise Car Rental at the Airport and spent a total of 10 minutes waiting for an agent and being served, and was charged $435 for a fine car. Their Expedia price was $350 but I had no interest in nickel-and-diming them!
I made a 41 minute audio recording of my arduous, fraudulent interteraction with Routes Car rental. At 30 minutes into the recording, the agent admits that I had been waiting in her line but “the system” said I was a no-show. I welcome you to listen to this recording here. It’s a torturous listen.
The rental agent told me that she worked for Routes Car Rental, NextCar Car Rental, America Car Rental, and Mex. If you consider cancelling the Routes contract with Expedia, you might also consider cancelling the other companies. Though I don’t have personal experience with them.