Thrifty Rent A Car

Waiting in a long queue of thrifty on a Monday noon. I was hoping not too many travels but there is a huge line. I guess better avoid it in the summer season. Other companies have almost no queue. But the car is amazingly clean and well maintained. Very satisfied with the price and the car.

We had a terrible experience with Thrifty while on vacation. When we picked up the car there was a cap missing off one of the tires, the staff seemed annoyed when we asked them to find us one before we left. We did not think we would need to check the oil of the car when picking up but turns out we should have. We were given the car at 55,000km when the oil service was due around 43,000km. The car gave us a warning to change the oil a few days into our trip my fiancee checked the oil at this point and it was extremely low and black - as we were hiking in back country territory this ruined a whole day of our vacation - none of the local auto shops had time until the next week for an oil change and so we had to try to the nearest large city for a quick lube service. We had called Thrifty first and they did not tell us we had the option of roadside assistance coming to switch out the car. She also GUARANTEED that we would be reimbursed if we paid for an oil change. I asked her if she could send a written document by email to ensure we would be reimbursed and she assured me she had created a case file and documented everything so not to worry. When we returned the car, the front desk manager told us there was nothing he could do because we had prepaid in full so he could not refund us. We pushed further as we did not feel we should be responsible for this cost. Once he mentioned he could call a senior manager but wanted a few days to do this, we told him no, we would wait around for this as we were leaving the province and wanted it dealt with. He came back to say that they could fill out a refund form but that it could take 4-6 weeks to receive a check in the mail. Absolutely unbelievable, we are extremely disappointed, out of pocket $100 AND a whole day of our trip ruined by this. I will be letting all of my friends and family know to NOT book with Thrifty and am considering contacting the Better Business Bureau as we were lied to and cheated for more money.

The worst rental experience ever. They are pretty much scam artists. Returned the car and they wanted to charge me for a ROCK CHIP. I checked the car before I left, noticed the rock chip but didn't say anything, stupidly. They will claim they inspected the car before handing over the keys, but its complete BS. When I returned the car the scammer said I was responsible to pay for the rock chip. Guaranteed they don't even fix it, just pocket the money. Not to mention the RIDICULOUS line up in the beginning to get the car. Slowest service staff ever. Do not use this pathetic company, the reviews speak for themselves.

My family and I rented a car during the Stampede, and we were more than pleased with the service. Seeing that it was one of the busiest times of the year in Calgary, listening to an elderly couple front of us complain about wait-times was extremely irritating. Nonetheless, the agent resolved things with extreme kindness and compassion. The car was clean, and ran smoothly the entire time. I would recommend Thrifty to anyone travelling to Calgary.

We had booked a rental for a 1030 pickup, but have been waiting for an hour and counting. The CSR in the ponytail says the long wait time is due to COVID-19, the shortage of cars, and the need to thoroughly clean the cars. Meanwhile, all the other car companies have cleared their lines. This same CSR representative also spends more time upselling insurance packages and fuel rates than they do processing customers. One star. Threw in some photos comparing the minimal National and Budget lines vs. the Dollar/Thrifty line.

We were given a car with a big crack in the windscreen and tape holding the rear/trunk window down to the frame. Reported this to front desk and they said that this is ok for us to take and no offer to swap the car for one in better condition. When we returned the car they initially tried to charge us for the crack in the windscreen. The manager was helpful and stepped in as we had photos to prove it was already there.

This has been one of the worse experiences I have been through. I booked a car to go to Banff. The agent, Mike at Calgary airport location upgraded me to a car for the same cost. Turns out that I had to end up paying extra mileage where this was not communicated at the time of pick up. When I dropped it off I was charged extra mileage. He was aware I was travelling all around banff and didn’t even communicate that. At the end of it, he had told me to contact customer service and was absolutely no help. Worst rental service.

We were quite pleased with Thrifty Car Rental! We were out west for a week and they gave us a Dodge Charger sweet ride - we had booked a Toyota Corolla or similar but the staff person we were dealing with was very kind to upgrade to the Charger! It was amazing on gas and made our drive through the breathtaking scenery of Jasper National Park even more enjoyable. Being able to rent a car right from the Calgary airport and then returning to same location makes it very convenient! I would recommend trying to book on Expedia first and see what deals you can get. Then call them directly to see if they can beat the Expedia price. Overall, I was quite pleased with Thrifty at Calgary International airport

I rented a car on October 15; no issues with that at all. The car was good, in near perfect condition and operated fine the whole time we were away. I returned the car on October 20 at 830 am; handed the keys to the return clerk and asked when I’d receive my rental deposit back, did a walk around and took photos just in case They attempted to peg me for something that wasn’t my fault. and flew back to Vancouver. Fast forward to The morning of October 22 at 6:55 am. I’m fast asleep and my phone rings waking me up. I miss a call from a Calgary number and then get a voicemail notification. Fairly wide awake now I look up the number and see it’s from Thrifty. I check my voicemail and there’s a message saying “Hi Ms. MacKenzie, I’m calling to ask if you still have your car rental or whether you returned it? Please call us back and let me know.” I call the number back which bumps me to a 1-800 number 3 times. They give me another phone number; I call there and no response. I call the first number again and finally speak to Howard, the man who called me. He asks if I returned the car. I say “yes I returned the car at 8:30 am on Wednesday. It’s Saturday morning at 7:30 am My time - that means this car has been back for 2 whole days and you’re calling to ask me if I returned it?” He tells me the the return clerk never ended out my contract, that they’re looking for the car because it’s been rented to someone else and that if I returned it that means someone else has already driven it around, Cleaned it, and refueled it. I made it clear that I did a full walk around, refueled it and returned it and would not be held responsible for literally anything involving this rental. I was told I wouldn’t be but I’m livid. For 2 days they weren’t aware if they had this car or if someone else did as meanwhile it’s still indicated as “rented” under my name. Do your due diligence if you rent here - take photos on rental and on return; keep your receipts and apparently also ask that they have in fact “ended” your rental.

You don't need me to tell you the mixed reviews that is across most car rentals. Across all the touch points with Thrifty my expectations while low already, were met. I had an average experience. My only thing here is to provide you with reading this review with photos of information that I tried tooth and nail searching for from the internet to Thrifty`s call centre. With no luck of getting this until on the day Note: Vehicles with winter tyres is not a legal requirement for car rentals in Alberta a non Canadian had to research this, Thrifty charges $20 extra per day before tax and is subject to availability.