National Car Rental

Normally I get my rentals with Hertz but due to a late booking, I was forced to go with National instead. The car itself was fine although it was considerably overpriced for what it was. What left me wanting more was the service. It seemed like I spent a lot more time waiting around than I should have for everything from their shuttle bus to getting the car. I do have to give them credit for the ease of return though. I was able to bring the car back with no hassle at all and was on my way back to the airport within minutes. At that point, I almost would have considered using them again in the future. Where they lost me forever was on the back end. About two months after my trip, I received a letter notifying me that they had billed my credit card something on the order of $20 for what they said was a toll that was under paid by a quarter! That's right a quarter! What really set me off was that I paid the toll in question in full to begin with. You would think that a phone call to thei... Read more

First, I'll say that I had used National Car Rental for quite a while with hardly any trouble at all. So maybe I was just due. I don't know. Anyway, I'm an "Emerald Club" member with National, and have mostly put that service into the top tier of providers, even though it's generally pretty expensive. So recently, when I'd made the reservation and was given a rate of 148.08, plus taxes and fees of 59.04 for a total of 207.12, I was surprised to see a bill for 563.33. Surprised and miffed; who's got throwaway money like that? OK, I thought; bring the matter to them and they'll see reason. I've never been in the position to ask for justice from them, so I was even more surprised to see that they stonewalled me. Really. I've not been so completely ignored and dismissed by any company for quite a while. I emailed a complaint and got this as a reply: "When you made your reservation we were able to guarantee the rate we quoted you based on the information you provided for us. If at any ... Read more

I used National Rental Car in Vegas and had no complaints. The car was clean, which is always a plus since I hate that smoke smell. The staff friendly, and everything was ready on time! I hate waiting for a car after being on a flight.

I'm less than pleased with National's policy on credit cards and debit cards. Just about any other company that I have ever dealt with that requires a major credit card will accept a Visa debit card as a credit card, as I can choose to use it as credit or debit. National, however, does not. When I made the reservation, it accepted my the number on my card as valid, so I didn't think anything of it. So after arriving at O'Haire after a very long flight from Europe, and going over to National, I showed them my card, and they refused to give me the car, saying that they needed a major credit card. I asked why the reservation would have processed my card number as valid, and like a dumbass he had no good answer for me. So I basically went off on the poor fool about how requiring a credit card is nothing more than a scam that requires people to get credit cards when they don't need them, and at this point he was getting a bit uneasy, as there were other customers around, and I was a large m... Read more

I'm thinking this company is the same as "National Tilden" but I'm not sure- if so, I would recommend them.  A few years ago I had to drive five hours north in  Tilden rental on New Year's Eve when my car flipped front over end and ended up spinning towards a rock cut on a pile of fluffy white stuff.  When I got out, called for assistance/etc.. pretty shaken up, but okay... long story short, there was barely a scratch to the car (should have been a grand am commercial).. the spoiler broken...  the manager of the Tilden closest to me opened up his office in his new year's tux and I had another car within moments.  Great service.

I cancelled my rental with Payless due to the absolute worst service in car rental history.  I then used Hotwire to get another rental--this time thru National.  A totally different experience.  No hassle at the counter.  I was able to pick out my own car from a rather large selection in my car rental category.  The car was well maintained (A Ford Focus that I averaged 38mpg for the 600 miles I drove!!!)  Again, no hassle when I returned the vehicle, and easy check in.

On March 22, 2008, Seattle, WA, I forgot my sweater and a pair of gloves I received while I was in the Air Force. It took them 4 days to locate the sweater and they charged me $10 to mail it back to me. But they said that the gloves were not in the sweater pockets (where I had placed them). Over a week later, still no gloves, and I get a recording that "we can't answer the phone right now." I want my gloves back! The employees are NOT HONEST!!!!!

If you read the fine print carefully, the National Rental Agreement Terms and Conditions specify that driving "off paved roads" negate the terms of the contract. I would bet that this rental agreement condition is common among the major competing rental car companies. However, I learned the hard-way what this truly means at National Rental Car. On September 1, 2007 I rented a Chevrolet Suburban from National/Alamo for a week in Montana on a fishing trip to the Boulder River. On the last day of our trip, at approximately the 33rd mile point on Forest Service maintained, well-traveled, unpaved portion of Montana road 298 (running parallel to the Boulder River) the right rear tire blew a flat. Upon contacting the National Roadside assistance number, we were immediately informed "there is nothing that National can do to help." Receiving the explanation that the onus of the cost of vehicle recovery, repairs, "loss of use," and so forth was mine, was not so much of a setback or c... Read more

I rented a car from National on 1/11/06 at Dulles airport (Wash, DC area). Originally, I had planned to stay for 4 days (including a Sat stay over). The rate I was given was $33.99. However, I had to leave that Friday (after a 2 day stay). To my utter dismay the per day rate increased to $99.99! The normal, non-discounted, non-Saturday stay over, is $53.95. This company is a TOTAL RIPOFF! Do not do business with these crooks! Buyer beware!

Awesome experience. Great cars. Love the Emerald Aisle.

In my experience, they're quick, competent and honest. The cars are clean and in good shape, and their prices are generally competetive.

1. Misleading Service at Las Vegas Apt site: 1 They removed driver's car manual,from car !-- despite fact that I said that car was new to me. They said that they needed to make sure that Manual was not lost to them, as they had to return it for their own lease purposes ! 2. Charges were greater at site than listed on Internet, with increase being effectively hidden, unless I played lawyer at the counter !--- seeming lack of integrity 3. Would NOT choose them again, if possible. ----MAPE

Only used them once when I got fed up with Hertz and Avis and wanted to try others. Forget it. Had to queue for ages, got sent to another queue, the staff were unhelpful, and they charged me more than any other company. Never again.

In a world where customer service seems to be getting increasingly worse, National employees shine. They are prompt, honest, friendly, personable, and extraordinarily helpful. The saying "you get what you pay for" should come to mind when you're paying that extra dollar to have things done right the first time.

I was really impressed by National's service this week. My husband left his dress coat in a car he returned to National in Nashville yesterday. Realizing his mistake, he called me from an airplane yesterday afternoon to ask me to track it down. (What am I, his secretary?) Anyway, I called the office and explained the problem. I was told that no items had been sent to the lost and found, but that they would investigate and get back to me. Within 30 minutes, they called me back to say that they had located the coat. Apparently they shipped the coat to me immediately because I received it this morning, before my husband returned from his trip. Now that's what I call service!

I had the crappiest experience on National. I rented a car for one-day, and got unlimited mileage since I was going from San Fran to Reno. It sounded like it would be real cheap ($30 or so), so I decided to pay extra for insurance ($19). I wound up returning the car 25 hours later, getting charged for a full extra day of the insurance, $15 for the extra hour, and they also charged me $38 or so for mileage past a certain point. When I contested that I'd reserved the car asking for unlimited mileage, they pointed to fine print in the contract I signed saying I signed something different. Their customer service people were totally unhelpful, then I wrote an angry letter and eight months later, I haven't heard anything back as of yet. I'm official on boycott from National until they do something to make nice with me!

The best thing about National Car Rental is that they're big on the one way rentals. If you've ever tried to rent a car and drop it off elsewhere you know what a pain this can be, and how expensive (if even possible) it is. National, though, allows one way rentals to just about all their locations. Recently, a friend had to get to an airport about 2 hrs. away and for $30 she could rent a car and drive it herself. Pretty good.