Travel Solutions: Rental car company charges customer for unavailable vehicle

I reached out to Dollar on Twitter, and a representative offered me a $50 coupon and a credit for the rental that would expire in just a few months. I’d rather get my $82 back. I paid for a rental car at a certain time, and Dollar could not deliver it. I should not have to pay for the car. Can you help me? — Beth Bonness, Portland, Oregon

A: Dollar shouldn’t have charged you for a car that it couldn’t deliver. And when you pointed out the problem, the company should have promptly refunded the $82 instead of offering you an expiring credit.

There have been widespread reports of car rental shortages. Car rental companies routinely accept more reservations than they have cars, anticipating that some customers will be no-shows. Then when everyone shows up, they have a problem.

How do you avoid a situation like this? First, consider booking a non-prepaid reservation. You might be able to get the same savings by shopping around for a better rate. To ensure that a car is available, consider renting one at a less busy time. (Friday afternoons tend to get crowded, for example, while Wednesday mornings are quieter.)

It looks like you appealed this to an executive at Hertz, the parent company of Dollar. (I list the Hertz executive contacts on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.) But the company would not issue a refund. Sometimes even a meticulous paper trail and a polite request isn’t enough.

I contacted Hertz on your behalf. The company apologized to you, issued a full refund for the $82 and let you keep the $50 credit as a “gesture of goodwill.”