Advantage Rent A Car

The rates are cheaper if you book online.
If you rent in Phx as I do then use the local number Not the 800 number. I tried 3 x and no one picks up and it rang for 20 minutes and then disconnects you.
I sent an email and their response time was 25 hours later.

I should have known right when we got to the car that I should have rejected it because it had scratches, dings and missing paint on several parts of the car. After writing down all the damage we were able to see, we took it and used the car for a week. When it was returned it was inspected by their associate and I was told «everything was fine, thank you». One week later while at home in New Jersey I received an email stating that I caused damage to the car and I’m being charged and additional $ 75. I had to call their risk management company to find out what I supposedly damaged. I was told the windshield. Really? REALLY? So I paid the $ 75 but I will never use or recommend their company again. Also, when I rented they took a $ 200 deposit that was not supposed to be charged to my card when the car was returned but they charged it anyway and I had to fight to get that back as well. If I could give LESS than 1 star I would! Two thumbs down!

This is the worst car rental place ever. The way they do business is terrible. They lure you in with the lowest price on the travel websites, but once you get to the counter to get your car, it’s all about add ons. The agent tried repeatedly to hard sell us on an upgrade, tacked on a $ 200 deposit, even though we told him we had insurance to cover the car he still put it on the bill and it was until I pointed it out that he took it off. So frustrating.
I should have read these reviews before hand. In the future, I guarantee I will never use this company again.

This was my first time renting from advantage. I don’t think I’ll do it again. The only reason for a 1 star rating is for the long line. Way too long for a car rental, took about an hour. Car is ok and price is good. But id rather pay a little extra for convenience.

Advantage has the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I made my reservation through
and also got collision coverage through the same. When I got to the counter I found out that I could not rent the car because I was a local renter that carried my insurance through my company rather than through my personal name. Although I had proof of my company ownership in my name and coverage of my company owners, I was still unable to rent the car. Thus, Advantage cancelled the reservation on me. Thus, I tried to cancel my reservation and collision coverage with
and to obtain a refund for both. I was unable to do this over the internet. I called Advantage over the phone. They told me they would send confirmation of cancelation, however, when I got the e-​mail, it was confirmation of the reservation instead. I called them back and they said they were unable to send confirmation of cancelation, that their company did not allow it. Advantage flat out refused to give me any evidence that my rental was canceled. Therefore, I was unable to get a refund for any of it. I paid for a rental and a collision coverage that I was never able to use. On top of this, when I called Advantage to take care of all this, I discovered that their phone system was broken. If you need to reach customer service, or want to chose an option to discuss an existing reservation, the phone system goes into suspended mode and never connects with anyone. Eventually, you find out that you have to pretend to be making a new reservation to speak to a human. If I could give this company ZERO stars, I would!

Took 45 minutes to rent a car with only 1 person in live ahead of us. They were too busy trying to upsell. Good for their business, bad for customers. Problems checking car back in on return. Will never rent again.

I would give 0 stars if I could! I am in the process of relocating from Phoenix to Seattle and due to the last minute notice of the move, I had initially moved out to Seattle with my car a month prior and then flew back to Phoenix to pack all my belongings and officially move to Washington. I knew that I would be needing a car while in Phoenix, and was really excited about the cheap deal I had found to rent a car with advantage. When I arrived at Advantage, I was told that because my driver’s license still had an address of Phoenix I needed to provide a copy of my insurance in order to rent the car, which was not possible for me to obtain because it was located in Washington. The rental reservation had been made two week prior, and no notice of this policy had been communicated to me. I explained my situation and the service attendant apologized and said that there was nothing they could do, which left me carless and having to go to another company and pay over 5x the amount.

There’s a reason this company gets 2 stars. I’ve rented on many occasions and have always been happy with the service, even when it comes to smaller-​named companies. I was extremely upset when I felt duped being triple charged at the airport and talked to three different reps before trying to catch my flight with the first words out of their mouths being «we can’t do anything for you.» I’ve never had a car rental company tell me that. I was willing to be charged double the original quoted rate because of taxes and fees, but not triple. They upscale and pressure you like no other car company I’ve worked with. When I let them know I would never use this company again, they didn’t seem to mind, which further shows their lack of customer service.

So 30 mins after waiting in line I was able to get my contract… and another 10 minutes before I got my car. The reservationist was very nice, but staffing was not up to par for a Wednesday afternoon. My car was in great condition and clean. Big bonus in my book. However, the estimate of what my car would cost to what I was actually charged was a big difference. I was quoted $ 270 and was actually charged a little over $ 200. Originally I was quoted $ 170. I kept asking where these extra charges were coming from and the contract said something different. It was a uncomforting, but happy I wasn’t super overcharged for the car.

Their add-​on insurance and refueling policies are just as crappy as other car companies, but other than that I have no complaints. I picked up the kind of car I booked, returned it early, and was charged less than the estimate — meaning they did give me some credit for the early return.
The car was nothing special, but it got me where I needed to go and back. A-​OK.

Lots of hate on Unilocal for this place — come on people and chill-​ax.
Check-​in was a breeze, less than 5 minutes and I was on my way to the rental cars. Sure they tried to up sell a few services but a polite «no thank-​you» was all it took. BTW, I get the same up sell routine at every major rent-​a-​car place so they are doing nothing different.
Rental Car was a Nissan Altima for $ 9 a day, it was clean but had a couple of scratches on it but for $ 9 a day I can handle the minor cosmetic blemishes. Car worked flawlessly and the AC kicked butt in the hot Arizona Summer sun. I noted the scratches and handed in the form to the check-​out person and we were on our way. NOTE: This was probably the FASTEST car rental I have ever done in Phoenix (and I do a lot here)
Returns was another breeze, I didn’t even get a chance to remove my luggage and the return girl handed me my receipt and said «have a nice day.»
BOTTOM LINE: Super fast check-​out, Super CHEAP prices, Super Fast Returns, Cars have a few more miles and some cosmetic damage that goes along with those miles but you save a bundle over the major companies. I WILL RENT AGAIN.

Been in line for over one hour attempting to pick up car… do not use if you have an value of your own time
This is unbelievable– holy hell
Have a prepaid reservation… Doesn’t matter

I think I was set up. I was given the hard sell (very hard sell) to take their insurance. My car was dirty, all scratched up and had several stickers on it showing where damage had been noted. I returned the car four hours early, the receiving agent went straight to the windshield and found a crack ¼″ long.
I received the car in the dark car rental center, how am I going to find a crack ¼″ long when I do my preliminary inspection. The car was dirty and this guy conveniently found the windshield crack very quickly. I think his little computer thing was tipping him of previous damage. They charged $ 25 for it and threw in the comment «you should have taken our insurance.»
I do not have any recollection of a rock hitting my windshield. I cannot prove the damage did not happen when I was driving, but I am very suspicious. The car was pretty dirty and smelly. What I should have done was refuse it, but I waited in line 40 min to get to my rental and was running late to an appointment.
I will contact them to see if what their response is. I will give them an opportunity to prove that Katherine P. is correct, that they have good customer service. We will see.

I was a little worried to rent from a smaller, lesser known rental car company. I read the reviews on extra charges and upgrades that were unapproved. But it was hard to resist as their prices are so much better then the big boy national chains.
If you stripped the Advantage sign off of their walls and replaced it with Hertz or Enterprise, you wouldn’t have noticed any difference. The staff manning the rental car desk where I confirm my reservation were very friendly and professional. They didn’t try to upsale me or hide anything.
When I went downstairs to pick up my car, my major concern was Advantage adding misc damage charges after I returned it. So I used my iphone and recorded every inch in a video and noted even the slightest scratches on the form. We received a clean, «new» Toyota Camry with AC, bluetooth and mp3 player. Perfect for our needs.
I’ve checked my bill since and no extra charges have been applied. I would certainly use them again, and use the same tactics to ensure I didn’t get charged extra for phantom damages.
The only real issue with this rental car facility is that I went downstairs to the cars first instead of straight to the reservation desk. Kind of a nuisance as their signage is not very clear.

Worst rental car experience I’ve ever had. We made a reservation for an economy car, when we got there we were told that we were being given a smart car that seats 2 even though the reservation clearly stated that the car would seat up to four because they said «all cars vary by location». We were forced to pay for an upgrade and still given the smallest hatch back with a scratches and dents all over it and a nonexistent trunk. The customer service was worse than the car rental itself — will never rent from here again.

I didnt have the best experience. I was given the hard sell on the car upgrade/​insurance, the car had scratches all over it, and I returned it less than 2 hrs late and was charged for a full day. That being said, I called management to report my concerns and I felt that they took them seriously. They credited me for the extra day and indicated that they would try to fix the problem for the future. I was impressed with the follow up customer service.