Car Rental Surcharge

[Don D.]

A friend recently returned from Orlando and rented a car with L&M. He got a good rate but when picking up the car was told there was a 30% surcharge that had to be added to the cost. I have rented in Orlando many times and never heard of this. Is this a new state surcharge or just L&M pulling a fast one to make their rates look better?

 

[sgtdisney]

Was this surcharge added in addition to the other taxes? The reason I ask is when you add up all the taxes that are charged to rental cars in the State of Florida including the tire and battery fees, etc., the taxes amount to about 30% of the cost of the rental..

If this surcharge was added in addition to the other Florida taxes and fees, it sounds like your friend was overcharged.

 

[Don D.]

I asked him that same question and he said no. The surcharge was added to the cost piror to taxes and fees. I was going to try L&M on my next trip but not now. I'll just stick with Dollar. They usually have the lowest in terminal rates.

 

[lawgs]

seems they have some ....hidden charges with this car company....

when most charge 50 cents or less for licence recovery....theirs is listed as a 3$ or so day charge......do not understand why there would be such a disrepancy between car rental companies...

we were toying with going with L&M because of the reviews in pluto for president's thread but after hearing these "stories" am glad we have stayed with national and dollar

 

[seashoreCM]

Was there ever an explanation as to what the surcharge was for?

Advantage of dealing with nationwide companies, if a problem occurs it is easier to resolve it after you get home.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

Recent article in an Orlando area paper described the plight of small mom and pop motels against Disney competition. But they, like small stores have strikes against them because there are a few bad eggs who rip off consumers and are customer unfriendly when it comes to unclean rooms or defective merchandise.

 

[Don D.]

Spoke with my friend today. The 30% was added before tax and fees. They told him that rates had increased since he made his reservation and there simply was a 30% surcharge fee. He had made the reservation only about 3 month out so it wasn't like he reservered the car a year in advance. Sounds like they pulled a fast one on him.

 

[sgtdisney]

Yes, I would say they definately pulled a fast one. I would have told them to take their car and rent it someone else (Can you tell I cleaned that up? )

That would be like going to check into a hotel on a reservation at 100.00 per night and the desk clerk saying, we are getting more for the rooms now you will have to pay 130.00... Sounds like a deceptive trade practice to me. I have never rented from L&M, if this is the way they do business, I don't think I ever will either.

 

[Don D.]

sgtdisney

Yes it does sound that way. After this I will never try them. By the way, see you are DVC members at OKW. So are we. have been since 93. Sure do miss those free passes.

 

[sgtdisney]

Don, yes, we are members at OKW, since 1992.. I definately miss those Free passes... Don't seem to go to the parks as much as I used to before Y2K....

 

[CarolMN]

Wow! At a minimum, that just doesn't sound like good business practice. I sure hope your friend sent a letter of complaint to the L&M executives with a copy to the Orlando Bettter Business Bureau. It's not right to increase the charge at the last minute like that when your friend had a confirmed reservation. When I rented from them, there was nothing on the confirmation that indicated they could change the rates before I arrived.

Thanks for sharing. Even though I have rented from L&M in the past (and was considering doing so again), I won't take a chance of this happening to me. I'll stick with the "tried and true" even if it costs a few dollars more!

 

[inaminute]

I'd even go further and send a copy of the letter to the State's Attorney General.

Good luck!

 

[RobinLyn]

We will never try renting there again. There are to many other good choices at MCO with no hidden costs or tricks. They also like to try and give you a smaller car and say this is "our" full size at a full size price. We walked away from their counter and rented from Dollar. Avis, National, Dollar and Budget are all onsite at MCO and much better choices IMHO. Good luck to all who are renting from L&M, I hope you do better than most have.

RobinLyn

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Like I said before, after a VERY rude customer service rep gave me a very hard time and after receiving a virus via my email ( I have Norton and it scans my email so no harm was done) I decided this was a pretty shaky organization and I wanted nothing to do with them.
These posts just reinforce my decision to go elsewhere.

 

[Disneymomma]

I can't believe they can get away with this! I had second thoughts about them and went with the Dollar ENTERTAIN rate and cancelled L&M-thank goodness!