Fuck you, Dollar Car Rental
Never make people feel tricked - it's the worst form of business practice
Dear, Dollar Car Rental
I hate you.
Best, Petter
I was recently in Costa Rica with a friend. A couple of weeks before going, we booked a car for 12 days through Dollar Car Rental’s website. The “Approximate total” was around 360 USD. Here’s the price section of the confirmation email:
We got to the Dollar store, and the clerk started telling us about the insurance options. Low coverage, medium coverage, high coverage. “No thanks,” we said, “we’ve checked our insurance, and we’re covered.” The clerk explained that 3rd party insurances were not valid for car rental in Costa Rica. He continued with his rehearsed scare script: “You will have to go to court if you crash, and you’ll pay the full value of your counterparty’s car…” and so on.
He made us feel unsure and fooled at the same time. While telling us that “I want to be honest,” trying to ensure us that he was on our side. “OK, what are the prices for the three insurance options?” The total cost of car rental was suddenly 940 USD, 955 USD, or 970 USD. Nowhere close to the “Approximate total.” I pointed out that a 160% price increase is by no means within an acceptable “Approximate” range. Again, he tried to make us feel stupid “yes, but the 360 USD is just the car; then there’s insurance and tax”. While we were discussing with this guy, another client next to us had the exact same discussion with one of the other smirky-smiling clerks.
We didn’t have other realistic options. We didn’t want to waste time running around San José to find an honest and affordable car rental company. We wanted to drive to the beach and enjoy our vacation. We ended up paying the price they asked. We were tricked, and it was the worst feeling. It became a running joke whenever the car's chassis hit a bump in the road; “no worries, at least we’re double-insured.”
A similar situation happened at the beach. Three guys were renting out surfboards. They had a poster with prices; 1 day = 10 USD. We only had 1 hour to surf before sunset, so I negotiated, and we agreed on two boards for 10. When we returned to pay, I gave him 10.000 colones (which equals 16,67 USD); “10 USD is 6000 colones; do you have 4000 colones in change?”. “No, we agreed on 10.000 colones, he said”. We didn’t, as the negotiated price was based on their poster with prices in US dollars. We had a long discussion, his arguments weren’t reasonable at all, but still, we ended up paying 10.000 colones. We didn’t want to have bad blood with a local beach seller.
For the car, the price was significant, but for the surfboards, it wasn’t. But it still felt like shit. We were tricked. They took advantage of us. And it was so obvious.
This applies to ANYTHING. Startups, friendships, work, relationships. Set correct expectations: for employees, shareholders, customers, providers, friends, partners, family, teachers, students, etc. And then meet the expectations. If not, you risk making people feel tricked, and that’s the worst feeling ever.
And as a final note, please don’t share your hard-earned dollars with Dollar Car Rental. Dollar for dollar, they’re not the best option. And even worse, they’ll make you feel like shit when you’re on vacation.