FlightCar

DO NOT USE! We changed our rental time to a later hour. We found out our reserved car was given away because we were late and they NEVER noted our later hour. We had to rent another car that was worse than the one reserved, but was told that our new rental would start at the new time. We returned it hours before it was due, only to find out that we were charged a LATE fee because they still had our OLD hours noted. Called customer service and the supervisor refused to refund the late fee, even as a matter of good faith. He said he couldn't. How does a supervisor not have the power to refund a charge when he created this whole system? WATCH OUT!!!!!

Have used Flightcar several times with mixed results in LA and San Fran. Last trip to LA used Flightcar but my wallet was stolen at LAX. Had just returned my car in LA and was going to use Flightcar when I reached San Fran. They cancelled my San Fran rental because I no longer has a drivers license. (Flightcar had a copy on file but refused to honor it despite my police report identifying me and the robbery.) I had to use uber and bus system the rest of my trip at great extra cost. Spoke to their customer service rep who promised to look into it and assist me. Never heard back despite my follow up. Stay away from these guys.

Messed up company with horrible experiences as both a car provider and a renter. As a renter, was told that I was late returning the car I had and was gong to be charged something like 300 per day for not returning on time. I had the car only one day into my week rental and told them that they were messed up. Eventually got the charges against my card reversed, but a big stress. Leaving my car when I was overseas on the monthly program was just as bad. I was to be gone 7 months and after two and a half months in to the time my car was with flightcar, they sent me an email that stated that they were unilaterally cancelling the monthly program and that I needed to come and get my car back from them. I told then that was impossible as I was overseas and couldn't get the car. Very poor customer service/relationship skills. Eventually had them leave the car with a friend, but they continually missed their dates to drop off the car, wasting my friend's time and the car was returned dirty. Don't know if they ever did the oil change like they were suppose to when they had the car. WORSE COMPANY EVER!!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VgIx8VTJ3zOJlniuhn0cARf16vIZFJJaNOulsIe0cQ4/pub

One star because of follows:

1. Reimbursement promised but not delivered, and kept saying there is nothing they can do, they just don't care breaking their promises to customers

2. Transferred customers to a worse service due to their own operational failure and considered it a right thing to do, laughable

3. Stopped communication completely after being asked with challenging questions, how professional

4. My experience seemed to be that they give you a chance to provide feedback only when they think you are happy, otherwise, no chance to review. So don't trust the high ratings on their own website. That's cheating.

Use Flightcar for cheap price but try to record everything, because they may not keep their promise and they said there is nothing they can do afterwards. I hope this new business model can work out but the service quality is just not there. Very disappointing.

My experiences are below:

I was writing today to request a reimbursement of Supplemental Liability Insurance I paid additionally to Payless Car Rental, to which Flightcar transferred me to due to nonavailability of Flightcar on 11/12/2015.

I know what your policy is and I understand you don't refund any insurance purchased. But I think I still deserve the refund for the following 2 reasons:

1. I reserved a service with Flightcar and Supplemental Liability Insurance is included for free. If Flightcar failed in operation and had to switch the customer to a 3rd party, the service should be equivalent to what the customer reserved from Flightcar. If you were saying Flightcar thinks it is correct to switch customers to a worse service (without supp liab insurance) and refuses to reimburse the supplemental liability insurance, that just sounded so wrong. I find it hard to believe if you truly disagree.

2. Before I picked up the car from Payless, I called Flightcar and asked specifically I would purchase Payless Supplemental Liability Insurance and whether it will be reimbursed. The representative told me YES, which is the reason I made the purchase. I know Flightcar recorded the phone conversations, please check the recording on 11/12/2015. I paid because I was promised a refund, but now Flightcar refused to refund me. That's just not right.

Do not ever rent from this company! Worst company ever! I booked my reservations over 3 months in advance, after waiting and researching the best prices for rental cars for months. We even called to confirm before leaving for our trip and we were told everything was good to go. Well we left Juneau, Alaska at 6:30 am and arrived in Newark, NJ (after 2 flights, one which was over 5 hours and a layover) at 1am in the morning. We received the automated message that our car was ready for pick up while we were on the last plane (received it as soon as we turned our phone on). When we called to be picked up, using the number provided in the text, we were told that they didn't have a car available for us, that the person before us has extended their trip and that they had made alternative reservations for us at Alamo. So me, my husband and 5 year old drug all our luggage across the horrible Newark airport to Alamo. What Flightcar failed to mention was that the Alamo ($1200) rental would be 3 times what we were guaranteed from Flight Car ($424). When we called flightcar they told us they would reimburse us, but travelling so close to Christmas we did not have those kind of funds lying around on our cards to cover the Alamo rental. I have now been reading reviews and have seen that they only authorize $200 reimbursement anyways. So me, my husband and 5 year old son were stranded in Newark at 1am in the morning, 5 hours from my in-laws, which was our destination. My son was terrified and just wanted to "go home", when we had no where to go. We spent over an hour on the phone with them (being put on hold for sometimes 20 minutes) while they did nothing to remedy our situation. They kept apologizing and saying that there was no other rental cars facilities offering less than Alamo, well duh! That's why I booked my reservations 3 months in advance. Come to find out they aren't even a US Company, with their call center being in Manila. Luckily we had a hotel room reserved in the city that had a free shuttle. We were promised a 6am call from the local corporate headquarters to try to sort our situation out. Well that call didn't come until after 12. Our hotel check out was 11am, so it was a good thing I was able to find an alternative company, (which was not an airport rental, which made for 2 taxis and countless hours wasted in transporting and stress). Even when corporate called they didn't offer any sort of remedy other than 50% off a future reservation through FlightCar. I left a review on their facebook page, which they then asked me to message them, then email, and deleted my review so no one could see how I was mistreated. I explained once again my situation, that they ended up costing me over $100 in taxi fees not including the increase I paid for the rental car I had to reserve with another company, or the stress my family inccurred. I asked them what they were going to do to remedy what I went through, they told me I had a note on my account for 10% off my future rental. I told them that I was actually promised a 50% off my next rental, which was clearly a ruse to get me off their back, with no actual intention of supplying. I informed the agent that I would actually never rent from them again, and didn't see how offering me a discount on my future rental to try to bring me back as a customer was offering me anything for what happened. I was then informed that they could either send me a check for my taxi fees, or the discount on my future rental. You can guess what offer I took, we will see how long it takes for me to receive the check. I will never EVER rent from this company again, and will try my hardest to make sure everyone knows about my recent experience. After reading other reviews on facebook and other sites, it seem this is a pattern. That many people have been stranded just like me, that offices have lied about hours and people have missed flights. PLEASE PAY THE EXTRA AND GO THROUGH A DIFFERENT COMPANY. No amount of money or apologizes can make up for my son bawling and being terrified in the middle of the night in a unknown city with nothing to offer him, or the countless hours wasted trying to figure out what to do. @FlightCar

Here it is Christmas time in San Diego with high rental prices. I'm smart because I have booked a rental with FlightCar months in advance…wrong! I arrive at the airport and am informed that I am to pick up my rental at Payless. I am confused. I find out after 3 calls that FlightCar has no car for me and has arranged with another company a rental, which I am expected to pay for. I called FlightCar once again to speak with a supervisor who informs me that his company will not honor the language of the contract to "provide me with a similar or upgraded vehicle to be provided by the supplier." The supervisor refused to pay the difference in the Payless reservation they have made. I found out all of this after landing. It took 2+ hours of messing around and I still had no car!! NEVER RENT FROM FLIGHTIER! My booking company is dropping them.

First of all, not at Philly airport! Drive done other company's van to a locked gate. No one there?? Finally get a lazy woman to open. I had no idea I was renting people's personal cars! Mine broke down. Frightening ride on 95. Stuck at hotel until they brought another car. When no arrived back with car, with car in pristine condition, tried to put something under my nose to sign indicating if anything found, IN NEXT SIX MONTHS, it was my responsibility!! I refused to sign such nonsense and upon return home, left entire story with CC company in case these crooks (or owner ofvehicle) tried to pull something. Don't bid with Autorentals.com OR ever, ever book with Flightcar!!! Terrible Company. Surprised they are able to operate.

While each person at customer service has been polite, I am afraid I have to leave a negative review.

WORST WORST WORST. My car was left for me to pick up with candy wrappers, ground chocolate in the carpet, spilled dark beverage on the seat, a half a case of water bottles, a section of the front bumper missing, not washed on the outside or inside vacuumed. I have made several attempts to resolve this since 11-4-15…..as of today, 12-11-15 not heard back from claims.

Negative stars! These guys SUCK. Do not do business with them. They cancelled my rental I booked long in advance WITHOUT TELLING ME until after I showed up in Boston after an exhausting cross-country flight with my 3 year old. Horrible customer service to boot.

This "company" operates out of a hotel lobby, and uses a hotel shuttle to get you to and from the airport. The shuttle runs only every 30 minutes, but they won't tell you that when you book your reservation. They also won't tell you, that they don't have an employee at the desk all the time.

Our flight was to leave at 6am, which is quite early, so we have called and exchanged some emails with FlightCar to make sure they would be able to accommodate us, and have been repeatedly assured, it would not be a problem. They advised that we come over about 2.5 hours before the flight, so that they have enough time to get us to the airport. Kinda a bummer, having to wake up 30 minutes earlier than we would have to if we dealt with a normal company, but ok, I guess, it's free after all …

So, we should up at the hotel at 3:30, as FlightCar staff told us to … and find no one at the desk. There is a little piece of paper, saying to call a phone number if nobody is at the desk. I call, and get a voice mail. I ask at the hotel front desk, and they tell me, that FlightCar opens at 4. And don't believe them: how can it be, if I have an email from them telling me to come at 3:30? I call again, still no answer.

A girl named Lovely De Los Santos shows up at about 4:05, five minutes after the shuttle left, and informs us that the next shuttle is … in 25 minutes. This does not work, because our flight is at 6, it's an international flight, and checking will close by the time we get to the airport. We have already spent more than half an hour waiting for her at the desk, what can FlightCar do to fix this? She informs us that FlightCar cannot do anything. Apparently, it is not her fault, that we were told she'd be here at 3:30, she does not know who told us that (the guy's name was Billy), and thinks he just does not know what he was talking about. She can't drop us off at the airport because she is not allowed to leave the desk. Apparently, five minutes ago it was fine for the desk to be empty, but not anymore. Maybe we can get an Uber (an pay for it ourselves)? We can't, because it is 4 in the morning, and there are 6 of us, and 8 bags.

I insist to speak to a supervisor, but she refuses to give me his phone number. After some argument, she calls someone she claims to be a supervisor, speaks to that person for a while, refusing to give me the phone, and then hangs up, and says that supervisor said there was nothing they could do. I ask for the supervisor's name, and she refuses to give it to me.

I ask for her name, and she says it's Lovely, and refuses to give me her last name, because "it's personal information" (how I know that here last name is De Los Santos will become clear below).

So, we leave in a hurry, and park at Thrifty, pay close to $200 for it, and barely make the flight.
I send an email to Billy (the guy I spoke to about reservation, and who confirmed several times it would not be a problem), and explain a situation to him. He responds, and says FlightCar would reimburse our parking expense (as it should … though nothing about compensating our troubles having to waste an hour of time, and almost miss the plane). I send him the receipt … no reply so far. I have informed him, that this is to be considered their official "demand notice", and, unless I get a response within 30 days, I am going to sue them for triple the amount. And I will.

Now, back to Lovely (De Los Santos). When we get off the plane in Jamaica, there is an email from her (the last name is in the "fom" line), saying that she thinks that she left her (FlightCar's) iPad in our car. Imagine that. Not only she lost a customer today, but also an iPad. Some professional staff they employ here. Luckily, there is no iPad in the car (I have no idea where she lost it, but having seen and spoken to her, it could be literally anywhere). "Luckily", because, if I did have it, I would have been faced with a moral dilemma now: return it immediately, since it's someone else's property, or hold on to it until I get a refund for my parking expense.

This is my second time trying to deal with this company, and the overall impression is kinda as if I was trying to leave my car with a 16-year-old kid at my neighbor's, not an actual reputable business, employing competent professionals.

Really, if you can afford a couple hundred bucks (much less with a coupon and advanced reservation) for a week of parking, do that, and go with a real actual business, like Thrifty or PreFlight Parking (both are really good and professional), not with this bunch of amateurs trying to make a buck on your car, it's simply not worth the trouble.

And, if you are still not convinced this is a bad idea, look at it this way. Would you leave the keys to your car with a stranger? Well, this is worth: a stranger, you know nothing about, may actually turn out to be ok … Get it?

I rented a car 7 months ago for a couple of weeks. Still waiting for my security deposit refund. So far, 6 months worth of emails and international calls (I live in the UK). I can't believe such an incompetent business can even stay in business! I regularly talk to a flight car kid (none of them seem fully grown up yet) a couple of times a week on this matter. They keep stringing me on… I wish I could speak to someone who actually knows what they are doing and finally get my deposit back…. Is there anyone that matters that I can speak to?

I rented a car from this company at San Francisco airport. I waited for 50 min for the driver to show up after I called them for pick up. By the time I get there at 10 pm, I got a 10 year old car, instead of what I reserved. The facility in South San Francisco is like a junk garage. it is dark and unsafe at the night. The car is smelly and so old the front bumper failed off. FlightCar insisted to get it toll back instead to have it checked by a garage close by. One month later, they charged me $2700 for "subscription fee" to my credit card, without any communication. When called, they said the associate didn't know what's going on and said they will call me back in 24 hours. I never received the call back until today (five months later). The company is not an official rental company, so my credit card company will not accept the claim.

On arrival to destination our reservation was sold to another rental company, that charged us twice as much. We called the phone on the reservation and were told that we will get the refund of the cost difference and even received e-mail about it.
We are still waiting for the refund and by now believe it is unlikely…
Do not deal with this company! They are cheaper for a reason, they will get your deposit and will not provide the car.

Seems to me, it is a standard practice with Flightcar to cancel the reservation at the last minute, offer a rental with a different company and promising to reimburse the difference.
Of course you never see the money, just get excuses from their representatives.

Looks like the business model is to get commission from other rental companies by referring customers.

Wondering if small claim court or BBB would be an option to get them deliver their promises. What kind of recourse shall I take?

This is one of my worst experience in life and I think that they are highly unethical and cheat people. I gave my car on monthly rental program as I was going out of country for 3 months. After 15 days, I received an e-mail that my car is damaged and gave me options to fix my car myself or through them. Next day, I received an e-mail that they have changed their rental policy and now they will pay on per mile basis. I sent an e-mail to their mentioned representative asking about sudden policy change for cars already rented out as per old policy but he/ she only bothered to respond after two reminders and below is their reply "If you are asking about the policy change, it is something that the company executives issued, felt necessary for the success of the company and were within their rights to do so."

If I don't like/ agree to their new policy, do they expect me to come back from international trip to take my car back? How can they intermediately change their policy for cars which were given to them on old policy for certain period? Also as my car is already damaged by them, it means that they won't pay me anything for the time for which my car will be fixed at the workshop as per their new policy.

I have already spent more than what they plan to pay me now by renting out a car for taking my flight from Austin to Houston Airport. The current rate of $0.1 per mile (only as and when driven) even doesn't cover the running wear and tear of the car.

Their customer service is pathetic and they are just acting as dictators as they already have my vehicle and I am on international trip. It seems that I made worst mistake of my life by renting out my car to them.

I would recommend to stay away from flightcar as tomorrow again they may intermediately change the policy after you rent your car to them saying that they won't pay anything upto certain miles per day.

Tried FlightCar because it sounded like a neat idea. I wish I had read the reviews first. Plane landed. Called Flightcar. Said my reservation was cancelled as I was getting off the plane. Said they sent a conformation e-mail. No e-mail. Had to scramble to get a taxi because I didn't have time to rent a car.

I had to cancel a reservation due to a sudden sickness. I cancelled 36 hours in advance. I was charged a 75 YSD cancellation fee. I tried to explain to the customer support but they didn't or couldn't do much. I submitted a dr. report and received an email indicating a refund will be issued. The refund was never issued. When I inquired, the reply came back saying my request was rejected.

This is the worst company in business and their mode of operations is pretty shady. they charge you money first and then are very bad about refunds.

God bless their employees and customer service people.

As an owner, I listed my car with FlightCar on the monthly plan and was told I'd get a flat $325 per month. Two weeks in I got a notice that they no point beer do the monthly rentals. Along with that, they apparently no longer take care of normal maintenance of the vehicles while in their care.

I decided to take my car back. When I called them they said they couldn't rent my car out anyway because a warning light on the dash was on. No description or explanation of what light that was. And they never contacted me about it.

When I got my car I found out the light was a low tire pressure warning. It seems like this is something they should be able to handle. I drove the car home that afternoon. The next day I put air in the tires and noticed that the tires were really torn up. It looked like someone had been burning out, spinning the tires, and cornering hard to cause that much damage. The tread was uneavenly worn to almost bald in places and there were tears in the tread that made me unsure if the car was safe to drive.

Ultimately I ended up having to replace the front two tires. After a lot of back and forth on the phone and via email with FlightCar claims (who initially said it sounded like curb rash and they wouldn't cover anything) I got them to agree to pay for only half of the damage.

Later, I took a different car in after confirming the listing online, but when I got there, they told me they would no longer be able to drive me where I needed to go – not even to the airport. The only two places they would take me were the light rail station or to a different shuttle service. Both of which I would then have to pay for to get where I needed to go. I reluctantly agreed to that since I was already there, but then (after several minutes of waiting for them to inspect my car), they came back and said they couldn't accept my car because there was an "EPC" light on and the car said it needed an oil change soon. So the EPC light always comes on if you don't fully start the car. It is a push button start so likely the person got in and tapped the button which turns on lights etc and runs off the battery. This happens in any vehicle if you turn the key part way without starting. They apparently didn't get that. Then the oil change light is based on who knows what, but it was not the time or the number of miles that the last oil change sticker indicated.

But instead of working through this with me they just turned me away completely. So I drove my car back home having given FlightCar its final second chance. I'll never be back, and I don't recommend anyone else use this service either.

My husband has tow company that helps people who lock themselves out of their cars. Recently he went to help someone that lost their key and needed to be let into the car. When he arrived, the customer was bragging that he worked for Flight Car. The customer stated that was driving one of the cars on loan and that he lost the key last night while he was at a bar. Drinking and driving while using a customer's car?! When my husband asked who's car it was the client said "it's a customer's. What they don't know won't hurt them. We just take whatever nicest car we have. It was supposed to be back by 10 am but I'll just say it was being washed or something." This is unacceptable for so many reasons,
In addition to this, I know for a fact that the Flight Car employees drive cars without the owners knowledge because it happened to me. I left my brand new car with this company, noticed the mileage did not add up, and asked that they do not let employees drive my car. It then happened a second time. I had to ask TWICE that my car not be driven. I was not told or given any information about the fact that the employees are allowed to drive the vehicles left with them. I wrote a review about my personal experience but wanted to further validate it with this story.

This last incident confirms my personal experience and that Flight Car is so unprofessional, I don't have words. DO NOT leave you car with them unless you are okay with your car being driven to a bar, losing the key and lying about it.

They make you take a dark shuttle bus for 45 minutes. Then they made us wait another 25 minutes for a big black suburban then they take you to their place. On their website it says get a fiat 500 or similar but we got a 2010 Toyota Corolla here is my suggestion DONT GO TO THIS PLACE!

On 9/16/15 I booked with an online company who works with Fligthcar. That company confirmed with Flightcar, took my deposit, and sent me email confirmation of the rental car I was supposed to have. When I arrived on 10/10/15 and followed the directions I had been given in order to pick up my car, I was notified by Flightcar that they cancelled my reservation, and that they rescheduled it with another company. I was not once notified of this change in the month prior to my trip no call no email. I had to find out the day I arrived and when pricing of rental cars was way up. My reservation was for no more than $40 and I ended up having to pay $160 for a car elsewhere. Not to mention the 3.5hrs I had to hangout at the airport trying to get a rental car figured out last minute on my day and a half vacation.

Then when I call and ask to speak with a manager to complain no one was ever in. The excuses I received from their employees were ridiculous, and one even told me they rescheduled at a new location out of courtesy for me(ANNA). NOT! Courtesy for me would have been contating me and letting me know of the changes well in advance to give me the opportunity to check elsewhere. Then the next excuse I was given was that they didn't have any of my contact information. The funny thing is that when you are working with another company (Economybookings.com) they have all of that informtion for you.

Regardless of whatever excuse they gave me there was no excuse to cancel my reservation without my knowing. Please do not waste your time booking a thing through this company here. It will be a complete waste of your time, and when you arrive for your stress free vacation be prepared to not have your car there and stress out.

My review is for lending your car to Flightcar. Their customer service is frustrating and totally disorganized. I had to email 4 times to get the fines on my car taken care of. I had to email more than 4 times about the damage done to my car and 2 months later it has still not been solved. It is not worth it, it was a really frustrating experience. I do not recommend you lend them your car and I cannot imagine renting from them will be any better or easier.

Here's a problem with the sharing economy that doesn't involve lobbying groups and law suits over labor and fee dodging: Flightcar is pissing off it's customers who were big proponents. My Acura TL was totaled while it was being rented to Flightcar on 9/2, I returned from my trip on 9/9 to pick up my car and was given no notice. That's 1 week since the week. In fact, they even tried to lie about what happened to my car saying they accidentally extended the rental. After pressing them for info, they admitted it was in a tow yard but insisted they had no other information. I found out after receiving a letter from the police department that it was involved in a hit and run. Since then, I've gotten the run around, getting pushed to different people, and received not a single cent of reimbursement for my car nor rental car I've needed since my car was totaled. It's now over 6 weeks and counting. People I've dealt with suddenly gets fired, and I can't get anyone to call me back. This is the type of company Flightcar is if anything goes wrong. Completely not worth the risk! Maybe this startup should focus on taking care not to turn their advocates into their critics, and maybe the investors should pay some attention to how the company is being run.

I signed up for the month to month program and decided it was not a good idea after seeing a few reviews! I finally elected to do it and registered for my car to be on the monthly program till I returned in December (2013 VW Passat).

The drop off was a nightmare and come to find out they don't drop you at your terminal they take you to the rental car terminal at DFW (Dallas Fort Worth).

The paperwork said I could pick my car up when I needed so I made arrangements (It took 14 phone calls to finally get my car) at one point they said they did have my car keys, Then they said a manager took my car to get an oil change (NO OIL CHANGE WAS DONE AND I WAS NOT REIMBURSED FOR THE TIME THEY DROVE MY CAR). They put me in a (Like vehicle for the night) if you can call a compact small car comparable to my large VW Passat!

Then the kicker like an idiot I dropped my car back off and left town!

I receive and E-MAIL WITHOUT ANY NOTICE! That they are no longer doing the monthly guaranteed $325 a month program and I have 7 days to pick my car UP!

I AGREED TO LEAVE IT WITH THEM TILL DECEMBER SO NOW I HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO GET MY CAR PICKED UP OR THEY RENT MY CAR OUT WITH A REIMBURSEMENT TO ME OF .10 Cents per mile or $7.50 a day for the first 75 miles?

WHY THE HECK WOULD I DO THAT???

AVOID THESE PEOPLE!