Penske Truck Rental review: extra charges rip off! 5

PENSKE ruined my life... .. .

I "lost" the key to my PENSKE, right? Okay, so I moved into a ghetto and dropped the key, someone took it - and didn't return it - to the BIG yellow truck in the lot. Whatever. Anyways, I call their "free" emergency roadside assistance. I'm told I have to pay for a key, whatever. My fault. I have to give some guy directions to the place I just moved to that day, that's not easy - don't they have GPS? I wait all day, the man with the new key arrives - pissed off as all hell at me for my crappy directions - and then the key doesn't even work! So, I've still got the truck an extra day - but there's no key, and I can't gas it up. Instead of brining a key that works, they came and towed the truck in the middle of the night - and charged my debit (checking) card $100.00 for gas and another $80.00 for the key. With a balance of -9.00 in my checking account, I had to make it in Pittsburgh when my car was still back in Columbus (because Penske charges 300.00 for tow equipment for a vehicle, I was just going to take a 29.00 Greyhound ride to go pick it up.

I'd attach a photo, but I had to pawn my digital camera for bus fare.

Ok, so check this out. I just bought a brand new 2011 chevy traverse from Penske (So Cal Penske in Cerritos CA). First the milage was quoted at 46 but when I ended up recieving the vehicle it was 171. OK, not that big of a deal but when I did receive the vehicle I noticed a door ding, and scratches all over the driver and passenger rear door. What? Then upon further inspection there were scratches on the top of the vehicle and where there was a ding on the driver door someone had tried to buff out. I had the car delieved and in doing so they made the driver wait 4 extra hours until dark before they let him take the car.When he ended up inspecting the car in the dark under a basic light he noted a scratch on the passenger side door which they (Penske) signed off on. The car was also left a mess inside and out with white all over the inside of the black leather interior. I had paid for heated seats and upon getting the car found only one seat heated. When I asked the sales person why he said the price of $600 was for one seat and not two. I called someone I know in the industry and they confirmed that was incorrect and I was being ripped off.. called back and they said I would get an immediate refund which after 4 weeks has not happened. All the damages were documented and when calling the desk manager of the dealership he said it was their fault and wanted to make me happy and they would take care of me. Just get an estimate to have the vehicle fixed. When I did that they said they wouldn't pay for the repairs but approved $100.00 credit towards a new car detail. They made it sound as if they were doing this wonderful thing for giving me the detail I was already supposed to receive at time of purchase. I was also told by the sales guy that the detail guy was fired the day my car was supposed to ship out. To date they have not fixed the damage on a new car. I would not ever do business with this place again.. They are not honest, and will tell you what they think you will want to hear and then give you the bait and switch... they also play good cop bad cop on you...
Stay away as this is a typical dealership that movies make fun of...

I rented a 12 foot truck to move some furniture from New Mexico to Washington State. Upon pick up I was given a 16 at the same price but wasn't informed of this, we just noticed on our own it was bigger. We also noticed it hadn't been washed. The attendant checked the gas gauge then encouraged me to do so stating something like 'the gas gauge looks weird but it's full.' I looked at the gauge which read more than 1/8 of a tank low. I took the agent at his word. Later he put the dozen blankets I had ordered in the back of the truck. Again, I accepted these in good faith. During loading we ran out of blankets but I figured we just had more stuff than I had thought. We get on the road and go until the tank is half full, stop for gas only to see that the gas gauge worked perfectly. I filled it up and it read full. There is no other conclusion to draw from this than that the agent in Albuquerque had lied about the malfunctioning gas gauge. After unloading the truck, my friend folded the blankets and found only 10. The same agent had shorted me on blankets I had already paid for. I felt a reasonable remedy for a dirty truck, missing blankets and missing gas was to bring the truck back 1/4 of a tank low. I was charged $100. So, I got shorted on pick up then charged extra for it. I haven't felt so completely screwed by a company in decades but Penske did a terrific job of it.

Good customer service during pickup and delivery but ABSOLUTELY NO flexibility with the rate. It felt as though the money would be coming directly out of Bob's payroll check if he did. I told him I was going to another supplier who deliver a 24' Flatbed truck for $1500 mo and unlimited mileage compared to his $2200 mo and .22 mile. Only offered a complimentary 10% discount on a 2nd truck but no reduction otherwise. Times are tight. This small business is lucky to still be around. We have done a LOT of business with them but not anymore.

BYE BYE Penske!
Suzanne

Just got screwed by Penske. Given a quote of $1839. for just the truck. Got a second quote for that amount. 15 minutes later I reserved the truck, got sent the reservation. Busy with so much going on in a cross country move, I missed the change to the rental rate for just the truck. In 15 minutes they raised it to $2216. an almost $400 increase.

Called them today and the manager told me that the "availability" of a truck determines final cost. In 15 minutes? Obviously, the original quote accounted for availability and they stated that Penske had too many trucks in Florida. That situation did NOT change in just 15 minutes. So beware, add bait and switch to Penske's criminal behavior.