Whenever you are looking to use a company unknown to you, you should do a search on using multiple search engines and see wht you find. Usually you will find places like Yelp or superpages or... like here and other site which allow unsolicited reviews. It is there, you may learn some things that if multiple people are reportig it you may want to take notice and just avoid the company. I wish I had done this before rather than after I rented. I REALLY WISH I HAD AVOIDED DELUXE....... Through a very bad experience with carrentals.com and Deluxe Rent A Car I have learned this in an unfortunate way. If you carefully review the structure of carrentals.com you will find that they have no way for you to actually post a complaint or complement. I used carrentals and I realize they are just the "#1 Rental Booking Agency", however in retrospect it concerns me as it does not properly represent the stories of the consumers. Those reviews are simply additional paid advertisements from a profit sharing company. With that said.... Back to the question about Deluxe... I definatly discourage anyone from using this company... and if you do anywy, go into their doors educated on who they really are. Deluxe Rent A Car practices "False Advertisement & Deceptive Trade Practices" and for at least 18 months most likely defrauded each and every customer that walked through their doors. They did this by charging an illegal 13-27% ACRF fee on their rentals. Here is the problem... The only companies allowed to do so are these... Los Angeles World Airport - 10 Approved Car Rental Companies DELUXE IS NOT ONE OF THEM... The collection of this money is both deceptive and illegal. They rented to Ashley, from Texas, a car that was expired for 1yr and had fraudulent paperwork on the car from another vehicle. This car was impounded by the CHP. They issued her a ticket and when she returned the replacement vehicle they promised to take care of the ticket. Ashley trusted them and they lied. She recived a $808 fta and threats to her liscense, and credit. DELUXE NEVER TOOK CARE OF IT. :) 6/2007 - Deluxe rented me a dirty car, with a leaky tire and expired tags. When I contacted them regarding this they ignored me. when I returned the vehicle I refused to pay for it and wrote so on the document. When I disputed the charges they forged my signature. When I filed a LAPD complaint the said it must be an ex-employee they fired. :D When the cops requested a copy of the original document for forensic analysis they faxed it. When they demanded the original.... they lost it. I exposed the ACRF Fraud 8/08 they stopped charging it 2 weeks later. One week after that they renamed it to "Airport fee" and raised it to 17.6%. Later during a advertised 15% off campaign they left the name blank and charged 27% 11/27/08 a letter was sent to their attorney that we intended to sue and ask for an injunction prohibiting their behavior. On 12/11/2008 Deluxe finally stopped this behavior. To put this in perspective deluxe claims to have 450 cars. This means the potential of 450 individual acts of fraud every day, for at least 18 months. That could represent upto 243,000 acts of fraud... All of this and more is documented at : www.deluxerentacar.info - The Truth about Deluxe Rent a Car Dani rented 8 times in 2008 but discovered who they were when she had a problem. Then she found out about the ACRF fee after visiting my site and audited her recipts. This random charge schedule is indicative of their shady nature. The only fraudless invoice in 2008 was 12/11/2008 days after our notice of intent. Dani's Rental History - Eight Times in 2008 There are many complaints listed at the BBB. L. A. Better Business Bureau - Deluxe Complaints The thing is Deluxe defrauds cosumers and when caught they attempt to hide it and then try to rename it. Only under threat of injunction to they finally stop it. following this they release the following ad. This advertisement claims that through some special agreement with the LAWA they no longer have to charge ACRF fees and they are passing the benifits to you... THIS IS A LIE... THEY NEVER WERE CHARGED IT AND NEVER HAD AN AGREEMENT. Deluxe's - False Advertisement About "Special" ACRF Agreement :o Special Agreement - TWO :) There Is NO AGREEMENT "Special" or Otherwise :) The Video - Deluxe Rent A Car - The Truth - ACRF Fraud If you choose to use Deluxe it's your choice but you have been educated as to who they are. They may be cheaper or at least advertise to be so, but they have been the most expensive car rental in life for Ashley and for me. The pattern of their behavior and the fabric of their character is apparent. Happy Renting
