One-Dollar FreezeI was pretty nervous at first because this trip to Knoxville was for work and I had to book the car by myself. I booked through QEEQ and I chose the One-Dollar Freeze service. It said I only needed to pay 1 dollar first to hold the car. When I saw that, I just stared at my phone. In my head I was thinking, is this real, what if something goes wrong on a business trip.
That night I wrote down all my business trip costs. Flight, hotel, food and meeting stuff were all on my notebook. My credit card limit was already kind of tight. I was worried that if I paid the full rental fee at once, my card would look really bad. Later I opened my booking page again. It said the rest of the money would be charged before pick up and there was no interest. I said to myself, okay, I just lock the car first, at least I do not have to pay so much right now.
I set my pick up time on May 14 at twelve at noon at the Avis counter in Knoxville. The car group was like a Mazda Cx-50 SUV with automatic gear and five seats. When I arrived, the counter staff asked me if I already had a booking. I showed him my confirmation. I was still a bit nervous inside and I checked my phone. It really only charged 1 dollar before.
While he was doing the paperwork, he told me the rest of the rental fee had already gone through. I checked my credit card again. The full charge was made not long before I reached Knoxville, not a long time before the trip. I felt a big relief. I thought, good thing I used this payment way, or I would be counting every cent on my card these days.
During the next few days when I drove around the city for meetings, sometimes I sat in the car and remembered that night when I made the booking. If I had to pay the full amount at once, maybe I would think for a long time and delay my plan. For someone like me who travels for business a lot, it is really helpful when the booking does not hit the card too hard at the start. My credit card did not suddenly drop by a big amount, so I felt calmer with all my other spending. When I returned the car around noon on May 18 in Knoxville, one thought came to my mind. This 1 dollar way to lock the booking is actually very useful for business travelers.
Dedicated customer serviceI have to say my feeling first. This booking made my stress go up, then the support from QEEQ pulled it back down一点. I flew from Canada to Houston for a business trip. Around late April in the afternoon I picked up a Toyota Sienna from Thrifty. It was an automatic one and a big van. I thought it was good for meetings and carrying people. At the counter I was in a hurry to go see my client. The staff kept talking about some terms in English. In my head I was thinking oh no maybe they will add a lot of things on my contract.
The real shock came after I went back home and saw the final charge. I found more than 800 dollars on my card. I was really confused. There were items like extra driver, CDW, LIS and RSN. I stared at it and my head hurt. I chose my plan online already so I did not understand why there were so many new fees. My first thought was maybe I signed something at the counter without thinking. My stress went up right away. When I did the math it was like I bought another flight ticket for this trip.
I quickly contacted their support and told them everything I knew. I checked each fee item while talking. At that time I was really annoyed. I still had to handle my work emails in the daytime and in my mind I kept thinking about this big bill. I was also worried about how to explain it for company reimbursement. One thing that surprised me was that the person who answered me stayed the same each time. She understood my problem very fast. I did not need to repeat the whole story again and again. While I was talking I thought to myself it is good that someone follows my case or I would be totally lost.
Later I noticed that no matter when I sent a message she could pick up from where we stopped before. She clearly remembered which items I was overcharged for and asked me to confirm some details. I could feel that one person was watching this problem for me and it did not switch to a new person every time. I did not need to start over with my explanation. Even though Thrifty did not refund those extra insurances in the end and my appeal failed I still felt that someone was standing with me and trying to help. My mood did not break down completely.
I travel for business a lot so my time and energy are very important. Being overcharged is really annoying. But during this messy fee problem their customer support kept following up and the communication was smooth. At least I knew what happened where there was still a chance and where there was no way to change it. The result was not what I hoped for but I could accept it because I did not feel I was fighting the rental company alone. I felt that someone on their side was on my team and dealing with it together with me.
Dedicated customer serviceAt first I was really mad about the bill. I booked the car on QEEQ and picked up a Toyota Sienna in Houston. The car was big and nice so I felt pretty good. Then after I returned the car and saw the final charge it was way higher than what I had in my mind. I was confused and felt like I got charged too much.
I was already back at my place and I kept thinking that I got tricked. I contacted their customer service and I started by complaining a lot. I asked why there were so many extra items on the bill. I remembered the rental counter was very noisy when I picked up the car. There were many people in line and the staff talked very fast. I just wanted to get the car and leave. Now on the bill I saw extra driver fee some insurance and road assistance fee. The more I looked at it the more upset I felt.
The thing that surprised me was that the support team really stayed with me on this. I kept getting emails from them and new explanations. I felt that someone was really watching this case for me. They helped me contact the rental company to check and asked for the contract I signed. They also explained which fees were added by the rental counter and how the cost was counted since I did not buy extra insurance at first. To be honest I could not understand all these details by myself. Without their step by step explanation I would probably just give up.
There were a few times when I felt pretty hopeless because the rental company said that since I signed the paper it meant I accepted it. I thought if no one helped me I would have no chance against an English contract and all those short terms. The support team did not just leave it. They tried to ask again if some parts could be adjusted and if some items could be explained more clearly.
At the end the result was not exactly what I wanted but at least I understood where every fee came from. I knew which parts I agreed to at the counter without noticing and which parts I had to pay anyway. During the whole thing I did not feel like I was alone with a cold bill. I always felt there was someone helping me check and explain. For a student like me with only normal English this kind of care is actually very important.
Dedicated customer serviceI will start from the bad part first. The upgrade fee did not come back in the end, but I was traveling alone and I did not break down, mainly because someone from customer service kept in touch with me and I felt someone was looking out for me. I booked the car through QEEQ and planned to pick it up on the evening of February 10th in New York. It was supposed to be a Ford Explorer for my own trip in the next days. When I went to the Budget counter that night with my luggage, I waited there for around half an hour. I was already a bit annoyed. Then the staff came and told me they did not have the car I booked. He asked me to choose. I could change to a minivan or pay 30 dollars more per day to upgrade to a bigger SUV. He also said the car I booked might need a long time to be ready, maybe two hours or more. I felt really stuck. I was alone on this trip and my schedule was fixed. I just wanted to leave the airport soon, so I agreed to upgrade. Inside I was not happy at all. It felt like I was pushed to pay this extra money. The next day when I calmed down, I did the math. The upgrade fee was around 181 dollars. I sent an email and asked them to return this money. Later someone from customer service contacted me and checked the whole story with me. They asked me for some details. At that moment I did not feel like I was fighting the rental counter all by myself anymore. At least there was someone trying to speak for me. They told me they would talk to the rental company and they would need some proof from my side. Sadly I had not kept all the papers and I could not find some of the documents. During that time they updated me a few times and said they were still talking with the rental side. I was a bit impatient, but I could feel that someone was following my case and not just leaving me there. In the end the rental company did not agree to refund the upgrade fee, so I was disappointed. Still, when I think about it now, if there was no one helping me talk with the rental staff, I would probably give up much earlier. This Dedicated customer service made me feel less nervous when I was alone in another place trying to solve this problem.
Price Drop ProtectorI will say the result first. I ended up saving money on my booking without doing anything myself. I booked my car on QEEQ with my phone. I planned to pick up a Mazda CX 50 from Avis at Newark early in the morning on June twenty third and drive alone for about ten days. When I made the booking I only hoped my trip would be smooth. I did not compare prices a lot and I just told myself it was fine.
Some days later I saw a new booking email in my inbox. At first I thought I made a mistake and booked again and I got a bit scared. I travel alone and I do not like money things to become too messy. I was worried I might need to cancel something. Then I read it more carefully. It said they used Price Drop Protector to make a new booking for me with the same car and the new price was lower than my first one.
I am not the type who checks prices every hour. But when I saw the difference I still felt pretty happy. It was like I suddenly had a bit more travel money. The plan was the same. Same car group same pick up and drop off at Newark. I still went to the Avis counter early on June twenty third and I returned the car early on July first. Only the final charge was lower by some dollars. I did not have to click anything or argue with anyone about price. I just quietly saved that money.
For a solo traveler like me who is also a bit lazy with numbers this kind of service that checks the price for me and rebooks when it drops then gives me the difference feels really nice. It is much easier than me refreshing websites all the time.
Price Drop ProtectorThat day I was sitting in front of my computer and the screen showed my plan to drive in the United States. I was going to drive alone from Boston to New York and I felt a bit nervous but my budget was also very important. I had only one question in my mind. How can I save some money. I booked the car on QEEQ and I chose the Price Drop Protector service on purpose. Why did I choose it. I saw that if the price went down later they would book it again for me with the lower price and give me the difference back. I felt it was like a small switch that said it would save money for me automatically.
A few days passed and I really forgot about it. The car was already booked so I started to think about my route and places in Boston and New York. I did not check the price every day and I did not compare again. My thought was simple. I already booked so just leave it. One day I opened my email and saw a new message about my order. My first reaction was not good. Did something go wrong. I was worried and thought maybe the rental company canceled it.
I opened it and found out it was not bad news. It was good news. The old order was changed to a new one with a lower price. A new question came to my mind. Where did the price difference go. I read more and understood that it was the Price Drop Protector working. They saw that the same car became cheaper. So they moved me to the cheaper price and sent the extra money back to me. When I saw the exact amount I was surprised. It was not just a few coins. It was a clear amount of money. For someone like me who travels alone and pays for everything by himself it really mattered.
I did not need to contact customer service and they did not bother me with calls. They just finished everything quietly. When I first booked I was a bit worried about hidden fees or messy bills. Later when I looked back I saw that I did nothing extra. I only chose this service when I booked and I got free savings. If I did not choose this service then what. I think I would never know the price dropped. I would just believe the first price was the best price.
Later I checked my order again. The pickup time was still in early June in the morning in Boston. The return time was still in the middle of June in the evening in New York. The trip did not change and the car group did not change. Only the price changed and it went down. Then I asked myself one more thing. What did I really pay for this. The answer was almost nothing extra. I only trusted this service when I clicked the button.
For me this felt like someone gently tapping my shoulder from behind and saying you just saved some money. When you travel alone you must watch every expense. Sometimes saving a bit means one more meal one metro ticket or one more museum. Price Drop Protector helped me save in this small way and I did not need to watch the price every day or compare again and again. It felt special. Like the system was watching the price for me and I could just focus on my trip plan. For me this booking with QEEQ was not only about getting a car. The real surprise was that they made this service work in real life and I truly paid less in the end.
