DK
Desiree Kitsmiller
Aug 4, 2026
Planned a celebratory holiday for years with my boyfriend from England to do a USA road trip. We booked the rental car 4 months in advance. Upon picking up the car, about three-quarters of the way home, the tire pressure light came on. The front tire was down to 20 PSI. We immediately called the rental location, who advised us to drive the car back—clearly unsafe. We declined, especially considering we had already spent over an hour driving, plus $20 in tolls, just to get to and from the rental location.
It was 6:00 p.m., and they stated they would dispatch a new car via tow truck. They gave us tracking for the tow truck, which showed "arrived" at 6:45 that night. We continued to wait and called National again. They said their tow company was severely delayed and that the new ETA was 10:00 p.m. at the latest. Again, we waited and waited. 10:00 p.m. came and went with no tow truck, so we called again and were informed the new ETA was now 3:00 a.m. They advised us to stay awake to ensure we would be able to greet the driver.
I spent the next 5 hours awake and, to no surprise, no rental car ever arrived. Mind you, we were set to begin our road trip at 4:00 a.m. that morning, with hotel reservations already booked. We called again at 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00 a.m. They finally stated that the tow truck would not even be arriving that day anymore, but sometime within the next 48 hours. We had already paid for a full day of the rental car, which was completely unusable, missed the first reservation of our trip, and were then told to wait another two days.
We drove the car back to the rental location ourselves, having to stop three times to put air in the tire because it was leaking so fast. By the time we arrived to exchange the vehicle, the tire pressure had dropped to just 9 PSI. Not only was it extremely dangerous, but we were completely fed up.
After multiple emails and phone calls, Manager "Carlos" called and offered us complimentary rental days as compensation. Keep in mind, there was no compensation whatsoever for the two days of hotel reservations we missed, totaling over $650.
It's now been over a month, and after chasing the complimentary rental days that were supposed to be added to my account within a matter of days, I have been completely ghosted by the manager. I have tried emailing and calling the company, but every time I call, I'm told Carlos "isn't in."