Advantage Rent a Car Misleading, Dishonest, Lied to us, Questionable Business Practices, Emplyees saying anything to get the sale.  Internet

We got a great rate from Advantage Rent a Car online for a trip we were taking to Houston. 

We paid in advance for the car so we wouldn't have any expenses for it during the trip.  When we arrived at the location we waited in line over an hour to get the car.  The representative tried to up-sell us on everything. 

The full tank fuel price was much less than what they said the fuel price was out in town, however we found that their out in town price was inflated by about 20¢ per gallon.  Also their low price fuel is for a full tank.  So, if you bring the car back with anything over an empty tank you are losing money. 

They told us that because we were not purchasing the insurance any damages would be put immediately on to our credit card and we would have to take it up with our insurance company.  They they said they needed a $200 deposit which was NOT disclosed when we made the reservation, however we did see it later in the fine print. 

We gave them a different card for the deposit as the one we made the reservation on as we didn't have that one with us.  Upon returning the car we were told we would get the entire deposit back because there was no damage and it would take 48 hours. 

After 5 business days we called and were told that the return of the deposit had been processed and it would be in any day.  We waited another 4 business days still without seeing the credit.  We called them back again, and were told that it was sent back to the card we left the deposit with.  While on hold for the supervisor (who never materialized) we discovered that they had sent the deposit to the card we made the reservation with, not the card we gave them to use for the deposit!  So, they took $200 from one card and put it onto a different card which does not seem legal. 

We strongly suggest that you stay away from Advance as we will from now on.