Allied Rent A Car

Terrible service they only have 1 shuttle van so if you miss the one your gonna be waiting for 45 minutes. Terrible company spend the extra money and just go to a bigger company

I booked a car from Allied on Priceline (note it’s called Budget on their site) for a really great price of $ 12 a day. I got what I paid for. There is no direct shuttle from LAX –you have to take one of the airport’s shuttle to a parking lot where a guy in a van comes to meet you. Overall, all of my interactions with their staff were pleasant. The driver & the woman working at the counter were nice enough. The car itself was in pretty bad shape. Both of the bumpers were heavily scratched & dented and the cloth interior looked as though it had never been cleaned. The car was in great working order though, and got us from point A to point B with no issues. I don’t think I would rent from Allied again, but it’s a good choice if you are desperate for a cheap car.

DO NOT RENT FROM HERE. No shuttle from airport, shabby premises, slow slow slow. The savings does not offset the giant time drain and hassle.

I hate to even give this company a single star! It is unbelievable that companies like this are still in business! After this review I am filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. If I can help just one person not experience what I experience it’s worth the time to write this review. Just like every single review I read, I booked a car through Expedia and ended up waiting for my car rental. 40 minutes of waiting at LAX and then 20 minutes of driving on the bus in the parking lot I was finally delivered to a van in a dark parking lot that took me to car rental office. It is the dilapidated disgustingly dirty facility I had booked an economy car and was told the only car they had on the lot was a Dodge Caravan minivan. They called this an upgrade. I had my receipt from Expedia and was given some runaround story about an extra deposit. It ends up they double billed me and 30 days later had not provided a credit. When I called the facility and I told them my issue I was asked if I had my rental number which I replied I did and I was then put on hold for a very long time! They never came back on the line and this was at 8 o’clock at night when it’s not like rush-​hour, so I hung up and reported them to both of my credit cards that they charged for the fraudulent charges that they put on my card. When I turned the car in they never checked how clean it was, what shape it was in, how much gas was in the tank nothing! No contract signed off that the car was acceptable, they never even looked at the car which I left in perfect condition but after reading the reviews here on Unilocal took photos before and after renting it. So please heed this warning stay as far away from this car rental agency as possible as they are scammers and commit fraud and rip people off! I will never again use Expedia when this is the type of quality vendors they utilize.

What aCheap rental company, didn’t inform us to pay the violation fee and charged additional $ 50 Handling Fee for a $ 30 Toll evasion violation

This was the worst car rental experience I’ve EVER had and I rent from rental car companies throughout L.A. on a regular basis. This company was by far the WORST. The first issue I had seems to be a common issue, I now see in these other negative reviews tht I should have read PRIOR to renting a car from this place. I was not aware that I would have to catch a bus, to get to a shuttle, to get to the car rental place. That would have been a deal breaker had I have known that I would nit have direct shuttle service there and back to the airport. I was also told that since my return date was on a Sunday morning before they opened, I would have to walk across the street to La Quinta Inn and catch a shuttle «with blue and white fishies» on it, to get to the airport. And yes, I was told «blue and white fishies». I didn’t trust that means of transportation so I had to have my niece who is pregnant and due in 4 weeks, drive me to drop the car off and then to the airport.
I was advised of the $ 200 hold when I got there, which I was fine with but I STILL think this should be disclosed in their terms and agreements. The lady that was waiting before me was VERY unhappy with the services and there was another lady in the lobby on the phone with customer service and she was clearly irate by something that wasn’t done correctly. But anyway, I was taken to the creepy back alley that everyone has spoken about in the other reviews, and shown my rental. It was a dodge SUV and I paid for economy, which was the ONLY good thing out of this experience. The car was okay but it was a little smelly but I was in such a rush I just dismissed it (which I now regret). The car also had some unknown mechanical problems and it drove like a hoopty. I returned the vehicle after my trip and noticed a couple days later that I was not yet refunded my $ 200 hold. I called an spoke with Ellie, to find out why my hold hasn’t been released. I was informed in a VERY unprofessional manner, that I was being charged a $ 250 smoke fee. I was completely shocked and I advised Ellie that I did not smoke in that vehicle. She was very short and rude with me. She stated that her employees «don’t make this up». I told her to watch her tone with me since I am the customer and that I never said that anyone «made that up». I did not smoke in that vehicle and when I told her that she stated that I needed to speak with the person that rented it to me. At this point I was not aware that Ellie was/​is the manager (not sure who hired her or why). I told Ellie that I felt she was very rude and these additional charges are a way to collect more money. Ellie blew me off so I got off the phone with her before I gave her a piece of my mind. I later found my receipt and found the name on it of the person who checked out the vehicle to me. I called back and was told no one worked there by that name and it was a different name than what Ellie provided me. I’m still waiting on a call back from corporate since I had to go to them since their manager is so rude. I wish I had read ALL of these reviews before I rented a car with this company. Save your money and yourself a headache because this company does not care and will take your money. I even asked Ellie if she reads these reviews and she said «Yes, everyday». So it is clear and evident that this company will never change and will always provide deplorable customer service as well as try to falsely charge people additional fees. All discounts aren’t good discounts.

Everything went fairly well with the rental. I was quoted an $ 89 car rental for two days for a mid-​sized sedan.
When you leave the airport you catch a shuttle to the cell phone waiting lot where a van comes to pick you up. It was about a 10 min. wait. The location seems a little shady, and I don’t know where they keep their cars. I had to wait in a back alley for them to bring my car around. It was a brand new car, so that was nice.
I got stuck in traffic on my way back to the airport (go figure), and so I had them re-​fuel for me. They informed me that there was a re-​fueling fee of $ 15, plus the price of the gas. It was only a half tank of gas, so that didn’t seem too outrageous. I decided to eat the cost instead of risk getting to the airport late. NOTE: There is a convenient gas station right on the corner of Century when you turn there from the 405 S! Use it. :)
But, I called to check the charges on my account, because it seemed like a lot. This is where everything went awry. The first place I called asked me a bunch of questions and then said they had to transfer me to LA. I was on the phone with the next girl, who had ALL the details of my transaction, and we were on the phone for TEN MINUTES before she told me she needed to transfer me to LA. I guess the previous guy transferred me to Irvine.
I finally get to LA, and they had a difficult time finding my rental information, which was odd, as the Irvine person had it all up before she decided she couldn’t help me. Then they told me they charged me $ 37 for gas. Seems like a lot for 5 gallons of gas but I have no way to dispute that at this point.
The customer service sucks. Otherwise everything went okay. But it was enough of a turn off that I don’t want to deal with them again.

Don’t do it. Spend the extra couple dollars and go to a bigger brand. They don’t have unlimited miles, check in and check out are long and they close early. You’re welcome.

It’s incredible that places like this are still in business.
My girlfriend reserved a car on Expedia from Allied Rent A Car (it was listed under «Economy Rent a Car»). It was fairly inexpensive at $ 30 per day, so we knew we were not going to get a fantastic car. That said, what we did get was outrageous.
We landed in LAX and walked outside to wait for the van to pick us up. After about 15 – 20 minutes of waiting to find the van, we decided to look on their website. We couldn’t find any information, so we hopped in a taxi which told us that there was a $ 19 minimum for him to leave the premises, argh. They apparently do have a van, but it picks you up in the cell phone lot.
We arrived at Allied Rent A Car and found that the car rental company was in a small strip center next to pawn shops and the likes. We walked into the store and noticed that there were some big signs about needing a $ 200 cash deposit. They do take card for that deposit, but what we did notice is that these guys cater to folks who do have bad credit and no means to get a credit card. Probably run by the same guys who own payday loan companies.
Expedia had defaulted to a 10am pick up and by the time we got to Allied it was 5pm and the lady behind the counter seemed to not have a clue. We waited about 15 minutes before we chased down the manager who was talking outside to find out if we could still rent a car.
We were then told to follow this lady into the creepiest parking garage you will ever see. There are multiple car rental companies that operate out of this garage. I was almost certain that we were going to be mugged. After 20 minutes of waiting in the garage, the lady showed up with the car. A 2014 Nissan Versa (~55k miles) which had been in so many accidents that we literally marked the entire sheet up with marks where there were scratches and dents. The bumper was hanging off from a front-​end collision. The car was scary enough that I asked the lady who was helping us if it was «safe to drive.»
We hopped in the car and noticed immediately the aroma of stale cigarettes. We also noticed that there was no button to pop open the trunk (needed to use the key), the were no power locks or windows and no vanity mirrors. It did however, have a spoiler for some reason. When we left, I noticed that the car steering wheel needed to be kept at ~-15 degree angle to keep it going straight and that there was so much play in the steering wheel that it was slightly terrifying to drive on the highway.
About an hour into the trip, we called back in to find out if it would be possible to return the car early. We were put on hold for 15 minutes because the lady who answered did not no the answer and she never returned. We decided that we would just keep that car and hope that it didn’t fall apart.
Luckily enough, it made it back only to find out that the rental company did not actually open at 7am. We dropped our keys in the slot, took a bunch of photos of the mileage, key drop, etc. We walked down to the Westin and hopped in their airport shuttle.
Nightmare company. Nightmare car. Avoid at all costs.

Allied. Economy. Whatever name they use they should update their process and get it together. The most bootleg pick up ever. Catch two shuttles that take 1 hour for a location just 2 miles away. The car was a good value and customer service once I arrived was good.

If I could give negative starts I would! Horrible customer service (the night I rented the vehicle it was close to closing time and the entire office staff was sitting on a couch, basically shooting the breeze, cracking jokes and swearing in Spanglish in full few of the waiting customers. The morning I returned the car I was on a short turn around time to catch my flight so I arrived right when they opened at 7am and waited for the front desk girl to roll in around 7:10, then waited some more, flabbergasted, when she basically disappeared for ten minutes to do something else — I have no idea what), beyond basic cars (I didn’t know they still made vehicles in which every single door needed to be locked and unlocked by hand, or that had no trunk lever!) and a whole list of hidden charges that were not disclosed until I returned the car. The week rental I thought would cost just under $ 300 ended up costing closer to $ 500. When I questioned the charges on the final bill the sullen office girl said «well, those are the charges because that’s what’s on the bill.» She might have well as told me «I just work here» for all the help or explanation she offered. Then a week or so later, I find out via a snail mail letter that the corporate office charged my credit card over $ 400 hundred dollars for Fastrak «violations» which turned out to have been issued to a different vehicle a full month before I even rented with Allied. (This $ 400 was charged in 6 or 7 separate transactions, one for each day I had the car, beginning the day after I first picked it up… WTF?) When I called to correct the issue the gal who handles the tickets, Nayeli, was hostile, rude and never once apologized for the mistaken charges. Two weeks after THAT I got another ticket notice, this time for a ticket in the amount of $ 26.11 that was issued in error by LA Metro Express Lanes. When I called Metro Express Lanes to find out what the deal was they told me «Oh, that ticket has been dismissed.» The fact that the ticket was issued by mistake and dismissed soon after didn’t stop Allied from charging me the price of the ticket and a $ 50 «handling» fee. Another call to Nayeli had her telling me it was my problem to fix, not theirs. After a heated discussion, she finally agreed to handle it.
And all the stuff others have mentioned about the ridiculous «shuttle service» is right on as well – although, I myself didn’t have to wait long to be picked up from Lot C, thank goodness.
Anyway, a horrible experience from start to finish. I’ll never rent from them again and you shouldn’t either! You think you’re saving some money but you’re actually not. Might as well pay the normal price at Hertz or Enterprise and get good customer service and cars that were produced for the 21^st Century.

HOLY CRAP, I’ve never seen a place with so many one star reviews.
And how is everyone complaining about a $ 200 hold on their credit cards…
I’ve never gotten a rental from anyone without a hold on my card, that’s pretty standard.
Would you loan someone your stuff without a credit card on file or a deposit?
Ok, ok. So maybe they don’t deserve FIVE stars.
But… The staff does. And so does Elly.
I had an UBER driver pull out across 3 solid lines to cause a wreck that «salvaged» my car…
I’m in escrow on a home, so my loan officer would be pretty pissed if I went and bought a car right now. So… I looked around all the 3^rd party crap sites… Until Travelocity hooked me up with a rate of $ 13.99 per day, which is almost as good as Enterprise’s weekend deal for $ 10 for 3 days.
I came here 3 hours late from the time I said because I literally thought I was going to another location, ONE THING TO NOTE– IT’S ADVERTISED AS ALLIED, BUT ONLINE IT’S «Budget» sometimes. My taxi driver charged me like $ 10 to drive around in circles looking for it, despite giving him the address.
I waited about 30 minutes for some kids who had no credit card to go back and forth and argue and cry about their lack of credit and having to put $ 500 up front on a debit card.
C’mon kids, get on credit karma and get a $hit card and fix your credit already, it’s 2016.
Pretty sure infants can get credit cards now.
Anyway, the staff was taking a beating.
A Southern man got a mini van with a check engine light on and freaked out on the poor African American girl on staff, «IT’S ILLEGAL TO GIVE ME THIS CAR, IT’S UNETHICAL, AND THE CAR IS DIRRRRTY, I’D PREFER A CLEAN ONE THAT’S STREET LEGAL».
They accommodated this guy, but only after a nice African American security guard type/​ops help threatened to call LAPD because the guy was being rather verbally abusive, despite a bad experience.
A nice young girl helped me out and gave me car #380, which for my «Dodge Avenger or Better» was the last compact car in the entire lot. (My car the über driver totalled is a 2005 Hyundai Accent…) so I ironically was blessed with a 2014 HYUNDAI ACCENT.
It was fresh with dark spots on the seats, smelled like someone straight drank a bunch of shitty cheap beer, smoked a ton of blunts, and just partied the hell out in the thing during their entire trip to L.A.
The front end had hit a curb or something and it was wrecked, but hey– the check engine light wasn’t on, and I’m a Chase Sapphire member, so I don’t have to worry about damaging rental cars period– which is nice, but… This thing, you could have done whatever you wanted to it, and I’m sure no one would have noticed because of the shape it was in.
Honestly, I just needed something to get around in for THREE weeks, so $ 300 wasn’t bad.
(Yes, you’ll get all kinds of tourism, airport, taxes, etc).
Elly called me today to inform me the car was supposed to be back there yesterday.
I said oh man, I thought it was today– but all good. bringing it back tonight.
She told me that was fine and gave me the address, gas tank info, and was very polite on the phone.
I tried to talk the rate down a bit because of the extra day extension, I told her I was a «big deal on Unilocal and I’d let her hear it on there». You know what she said to me???
«I don’t respond to cyber bullying». And you know what?
I didn’t know what to say. I realized that this is all just silly and rental car people don’t have it all that easy, from the guy who washes the cars, to the GM who gets the escalated calls and complaints. And the front line soldiers, standing there up-​selling you insurance + highway pass access + GPS to meet their quota. They’re all doing their best and would rather be collecting welfare checks, but no, they’re here, dealing with your tired self just trying to get a nasty rental car for cheap to beat up for a week or two in la la land.
Elly is pretty nice, and reasonable.
You get a contract, that contract outlines your stuff, if you don’t like it, don’t sign it.
Negotiate whatever you need in writing, up front, because that’s that with rental cars.
The car was nasty, the wait sucked, but I didn’t have to worry about zipping around in L.A. traffic and I got to see how shitty my car would still be in it’s model if i bought it 9 years in the future, it’s the same shitty Hyundai Accent, haha.
Elly, shout out to you for holding it down in a 3^rd tier car rental store with a beat up fleet, rough location, and countless complaints. You do it well and provide precisely what I needed:
An affordable beater for a few weeks while I bought a house.
$ 100 a week is a good deal all-​in. Try to find that, but know that the normal rate is $ 35 a day.
Stay strong Allied Rental Car Staff!
Here is your 5 star review for your bullet proof patience, temperance, and keeping your cool.
You earned the heck out of it and I’ll see you again when I need a cheap extended rental.
(Or my broke ass friends are coming into town and need a car).

Didn’t communicate to us that you need to take the C bus to the cell phone lot to get the shuttle. Then we waited 30 minutes for a pick up. Never again.

Had I read these reviews first I would have avoided renting from this place, but the price of $ 55 for 3 days sold me. The multiple shuttle rides was annoying, the rental office was a dump and I felt unsafe. «Ma’am, just meet the guy in the alley and he’ll give you the car»…(and you’ll be mugged). Thank God that didn’t happen, but it was really weird! Drove around for 3 days straight, and only cost us $ 25 in gas… the Nissan Versa had great MPG but was all manual. BUT it looks like I made out compared to everyone else’s reviews. I won’t be back, ever, but it wasn’t the worse experience if you need something cheap with unlimited miles. Ride back to airport was quick, and dropped right in front of terminal.
*Economy car rental is the name I originally booked with even though it some how was with this place instead?*

HORRIBLE… sorry there is a «no star» button. This place is difficult to get to waited almost 20 minutes for second pick-​up (they don’t pick up at airport). Waited 30 minutes for car which then she said wasn’t available. I won’t even start on the gross lobby and furniture… just stay away!!!
NOT worth the few $$$$ savings!!!

Avoid at all costs. 1 hour+ from terminal to driver seat.
Car is a jalopy. Bumper was literally falling off of the car. Several scrapes and bumps all over and the guy refused to mark them on the checkout sheet.
Avoid at all costs unless you feel like being part of some surreal nightmarish afternoon.

I wouldn’t call this place a scam, but they are unorthodox in how they operate. I definitely wouldn’t come back though.
First of all, their shuttle service doesn’t pick up at the airport, but instead, at an airport parking lot. The guy who picked us up recklessly sped into the lot.
Secondly, they advertise that a deposit is necessary only for debit card purchases, or at least, that is what was stated in the fine print. However, even with a credit card, I had to put down a $ 200 deposit. Hopefully, I’ll get that money back.
The car was the car that was described when we placed the rental via
— a 2014 Hyundai Accent. Despite the fact that it’s only a 2 year old car, it was a piece of crap. There were dents on all sides of the car. The front bumper was loose. Also, the brakes definitely needed to be repared. A car of that age should not be screeching when going 25 mph on a ramp or slight turn.
For your own sanity and guarantee of safety. I don’t recommend coming here. Pay a little more for someplace else /​something more legitimate, it’s worth it.

DO NOT BOOK WITH ECONOMY!
We never got a confirmation email. Booked a reservation through Expedia for 1pm on a Wednesday.
We walked in and customers were already having issues with (Gloria) the workers and their attitudes.
The manager hides in the back room making her workers look bad.
They ran out of cars and did nothing to help these customers who are now faced looking for a rental and paying 5x more than expected.
You must have a cc and insurance to book a car.
They are strict if you miss you deer still time.
Shuttle takes an hour + to and from the airport.
They charge an extra $ 200 hold even if you use your credit card.
Never again will I book from here!

Pretty standard cheap car rental. It’s a ways from the main airport terminals, but they have shuttles to take you here. We got the car within 10 minutes and it was the cheapest by far. $ 150 for one week of car rental. Nice!

Avoid at all costs, this «business» is a complete scam. I strongly regret not seeing these reviews beforehand.
My girlfriend and I were directed to «Economy Rent-​A-​Car» while shopping for a cheap car rental on Expedia. We wanted to rent a convertible Mustang for our weekend in Los Angeles, so we selected the respective class and proceeded to make our reservation.
Upon arrival at LAX airport, we waited at the rental car pickup for approximately 20 minutes watching transportation for other rental agencies come and go, but saw nothing for Economy. Eventually we contacted the corporate office who informed us that we would have to take another bus to a remote lot, where we would call the local agency and have them send a van for us. This took another 30 minutes.
When we got to the rental office, we realized that we were not actually renting from Economy but from Allied. To our surprise, we were informed that we would not be driving the Mustang that we thought we were paying for, but a Volkswagen Beetle. This was initially a huge disappointment, but the car turned out to be a brand new 2015 model and was actually rather fun to drive.
15 minutes after we left, we were backed into by the «Greenz on Wheelz» food truck at the Northeast corner of South Ogden and South Genesee while waiting for him to turn right at the stop sign. His reverse lights went on and we laid on the horn for a solid 3 seconds while he stared at us in his side view and lightly bumped into our front bumper. The damage was extremely minimal (bent plastic license plate frame, see picture), but we called Allied to inform them of the incident, who told us to take pictures and exchange information but advised us against calling the police and filing a report since the damage was so insignificant.
Upon returning the car, an employee inspected the damage, took pictures, and asked us to fill out some information about the accident. Allied was given copies of all information exchanged with the food truck and sent us on our way.
A week later, my girlfriend received a call from the corporate offices to inform us that we had lost our $ 200 deposit and would be charged an additional $ 400 because they supposedly had to remove the front bumper to inspect for internal damage. To make matters worse, the corporate employee informed us that the food truck had filed a police report for a «hit and run» after they backed into us, and asked us why we had not filed a police report ourselves. Upon telling him that it was their advice not to to so, he simply replied by saying that whoever we spoke to was wrong.
Another week has gone by and Allied is now charging us an additional $ 100 without any explanation as to why. They will not return our calls and have yet to provide invoices for any of their charges.
We purchased travel insurance through Expedia, but I’m not sure how much help it will be if we don’t have a police report or a damage estimate to give them.
It goes without saying, but I will never rent from Allied/​Economy again.