Thrifty car rental guarantees what again?

I am having a run of horrible luck with businesses lately. Today it is Thrifty’s turn.

I booked a flight to Philadelphia for a few days to visit the husband’s family and meet our new niece. Since they live in the burbs, we need a rental car for while we are there. So I head to Travelocity to figure out which car rental agency to use. Travelocity comes back with a 4 day rental at $151.95 plus tax from Thrifty car rental, coming to a total of $181.11. Since I prefer to go right to the source instead of using a third party, I visited Thrifty.com and reserved a car. I didn’t notice until I confirmed the reservation that the $181.22 rate did not include taxes and so the price of the car was quite a bit higher there than at Travelocity.

Fortunately Thrifty.com has a “best rate guarantee” written boldly across their website.

Thrifty's Best Rate Guarantee

So I submit a claim with all the information needed for their employees to find the fare I did and it was D.E.N.I.E.D. The email I received stated that Travelocity’s weekly rate is the same as theirs. Well, that is nice but I am only renting for 4 days.

I respond to their email with exact details from Travelocity’s site.

Review the Total

Thrifty Car Rental Standard Special rental, 4 day(s) at $29.44/weekend includes unlimited miles/kilometers.
Weekend Daily Rate
2 weekend day(s) @ $29.44 $58.88
2 extra day(s) @ $43.69 $87.38
1 extra hour(s)@ $5.69 $5.69

Subtotal $151.95
Taxes and Fees $29.16

Total due at rental counter: $181.11

And this time, I get the following response to my email:

Thank you for your email

Presently, your rental does not match the BRG Terms and Conditions.

Patrice

Thrifty.com Help Desk

Every time I get responses like this, I think of John Grisham’s book, The Rainmaker. As if they are the insurance company that automatically denies the claims hoping people will go away. Well, I am sick on the couch so I am not going away. I asked Thrifty customer service to explain what portion of the T&C my claim violated. I’ll see if they have an answer for that one.