BootsnAll Travel Community

Does anyone have any experiences with dropping car rentals off during closed hours? Are they notorious for ripping you off re: inspection since you're not there to fight back?

The place I am looking at has a spot that I can drop the car off and leave the keys during off-hours. Secured location.

Is this safe? Am I likely to get burned for returning the car with "a few scratches" that aren't there and that I can do nothing about since I'm gone by then?

thanks!!

I have done this before without trouble. Just make sure to go with a reputable company.

I've only done it once, and it really wasn't a problem. Indeed, I did return it with a few scratches (it came with some, but I made more...damn Irish roads), and I also kept it for several hours longer than I'd paid for. And I didn't get charged an extra cent. I think if you're renting from a chain, you should be fine, but with a local company, it's really anyone's guess.

I also have returned a rental while the office was closed. Actually, I even returned it to the wrong place. Not the wrong company, exactly, but it was a satelite office in a hotel parking lot across town from where I was supposed to apparently drop it off. I saw it was a hotel, of course, but there was a little logo of the rental company on a small desk in the lobby with a mailbox of sorts for the keys. I shrugged, dropped the keys in, locked the doors, and walked away. Not a single extra charge. I think you'll be fine.