Advantage Rent-A-Car

Never again! Been waiting for an hour for a car. Customer service stinks. Pay more for better service. The shuttle driver was the only bright spot. Can’t believe how terrible this is… still waiting!

I give this company one star because I cannot reach ANYONE at their office. I have resorted to systematically dialing different extensions until I reach someone. I made it to extension 6 before I heard a live human voice, but was put promptly on hold. That was, according to my phone, over 35 minutes ago. I am STILL on hold with them.
Why am I trying to reach them? I am trying to be responsible and pay the Illinois highway toll that we were forced to miss because of construction and Memorial Day weekend traffic. I need the information of the person the car is registered under in order to do that. If I don’t pay this online (like anyone without an IPass will have to do), then we will be charged an additional $ 25 from Advantage on top of the silly $ 1.50 toll.
Does anyone know how to get in touch with SOMEBODY at the Des Plaines site? I am simply trying to pay a toll and have this awful rental experience behind me.

This is 4.5 miles from the airport, I don’t think they should be able to claim airport rental. This location is super slow. I’m in line right now. If I hadn’t prepaid I would’ve left and Ubered to another rental company already. The staff isn’t rude, they are just lethargic and seemed to have a general disregard. They are also disheveled, one staff member keeps walking around customers with sunglasses on (indoors) and his hat on backwards, not doing any work other than occasionally going behind the desk and grabbing things (shirt, pen, etc).

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We waited 30 minutes for a shuttle that never came so ended up taking a $ 20 taxi 4 miles away to get the car. When I was checking in, the woman asked for my driver license and form of payment which was obviously normal. Then, I got asked for my proof of insurance… umm. Well, I don’t own a car which is the reason I’m RENTING a car so I was a bit confused. The woman treated me like i was and idiot because, like any reputable car rental chain, I assumed I could buy insurance. What kind of bootleg shit is this place?
My boyfriend said he had insurance and she said to have his insurance company fax over the proof. Even when he was on the phone with his insurance agent she said that his it wouldn’t cover an accident on another car so what was the point?
After seeing how even the other customers were treated I decided to call Hertz right then and there and booked another car. And guess what? I could BUY insurance from them! They didn’t hassle me like Advantage did and were VERY polite. Also, it was about $ 50 cheaper plus they upgraded our car since I told her I horrible luck at Advantage.
Do yourself a favor and DO NOT book your rental car here. It’s a rip off and they are obviously going under any day now.

I had no serious issues with this company, despite all the bad reviews. The shuttle rides to and from the airport were pleasant and not overcrowded. The rental location is offsite and about a 10 – 15 minute ride from O’hare. The line to get the car was reasonable and I wasn’t horribly delayed or inconvenienced. They will try to upsell you the add-​ons (insurance, gas, transponder, etc.) just like all the others, but they were polite when I declined and not too pushy. When I found a couple of marks on the car, I simply made a note on the rental contract. I had no problems with the car and it was mostly clean and a 2015 model year. When I returned the vehicle, an agent took a quick walk around and they emailed my receipt so I didn’t have to go inside. The shuttle was waiting on me to go to the airport. The price was great compared to the major chains and I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.

Awful. Ghetto from the get go. Late, infrequent shuttle service and then arbitrary discriminatory as well as illegal restrictions on car rental. If you live within 65 miles of Chicago there are erroneous extra requirements for car rental. Also, all of their vehicles have temporary plates which is suspect. The young lady at the counter was silliest about making it impossible to file a formal complaint. Avoid at all costs.

If I could give a minus star I would! They were very unprofessional and the office was dingy and dirty! The customer service rep was not professional at all! When I was going to pay with my debit card I was told they would be doing a credit check and when I back out bc I didn’t care to have a credit check the sales rep gave attitude and was plain rude! I highly recommend that no one uses this company and runs to a budget/​or enterprise!

I used Expedia to book my trip to Chicago which is how I found Advantage. They had the best deal so I went with them.
Upon arrival to the airport there are no signs directing you to the Advantage shuttle. We found it very difficult to get correct info at the airport. I called the number to advantage and found the correct place. Once we figured out where to go, just to where every other rental car company shuttles pick up passengers, we didn’t wait long for our shuttle. (Advantage comes every 15 minureWe were told to go to the bus shuttle area, but that was incorrect.
Our shuttle driver was extremely friendly. We were very appreciative of him and his knowledge of the area.
Now the actual office was dirty. All of the other customers inside were upset, which made us nervous. The girl at the counter was being very rude to the gentleman in front of us and not helpful at all. When she helped us she was not friendly and gave us little guidance. Sign this and that with no mention or what the heck we were signing.
Our car was a very nice Toyota Camry. No complaints about the car. We had zero issues with it at all.
Returning the car, customer service was about the same. However again our shuttle driver was great. Be prepared that this place is about ten minutes from O’hare. Shuttles run about every 15 minutes. I would plan on giving yourself thirty minutes to return the car and get to the airport at least.

Horrible customer service… not worth the small savings. Attendees were not helpful, shuttle took longer than any other rental place. Ladies working counter were watching movies on their phone and rude to customers. Will never rent here again.

Worst car rental experience. Waited for our vehicle for almost an hour even though we prepaid. Customer service agents seemed rehearsed and not genuinely concerned. After paying for a mid size car, we were given an economy size car. Horrible service and inefficient operation.

If I could I would give NO STARS!!!
I will never rent from this place again. First off and most importantly the guy at the front when I was picking up my car gave me the wrong information! He told me the card that I used to put the deposit on would NOT be charged. He said I would be able to pay with a different card when I dropped the car off. However, when I returned the car, after standing in a long line, the woman clerk informed me that there was nothing she could do and acted like the guy I described who gave me false information did not even work there!!! Clearly the guy lied to me and was more eger to get rid me then help me with simple facts all of your clerks should know!!! In fact he had an abrasive manner with the guy filling out his forms picking up his car in front of me as well. Horrible customer service and certainly not a pleasant experience.

Please try to avoid if you got a chance, they probably offer a better quote online, but that isn’t what you actually pay in store!
The sole purpose here is asking more money from your pocket. The rude staff would try to trick you by secretly adding stuff into your bill, which is very unfriendly for me as a youth driver. I ended up paying a lot more than my quote.
TERRIBLE TERRIBLE place.

Service was great as it relates to moving us in and out really quick. My only suggestion would to more welcoming and more interactive with your customers.

Cheap and new cars but rude staff and the car was dirty, would have rather paid $ 10/​more a s used Enterprise (and been 10 min closer to the airport!)

Worst customer service from cassandra.
She has no regard or basic courtesy to paying customers. She tried to upsell me b. s insurance which I declined. She is just a nasty nasty person. They lure you in there with low prices on line but you will end up paying way more. Please please do not rent from this place. Especially if you are from another country. Alamo or payless will treat you much better.

Frankly, this place is ghetto. That said, you can get a good price here. Just keep in mind: you get what you pay for. The pickup process was slow and there was little attention to detail. They gave us keys and directed us to the wrong car. The paperwork showed dings and scratches in the wrong spots. Additionally, the car didn’t have cruise control. I didn’t know they still made cars like that. I wish we knew before we were halfway to Green Bay. Oh well. We were also told that the gas stations charged more for gas than they did. I’m not saying they were lying, but that turned out to be false. Thankfully we declined.
The shuttle service was good, so no complaints there. This is a no-​frills rental company. You get what you pay for.

Pretty bad service at this shop. Been waiting in line for 1.5 hrs. Ridiculous. And will never go with advantage again.

DO NOT GET A RENTAL CAR HERE!
This place is so bad, I decided to create a Unilocal account and give a bad review.
Long wait for shuttle and at desk. Forced you into buying insurance. $ 200 deposit and poor customer service.

I made a reservation a week in advance for my Chicago trip. The Prices are hard to beat compared to the other/​bigger Car Rentals. Upon my arrival to O’Hare, I watched countless shuttles to other Car Rentals wizz by as I waited, and waited, and waited for an Advantage shuttle to arrive.
The shutlle driver saw me flag him down and he pulled over. He then leaped out the shuttle to announce; ‘We DO NOT HAVE ANY CARS AVAILABLE…(then went on to say)…if you have a reservation, unless you’ve already pre-​paid for it, we cannot help you. I suggest going to Alamo or National’. I told the driver I have a reservation, but it isn’t pre paid. He said he could not help me.
So I did just that, I went over to Alamo. I paid only $ 30 more for a bigger car and that was fine. After reading other website and Unilocal complaints about them, I was lucky I didn’t with them, and I never well. Sounds like they’re the Spirit Airlines of Car Rentals.

Pro:
— Cheap rates
— Shuttle to/​from airport (a bit far)
Cons:
— Expect a very slow queue at check-​in. Agents take time selling car upgrades, GPS devices, refuel services, insurances, and whatever other unnecessary add-​ons to each customer.
— My reserved car was unavailable, and was assigned an old and crappy car with a terrible smell.
— Upon return, agent confirmed no extra charge but still managed to mistakenly tack on close to $ 200 on electronic receipt for not refueling even though the tank was full.
Use with caution, and document everything in case you need to dispute any charges.