About, methodology & editorial policy
Rental Counter Report is an independent consumer site. We publish moderated firsthand reviews of car-rental counter experiences and separate public-record summaries of government actions, court settlements, and reputable news.
Last updated: (America/Los_Angeles).
What we publish
- First-party reviews — customers describe their own rentals (quoted vs charged, add-ons, what was said). Moderated before publication under our content policy.
- Public record panels — attributed summaries of AG press releases, court settlements, and news, each with a source URL and research date. These are not mixed into star ratings.
What we do not do
- Scrape or republish Google, Yelp, Trustpilot, Tripadvisor, or BBB review text.
- Blend third-party star ratings into our AggregateRating schema.
- Invent complaints, fake reviews, or enforcement actions.
- Offer legal advice or claim affiliation with any rental brand.
How companies are chosen for public-record pages
We prioritize U.S. brands with a documented, public record of counter upsells, junk fees, damage overcharges, or deceptive practices — for example AG judgments, class-action settlements, and major investigative reporting. Presence on this list is not a finding of current wrongdoing; settlements often include no admission of liability.
Corrections
Companies and readers may request corrections via our corrections & takedown form. We update public-record panels when primary sources change.
E-E-A-T signals
- Experience: firsthand moderated UGC with quoted/charged fields.
- Expertise / Authority: citations to AG offices, court dockets, and settlement administrators.
- Trust: clear methodology, content policy, takedown path, and separation of reviews vs public record.
Machine-readable summaries: llms.txt · llms-full.txt.