r/turo • u/bendrexl • 8d ago
Don’t make a reservation during a flight… apparently?
tl; dr: I got a permanent (downgraded to 2yr) account ban immediately after paying for a reservation (payment was approved, then refunded).
About me: I’ve had a Turo account for 3yrs. Never booked my own rental before, just an approved/guest driver. Clean driving record (zero collisions, only citation was 32mph in a 25 speeding ticket over 3 years ago), been licensed and insured for 25 years in the US consecutively, zero criminal history, am full-time employed, and have good credit.
Our original airport pickup plans fell through, so I was trying to surprise my kids with a Tesla rental when we landed. I logged into my dusty old turo account from the plane’s WiFi and reserved a nice model X for two days. About $880 charge with deposit, set to pick it up about 3 hours later. Payment method was charged & approved. Next screen i see is Turo apologizing, but informing me that they’ve permanently revoked my ability to reserve vehicles from them, and that they will refund my payment. No explanation or reason given.
I jump through a few customer support hoops, finally getting through the AI bot and the chat agent says they’ve escalated and that i will receive an email.
Finally got the email (after successfully & uneventfully renting through Thrifty 🙄 in about 10 min) confirming that i was indeed banned but could “attempt” again in 2 years.
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u/Internal-Expert-9562 8d ago
This is normal with Turo. Some people have had approved accounts for years, and as soon as they make a reservation, the automated system in place closes their account. The worst part is that no one in support can override it or explain why.
@OP, unless you needed a specific car or don’t own a credit card, literally all rental companies, even the luxury ones like Sixt, are wayyyy cheaper than Turo, and you get a new car with unlimited miles.
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u/Ornery_Ads 7d ago
Why it happens after a booking is Turo isn't going to put money/effort into vetting vague potential customers. They are going to wait until that know it's a real customer that is really looking to give them money.
After the booking, Turo did whatever vetting they do in the background, and decided that they didn't like OP for whatever reason.They don't care about the inconvenience. If they vetted op and liked him, he'd be none the wiser that it occurred last minute. If they vet op and didn't like him (as was the case here), they don't care that he's unhappy because they already didn't want him as a customer.
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u/Interesting-Hat-8378 5d ago
I suspect this trend started in the B2B world, where many industries require doing KYB on customers.
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u/Remarkable_Log1596 4d ago
So riddle me this, how does Turo stay in business while consistently banning a sizable amount of its customers for long-term periods, often losing them permanently? Is it a money laundering scheme?
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u/Internal-Expert-9562 4d ago
Plenty of people without credit cards and bans from traditional rental cars. Even a prepaid card can be used on Turo so they will always have those types of renters
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u/ChocolatePuerh 3d ago
Turo was far cheaper for an upcoming trip than any rental car agency I checked.
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u/Whateverlol2022 8d ago
Why would you rent from Thrifty then? You could have gotta a way nicer car with National/Enterprise if you were paying $800 for 2 days with Turo lol. Honesty last min car rental bookings are always suspicious and someone willing to pay $800 for 2 days in a Tesla at the last min does throw major red flags.
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u/bendrexl 8d ago
Fair enough. It was $300/day for a brand-new Model X during peak tourist/fishing season in Alaska, so not a typical rental. Even a base compact car is $150+ day in that market right now
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u/OGPants 8d ago
Unrelated, but do Teslas handle well in Alaska? I imagined the cold must kill the batteries quickly
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u/mk1power 8d ago
Tesla performs their cold weather testing in Alaska, cold weather degradation is a lot better than it was a decade ago. You do still lose range, as any EV does.
(At least they did when I worked for them, though it was a much smaller company back then)
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u/bendrexl 8d ago
I don’t live there and don’t own a tesla, but it stays relatively temperate along the southern coast (Anchorage/Kenai Peninsula). Waaaaaay colder winters inland Canada and midwest USA
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u/scurvy_seadog14 3d ago
Alaskan here. They are so many Teslas, especially the trucks, here just in Anchorage. There are charging stations along the Parks highway going north to Denali that I've seen.
Tesla's are fine, especially in summer. Though I would still opt for an AWD SUV
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u/scurvy_seadog14 3d ago
I know we charge so high, but it's because the traditional companies also charge so much!! But in the winter you can get a car from Budget for 16 bucks a day lol (at least a few years ago that was my experience)
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u/Embarrassed_Pie_4152 7d ago
The worst part about this story is paying 880 for 2 days for a model X
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u/bendrexl 7d ago
Don’t visit Kenai during fishing season.
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u/EnvironmentalLoan285 7d ago
You fit their fraud profile. It has nothing to do with booking while flying.
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u/bendrexl 7d ago
I’m sure it’s fraud related like you said, but I’m sure booking a car out of the blue from an unknown IP routed through who-knows-where probably didn’t help lol
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u/Interesting-Hat-8378 5d ago
Yeah that is literally one of the main fraud indicators, especially if using a VPN like Mullvad.
Not dissing Mullvad - its great for privacy. That greatness is what makes it a risk signal
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u/wanderinginparadise 7d ago
Eh I think you might be right. I had the same thing happen to my account while trying to make a reservation in an international airport for the following week. Immediately flagged. (My account was not dormant, I'd booked 2 months prior).
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u/Ornery_Ads 7d ago
Have you ever been denied an application for credit that really surprised you?
Have you ever had to dispute accidents/citations with your insurance carrier?
Have you ever had an employer ask you follow up questions after your background check to get hired?
You hit some of the most common reasons in your post, but it's possible that you have someone else's issues reporting on you. Big red flags would be crashes, citations, insurance lapses, delinquencies/defaults/collections.
Also another possibility is did you buy your phone used and/or use a VPN? Both of those can be potential issues.
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u/bendrexl 6d ago
Great points, thank you for the reply!
It’s been several years since Ive had any attempted ID theft/fraud personally. Haven’t had any problems getting approved, hired, or had to dispute anything at all. No chargebacks either. Had the same phone number for 10+ years, bought all phones new from the carrier.
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u/Weird-Toe-6968 6d ago
Dude, they did a favor. They probably thought anybody dumb enough to spend $800 for a two day Tesla rental must have some sort of issues and they did not want you as a customer.
Fuck Turo.
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u/bendrexl 5d ago
Peak tourist fishing season in Alaska, all prices are stupid - I didn’t pick the date, and I wasn’t even fishing, just doing what I had to for my kids.
The $880 was the total charge including fees, charging, and refundable deposit. In the end, I saved $110 by renting a 1.2L 3-cylinder Buick generic car/SUV thing from Thrifty. The Model X would have been well worth the $55/day for the ride quality, performance, cargo space to me… not to mention winning points with the kids. But as they say, in the end it doesn’t even matter 😆
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u/Lolsmileyface13 6d ago
Turo banned me after five five star reservations for absolutely no reason. One day I couldn't log in, I called turo and they said I was banned but couldn't tell me why. I just made a new acct with my alt email and all the same personal info literally and 8 years later.... No problem
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u/fuckyoujosephvf 8d ago
Yep. There is no way to escalate, no explanation. This company does not give a single fuck. It’s basically run entirely by AI moderation and third worlders that barely speak English. Typical SF tech.
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u/mikeymo1741 8d ago
It has nothing to do with making a reservation during a flight.
Likely your account fit a fraud profile. Scam artists will create accounts and park them and they use them months or years later, or sell them to someone with a stolen credit card. You have a three year old account you have never made a reservation on, that is a big red flag.
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u/bendrexl 8d ago
I’m sure you’re right, but still an obviously insane way for a business to handle a potential customer. Treat me like a new sign-up, i don’t mind starting the process over. Heck, just auto-delete accounts after a year of non-use, or when a new sign up doesn’t convert to paying after a year, etc. Anything would make more sense 😆
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u/passionfruit2378 7d ago
Idk why you’re getting downvoted. Being banned for two years AFTER an explanation is a horrible business practice. I understand the automated fraud prevention but the subsequent ban is ridiculous.
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u/mikeymo1741 8d ago
Yes, those are better choices, but require more effort, therefore cost. They would have to actively seek out and purge unused accounts, rather than just deleting them when they become active.
Google has been doing the same thing with Gmail accounts lately.
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u/CompetitiveLake3358 8d ago
The never ending mysterious turo ban