I have just returned from a trip that included a few days in Ireland.   I rented a car from Thrifty Car Rental Shannon for 1 day and it was dropped off in Dublin same day October 5th to be exact.  

I had received a quote from them for the 1 day that included a 25 euro charge for dropping off the car in Dublin.  When the car was picked up at ShannonAirport I present a letter from Master Card covering me for insurance purposes. They refused the letter from MasterCard ( Platinum).  We had a Gold Visa which they accepted.  At that point I was informed that they would be charging my card 2000 euro that would be fully refunded if the car was returned no damage.  I was surprised by the policy since it was not stated in my quote.  I went over the conditions with the CS Agent at the counter ( have his name) and was again  informed that a full refund would be given back when the car was returned that day.   We questioned the deposit charge - it was for any excess damages to the car and we would be responsible for collecting from the insurance company.
At that point we were stuck needing to arrive in Dublin to reach our next destination.  

When the receipt was given to me the 2000 Euro was converted to Canadian Dollars for a total of  $3278.88 ( conversion rate of 1.63944).  This did not cover the rental rate plus full tank of gas & drop off  which was an additional 115.07 Euro converted at the same rate which was $188.65 CDN ( total $3467.53 CDN)    I was told that if car was returned full tank of gas that would be refunded.

At the end of the day in Dublin the car was returned and a refund of 2,000 euro (plus 61 euro  for gas/additional driver was credited)  I did notice that they had not converted it to Canadian the same way they had charged it earlier in the day. Which I questioned and told that it would even out. If I back out the "gas refund etc  I was credited  $2995.67 on my credit card   According to my CCard Company this was because of the way Thrifty processed the credit.  Meaning the 2,000 euro was not converted to Canadian dollars immediately  and processed the same way that they charged it to my Card the same day.  I did not receive a full refund of the 2000 Euro and in fact suffered a loss of $283.21 CDN. ( note this is on top of the rental)

I contacted Thrifty in Dublin today  - Dublin's initial response was that they are not responsible for "conversion rate differences".  I have pointed out that this was an error created by their accounting/processing practices and if they had processed the credit the same way I would have received the full credit for the 2,000 Euro.  I had told them that the CCard company pointed out that it was the way they processed the credit.

It would appear that I may have a problem based on my converstation with them today (Oct 23) .   I am waiting for a response from Thrifty .  I am at a loss at to what my next step is.  I am prepared to take this to the next level - this practice of charging a $2,000 euro damage deposit and not returning it in full does seem right and I can not believe that a company of their size would be using such methods with international customers .   If they have accounting issues when crediting it back the very least they could have done was block it off the credit card and then unblocked it.   I know from my conversation today that I am not the first person to bring this to their attention

We rented a car from National/Euro/Alamo group - in the UK on the same trip for 9 days used the same Mastercard coverage that was refused by Thrifty.  They had a policy of 250 GBP hold on the card and it was returned with out issue. 

Do you have any suggestions as to what I should do next -  Thank You Wendy ( Canada)