BUDGET RENT A CAR

Ms. [redacted] was set to return at 4:43pm on 5/01/2016. We allow an hour grace period without charging an additional day -- She actually had until 5:43pm to return the car without penalty. We do not allow after hour rentals and we clearly state this to every customer upon opening of their rental...

agreement. (The store closed at 6pm on Sunday May 1st) Had our store been opened for business during the hour Ms. [redacted] wanted to return her car she would have been nearly two hours late and another day charge justified. She was not charged an extra day because she returned the following day -- She was charged the extra day for returning at 7pm (2hours after she was due, and 1hour after her grace period). Raul [redacted] attempted to explain this to Ms. [redacted] but the customer became irate and did not want to speak with him so she began to ask for a manager above him. Raul informed the customer that he would make me aware of the situation and that I would get back to Ms. [redacted] upon review of the incident. This upset our customer further and she threated to take the matter to our corporate office, to which Raul informed her that matters such as these are only handled locally as we are a franchise Budget location.
We take great pride in our customer service and are saddened when we hear of such complaints but we stand by the charge for the aforementioned reasons. We're sorry that our customer seems to not understand when she was due to return her car but we have it clearly stated on her contract that is attached to this email.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  Again like I said your rep said there would be no extra charge from what I already paid because you would be closed. I made sure to get clarificacion on it since this is not my 1st rental car I do travel quite a lot for work and make sure to get everything detailed. Of course you are not going to admit that because you would rather have Budget lose a customer then admit your agent provided wrong information. Are you calls recorded because I would like a tape of this call and for you to listen to it so you can see exactly what your agent told me and how there would be no charge. On top of that this is labeled as an airport location what type of business does not have a night box for customers what if they have a very late or early flight.]
Regards,

Review: We order our car rental from costco, it is 161.83.. When we pickup the car from budget rent, they never explain the addition insurance charge, they just check if we have insurance we say yes, then they never explain anything else other then sign here, we are on hurry so we sign it. When we return the car here come the big $70+ Extra charge we did not know of.. When ask for credit back they refuse. Never rent from them again, worst ever.. Anyone reading this message stay alway from this budget rent.Desired Settlement: My rental is 161.83 include tax.. They charge me addition $70. I just want my over charge back

Business

Response:

Thank you for your feedback, I will credit you back the additional optional services. Please allow 5-7 business days to reflect on your credit card statement.

Thanks,

Review: I called and got a price on a car rental for a staff member. I was quoted $368.92 with no mileage costs.When the staff member went to get the car, the price had gone up to over $500.00 plus an additional$175.00 for mileage. The staff member called me and I spoke with the agent who told me that the manager, [redacted], told her the price had gone up and didn't go into effect until the car was picked up. I had agreed to the original quote, but no more. They would not honor the quote and were not interested in working this out. My staff member had a car load of girls waiting to go to a performance in another city and was in a tight spot. We declined the car and found another agency. Budget was not concerned with doubling the rental quote and did not call in advance of pick up to tell me. We are a school district and do not have a few hundred extra dollars moreto rent the car. Our budgets are tight and we must be concerned with spending the taxpayers money in a responsible way.Desired Settlement: Budget should not be able to do this. The address they have is at the airport here and for folks coming in off the plane to rent cars-they are stuck with whatever this agency decides to charge. This is price gouging to the max. For them to overcharge us at the last minute is unacceptable business practice. They should be recognized as a bad business.

Business

Response:

[redacted],

I am writing this letter in response to your request dated 3/31/14 and bearing the case number of [redacted].

First off, I have called to apologize to [redacted] for what ultimately was a combination of circumstances and misunderstandings that led to the submission of this complaint. Here are the facts, as I understand them, relating to [redacted]’ complaint;

#1 [redacted] received a total estimate of charges for a 2+day rental of an 8-passenger vehicle of $396.73 on or about 3/21/14.

#2 Upon arrival to pick-up the aforementioned rental the total estimated charges as provided by our reservation/rental system were in excess of the original quote.

At this point the Counter Representative contacted me via telephone, as I was not in the office, to report that the renter was “upset” and “demanding” that the original estimate be “honored”. I inquired as to the specifics of the discrepancy and I understood the complaint to be that the renter was asserting that the quote was for $371 and not the quote I had provided on or about 3/21/14 of $396.73. At this time, in my mind, this was a difference of approximately $25 dollars and so I instructed the CR to hold to my original quote and that I would review it upon my return to work on 3/31/14.

What I did not realize at the time was that I had misunderstood the basis of the complaint and that the reservation/rental system was showing a total estimated charge in excess of $500. Had I understood the complaint fully at time of the telephone call I would have instructed the CR to provide the rental at the previously agreed upon rate ($396.73). Because of these errors the renter felt compelled, reasonably so, to seek alternatives to our services.

What caused the difference in price between the quote and the rental agreement is unknown. I have observed this is a type of error in the past, but it is rare. On the few instances this has occurred I have always provided the vehicle at the previously agreed upon rate.

I understand that [redacted] and the renter [redacted] were both frustrated and disappointed by what transpired as a result of the reservation/rental system’s miscalculations and my own misunderstanding of the complaint. I also understand these errors contributed to [redacted]’ conclusion that this was a situation of “price gouging” or that our attitude here is that we believe our customers “are stuck” with whatever we “decide” to charge. This is regrettable, but understandable given the circumstances. However, this conclusion is simply untrue and assumes the worst of us and our motives.

Our pricing structure is provided by our corporate reservation system and is variable on a daily basis. Occasionally, like any system the [redacted]/Budget reservation/rental system will err due to a variety of reasons, but this is not intentional. I have never, nor will I ever, take advantage of any customer. We understand that our customers have choices when it comes to renting vehicles in the [redacted] and we both value and honor their decision to choose [redacted] or Budget.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this complaint and I extend to you my apologies if this situation, which has at its roots my own misunderstanding of the customer’s complaint, has caused you any inconvenience.

Cordially,

Agency Operator

[redacted]/Budget of [redacted]

[redacted] (FAX)

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When checking in to receive my rental car I was asked to give them my personal car insurance information. I don't own a car and so I don't have any. I told him that my credit card provides insurance for rental cars, and I was told that that only covers damage to the car, not liability insurance. He claimed that I was legally obligated to have liability insurance and would be ticketed if I were pulled over without an insurance card or having it on my rental receipt. I asked him why, if that were the case, I had never been told this any of the other numerous times I'd rented a car from their company. He said he couldn't speak for any other location but that was their requirement. I gritted my teeth and accepted the extra $80 in fees for the insurance and planned to call the company and complain that this required expense was not disclosed when I made my reservation (I figured it was California law and renting on the east coast was why I'd never been subject to it).

But when I returned from my trip and did so, I was told that if there were any mandatory insurances or tax required by a state or location, it would have been included in the rate. They told me that they had reviewed my account and it showed that I accepted the optional insurance. I went back and forth with several different customer service agents explaining that I never disputed that I signed the paper accepting the charges, but that it was not in fact "optional."

After conversations with three different customer service agents, it became clear that they are only interested in getting you to agree to these "optional" charges by any means necessary, even lies. Each agent simply repeated that they have no way of verifying the verbal conversation with the agent but they have on record that I initialed to accept the charges. They did not seem concerned that one of their customer service reps lied to me in order to force me to accept optional charges or be stuck without a car rental and no way of getting to my destination, so that leads me to believe that it is a regular business model to pressure people into signing for these "options" when they have them in a vulnerable situation and then holding up the signatures as a shield against complaints.

I booked a car through [redacted] on 30th march and they gave me a deal through budget rental from 31st march through april 6th 2013. since it was a prepaid thing through priceline I dont have to pay anything to budget when I pick up the car. but they want to hold $100 on my card anyways to makesure I returned the car to them on time. when I returned the car to them on the 6th of april 2013, there checking person took good 15 minutes to check the interior and exterior of the car and gave us a clean slip, I took the slip in the office so they can return my $100 that they hold initially. they told me it will be return to your in 2 bussiness days.and you are good to go on the 18th of april budget charged my card for $250, I was surprised and upset with that charge so I call them and left messages,nobody replied. I emailed them too and they replied and told me a new story that when I return the car to them it was so distressed that they have to send not for cleaning but detailing. my question to them was obviously that why your checking person gave me a clean slip if thats whats the case, obviously they are trying to mug me like that. I am going back and forth to them but they are not returning my money yet. this is a fraudulent charge on my credit card without my authorization and I am really very frustrated I am trying to complaint about them to see if anyone can help me out here

I rented a mini van in advance for a family vacation. They took the money up front out of my bank account. The day we went to pick up the van they didn't have it ar any van for that matter.They gave me a Ford Expedition saying that it still holds the same amount of people as the van would. I was very upset and they said that there is nothing that they could do. There was not enough room in the back compartment area for all of our luggage. We had to hold some of it in our lap. Needless to say it wasa miserable ride to our vacation destination. Also the Expedition used way too much gas. They should not be able to rent you one vehicle and then switch it for another. They could have least asked me if I was ok with that. As a matter of fact I had called early to see if we could pick it up early and he said we don't have one right now. Why didn't he tell me then that they weren't gonna have one at all? Maybe we could have rented elsewhere with enough room for 7 people's luggage.He charged me the price of a mini van instead of the price for the Expedition.to remedy the situation. The price difference was paid out in gas so that really wasn't a remedy.