Clark's Equipment Sales & Rental Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2015/07/20) */
[redacted] contacted our office asking after the cost of renting a large wheel loader. He was quoted $380.00 per day, (24 hour time period but 8 hours of allowable tac time) plus delivery and fuel. He asked what the delivery would be and...

was quoted $85.00 an hour and was told the delivery would take 3 to 4 hours according to what the truck driver charges us. He asked about the fuel cost and he was quoted $5.00 per gallon or he could fuel the loader himself.
There is more time involved in loading and chaining (according to state regulations) a large piece of equipment than just the drive time. The driver that we use, charges us less than the going rate for this type of hauling. We only charge what we are charged for hauling equipment as large as this. We do not add any additional fees to these charges. Had Mr. [redacted] researched this before he entered his complaint he would realize that we are indeed very fair in our pricing.
As for the fuel charge. Mr. [redacted] was told he could fuel the equipment himself if he wanted to. He was told that we charge $5 per gallon. Interstate Rentals in Erie charges $5.57 per gallon and recently received a letter from other rental yards complaining that he was charging too little and asking him to raise his rates to over $7!
The final bill was reviewed and approved of by Mr. [redacted] before payment was received. He did not raise any objections or complaints. Since the finalization of his bill, Mr. [redacted] has never contacted us.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 11, 2015/07/31) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I was not told what fuel cost was, or that I could fill it myself, which would be difficult since I could not transport the equipment or legally drive it on the public roads as I was informed that I had to use their driver due to insurance requirements, and respected that.
I was told there was a delivery fee, but nothing about the delivery cost being both ways for both delivery and pickup. Did notice the driver was on the cell while unloading which might have added to the time?
Yes I did not dispute the final bill with the company, I did enquire of the cost of transport, and was told that they passed [redacted] cost to me from the driver.
I was ok with the tac time costs for the 2 days, as I had the unit two days. Diesel is half the cost of the per gal charge. It is clear I am not going to get anywhere with the fuel cost, however with the transport time if its a per hour charge, with the distance between the business and the delivery 2.5 to 3 hours would be a more realistic time.
Since this was a verbal contact and the only paper form is the final bill which since I paid I guess I am at a loss and will do more research next time
Final Business Response /* (4000, 13, 2015/08/15) */
Fuel costs, delivery charges and any other charges are told to every customer every time. We will have to agree to disagree on this point.
From the beginning of this dispute, the customer has never contacted the Owner nor the General Manager, in person. Had that occurred, a mutually acceptable resolution could have been reached.
Should the customer need to rent this type of equipment again, his research will prove that we are very fair in our pricing. The customer is welcome to meet with the Owner and/or General Manager to discuss this issue, in person. We just ask that he contact some other rental companies closest to his property and obtain their pricing for delivery and fuel and any other item he is disputing. That we can discuss this issue from the same page.
The Revdex.com is a helpful entity in resolving disputes, but shouldn't the customer first try to solve the problem himself, face to face, first?