Budget Car Rental Bites

Budget Car Rental Bites

July 14, 2006

Dear Complaints, I rented a car for one week in Chico, California, it was listed on "special sale" as 204.84 (including tax) for the week. I returned the car one week later. When I returned the car, and left the lot, my budget receipt said "204.84". But then I checked my account statement and saw that I was charged 219.28 which was 14.44 above what I agreed to pay. I was charged this AFTER I left the lot. I called up to question it, and the Kevin made it sound like he did me a "favor" by only charging me for 7/8 of a tank as opposed to 3/4 of a tank. That is impossible! I filled it up in Red Bluff. According to Yahoo Maps, it is a mere 38.2 miles to the Budget Car Rental location in Chico from the gas station. There is no way the car could have consumed 1/4 of a tank, much less 1/8 of a tank over that small distance. I called up the budget office to dispute it, and Kevin claimed it was less than full.It was maybe a sliver below full. So that somehow justifies charging me 14.44 to "fill it up". So for 38.2 miles this came out 37.8 cents a mile to replace the lost gas! He also tried to soften the blow by saying there is tax and that he has no control over that part. That budget office does charge 6.75 a gallon if they have to refill it. So the way they offset their special sales is to claim that a customer brought back the car with way too much fuel missing and that it must be "replaced". That is where they make EXTRA profit. It is a predatory and deceptive practice. I called their customer complain number and got the same run around! Even the lady on there also tried to soften the blow by saying there is tax and that she has no control over that part. Gee, I now feel much better to know this was put on my card AFTER I left the lot. I was not notified of this charge by phone call or mail. She said that it is up to the local office to reverse the charges. Then what is the point of even having a customer complain number? Who supervises these offfices?????? Well, this extra 14.44 is not a lot of money, but in the long run this will cost budget a lifetime of car rental business from my family and business. I will NEVER do business with them again! It was sure worth losing future business just to charge me extra AFTER I left the lot.

Click this link to e-mail the message author: Email User