Pay extra and AVOID Budget!

[aokeefe]

We too had a horrible experience with Budget last month (like a previous poster, it was $100 less than Alamo) Booked a full size car through Costco for $201 (no add ons) There was no line picking up the car and the only thing the attendant mentioned to me was the $200 hold on my credit card (which I was aware of). Also I did agree to the toll responder (which I know now, I should not have). There were only 2 cars to choose from and 1 clearly was not a full size as the trunk size was so small. The other car was at least spacious and it was late and we were tired so I just took that (it was an intermediate car) We turn the car in with a full tank of gas and I asked the attendant if I will get a receipt emailed to me. I thought it was odd that after 24 hours I still hadn't received a receipt so I contact Budget and they said it will be 48 hours. It ended up being a week and my receipt was for $570! I was charged 55 bucks for gas and Loss Damage waiver coverage. I contact Budget and they said I had agreed to that. I was livid. I was directed to file a claim online. I did and within 48 hours, the first response was I would get a credit for the gas only. I asked for a copy of the agreement to show where I supposedly signed off. A week goes by, no response, I contact them again and they said they requested a copy but it takes 2-3 days. I said I contacted you over a week ago. No response. Last week I finally get the full credit of Loss Damage (plus gas). I was charged $70 for the toll responder/tolls which was my fault for agreeing as I didn't do the research on other options. I will never rent with Budget ever again.

 

[sam_gordon]

We too had a horrible experience with Budget last month (like a previous poster, it was $100 less than Alamo) Booked a full size car through Costco for $201 (no add ons) There was no line picking up the car and the only thing the attendant mentioned to me was the $200 hold on my credit card (which I was aware of). Also I did agree to the toll responder (which I know now, I should not have). There were only 2 cars to choose from and 1 clearly was not a full size as the trunk size was so small. The other car was at least spacious and it was late and we were tired so I just took that (it was an intermediate car) We turn the car in with a full tank of gas and I asked the attendant if I will get a receipt emailed to me. I thought it was odd that after 24 hours I still hadn't received a receipt so I contact Budget and they said it will be 48 hours. It ended up being a week and my receipt was for $570! I was charged 55 bucks for gas and Loss Damage waiver coverage. I contact Budget and they said I had agreed to that. I was livid. I was directed to file a claim online. I did and within 48 hours, the first response was I would get a credit for the gas only. I asked for a copy of the agreement to show where I supposedly signed off. A week goes by, no response, I contact them again and they said they requested a copy but it takes 2-3 days. I said I contacted you over a week ago. No response. Last week I finally get the full credit of Loss Damage (plus gas). I was charged $70 for the toll responder/tolls which was my fault for agreeing as I didn't do the research on other options. I will never rent with Budget ever again.

Just since you used the same term twice, it's a toll transponder, not a responder. Not trying to criticize, just trying to educate.

 

[rwdavis2]

I will..do you think I should tweet to costco or to budget?

Both.

 

[Lewisc]

too had a horrible experience with Budget last month (like a previous poster, it was $100 less than Alamo) Booked a full size car through Costco for $201 (

Obviously not right, Budget was a third less then Alamo. Budget hopes to make some of that with extras. Looks like lie if necessary

 

[EACarlson]

If you reserved your car from noon until noon you still only have until noon the date of your reservation. Just because you picked up the car at 1:30pm does not change your reservation to 1:30pm the next day. Some companies offer grace periods; for Budget that is 29 mins and at 30 mins they can (although I'm not sure they always will) apply a late fee.

We have tons of experience with rental cars..my husband literally gets one all the time for work (including one earlier this week). Hundreds of rental cars over the years. You get your rental car for the time of your reservation no longer unless you want a fee to apply if it is applicable. You can alter your reservation to later depending on the company and the process is dependent on the company.

I'm not discounting you may have not experienced any pushback elsewhere but it is very standard that regardless of whether you picked the car up at your exact time you only have until the reservation end time to return it without modifying the existing reservation. In the world of rental cars this is really needed to keep reservations going. Imagine reserving a rental car and it's not available to you because someone always thought if they picked it up late their reservation just rolls on by. It has the potential to a domino effect on availability of cars for other people.

In every rental I've ever had, the charges are broken out by hour, day and week. The estimate you receive is based on the times you put in when making the reservation. If you have a rental that is being charged as three days, you would not pay any additional unless you kept the car longer than 72 hours from the time stamped on your rental agreement. I had an MCO trip a couple years ago that my flight home was changed, no issue returning the car a few hours later as it was day 5 of a rental charged weekly. You need to modify the rental if you are going to keep it until the next day, but not for a few hours. I've had rentals re-priced and charged less when arrival delays meant I had the vehicle for 27 hours instead of the 30 I had originally rented. It went to 1 day plus 3 hours rather than the 2 days originally quoted.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

In every rental I've ever had, the charges are broken out by hour, day and week. The estimate you receive is based on the times you put in when making the reservation. If you have a rental that is being charged as three days, you would not pay any additional unless you kept the car longer than 72 hours from the time stamped on your rental agreement. I had an MCO trip a couple years ago that my flight home was changed, no issue returning the car a few hours later as it was day 5 of a rental charged weekly. You need to modify the rental if you are going to keep it until the next day, but not for a few hours. I've had rentals re-priced and charged less when arrival delays meant I had the vehicle for 27 hours instead of the 30 I had originally rented. It went to 1 day plus 3 hours rather than the 2 days originally quoted.

You're talking about something entirely different.

In the OP they assumed because they picked it up at 1:30pm when their original reservation was for noon that they would then get the vehicle until 1:30pm the following day rather than their original reservation end time of noon. That is not standard for rental cars. In order to do that you need to follow the rental car companies rules regarding adjustments in return time based on your reservation. For the OP they could have been charged a late fee according to Budget's rental FAQs online but thankfully so far has not been.

Price breakdown is not at all what was being discussed. We're talking about the reservation you make it for. Rental car companies can have many ways of pricing things out from giving breaks to weekly rates to monthly rates, to no change in price if it's 23 hours vs 24 hours. But none of that is related to when you make your reservation and for how long you are able to keep the vehicle.

 

[EACarlson]

You're talking about something entirely different.

In the OP they assumed because they picked it up at 1:30pm when their original reservation was for noon that they would then get the vehicle until 1:30pm the following day rather than their original reservation end time of noon. That is not standard for rental cars. In order to do that you need to follow the rental car companies rules regarding adjustments in return time based on your reservation. For the OP they could have been charged a late fee according to Budget's rental FAQs online but thankfully so far has not been.

Price breakdown is not at all what was being discussed. We're talking about the reservation you make it for. Rental car companies can have many ways of pricing things out from giving breaks to weekly rates to monthly rates, to no change in price if it's 23 hours vs 24 hours. But none of that is related to when you make your reservation and for how long you are able to keep the vehicle.

I looked at the Terms & Conditions and Rental Agreement for National as that is where my next rental is that I have booked right now. It specifically calls out that renters are required to return the vehicle on the date given, not the time. If OP had booked the rental from noon Friday to noon Sunday, not picked up the car until 13:30 Friday there would have been no additional charge and no repercussions from dropping the car off at 13:29 Sunday. In digging deeper, this appears to be a difference between how the three major companies write their rental agreements. National, Enterprise and Hertz specify day of return. Budget and it's corporate parent Avis specify date and time. Another reason I'd prefer the other over Avis/Budget.

 

[Leigh L]

OP, Sorry to hear about your experience. And the fuel thing just doesn't sound right at all!

We've done Costco/Budget a number of times at MCO with no issues (except for the long lines..). One time though when we turned down the transponder for 19.99 per day (7 or 8 days) to use it just going to and from WDW, they state they'll charge for every day. We planned to pay tolls in cash since we were only going through tolls twice, no big deal.

Even though the transponder was in the off position, it still charged the toll which was confirmed at the tollbooth when we tried to pay cash. That was a pain to get reversed, but ultimately Budget did refund us.

Now when we book Budget, we tend to take the roundabout way to avoid tolls. Never a problem with any other company, but we do this for Budget. Generally, though, we tend to stick to Alamo/Enterprise when we can unless the price is far higher than Budget/Avis. We almost exclusively book through Costco.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I looked at the Terms & Conditions and Rental Agreement for National as that is where my next rental is that I have booked right now. It specifically calls out that renters are required to return the vehicle on the date given, not the time. If OP had booked the rental from noon Friday to noon Sunday, not picked up the car until 13:30 Friday there would have been no additional charge and no repercussions from dropping the car off at 13:29 Sunday. In digging deeper, this appears to be a difference between how the three major companies write their rental agreements. National, Enterprise and Hertz specify day of return. Budget and it's corporate parent Avis specify date and time. Another reason I'd prefer the other over Avis/Budget.

1) Every company is different even within the subsidies which like all the car companies are owned by like what 3 main companies?? So you need to apply the exact information based on the car company you're renting from.

2)


In the OP they were told "we were told we had to return the car according to when our reservation was booked (noon), not from when we picked it up at 1:30." This is 100% accurate according to Budget's rental terms. Much in the rental car world is based on your pre-booked reservation times, it affects the inventory for subsequent reservations or walk ins. For all the OP knows the reason they didn't get their reserved car class of standard SUV is because someone else returned their car late (another possibility is a walk in, upgrade, mechanical issue, etc). We've changed rental car times all the time, majority of the time my husband has to because his work flights change so often. We just changed our existing one for July at the beginning of the year because a flight time change meant we needed a rental car the day before as opposed to first thing in the morning. But that is done in advance or at the very least OP would have wanted to hash that out at the counter and may have been charged a different rate at that time due to changing their prior reservation. We book 99% of the time with Avis, my husband has in the past booked National (mostly for like 6 months every two weeks in 2015).

 

[3kidz4dis]

Update! I called this morning to speak with Budget regarding the difference in the car class. They gave me back $73.00! So they made it right. I wanted to make sure to let you know when a company does the right thing especially since I called them out. Would I use them again in Orlando? No..their line was 5 times anyone else and 1 1/2 hours in line was excessive. But they did compensate for the car class change and refund the prepaid fuel. They are still shmarmy and unethical.. Thanks everyone adding to this!

 

[Carlnne]

I was scammed twice last summer by Budget with the gas trick. I "said" no both times but they check marked the yes box. The second time I was ready for them- I took pics of gas meter and brought in receipts and disputed it at the return. They were nasty about it but reversed the charge. Sadly they are usually the better price so I keep going back (but carefully).

 

[seashoreCM]

I think the best thing to do is decline the tankful of fuel charge (or extra insurance or whatever) anyway and let it get all the way to their refusing to rent you the car (if it goes that far where there is a big chance it won't go that far and they will rent to you).

And if they do refuse to rent you the car then you call Costco on the spot to complain and get instructions.

"" I 'said' no both times but they check marked the yes box. ""

You need to inspect the contract and inspect the dollar total before you sign it. Strike out the unwanted yes box marking using multiple short pen strokes, then check or initial the no box as desired.

 

[Disnid]

I only ever use National, your reservation is valid for 24 hours from a flight delay and the charges don't start until you get there. I learned a long time ago to avoid anything with "Budget" in it's name. Whether hotels, cars or food, stay away.

 

[3kidz4dis]

I think the best thing to do is decline the tankful of fuel charge (or extra insurance or whatever) anyway and let it get all the way to their refusing to rent you the car (if it goes that far where there is a big chance it won't go that far and they will rent to you).

And if they do refuse to rent you the car then you call Costco on the spot to complain and get instructions.

"" I 'said' no both times but they check marked the yes box. ""

You need to inspect the contract and inspect the dollar total before you sign it. Strike out the unwanted yes box marking using multiple short pen strokes, then check or initial the no box as desired.

good idea! I have rented from Budget before but there is certainly something about this particular location at MCO

 

[pens4821]

I feel they are always trying to trick people into getting the upgrades. They probably get a commission for upselling. I’d have been upset if I were you too, but I’m pretty sure the first agent lied to you. Once you accept it, you’ve signed that you accept it. I would have asked for a supervisor and got it on video or writing if that was truly something that is done. Them saying that makes no sense.

I make a point of knowing the quoted total when I go into the rental car place. And I make sure when I’m signing that it’s the total that I’ve previously agreed upon.

In November I almost got tricked into getting the insurance. The guy spoke broken English and he was speaking fast and low. I don’t know exact wording but he said something like the basic insurance is ok or the upgraded which gives you such and such and more security for you. He said it so fast I almost said yes basic nothing extra, then it clicked what he said and I said no thanks no insurance. I definitely made sure I was looking at the bottom line when signing that time (I always do like I said just double checked).

 

[3kidz4dis]

So I thought I would report to Costco and they were super helpful. They actually said that what they did is against Costcos contract and agreement terms with Budget and if I didn't receive a credit for the prepaid and the difference in car classification that they would get it back for me. He didn't comment on the return time but he was going to handle it for me. Just an FYI!

 

[3kidz4dis]

I think that you are annoyed But you did agree to Pre pay for fuel

This means handing back the car EMPTY

You Did Book the rental for NOON & That is the Start & Finish time
Extra wait time is not their fault You might have gone for a coffee

Different Type of car ........ That happens ....... tough

Just in case you are not reading the remainder of the thread and the responses... Unfortunately Costco and Budget disagreed with you. I received back the prepaid fuel (63.00) and the different between the car classifications since I was downgraded. (another $70.00). Costco was very concerned as it goes against their agreement with Budget and they would have fought to give me back every penny. Just to let you know that you are misinformed on all counts. And btw..the extra wait time was their fault...

 

[Lewisc]

I feel they are always trying to trick people into getting the upgrades. They probably get a commission for upselling

Carrot or the stick.

Years ago the rumor was agents could be terminated for not meeting quota.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Only because absolutely everybody need to use this site if you ever want to break the shady rental car strangle hold;
www.autoslash.com

I pre-pay for NOTHING when I book the car. Reason being, if there is a 1.5 hour line for the car at one rental car counter and the one next to it has a couple of agents sitting around doing nothing, I have DW hold our place in line at the busy counter where I have the reservation and I walk over and chat up the bored agents. 9 times out of 10 they'll give me as good a deal or better just for coming over. Worst case, I still have my place in line. So many of the rental agencies are owned by the same conglomerate that none of them are really losing business if you do this anyway.

As long as you have a decent credit card or you have good car insurance, there is no need to get ANY of the rental car insurance - you are already covered. It's easy to check before you travel and it will save you a bundle. Pre-paid gas is a scam through and through - don't do it.

Take pictures of the entire out side of the car and take thorough inventory of the condition of the car inside before you leave the lot.

Finally, even if they are shady AF, BE NICE! The agent really can save you money - or cost you a bundle.

 

[mikehn]

Really weird. Ive had nothing but stellar experiences with Budget. Ive been a fastbreak customer for years and bypass the counter so obviously I bypass all the nonsense.