#Budget rent a car full#
They stated I would receive a full credit for the rental and not be charged anything. Thankfully I had the proof, but if I hadn't, they would have continued to 'claim' the car was not back. They claim someone made a mistake on their end and did not end my rental contract upon receiving the car.
After 10 minutes on hold, the customer service rep returned to tell me my facts were correct and apologized over and over again for the error. I called Customer Service back and told them I had proof the car had been returned. They offered me their data log and pictures they took upon delivering it back. I called and they confirmed they did in fact return the car to the Avis/Budget Service Center at the airport. Thank God I had the contact information of the tow truck driver. The Customer Service rep I spoke to was nasty and unprofessional. You are way better off spending a little more to actually deal with a legit company. So unless you travel around with your mobile vacuum cleaner when you go to the airport, I strongly suggest that you don’t use this company at all. The images they sent showed a bit of salt on the floors of the car, all what would take about 20 mins to vacuum. Upon reaching out on Facebook I found out it was a cleaning fee, and requested to see documentation for said fee. A month after rental period was over, Budget Rental Company charged me the $250 without any notice. I decided to let it go because at least the car was actually ok, and driving without major issues otherwise. Made another stop to get glass cleaning supplies as well.
Had to pull over on the first drive to actually put fluid in the window wiper compartment. 3 Squirts with the window wiper fluid, and then it was empty. Didn´t notice the smudged front window until oncoming traffic, and I struggled seeing out the window.
I picked up the car I rented through Budget and had a 3 hour drive ahead of me. I stay away from the DR now, they know that they can do anything there to Americans and get away with it, lie, cheat and steal. That was more than insulting and insinuating to me. I don't smoke, and I bathe everyday, I'm an immaculate person. They also tried to charge me over $200.00, "cleaning fee," because I had left the car "such a mess, with cigarette holes and ashes and odors" NOT TRUE. They also charged another $5.00 on top of what I had paid, for what they claim was the exchange rate, but that was not true, as I had already paid for the rental. Fortunately, the insurance I paid for covered most of their charged damages, except for the $99.99 for the "Airport Fee," which wasn't part of the contract, which I'm trying to get back from Budget. and I had told them that when I got there. I had bought my own rental insurance before I flew into the DR. I had the repairs made for about $400.00 US, then when I dropped the car off at Budget, they smelled the new paint and told me that I would be charged for damages. We won't ever rent from Budget again, and I suggest you think twice before doing so. I truly do believe that this was the result of not having a walk-around with a check-in agent and they assumed I wouldn't fight or wouldn't be able to prove a negative. Moral of the story - don't trust these scammers. Within two hours I received an apology for the inconvenience and told that they will not be charging me after all. I asked whether seeking such damage fees was their standard when the car wasn't checked back in with an agent who would have looked at the car with us present and let them know I'd be contacting the Better Business Bureau (which I did), the ombudsmen of several travel magazines, and sharing my story on social media. I again reached back to them and let them know that I still disputed the claim, explained again that we hadn't had food or liquids in the car, and hadn't used the backseat. They hadn't even mentioned the holes in the upholstery - which I think would be difficult to attain through spilling a beverage. What I could see was that the stains and other dirt looked well dug in and had probably been there for many months. It was clearly a back seat from its design, but whether it was from the car we rented was impossible to determine. Then they sent me a damage report with a close-up photo of a very dirty car seat. They responded that they could no longer talk to me since I'd initiated a "legal process" by involving my "bank." I told them, no, I hadn't reached out to AMEX, but would IF they charged me. I said that if they did attempt to charge us for something we'd not done I would involve American Express. Since we had neither consumed food or beverages at any time during the rental I reached out to Budget and disputed the charge. Two weeks later we received a letter saying that we had damaged the interior of the car with "Spills - Liquids - Stains" and would be charged $125.
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