I'd been renting a car from Budget for about 3 months, usually month to month, sometimes longer. The manager had allowed me to renew the contract for several weeks on end and pay him when I got my paycheck which was great for me because I could deposit my check and know he'd got his money.
I'd rented for the fourth or fifth time (the same Ford Taurus car I'd had for 3 months) for 2 weeks over xmas and was due to go and pay as usual the following week. I'd even got an oil change done on the car as the manager had asked me to, so he didn't have to take the car back.
6am Saturday morning two guys from "loss prevention" turn up banging on my door. I asked them what they wanted. All they could say was "we need to take the car". So I had to empty the car in the pouring rain and watch them drive off with it. No phone calls. No letters.
I got on the phone as soon as the office opened and the manager was really rude to me, saying "well you don't expect to drive a $25000 car around for free, do you?" I asked him how he figured that out as I'd paid him on time for 3 months and never missed a payment. He refused to speak to me.
When I got eventually got paid the following week, I intended going to their office that day to pay them the $600 I owed them and get the car back. When I got to Bank of America they told me they couldn't cash my check because I was $1000 OVERDRAWN.
Amazingly, Budget had took over a thousand dollars out of my bank account without me knowing or my authorization and on the same day the took the car back.
It took me several days to find out where their loss prevention offices were. The Cendant Group based out of Virginia. When I eventually got someone to call me back they told me the additional costs were for the inconvenience of having to get the car back ($300) and a tank of gas ($107) which worked out at $6.99 a gallon! I said I hadn't authorised the withdrawal and what they had done was theft and the person said "it doesn't matter, we had your card details from the previous transaction and we don't need your signature".
When I asked why they hadn't contacted me, she said they'd left several messages (none ever left) and sent me a registered letter, a copy of which I never received. The post office told me it was returned to them undelivered. It took them 4 weeks to find this letter before they could send me a copy. I also had to wait that long to see a copy of the unsigned rental agreement showing their ridiculous charges.
Bank of America are now writing demanding I pay THEM back the money they paid Budget without my authorization. If I don't BOA are threatening to blacklist me or worse.
Suggestions anyone?
Paul
Lake Forest, California
U.S.A.
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