I rented a car at Seattle Tac Budget through Hotwire. When I picked it up, there was a long line at the counter and I had been waiting a while to get service. When I finally got service a new agent had just come on, and proceeded to process me. I was asked if I wanted insurance which I clearly declined, and clearly stated that I just want to rent the car with no extras.
When he presented the agreement, he said to initial where he had circled and sign the bottom. There were 6 circles to initial. I did not read the agreement carefully and initialed and sign. When I returned my car, I got a receipt for $217, which was around the cost through hotwire. So I thought that was the receipt of the Hotwire rental, which I had already paid months ago. When I saw that charge on my credit, I called Budget and the Customer Service Agent (CSA) said the charge was for insurance.
I told the CSA that I had declined everything the counter agent offered me, but the CSA said that I signed the contract, which did say accepted next to LDW. I argued with the customer service agent I clearly declined any extras and he said he was not at the counter to determine what was said, but did credit me half back. He said that was the best he could do. I feel that I was ripped off as he never stated that I was signing for insurance. He never pointed that out specifically and based on my conversation with him, I thought I was signing just for the rental.
I'm not sure how often this happens, but I've rented cars many times and have never purchased insurance. This is the first time this has happened to me. Is there any recourse for this dishonesty?
Another point was the counter agent stated that I had to purchase gas at the airport and provide a reciept otherwise I would be charge for gas even if the tank was full. I had never heard of such a thing, but I still declined their gas offer. When I returned the car, no one asked me for a gas reciept, so it seems that he lied about that too.
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