Budget Car Rental
Fuel charge ripoff

The Budget Rental rep first tried to fast-talk us into $23 per day (!) supplemental insurance. We passed. Then the ripoff: She sold us on buying the tank of gas in the car from them to start for $36.39 and returning it empty (instead of returning it full as is traditional). The hook was that they were charging $. 20 less than she claimed was the current price of gas on the street (a misrepresentation)—but the problem we discovered later is that there is no refund for any gas left in the tank on return. So, if you leave even 1 gallon of gas in the tank, that's approx. $2.80 lost, or the equivalent of 14 gallons of the difference between their claimed price and the price on the street. But the tank only holds 13. If we left 2 or 3 gallons in the tank, we would REALLY screw ourselves (albeit only a $6 or $10 loss, but nonetheless a total scam.)

We (I) obsessed about using up all the gas in order to avoid the consequences of the fast talking counter rep., and practically ran out of gas trying to return it on fumes. It would be MUCH easier, and cheaper, to just fill the car before returning it to Budget as has been the usual proceedure in the past.

Company: Budget Car Rental
Country: USA
State: Arizona
City: Phoenix
Site: www.budget.com

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