Budget Car Rental
Www.budget.com
*This letter was / originally sent / via USPS on April 20. It was resent on July 5. It was also sent via email to Budget on June 6. To this date (8/29/07), I have not received any reply.*
Budget Car Rental
PO Box 690840
Tulsa, OK 74149
RE: Rental Confirmation #44467890US5; Rental #798715282
To Whom It May Concern:
My recent Budget Car Rental experience was very unsatisfactory. The circumstances involved in my recent rental from Budget are as follows: When my wife and I checked in at the Palm Beach FL Airport location, we were asked if we'd like to upgrade — I declined. Consequently, I was informed that I would be getting a FREE upgrade (can you say "we don't have your car").
I drove the car to Vero Beach, FL and fueled it up there before returning the car the next day as per my rental agreement. My wife followed me to the local Budget location to give me a ride back to where we were staying. Unfortunately, my wife had to wait 45 minutes for me at the Budget office because the agents there could not seem to finalize the rental. The best explanation they could give me was */"when you were upgraded in /*/Palm Beach/*/, they didn't update the rental paperwork. We do not show you having this car."/* The best the agent could do was to write on my rental agreement "Est Total $49.77" This was OK with me — my confirmation was for $49.79. At that point, I was willing to write off the negative experience.
What prompted me to write is that my credit card statement that I received yesterday showed charges of $93.65 for my rental — almost double the contracted price! I contacted Budget Customer Service and spoke to Tricia (Trisha?). She said she would credit my charge card $43.86 for fuel charges (the car *was returned full*). I also posed the question "How many people who don't scrutinize their credit card statements are routinely overcharged by Budget?". At that time, I expressed my dissatisfaction with the Budget rental experience as a whole and requested that I be reimbursed the whole amount of the charge - $93.65. She declined to do so and I requested a supervisor. After being on hold for 5-10 minutes, I finally spoke to Jada. She also declined my request.
Now, I am writing to you to express my very negative rental experience from Budget: The "FREE" upgrade (higher fuel consumption), the 45 minutes my wife and I wasted returning the car, the substantial overcharge on my credit card, and the time involved in writing this letter. I feel Budget, at the least, owes me the "complimentary" rental and a FULL refund of my charges. If Budget cannot resolve this to my satisfaction, then I will not do business with your company again and everyone I know will know of my unsatisfactory experience.
I look forward to your prompt reply to this correspondence.
Sincerely,
Edgar H McGuire
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