Bugdet Rent a Clunker Problems

[Owen Lucas]

• Budget Rent a Car reservation for intermediate SUV set up at airport.
• Wife gets there, no intermediate SUV.
• She accepts tiny clown car because there are only electrics available otherwise.
• Still charge us for the intermediate SUV.
• Call to complain and they say "The compact rate is higher than the SUV"
• Me: "Who would pay more for less".
• Me: "Do you know what the word reservation means?"
• After an hour bouncing around different reps I get to a supervisor and they give me $75 off.
• PITA, I hate budget, but at this airport there is nothing else.
• They overbook their reservations and can't cycle the returns fast enough because of staffing and IQ issues.

Emailing Costco CEO and Budget/Avid board of directors on Monday. DM me for email addresses if you have this problem in the future.

 

[hemitom]

Ya just another case of we don't care attitude which is just to common in society today.
Good on you for not letting them get away with that.

 

[The_Jeff]

Nothing's changed over 35 years!

 

[Owen Lucas]

Nothing's changed over 35 years!

That was literally our situation!

I like the insurance idea! Problem is, they'll likely make an insurance claim to recoup the money, so no destruction derby experience for me.

 

[ecotourist]

I had reserved a Renault Megane diesel sedan with a manual transmission at an airport in France. (A highly regarded new model at the time, cheap to run in a place where gasoline costs a fortune.) When we got there, they said they didn't have one but we could have a gasoline engine, automatic transmission version.

We accepted - though reluctantly. This gas model was going to cost a lot to run and anyway, who wants an automatic? But when we went out to inspect the car, we found the door lock feature on the key fob wasn't working. We stomped back to the office - "We're not taking this."

"Would you take a diesel?" the attendant calmly replied, finally coughing up the exact model we had reserved.

I suspect the diesel 6 speed manual model was being held back for potential European customers, and they thought they could palm off the gasoline automatic on unsuspecting tourists.

PS That diesel/manual Megane was mostly wonderful. Lots of torque but no revs. You actually had to upshift when passing on rural roads! The biggest problem was we couldn't figure out how to turn the headlights on dim - we had brights or fog lights - which is not ideal in rural France. The manual had 5 pages of instructions on how to use the headlights - in French. My French is sort of okay but not good enough apparently.

 

[mk378]

Every company does that. "Book every 'reservation'" is the mantra. This keeps the customer from considering somewhere else. They will figure out if they actually have a car or not later.

When you're at the airport you can go to company B's counter if company A can't provide what you want. It should be cut-throat competition but I guess travelers are just exhausted at that stage.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Every company does that. "Book every reservation" is the mantra. This keeps the customer from considering somewhere else. They will figure out if they actually have a car or not later.

Seems like SOP in rental and travel industries, thankfully not hotels! Overbook 105% capacity, there's bound to be a few no-shows.

 

[mk378]

This gas model was going to cost a lot to run

Somehow, a gallon of diesel fuel costs less than gasoline in Europe though in the USA it is substantially more. Is it just a tax thing?

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

I only rented from Budget once. The car was practically undrivable due to front end problems. I took it back to exchange for another. They didn't object or even seem surprised. As if it was an everyday occurrence. Never rented from them again.

 

[goblin]

Somehow, a gallon of diesel fuel costs less than gasoline in Europe though in the USA it is substantially more. Is it just a tax thing?

Yes, a tax thing. And mostly in France.
They used to have a national push for diesels because the only thing they knew how to build were small diesels. When I lived there if you showed a driver a gasoline 3 liter V6 they'd scream "La Vignette !!!" (an yearly vehicle tax that was disproportionally high for large gasoline engines), almost pass out and would then have to sniff some diesel fumes to recover.

Incidentally, gas stations and roundabouts were a killing field for motorcyclists, as those were the places where a diesel vehicle tank would overflow (while filling up or while speeding in the curve), splash out and leave diesel slicks on the asphalt. Those wold hold for hours or even days, unlike a gasoline spill. Four wheelers wouldn't be bothered, but catch one with your two-wheeler and look at the fun. I once had a friend miserably crash on a diesel spot that was literally the size of a quarter, in the middle of summer, dry heat, nothing else slippery.

 

[Tdbo]

That is about par for the course.
I rented a "Full Size" car from Avis last weekend in Orlando.
That translated into a Kia Seltos.
Even Kia views the vehicle they designed and produced as a compact.
However, it served our needs and was a cheap enough rental that I wasn't going to pitch one over the obvious slight.

 

[dishdude]

Any rental car company not named National sucks.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I only rented from Budget once. The car was practically undrivable due to front end problems. I took it back to exchange for another. They didn't object or even seem surprised. As if it was an everyday occurrence. Never rented from them again.

I had this with a Chevy I was provided once. The brake system had something massively wrong with it where just barely touching the brakes would be the equivalent of flooring them. It was impossible to drive.