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  • Report:  #1239769

Complaint Review: Budget Rent A Car - Nationwide

Reported By:
Tom - Cedar Park, Texas, USA
Submitted:
Updated:

Budget Rent A Car
Nationwide, USA
Phone:
800-214-6094
Web:
http://www.budget.com
Categories:
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good? What's this?

I rented an auto online from Budget Rent A Car on 6/29/2015 for 11 days. I was anticipating passengers who may have difficulty entering and exiting the vehicle so I reserved and paid for a "Full Size" vehicle. Upon arrival, I was provided a Kia Optima. I have no idea what a Kia Optima is and I took the car. I went into the lot to retreive it and discovered it is not a full size car. I looked up the car on Kia's website and it clearly states its a mid sized car, which I completely agree with. I went back to the counter and explained the problem. I was told to come up with $120 more to upgrade to a "Premium". It was also explained that as far as Budget is concerned, the Kia is a full size car. It was also explained that Budget determines what is and is not a full sized car. They refused to assist me further. I called customer service and was informed I would be upgraded to the next level higher vehicle at no additional charge. I explained I do not care what kind of car, it just needs to be full size. I was transfered to a customer service rep to upgrade the vehicle. This is where it got ugly. I was spoked down to, told I got what I ordered, they determine what is and is not a full size vehicle, and was told to take it or leave it. 1500 miles away from home, at the airport, and now trying to find another car before my appointments that morning. This stinks of bait and switch. May be not legally with their legal ease, but no doubt I got screwed and more or less told to suck it up. I had to make other transportation arrangements for elderly members while on my trip.



1 Updates & Rebuttals

Budget responds due to customer survey

#2Author of original report

Thu, July 16, 2015

On Thu, Jul 16, 2015 at 11:20 AM, William Kiesgen <[email protected]> wrote:

Tom:

My name is Bill Kiesgen and I’m the Airport Manager for Avis Budget Group at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. I’m following up on a customer service survey you submitted regarding your rental from us on June 29. First, let me say how sorry I am if you experienced anything less than top-notch service at our location. At Burbank I’m part of a team that prides itself on delivering great service and when we fall short I take it very personally. I am particularly concerned that we did not handle your situation courteously, and I am sharing your remarks with my entire counter staff to let them know how short we fell of the mark. I have submitted a $40 refund that should take approximately 3 to 5 business days to process. You have my sincere apologies.

I of course do not determine the names of our vehicle classes nor which cars classify as what; but I can tell you that the distinctions and classifications we make are pretty much identical to the rest of the rental car industry. If you do a comparison shop on a site like Travelocity, they will give the same example of vehicle type (“or similar”) for each company, and typically you will see the rates for those types of cars are fairly close together by market segment; that is, Avis, Hertz and National will have similar pricing to each other, as will Budget, Alamo and Dollar.

I am grateful for your comments, since it gives me an opportunity not only to discover where we have failed, but to fix it. While I cannot make up for the distress you experienced, I sincerely hope you will consider renting from us again in the future and I offer my services in personally assuring that everything goes perfectly for you the next time you're in town. If you drop me a line I will make sure you receive great service and you will have a personal point of contact for any concerns that arise.

Thank you for your comments, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Bill Kiesgen | Airport Manager | Bob Hope Airport - Burbank

Avis Budget Group, Inc.

W: 818. 565.1062 | F: 818. 566.3012

2501 N Hollywood Way, Suite 7 | Burbank, CA |91505

 

My Response:

 

Bill,

Let me assure you the staff at your facility were courteous. It was Budget Corporate that was very rude to me (on the phone from the lot).

The $40 refund. Its a nice gesture, but certainly falls short of the mark. I'm not really looking for a refund.

I understand you yourself do not set policy on Budget product advertising. Implying that a foul business practice is okay because others do it too, well lets just say that infuriates me.

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