Complaint Review: Budget Rent-A-Car - Nationwide

UPDATE 5-18-00 badbusinessbureau.com gets us our money back!and a free rental for $100

My brother Karl rented 2 Jaguar sedans from Budget Rent-a-car some weeks ago to be used for his afternoon wedding on May 5th (Friday) at a prearranged cost of $109. each. When he and his best man arrived on the morning of his wedding to pick up the vehicles at 10 am, they were not ready.

Although he had to wait for almost two hours for the cars to be prepared, when they finally arrived at 12 noon they were still dirty and the interiors were filthy. There were noticeable scratches on one car in particular and the hood ornament was

missing from the other. Unfortunately Karl was in no position to refuse the Jaguars at this time because it was so late and there was an immediate need to use them in a photography shoot and for transporting members of the wedding party.

On his way home with the automobiles some 3 miles later the Jaguar which was to transport his bride to a make-up session at 1:30 developed a flat tire. Because there would be no help available from Budget for an hour the bride-to-be was forced to call several friends and ask for transportation to the make-up session.

The father of the groom and the best man fully attired in their tuxedos left their suite at the Airport Hilton in great haste to make what turned out to be a vain attempt to speed up the process of repairing the tire on the car, now located in the parking lot of the Circle K on Lemon St. and Terrace St. They were at the site some 20 minutes before a service technician arrived to change the tire. By this time it was 2:00 and there was little time to pick up 4 other members of the wedding party from various locations in time for the photography shoot at The Pointe at 2:30.

Needless to say, because the vehicles were so late in arriving (3:45), what was to be a 90 minute photography session turned into a scant 20 minutes since the photographer had another wedding appointment at 4 pm and was forced to leave. The entire afternoon was hectic and in turmoil not only because the cars were delivered 2 hours late but also because of the additional delay caused by the flat tire.

The poor condition of the vehicles when they were received calls into question the service and maintenance of the tires as well. When Budget was called the next morning (Saturday) to ask for an additional hour extension in rental time it took more than one hour to locate someone at Budget with the authority to grant the extension and then it was refused.

The car was delivered at 11:00 am on Saturday (well within the 24 hour limit), and the bill came not to $107. as originally quoted, but $186. per Jaguar, or $372. These additional charges had never been discussed or revealed before presentation of the final bill.

To say that Budget's bill is unfair is an understatement. They did not deliver what was contracted for: clean, maintained, pristine (like new) and fully appointed vehicles, to be presented at the mutually agreed-upon time.

Not only did they make no apologies or concessions, but they neglected to inform the customer of additional "hidden" charges at the onset, as they should have.

karl deserves a full refund.