Car Rental Cleaning Fees? Anybody get hit with these?

[monkeyprolabs]

So, last year i rented an SUV from Budget at the airport in Reno. Single most expensive part of my burn, and it sat there untouched and unopened for 7 days while i went crazy in the sun. I specifically asked them if it was OK to bring the car to Burning Man and they said "Yes," so long as i didnt' smoke in it and i cleaned it before i returned it. So I spent a solid 4 hours cleaning it myself, inside and out, then took it to a carwash for a final once-over. This thing was spotless. I even used my surplus baby wipes from the playa to clean every nook and cranny.

Then in November (yes, two months later) i get a letter from Budget saying they were charging me a $250 cleaning fee for excessive dirt. I called Budget and they said i had to deal with the local rental office directly on this. I tried for two weeks to get somebody on the phone at the Budget/RenoAirport office and not once was the phone picked up. I found this fact alone a bit odd...what do people do when they have to get in touch with the rental office????

Finally I threw the matter to my credit card company and said that they had provided no proof of said dirt and I didn't return it dirty. Credit card company happily reversed the charges.

Has anybody else had this happen to them?

Are there any rental companies that are preferred over Budget? I use them for work every month, so i'm surprised they hit me with this after I've spent so much money with them.

[VultureChow]

Did you use amex? They're good about reversing the charges.

This is an ongoing issue and happens with every rental agency at the airport. Prominently posted at each rental desk is a sign that says taking the vehicle off-road nullifies the rental contract and may result in additional cleaning fees.

If you want to avoid the fees:

1)Never tell them you are going to burning man, and dress like a damn adult when you rent from them.
2)Have the car cleaned including having the engine rinsed and the seats cleaned of any dust. Hit the seats. Does a cloud of dust rise up? Keep cleaning.
3)Try not to look like you just spent the week at Burning Man when you return the vehicle.

Three years of renting and no fees for me.

[trilobyte]

The charge coming two months after the fact sounds suspicious to me, but I'm not that familiar with how rental company cleaning charges work. My camp has rented equipment from Budget (albeit, a different location) for years, and we've never had any problems or been hit with cleaning fees. I'm glad to hear that your CC company had your back.

Pro tip: Take pictures of the outside and inside, pop the hood and snap one, and take a picture of the inside of the trunk, too. For added bonus points, do this in the lot of the rental company as you're returning it, and for triple bonus points have the rental agent in at least one of the pictures. If someone should try and hit you with a surprise cleaning charge bazinga, you now have really great evidence to dispute the charge.

[Elderberry]

We only got hit once--our first rental for the event--and thought we had it cleaned pretty well. Fortunately only $100.00. So now, we take the truck to a professional truck wash and have them clean it all--inside and out, including the engine--and have never gotten a charge since, and the truck wash is less than $100.00.

[LowePro]

A direct answer to your question, no my campmates and I have not been charged surprise cleaning fees, and several of us have used rentals over the years. Another tip, --wipe down the windows as you're leaving the playa and before you roll them down. If playa dust gets rolled down into the door, it's semi-impossible to get it out and you might get dust streaks for the foreseeable future when you use the windows.
And when you're back in civilization, blast the AC vents and the heater for several minutes--does dust fly out? Rinse and repeat as needed.

[dragonpilot]

Got my own RV now. In my rental days, I never told them where I was taking it...just provided a general itinerary if they asked, altho did make mention of possibility of driving through some potentially dusty countryside. Cleaned that sucker down to the bare metal before returning. Also took "before and after" pics because those rigs always looked better in the "after" pics.