Trouble with Budget Rental 2008

oddy9999 · Post by **oddy9999** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:33 am

Upon returning my car rental to Budget this morning I was told that the car would need to be "detailed" and the cost would run me about $200. This after the car was washed in a car wash and thoroughly cleaned inside by me and was actually very clean. When I got there they opened up the hood of my car and saw dust and said it would need to be detailed. When the car was rented I told them I was taking it to BM. Knowing very well the cars get dusty they did not say anything to me. Has this ever happened to anyone else and any advise about what to do from here?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 1:14 am

Sue.
Refuse to pay.
Go to the district attorney.
Take photos.

Maryland is now going after rental companies for fraud for charging people as much as $9 a gallon for gas.
San Francisco is supposed to have the worst overcharges.

And inform burning man and their legal staff.

Call the national office.

Tell them you have begun informing people on the internet.
Then call the press.
Hold a press conference if you have to.

--Ever-- · Post by **--Ever--** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:50 am

A clean engine bay sounds like quite the oxymoron.

hollywallydoodle · Post by **hollywallydoodle** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:26 pm

i returned mine to thrifty today with no problem, BUT they didn't look under the hood.

my car was white, but the interior was black leather...a nightmare to clean. we turned it into a nice charcoal color after about 2 hours of scrubbing. when i returned the car i was wearing a hat to cover my hot pink hair and my most understated ensemble. it also probably didn't hurt that i'm a blonde female.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:42 pm

hollywallydoodle wrote:i returned mine to thrifty today with no problem, BUT they didn't look under the hood.

my car was white, but the interior was black leather...a nightmare to clean. we turned it into a nice charcoal color after about 2 hours of scrubbing. when i returned the car i was wearing a hat to cover my hot pink hair and my most understated ensemble. it also probably didn't hurt that i'm a blonde female.

Why would that matter?

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:21 pm

When the car was rented I told them I was taking it to BM. Knowing very well the cars get dusty they did not say anything to me.

And you knew very well that going to burningman meant you'd get a rental very dusty. What does it matter if they "knew"? So did you. You still need to return it in the same condition. If it's just under the hood then $200 is expensive, but if you just took it to a carwash, there is likely more dust everywhere. I've tried to clean playa cars and they require effort worth calling "detailing". I rented a trailer, meant to get it detailed before I returned it but ran short on time. I ended up paying $75 for detailing and it seemed just fine to me. Renting something means returning it in the same condition.

That being said, they should give you the opportunity to clean it yourself. That has likely passed, but if they refused to allow you to pressure wash under the hood then you should have refused to pay. At this point your best bet is to talk to a manager and make a reasonable offer. They cannot make money off of your dirt unless it's specifically in a contract you signed, they only have the right to recover their damages.

Post by **mdmf007** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:44 pm

Normal wear and tear is expected. You can make the argument a trip anywhere in the desert is normal wear and tear.

To detail under the hood will take 10 minutes with a pressure washer. 200.00 is way excessive.

contest the charge and dont let it slip.

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:45 am

Yep, $200 for under the hood is excessive, but given the description of their washing, I'm guessing it's not just under the hood that still needed cleaning. If it is, then yes, $200 is excessive. If they left dusty residue throughout the vehicle then it may cost around that for a large vehicle to get detailed. It may still be a bit high but not a completely crazy estimate.

skibear · Post by **skibear** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 6:43 am

I simply plan on taking 4 hours to clean the rental car.

coin operated car wash-2-3 times
. . includes washing wheels, under car, engine compartment,floor mats

vacuum inside -2 times

going over vinyl surfaces(dash,window posts etc) with baby wipes
then a wet rag.

Tapeing the underhood air ducts shut while on playa & not running
the fan/AC keeps dust from there.

Will also wash the car after non Burningman adventures on dirt roads.
They want their vehicle back in good condition " less normal
wear and tear" per the ontract.
Have not had any trouble with car returns.

skygod · Post by **skygod** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 6:57 pm

Enterprise took my cargo van back yesterday with no problem. It was a little dusty after i hosed it out at the car wash but they said they expected cargo vans to come back dirty. The rental was from sat to tues 514 bucks.

Otisserie · Post by **Otisserie** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:28 am

MikeVDS wrote:Yep, $200 for under the hood is excessive, but given the description of their washing, I'm guessing it's not just under the hood that still needed cleaning. If it is, then yes, $200 is excessive. If they left dusty residue throughout the vehicle then it may cost around that for a large vehicle to get detailed. It may still be a bit high but not a completely crazy estimate.

We were charged $70 by Budget for engine cleaning on our truck. We stopped at the 49er truck stop on the way from Sacramento where they cleaned the whole outside of a 16-foot truck for $30 + tip. Worth every penny.

accordionMan · Post by **accordionMan** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:22 pm

I once was almost hit for a big clean up fee, but was "gifted" a pass by the rental guy.

The guy ahead of me was returning his rental that was on the playa and was raising hell about not paying for bringing back a trashed rental.

"You should know that some cars are going to come back dirty.. you should eat it and not try to rip me off... on and on and on like that .. very loud, very aggressive.

When it was my turn I said.. " my car's dirty too.. just throw it on my card." the rental guy said.. well if it's not too bad, it won't be that much" I said.. "it's bad, just bill it". the guy said "thanks for your honesty and not giving me a hard time.. screw the other guy... I'm not going to charge you at all". That was great news.. after spending about $500 on airfare and another $500 on the rental PLUS food, bike rental and other BM related stuff... another couple of hundred was really going to hurt.

Since then, before I buy my supplies in Sparks, I line the interior of my rental with heavy plastic drop cloths. When I'm on the playa, I cover the dash, steering wheel and front seats with more plastic. Before I drop my rental off, I toss the plastic, have the outside of the rental washed in Gerlach or bring it into a car wash in Sparks.

Haven't had a problem since then.

Post by **Elderberry** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:24 pm

U-Haul hit us up for $100.00 and we thought it was more than fair.

JK

sonic · Post by **sonic** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:25 pm

I used Enteprise and had no issues returning the truck, they didn't even notice the new scratch. I did detail the truck thoroughly.

I did have problems with them in picking up my rental. I reserved a cargo van and they didn't have any available when I showed up. They got me into a truck with a 15% discount. Though I really do perfer a cargo van I can just hose out when I return. Besides, I'm not skilled in loading a tying down stuff in the back of a truck. I just want to shove stuff in and close the door. It worked out though with the help of my family and campmates!

Zona_the_stona · Post by **Zona_the_stona** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:37 pm

We had an Enterprise rental van.

We returned our van a day late.. the guy working in the parking lot said, "Looks like you guys just came back from Black Rock City"

he asked us if we cleaned it.. we said yeah. after taking a closer look he said, "Uh oooh I don't know fellas, it's pretty dirty"

but he was a burner too. He was super cool with us and let us slide..

I think we paid more for our van than most people did. It was about $725 for 11 days. But at least we didn't have to pay any cleaning fees.

Trouble with Budget Rental 2008

Trouble with Budget Rental 2008

Under the hood is $70