Car Rental Issue to Resolve Tomorrow

[Nitefly]

Hi all - have been ‘stung’ by the terrible Budget car rental service and hoping for some ‘practical / pragmatic advice’ on what I ought to do when I return my car tomorrow!

I paid in full in advance for my car rental (ticking all T&Cs in the usual way) and collected the car from an airport in Paris this morning.

I did not request any add ons.

On collecting the keys I’m told that the contract will be sent to my email. As it was easily available, my wife offers her card as the card for the deposit

I ask whether I need to sign anything as something flashes up on the screen desk for me to sign and I’m told ‘no - it’s sent to you by email’. Okaydoke, no need to sign anything I guess.

I drive off merrily on my way.

Later, I see an email asking my to sign my car rental agreement. Okaydoke, not a problem.

… the cheeky so and sos have added on a pre-paid tank of petrol and a local office surcharge (presumably to facilitate this ‘request’) at the total price of around £80. Obviously, I’m pretty outraged!

I have not signed the rental agreement as I know this will be taken as an agreement to pay these charges. However, it’s dawning on me that the faff and stress of arguing about it before getting on a plane, then subsequently dealing with it when home has its own price. I expect that it’s going to be extremely annoying to deal with the outcome of my wife using her credit card, should it come to contesting the charges.

Meanwhile, I still haven’t filled up the car. A full tank is probably £40 as it’s a small Hyundai.

So, my options…

(A) don’t refill the car to max and just let them deduct what they want - probably the £80, giving me a loss of £40 from the saved full tank. Life is too short… take the lesson on the chin to always double check stuff like this before taking the car AND never use Budget again.

(In which case… do I sign the agreement…?)

(B) Fill up the tank as originally intended and then take the issue at the point of returning the car - hoping it can be resolved there and then…. AND never use Budget again.

Any suggestions beyond that? I’m hoping you can help as I’m not sure what level of ‘computer says no’ I’m dealing with resolving disputes like this.

Thanks in advance, and apologies if I’m not actively responding to messages today / tomorrow as I’m trying to enjoy my stay in France!

(As an aside, this exact issue happened to me when using Budget in the US a few years ago - I was charged for a ‘days extra car hire’ as an add on…? Fool me twice, shame on me. Avoid them!)

Thanks team - I’ll update with what I do and how it goes.

 

[Nitefly]

What makes you think a full tank is £40? My Lancia Y is tiny and a full tank (47l - not big) is currently around €80 in Austria. I think France has higher fuel prices than here.

The ‘upfront fuel price’ on the ‘agreement to be signed’ is €73.25 gross (at €1.53 per litre plus tax).

I’m not exactly sure of what the cost to fill up the tank would be… but it wouldn’t make sense for it to cost them money and be more than this.

 

[Nitefly]

Looking again at the doc, they seemed to add all the waiver and roadside assistance stuff too. I specifically said no to this when asked. So ridiculous…

I’ve decided that I’m just going to sign it and pay up for piece of mind. I’d rather sign now than start getting notifications and hassle later further to a computer says no automated system…

What I also don’t want is to get into a situation of is not signing the handover doc when I return the car, as then they will probably have me for not handing over the car (late fees) or may be inclined to inflict more misery - I’m going to bringing the ‘handover guy’ a problem not of his making…

Also, it’s a gamble to fill up the tank and think I’m going to argue these fees away.

It’s annoying but on the positive the £40ish lost can buy me the knowledge of hopefully educating someone here to always clarify stuff before you leave the airport… and also never to use Budget rentals…!

Thanks team.

 

[Nitefly]

Might be worth finding out how much fuel it holds and what a full tank costs before going into autorage

The greatest scope for loss is going to be caused by filling up the tank AND paying the prepay amount. The exact cost is therefore not the most relevant issue.

The point of contention / ‘autorage’ is being asked to pay for something that I didn’t specifically didn’t ask to pay for… not the cost of the petrol.

 

[Nitefly]

An exciting ‘resolution’…

Upon returning the car, there was nobody around. Hmm.

The same gentleman was there though, in the terminal.

I asked whether there was anything left to pay:

“I will send you the contract.”
“… no, I wanted to clarify whether there was anything outstanding to pay, beyond what I had already paid.”
“Oh… there should be somebody outside you can talk to…”

He then proceeds to call someone as I head outside.

Somebody eventually shows up and checks the car in the usual way.

“Ok, you just need to pay €75 for petrol - you will get the rest of your deposit back” showing me a screen on an app that says exactly this.

Okay. Done. Peace of mind achieved…

… with that out of the way, what an obvious scam this whole set up is. It’s actually worse than I thought.

I paid €75 up from for the rental. However The contract splits up the price as:

€25 for the rental (?!) - including add ons which I didn’t add.
€70 petrol
€55 local admin fees

Total of €150. They have then deducted a prepaid amount of €75, with the balance being €75.

Aside from the obvious skimming, this seems pretty dubious ruse with the reallocation of the amounts. I was verbally told that the additional amount was for petrol. I was shown that on the official rental app. But it doesn’t accord with the dodgy contract.

Really quite troubling…

Anywho, I hope some of you have learned a lesson from this ‘adventure’ - I have. Thanks for all the contributions.

 

[Nitefly]

..since I read it - this was The genuine company called Budget, then ?

must be easy to see online what the pre-paid refuel rules should be - you are sure they hadn't just blocked a deposit for a complete tank but were actually just going to charge the shortfall at the per litre price,
like you can pre-configure in the USA. - there was no language issue presumably where they exploited you for the full tank, but should have just pro-ratad it.

apart from the petrol the e25rental&e55admin are close to e75 you had payed up front (taxes make the difference ?)


e: added link

Thanks for asking - good idea, but the amount they charged is explicitly stated as an requested ‘fuel up front option’ rather than a ‘pay what you used’ option (which is what Budget advertises for the sort of arrangement you’ve described).

Going to make the same booking again, the local terms make it very clear that this option should only apply if specifically requested. Otherwise it would be payable at the ‘pay what you use’ rates, exactly as you mention.

In any case, I did not return the car with a totally empty tank, and the amount charged has not differed from what they quoted for a ‘full tank’ before I drove anywhere (as per the email they sent at key collection). Upon return, there no point was there any mention of paying anything other than ‘a full tank’.