BACK ON BUDGET: A Follow Up - All's Well That Ends Well
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Sacramento November 22, 2005; Alright, after one week of sending emails to Budget Rent-A-Car (via their online Customer Care email system) and writing a terse commentary of my Budget/Priceline JFK rental travail (see TACH story of November 18th below), I did get very polite and apologetic calls from Budget Corporate Customer Relations and their internal Public Relations Department.
The short story is this; they goofed. There is a glitch in their computer system when a Priceline-rented vehicle is returned too early. I should have never been charged the additional $395. I should have never been told that I “breached the contract.” And the counter agents at the JFK office, as well as the telephone agent that I spoke to, should have quickly and cheerfully cancelled the erroneous charge and bid me “Adieu,” without anyone getting testy.
So all’s well that ends well. Except, I was never able to find out what constitutes “too early” of a return, or why I was repeatedly told that I should have read the Priceline contract, or where in the Priceline contract the Budget agents thought there was a clause that they believed they could fall back on. I mean, if this was merely a computer glitch, and there was no written contractual penalty provision related to early returns, then why didn't the counter agents simply say, “That does seem very strange. Sorry for the error, we'll change it right now.” Why the false bluster? Why the misstatements and misrepresentations? After all, the counter agents insisted that this penalty assessment happens all the time. Surely I can't be the first to have challenged it, and have the charge reversed? At least I hope not.
Original Story: 2005 Automotive Scam of the Year?
By Marc J. Rauch, Exec. Vice President & Co-Publisher
Newark NJ., November 18, 2005; Gosh, it’s not even the end of the calendar year and I can already tell you who I would award with the 2005 Automotive Scam of the Year, if we actually gave such an award away. Ironically, it goes to a company that I usually like and do a fair amount of business with, BUDGET RENT-A-CAR.
Here’s what happened: Last Wednesday, November 9th, I used Priceline to rent a vehicle from Budget at JFK Airport. If you’re not familiar with how Priceline works, you can name-your-own-price on an airline ticket, a hotel room, or a rental vehicle, sort of like an auction. Priceline then uses their computer system to find a taker, and if found, charges your credit card immediately for the agreed upon price, plus some ancillary service fees and the ubiquitous sales taxes. The charge is irrevocable and non-cancelable, except under the most extreme situations. In fact, if you never show up for the rental you lose the entire charged amount.
The rental was to begin at 9AM on Friday, November 11th, and end Tuesday, November 14th at 8:30AM. The total non-cancelable, non-changeable rental rate agreed to by all parties (me, Budget, and Priceline) was $40 per day for 4 days, plus a one-time taxes and fees charge of $28.40. Admittedly this was a very attractive price, but then, that’s why I chose to use Priceline: I wanted to save money! The total rental price of $188.40 was then charged to my credit card.
Upon arriving at the JFK rental desk, the rental agent made it clear to me that there would be additional charges if I returned the vehicle past the scheduled return time and date. He also pointed to the place on the contract that sets forth what those charges would be for late return. This is a rather normal procedure, and you would logically expect to pay an additional fee if the vehicle was returned hours or days after the scheduled time.
Well, as it turned out, I did not return the vehicle late, not by a minute, not by an hour, not by a day. In fact, I returned the vehicle, filled with fuel and in the same condition as when I rented it, about 13 hours early.
From previous experience in renting vehicles over the past 30+ years, and from being familiar with the policy of how rentals are calculated (on a 24-hour basis as opposed to a calendar basis), I knew that I would not be entitled to a refund for the unused ½ day. So, of course, I did not ask for the refund when we checked in the vehicle with the outside attendant.
However, what I definitely didn't expect was to be told that I was being charged an additional $395 (over and above the $188.40 I already paid).
The sum shocked me for a moment, it literally disoriented me. Here I was expecting to just turn the keys over to the check-in attendant, be given a receipt, be thanked for doing business with Budget, and be merrily on my way to the strip search at the airport gate check-in. But then something clicked in my head and I blurted out, “No, it should only be about $160.” And within a moment, another brain synapse triggered and I added, “Wait a minute, it’s all been paid for already. There should be no charge; it was paid through Priceline.” I'm not sure that the attendant even knew what Priceline is, but he abruptly directed me inside to discuss it with a desk clerk.
So, in I marched to discuss the matter with the counter folk. Well, you can imagine that if I was shocked and disoriented at being told I owed an additional $395, you can imagine how I felt when I was told by the desk agent that I had breached the contract by returning the vehicle early, and was being charged a penalty according to a different fee structure; one that neither I, nor Priceline, nor Budget had agreed to when they accepted my price and pre-payment.
As an aside, I hold frequent renter “membership” cards with Budget and several other rental car firms. I bring this point up because with all the renting that I do, and the number of years that I've traveled and rented cars on a regular basis, I have never heard of being charged more for returning early. I have, however, received a lower rate if the circumstances warranted it, such as returning a weekly rental after just three or four days (typically the rate might get adjusted to a lower total multiple daily rate). And, in each instance I was never penalized for returning a vehicle early, regardless of the reserved rate or amount of early-ness.
Although I attempted to reason with the desk agent based upon previous “normal” rental experiences, the desk agent, and then the location manager, told me that the Priceline deal was different and that I should have read the Priceline contract. They even asked, with lip-curled, head-shaking attitudes, “Did you read the contract, sir?” I have to admit that I was at a disadvantage at that time since I didn't peruse the fine points of a common contract that I had entered into many, many times in the past. Moreover, I didn't have my computer or my Priceline paperwork with me. I responded merely from logic, common sense, and past experience.
Regrettably, coherent thinking and past experience would not shake them from the position that I was a contract-breacher and owed more than twice the original rental rate for not returning my vehicle late. Amazingly, if I returned the vehicle 13 hours late I would have been responsible for just a fraction of the too-early assessment.
I became angry, and they became angry, and they refused to do anything further about the matter, with the manager walking away and going back behind the closed door of her office.
I was faced with quite a dilemma; a rapidly approaching flight time, or the prospect of losing nearly $400 to two desk agents that acted like they were auditioning for a nasty attitude segment on Maury Povich’s television show.
I risked all. I stepped away from the counter, retrieved my trusty cell phone and called Budget customer service on their 800 number. The phone agent listen to the story, pulled up the contract records on his computer (I assume that’s what he did), scratched his head (another assumption on my part), and said he couldn't understand the charge. Then, after a rather lengthy pause, he announced, “Well, you breached the contract by returning the vehicle early. Therefore, you are being penalized and must pay the going daily rate and not the agreed-to Priceline rate.”
If the situation wasn't so stupid and so preposterously illogical, it would have been funny. I even looked around for a Candid Camera in the hope that Alan Funt's great, great grandson would pop-up from behind the counter and assure me that this idiocy was all in the name of comedy. But alas, there was no Alan Funt IV to be found.
I tried a bit more logic. I asked, “What if, instead of returning the vehicle at the scheduled 8:30AM return time, I returned the vehicle at 8:20AM. Would I still be in violation of the contract and be assessed the $395 penalty?” He said, “No.” “How about 7:30AM,” I inquired. “No,” he replied again, “You would not have breached the contract and would not have to pay anything extra.”
For a moment I thought I was making a big breakthrough. I then asked, “So why would I owe you anything now?” He countered with, “Because of the length of time that you were early. You were too early” Further questioning about where I could find the written policy that sets forth time thresholds resulted in him only suggesting that I should have read my contracts with Priceline and Budget when I picked up the vehicle.
I had one further salvo to make, and I launched it: “Okay,” I said, “what if I never showed up to pick up the vehicle in the first place, would I have been in violation of the contract and owe you an additional $395?” “No,” he said, “you would not have to pay anything addition, you’re just in violation of the contract because you returned it too early.”
Unfortunately, as much as I was obviously enjoying this exchange with Mr. Spock’s Bizarro world brother, Mr. Schmuck, it was now 45 minutes later and I had a plane to catch. So I got off the phone, apologized profusely to the desk clerks for my unruly behavior (assuring them that I would look into the matter further), and made my way to the terminal.
Six hours later, upon arriving back at my computer, I scoured the websites for both Priceline and Budget, and searched the paperwork from the rental transaction. I found NOTHING that indicates a penalty fee for returning a vehicle early, and NOTHING about breaching the rental contract for an early return. The only related references to early returns are that the renter would not be entitled to a refund or rebate if the vehicle was returned early, which I already understood.
I've since attempted to contact both Priceline and Budget, and ask for help in directing me to where I would find the paragraph or clause in the contracts that establish severe penalties in the event of an early return. It’s now about three days later and I'm still waiting for any type of response.
My guess is that I'm not the first person that Budget has pulled this scam on, and I dread to think of the thousands of dollars that they've conned customers out of. I don't know if Elliot Spitzer, New York’s bulldog Attorney General, is taking on any new crusades, but I sure hope he gets his teeth into this one.
So, you may be thinking to yourself, will Marc still rent from Budget? Probably yes, unless this article gets me put on their “do not rent to this person” list, but I won't when I can find an alternative. And I say this even though I just received my two free bags of Dunkin' Donuts coffee for being a good Budget customer.
In any event, I consider Budget’s penalty for early returns to be fraudulent, regardless of whether it is stated in print or not. And if The Auto Channel really did present a trophy for the Automotive Scam of the Year, for 2005 it would have Budget’s name on it.
