Budget Car Rental Woes

Stevebax

Hope this allows other persons to be fully informed prior to booking with Budget Car Hire.

We booked a golf via the budget website @ a cost of €96.00 plus an airport charge of €28.00. We printed out the booking and it stated: Price includes all compulsory insurances, Government Tax, Unlimited Mileage and 24hr breakdown Cover. A standard Airport surcharge of €28.00 will be added to the cost when you pick up your car from Knock Airport. When we arrived they told us the cost would be €271.00 my wife was in tears, or we could leave a €1200.00 deposit, we were stunned. When we pointed out it says nothing of this on our booking form, they stated it's in the terms and conditions. I asked why was that not included on the booking form, they repeated it's in the terms and conditions. I rang the Athlone office to make a formal complint and guess what it's in the terms and conditions. I asked why is this not stated on the print out of the booking, they stated that the terms and conditions were too big to put on the booking print out. Absolute rubbish and I believe the are deliberately misleading customers in regards to the true costs so a direct comparison of rates is impossible and therefore breaches the advertising codes of practice. A quick search on the Internet shows there are hundreds of complaints about Budget. and I would ask that as the regulatory body action is taken to redress this unfair and deliberately misleading.

Remember to check the Terms and Conditions the booking price they quote is a third of the true cost.:mad:

Nody

Sorry but a big deposit (500+ EUR) OR additional insurance to reduce it has been standard practice for years and is not something new nor Budget specific. Yes it's a bit of a rip off but the exact text are along the lines of "covering the self risk" on the car etc. which being a rental is never going to be cheap.

Most, if not all sites also note that "additional bla bla bla" can be bought at the desk (usually insurance, GPS, children seat etc.) which is what this falls under.

dak

Stevebax wrote: »

Hope this allows other persons to be fully informed prior to booking with Budget Car Hire.

We booked a golf via the budget website @ a cost of €96.00 plus an airport charge of €28.00. We printed out the booking and it stated: Price includes all compulsory insurances, Government Tax, Unlimited Mileage and 24hr breakdown Cover. A standard Airport surcharge of €28.00 will be added to the cost when you pick up your car from Knock Airport. When we arrived they told us the cost would be €271.00 my wife was in tears, or we could leave a €1200.00 deposit, we were stunned. When we pointed out it says nothing of this on our booking form, they stated it's in the terms and conditions. I asked why was that not included on the booking form, they repeated it's in the terms and conditions. I rang the Athlone office to make a formal complint and guess what it's in the terms and conditions. I asked why is this not stated on the print out of the booking, they stated that the terms and conditions were too big to put on the booking print out. Absolute rubbish and I believe the are deliberately misleading customers in regards to the true costs so a direct comparison of rates is impossible and therefore breaches the advertising codes of practice. A quick search on the Internet shows there are hundreds of complaints about Budget. and I would ask that as the regulatory body action is taken to redress this unfair and deliberately misleading.

Remember to check the Terms and Conditions the booking price they quote is a third of the true cost.:mad:

I've been stung once or twice also with car hire companies. Many don't include the " optional " CDW ( Collision Damage Wavier) which you have to take out locally or face paying a deposit locally in case you damage the car. It is misleading and should be stoppped!

Its the same in car price advertising . How on earth do they get away with quoting a price and saying delivery and related charges extra! And these charges can be 1200+ !

Sponge Bob

Contact the European Consumer Centre in Dublin about this

http://www.eccireland.ie/

They take a rather dim view of cross border ripoffs such as this one.

Nody

dak wrote: »

I've been stung once or twice also with car hire companies. Many don't include the " optional " CDW ( Collision Damage Wavier) which you have to take out locally or face paying a deposit locally in case you damage the car. It is misleading and should be stoppped!

Sorry but what is misleading? That you need to pay a deposit on a 10k+ piece of equipment that you borrow that is going to be expensive to fix if damaged? Would any one expect to rent a boat with out a deposit? Or a cottage? Where are you ever renting something for 10k that don't require a deposit up front?

Heck if you want to avoid it then simply pay the deposit! You can even get third party insurance to cover your CDW for a fraction of the cost (but you need to front the deposit obviously) they charge if you're worried. Not like the CDW is a new concept; I paid that over 10 years ago when I was renting in the US for example.

dak

Nody wrote: »

Sorry but what is misleading? That you need to pay a deposit on a 10k+ piece of equipment that you borrow that is going to be expensive to fix if damaged? Would any one expect to rent a boat with out a deposit? Or a cottage? Where are you ever renting something for 10k that don't require a deposit up front?

Heck if you want to avoid it then simply pay the deposit! You can even get third party insurance to cover your CDW for a fraction of the cost (but you need to front the deposit obviously) they charge if you're worried. Not like the CDW is a new concept; I paid that over 10 years ago when I was renting in the US for example.

Its misleading in that people who are renting for the first time or from a different Rental company only become aware of the extra cost when they pick up the car locally. If it is clearly visibile at a time of booking then the hirer will know the full cost and not have the experience the OP had.

I have been renting cars for over 20 years and always take out CDW . The example I was giving of being stung relates to car hire in Switzerland. Normally you expect to pay circa €10 a day for CDW but I was charged €40 a day in Switzerland on a 10 day trip.

No one likes a unexpected hit on your credit card or holiday cash ! People should but don't always read the small print .

Stevebax

Nody your missing the point, it's the fact that they do not point out the extra cost on the web site or on the booking print out. I have no issue with the extra insurance, fully aware of the cost of the vehicle.

It's misleading in my opinion and just wanted to make others aware of this practice so they are informed so it does not lead to a embarrassing situation we endured today.

I have reported them to ASAI to ask they investigate.

dudara

This is a pretty standard practice with car hire companies. You need to take out full insurance including CDW, in order to avoid having to pay a large deposit. This can substantially add on to the cost of hiring a car. (Last year I reserved a BMW 320 for a week in Germany, quoted price ~€350. When I got the airport, added on my partner as an additional driver and took the full insurance, the cost was more like €600. I had been expecting this however, so i was prepared.)

So the practice is pretty standard, but it should be made clearer when booking, so that people who aren't familiar with hiring cars won't be shocked by it.

Stevebax

Common practice if wrong is still wrong, give me a price that includes everything then I am able to make an informed choice, easily comparing all companies and making a choice.

keithclancy

Stevebax wrote: »

Common practice if wrong is still wrong, give me a price that includes everything then I am able to make an informed choice, easily comparing all companies and making a choice.

Its standard and in the Terms and Conditions:
http://www.budget.ie/terms.php?PickUpGroupID=roi

The price is inclusive if you have a credit card.

If you don't then the Rental company have no security to cover the excess in the event of an accident so you can either leave a deposit to cover the excess or take out the full insurance to reduce the excess to zero.

This is ALWAYS the case except they just hold the money on your credit card and do not debit unless there is damage.

Cabaal

dak wrote: »

Its the same in car price advertising . How on earth do they get away with quoting a price and saying delivery and related charges extra! And these charges can be 1200+ !

Misleading, come on
You buy something from amazon and the price displayed on the say for this item is £306.00 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-LE32C530-32-inch-Widescreen-Freeview/dp/B003EEM1M4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294414266&sr=8-1

This isn't the price you pay, delivery and related charges are extra and for this could be £50 thats like 16% of the product value...what a ripp off...clearly delivery charges needed to be included
:rolleyes:

Nothing misleading about this, if people are too dumb to check and make an informed decision then thats their problem.

dak

Cabaal wrote: »

Misleading, come on
You buy something from amazon and the price displayed on the say for this item is £306.00 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-LE32C530-32-inch-Widescreen-Freeview/dp/B003EEM1M4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294414266&sr=8-1

This isn't the price you pay, delivery and related charges are extra and for this could be £50 thats like 16% of the product value...what a ripp off...clearly delivery charges needed to be included
:rolleyes:

Nothing misleading about this, if people are too dumb to check and make an informed decision then thats their problem.

I don't think you can compare a price of a car price that is sitting in a show room to something that yet has to be posted out. Of course you expect delivery on top if something is been delivered to to you. If you collected the item would you expect delivery and related charges ?

The point I am making is that the car has already incurred the additinal costs . Delivery is from Port / Storage to showroom and the related charges is normally for something like metallic paint. Therefore the price advertised should include everything...its the Garages way of getting you in the door and then doing the extraction work!

irlrobins

I don't see the issue here. On the budget website it clearly states "Please read the terms and conditions before booking". And on the form were you enter your personal details it states "Tick this box to confirm you have read the Terms and Conditions before making your booking."

In the terms and conditions it clearly states what insurance is required and the daily rates.

If you didn't take the time to read the terms and conditions, then you only have yourself to blame.

As an occasional renter of cars, I always take the time to read the T&Cs to see what is included in the quoted fee and what is not. The inclusive items can vary between company and location, so it's prudent to confirm.

keithclancy

irlrobins wrote: »

I don't see the issue here. On the budget website it clearly states "Please read the terms and conditions before booking". And on the form were you enter your personal details it states "Tick this box to confirm you have read the Terms and Conditions before making your booking."

In the terms and conditions it clearly states what insurance is required and the daily rates.

If you didn't take the time to read the terms and conditions, then you only have yourself to blame.

As an occasional renter of cars, I always take the time to read the T&Cs to see what is included in the quoted fee and what is not. The inclusive items can vary between company and location, so it's prudent to confirm.

Definitely, even just to check if they require the car returned full or as empty as possible. Some of them have a requirement on the amount of time you have your license so its worthwhile reading it.