I am requesting that all visitors to this web site join me in a boycott of Budget (and Avis) Car Rental and this is the reason why.

Last summer my wife and I took our granddaughter on our annual fishing trip to Minnesota. We reserved a car through Priceline with Budget for a weekly rental from June 25th through July 2nd. The cost of the reservation for the week was $299.80 and Priceline charged that amount to my card in January when the reservation was made.

When we arrived at the airport in Minneapolis I went to the rental counter while my wife and granddaughter collected the luggage. There was no one at the Budget/Avis rental counter and after wading through multiple recordings and not getting a live person I decided to hang up and go upstairs where the cars are located and there was one person at the upstairs kiosk trying to check in and check out cars because no one was there at the car check in line. After waiting for her to deal with irate costumers for 20 minutes I got the rental car.

When we returned on July 2nd to return the car there was no one at the check in line and the upstairs kiosk was locked and dark. I left the car in the existing line of several cars and went downstairs to the check in counter. Again there was no one there and there was no drop off box. There was a slot in the counter that dropped down to a lower shelf and I dropped the keys and the rental agreement in the slot as we had to catch our flight back home.

When I got my credit card bill the next month there was a $595.10 charge on July 5th from Budget. The first thing I did was contact the VISA card holder which is Chase and they said they would not support me in disputing the charge and that I would have to contact Priceline. Here is the timeline that shows I have been dealing with multple people at Budget over a long time frame and as of 9/19/2016 it is still not resolved.

8/10/16

Called Chase to dispute Budget charge of $595.10 on 7/5/16. Car was reserved with Priceline on 1/6/16 with Chase card XXXX and Priceline charged my Chase card $299.80 on 1/6/16. Chase won't dispute.

Called Priceline. They will follow up with Budget. Case # 65105392.

8/11/16 Priceline response.

We have completed researching your issue regarding request #28908742260

We have received a response from the rental car company that you extended your reservation for 3-days at $131.66 per day. With surcharges, tax and late fee totaled $595.10. If you have any further questions, we suggest you to contact the rental car company directly at 612-726-5237.

8/12/16 Spoke to Daniel at 612-726-5237.

He apologized for the problems and said it was out of his hands and I would need to send documentation that I did fly back on July 2nd to this email: [email protected] with the Case #17807315.

8/12/16 Email to Budget

I just got off the phone with Daniel at 612-726-5237. He asked that I forward my flight and reservation information to this email.

I reserved a car at the Minneapolis airport from June 25th to July 2nd. When our flight arrived on June 25th there was no one there at the check in counter downstairs. After 15 minutes on the phone with nothing but recordings I went up the escalator to the floor where you pick up the cars. There was one woman at the kiosk trying to check everyone in and out and after waiting in line for another 20 minutes she got me my car.

When we returned on the afternoon of July 2nd to catch our return flight to Orange County (reservation information attached) there was no one in the car return area where you return the cars and the return kiosk was locked and the lights were out. I left the car in the line of many other cars and went downstairs to the check in counter. Again, there was no one there and no sign on the desk. Because I had to catch our flight I left the rental agreement and the keys in the slot in the check in counter.

My original reservation that I made for this rental was through Priceline and they charged me for that reservation on January 6th. When I got my last credit card statement I see that Budget charged my card $595.10. When I inquired with Priceline they reached out to Budget and this is the response they received from Priceline.
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We have completed researching your issue regarding request #28908742260

We have received a response from the rental car company that you extended your reservation for 3-days at $131.66 per day. With surcharges, tax and late fee totaled $595.10. If you have any further questions, we suggest you to contact the rental car company directly at 612-726-5237.
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There is no way that I extended my reservation as I was back in Orange County for those three days. It appears that it took the folks in Minneapolis three days to figure out where the car was with the keys that were left at the slot in their counter.

I am formally requesting a full credit of $595.10 to my credit card that your charged ending in XXXX.

I look forward to a timely response.

********Included in the email were attachments of my email reservation confirmation for my flight with Southwest Airlines who they are a marketing partner with and a copy of the Priceline reservation********

8/14/16 Response from Budget Rep Mark Myers

8/14/16

RE:
Case: 17807315
Rental Agreement: 676823464


Dear David Max,


Thank you for contacting Budget Customer Service. In order to address the delayed check in time noted on your rental agreement, we must ask for the following details.

If you did not obtain a receipt when car was returned, please explain why? Did you check in with rover, go to counter, were computers down? Where was the vehicle left? Was it in the Budget return area, airport parking, skycap, or elsewhere? Was car returned full, was gas receipt presented? If drop box was used during regular business hours, renter is responsible for car until the box is checked as scheduled.

Upon receipt of your reply to the above, your case will be further reviewed.

Kind Regards,

Mark Myers
Budget Customer Service

8/14/16 My response to Budget

Mark,

Did you not read my original response? Let me put my original responses in red for you. New responses are in green.
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If you did not obtain a receipt when car was returned, please explain why?

When we returned on the afternoon of July 2nd to catch our return flight to Orange County (reservation information attached) there was no one in the car return area where you return the cars and the return kiosk was locked and the lights were out.

Did you check in with rover, go to counter, were computers down?

When we returned on the afternoon of July 2nd to catch our return flight to Orange County (reservation information attached) there was no one in the car return area where you return the cars and the return kiosk was locked and the lights were out.

I left the car in the line of many other cars and went downstairs to the check in counter. Again, there was no one there and no sign on the desk. Because I had to catch our flight I left the rental agreement and the keys in the slot in the check in counter.

Where was the vehicle left?

I left the car in the line of many other cars and went downstairs to the check in counter.

Was it in the Budget return area, airport parking, skycap, or elsewhere?

It was in the Budget return area.
I left the car in the line of many other cars and went downstairs to the check in counter.

Was car returned full, was gas receipt presented?

The car was returned full. There was no one to present the gas receipt to since the Kiosk was locked, no one present in the return line or at the check in counter.

If drop box was used during regular business hours, renter is responsible for car until the box is checked as scheduled.

There was no drop box that I saw. I was only able to locate slots at the check in counter where you could drop the keys and rental agreement where they could not be retrieved. If you are saying that it took you three days to locate the keys in a "box" that doesn't exist then you are going to be dealing with this issue for a very long time. If you can show me where that policy is anywhere in your standard rental agreement I will be happy to share that information with the 500,000 people that are loyal to my web site.

I have a question for you. Do you work at the Minneapolis location or Budget corporate?

Here's the bottom line. When I returned the car there was not a single employee from Budget to be found anywhere in either the drop off location where you return the cars, the upstairs kiosk, or the check in counter.

Let me know if this information is sufficient to receive a full refund of the $595.10 that you charged me for not having any employees available on July 2nd.

8/16/16 Budget response from Rick Moss

Mr. Max,

We do apologize for any miscommunication involved with this matter. If you have some documentation related to your departure from the Budget location in Minneapolis, such as an in airport credit card transaction, or in flight purchase transaction, or perhaps even a credit card transaction from your arrival back home, or at another airport during a leg of that same trip, just to show that you had departed as stated, we would be happy to further review this matter at that point. Unfortunately, with the lack of that sort of documentation, we have nothing further to go on to support the charges being modified by our customer service department.

We do sincerely apologize that this was not clarified previously, and for the same information being requested after you provided that information initially from our first request as you noted.

Sincerely,

Rick Moss
Budget Customer Service

case # 17807315

8/16/16 My response to Rick Moss

Rick,

Attached is my Southwest Credit Card statement from that time period that shows the following transactions.

July 2nd - TCBY DIA (Denver International Airport) for $5.83
July 2nd - Grand Stop St. Paul, MN (the gas station that I stopped to fill up the car with gas)
July 3rd - Ralphs Grocery Store in Irvine, CA the day after I returned.

I trust this is sufficient information to process my refund of $595.10. Let me know if it is not. Looking forward to a timely response.

8/18/16 Response from Budget Rep Casey Waters

8/18/16

RE:
Case:17807315
Rental Agreement:U676823464

Dear Mr. Max,

Thank you for contacting Budget.

We apologize for any inconvenience. This information has been documented
and forwarded to the appropriate department for investigation. Please
allow 5-7 days for review.

We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience.

Casey Waters
Representative | Email Customer Service
Budget Rent A Car System, Inc.

8/30/16 My response to Casey Waters

It has been 12 days. When am I going to get a response?

9/3/16 Response from Budget Rep Jann Hill

9/3/16

Case #17807315
RES #23901503US3

Dear David Max,

Thank you for contacting the E-mail Customer Service team. On behalf of
our entire Budget team, I apologize for the issues you encountered with
this rental billing and I will be pleased to assist with your concerns.

Our records indicate the flight information was not sufficient to prove
the vehicle was returned on 02JUL16; since the contract was closed out
by a rover on 05JUL16. Due to this factor, no credit is warranted.

Budget sincerely appreciates the business you have given us, and we look
forward to serving you again soon.

Kind Regards,

Jann Hill
Representative | Email Customer Service
Budget Rent A Car System, LLC

9/3/16 My response to Jann Hill (As you can see I am starting to lose my patience).

I also provided documentation of food purchase at the Denver airport on that day and additional purchases at my home in Irvine the next day.

I am going to continue to pursue this in a court of law and also go viral with it on social media and my web site with a few hundred thousand followers. See attached (HuskerMax Google Analytics) for the first XXX,XXX people that are going to learn about your poor customer service.

Your entire location was empty and locked up tight on July 2nd and for you to have the gall to charge me additional for your incredibly poor service is not going to go away quietly I can reassure you.

9/4/16 Additonal response to generic Budget email giving them the benfit of the doubt that an email reservation flight confirmation was insufficient so I provided the full documentation from their travel partner Southwest Airlines.

I am going to give you one last chance. The ;previous flight documentation was my reservation confirmation. Attached are screen shots of my reservation, receipt and confirmation of earned miles from Southwest showing that I left Minneapolis on July 2nd. I am confident this documentation will hold up in a court of law and a court of public opinion for my XXX,XXX readers of my web site.

9/8/16 Response from Budget Rep Casey Waters (first time for a second response from the same person)

9/8/16

Case #17807315
RES #23901503US3

Dear Mr Max,

Thank you for contacting Budget.
We apologize that any aspect of your rental experience was not satisfactory. In order to resolve this matter, your information has been forwarded to a Resolution Specialist for review. The specialist will research the matter and contact you if any further information is required or upon resolution. Please allow up to 3-5 business days for our investigation.
We appreciate your patience and thank you for choosing Budget.


Kind Regards,

Casey Waters
Representative | Email Customer Service
Budget Rent A Car System, Inc.

AS OF 9/19/16 I HAVE NOT RECEIVED A RESPONSE

If you would like to support me in this boycott you can send an email to [email protected] with the subject line of Case #17807315 and in the body of the email simply send a link to this web page.

I would also encourage you to share this on your social media and share that link with me at [email protected].