incompetent? It boggles my mind, how often Budget screws up basic customer service over the most basic elements of a rental...the latest (and this time doesn't involve posting of frequent flyer credits) is a classic example of poor execution, and dare I say, contempt? for its customers (eg we'll enforce the contractual provisions that we care about, and unilaterally dismiss those provisions which we deem have changed even though its in your contract)... and this time, the excuse of franchise vs. corporate is no excuse...

Being someone who is a 365 day car renter, I use Budget often, albeit not in Las Vegas. Everywhere where I use Budget, the credit card deposit is always the cost of the rental or $200 whichever is greater (using a standard credit card).

So I make a one day rental in Las Vegas the other day, make the reservation online, using my Fastbreak profile. I print out my reservation and it states "At the time of the rental, we'll require a credit card hold of total estimated charges or $200, whichever is greater." In this case my total rental cost for the one day is $24. No problem.

I show up at Fastbreak in Las Vegas and the guy sitting on his little stool, tells me the credit card hold is $300. I point out to him my reservation and the clear language, and after plenty of mumbling and grumbling (between which he states that Las Vegas has a $300 deposit requirement), he succombs...making "an exception", he says. That, even though my reservation clearly states, "The following terms and conditions apply for your rental..."

*Disclosure, I've been playing attorney since 1974...

The idiot hands me my paperwork, wrapped by the "Budget Rental Agreement Jacket" (this is separate from my rental contract; never seen that one before--this is not the standard Budget jacket). I leave with the car, and because I have no life, am reading the terms of the agreement. In Section 24 it states that the credit card deposit is the cost of the rental plus 20%, or a minimum of $150, whichever is greater (actually they misspelled "or"...they said "on").

So since I have another one day rental coming up in Las Vegas at 12:15 am and really don't wish to do battle again...I'm wondering... is the credit card deposit $300, $200, or $150 for a $24 one day rental?

I call Budget Las Vegas, and talk to someone on "the desk", not the supervisor or the manager. She says, "oh, that jacket with those terms, [eg the $150 deposit reference] is old, we just never got it reprinted; I don't know anything about a $200 deposit, I think it's $300 here." I then ask to speak to the manager, who hearing that I really don't want to do battle at 12:15 am, promises to call me back before 5...

It's now 5:19 pm... maybe she meant before 5 on the next Wednesday after Halloween?

The point of all this?

1. Lousy management to be distributing rental agreements with every rental that have (apparently) an out of date credit card deposit requirement provision, and gawd knows what else no longer applies; management should be reviewing what they are distributing. No excuse especially when it comes to contract terms.

2. Corporate vs. Franchise? Fine. But if you make a reservation at a franchise through the corporate website, and the corporate website tells you what terms and conditions apply to your upcoming rental, it ain't kosher for the franchise to unilaterally say "oh, that doesn't apply here"

3. Las Vegas franchise wants to have a $300 credit card deposit? Fine, but lousy management not to have taking the necessary actions to incorporate that in the booking reservation process.

4. For the guy sitting on the stool at Fastbreak who's being paid minimum wage, shame on you for not trying to address the problem, versus just making it going away for the moment.

5. For the manager of the Las Vegas Budget location for repeatedly promising that she'd look into it and call back before 5 pm with a response, shame on you for breaking your word to a very frequent customer.

Bottom line: Just lousy on execution on their part, over a requirement that impacts EVERY renter there. Shame on you.

If the manager does ever call back, I'll post; otherwise, if you're around the las vegas airport at 12:15 am on Sunday morning, pull up a chair to watch the fireworks.