Last week I had a rental in Reno for two days. The reservation stated two days with 250 free miles. I did not pay attention to the miles since I usually drive less than that. When I returned the car, I was running late - turned the car in at 3:30 with the flight leaving at 4:15. I turned the car in, I took my receipt and boarded my flight.
The next day I was reconciling my trip expense and I noticed that from $129 stated on my original contract, my receipt showed a charge of $266. Upon close examination I noticed that I was charged for 517 miles driven, even though the actual miles were 267.
I called customer service. The first person I talked to, with a very poor command of the English language, listened to my argument that I did not drive those miles and that I was overcharged, then put me on hold. Next thing I know I am talking to somebody else who insists that I drove 517 miles and that I am responsible for the charges. At this point I mention that I took a picture of my starting mileage and ending mileage of the rental. She puts me on hold and agrees that I have only driven 267 miles but because I did not contested it when I turned the car in I am still responsible for the 517 miles. However as a good will, she was willing to split the miles in half and only charge me for 258 miles. At this point I asked why do I have to pay for 258 if I already had 250 miles free in my rental? She told me that I am lucky that she is willing to refund me half the driven miles even though she, upon further research, found out that I only driven 267 miles.
At this point I have been on line 90 minutes. I said, great, give me my refund and I am cancelling all my further reservations. She did not care.
Two days later, the refund posted to my debit card and I called the bank and contested the extra charge. I have yet to hear back from Budget. I have also sent them copies of my last 4 rental receipts since then, rented from the competition.