Well, you may be glad to know that the SEA franchise (actually, both SEA and PDX--they were both owned by the same guy) just got bought by corporate.

I see a lot of people here complaining about franchises, and I understand the principle (a corporate location is more likely to be strict about following proper procedures, because they are driven to care more about the company's nationwide image, whereas a franchise probably only cares about making as much money as it can and doesn't care what people think of the brand), but in my experience, corporate-owned locations (of all companies) equal standardized mediocrity. At corporate locations, you get people who can't speak English and can't think logically--basically, little more than burger-flippers. While franchises can be hit-or-miss, some (like mine!) are better than corporate locations, because we have more control over the entire process and can make sure every person leaves happy.

As far as the charge and credit, I know that at our location, we have a minimum $250 authorization requirement. It's a simple single mouse click in our software (and I know that the SEA location prior to its corporate buyout used the same software) that distinguishes an authorization from a charge. The agent probably accidentally charged your card the $250 instead of just authorizing it. (At our location, if you have a debit card, we actually do charge a deposit and refund at the return, because debit cards don't hold authorizations as long as credit cards do, and people tend to run their checking accounts out of money before returning the car. Did you use a debit card?)

As long as you got your refund, what's your complaint?