not trying to be negative, but really... DONT rent from BUDGET!
 

I had the worst experience renting from Budget. And this is not another competitor trying to defame Budget Rental Cars. This incident happened at the Tucson International Airport on Sunday 8/18 at ~11:50pm, right before closing. I am just a fed up customer. I had prepaid for a $300 rental, and by the time I had signed the contract, it was my understanding that I was paying ~$550 because the salesperson led me to believe that that was the minimum I could pay (and I assumed that I was just going to have to pay $150 in hidden fees, not ideal but no biggie). When I got my credit card statement this month, it turns out the $550 was ALL optional stuff ON TOP OF the $300 I pre-paid for the rental, soI was paying ~$850 total. In retrospect I obviously signed the contract and thus I have no legal recourse, but in revisiting the contract it was a classic case of small print confusion, and while in retrospect there were questions I could have asked to clear things up, I believe that salesperson deliberately confused me such that I ended up paying almost THREE TIMES the amount I intended to. I asked questions that obviously signaled my confusion over the matter, and the salesperson DELIBERATELY answered in a way that led me to false conclusions.

I'm not trying to sound pretentious, but while I may not be a mathematician, I am going to be a physician in a few months and I was able to graduate from an Ivy League school. So I am not stupid. Maybe they set it up so they can confuse people with little rental experience who have been on airplane flights for over 10 hours and are jet lagged. Maybe this was just a poorly trained salesperson. The people at the central offices refunded a small portion of my money when I made a big fuss about it, but I still ended up paying $350 more than I budgeted, which of course is closer to $700 when one uses student loan money and all is said and done with accrued interest, etc. I understand that in the free market system businesses are allowed to try to get people to buy things they don't need, but it crosses a line when a business deliberately attempts to confuse customers to the tune of ALMOST TRIPLE THE AMOUNT OF THEIR INTENDED PURCHASE.

PLEASE WARN YOUR SOCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS ABOUT THIS COMPANY'S PRACTICES! sorry again for being so negative. Traveling is already very stressful, I don't want travelers to be similarly inconvenienced, or for students to have their finances ruined by inconsiderate corporate entities...

I hate to rain on your parade there, but every car rental company will try to sell you on extras that will cost more than the rental itself. All of the accident, property and personal damages will easily double and triple the overall cost.

The people at the rental counter can be insistent, but you can simply decline all the extra services and/or have any charges properly explained. You don't need to be a medical student for that.

Here is a tip, join the company traveller program and you can have these preferences already annotated in your profile and when you get to the airport you can just pick up your car without much(if any) hassle.

Lastly, instead of just blaming the company and advising others on your singular bad experience, take some responsibility for your actions and lack of preparation. Always read a contract before signing and make sure you understand ALL charges.

Glad OP is an Ivy League graduate, but even I, a humble state university graduate, have always known to decline optional extras from car rental companies. And also learned to take responsibility for my own decisions.

Can you break out what the $550 in additional fees covered?

Did your credit card not cover car rental insurance?

The odds of OP ever returning......0%. OP joined FT solely to put up this single post. The post was clearly part of an online effort to attempt to punish Budget for OP's own decisions.

That's "Crazy Talk"....
 

This is Flyertalk; if something "bad" happens then it must someone else's fault!!!

Agree with all the above. No sympathy.

Reserve online, print out your contract, pick up your car.

Doesn't require an imaginary Ivy League degree.

Must agree with OP.
The last time (and probably the last time for ever) I rented from Budget the person at the counter tricked me out of a hundred dollars by asking "Whether that car would be alright for me...?". Not mentioning of course that that would mean an upgrade at cost. Tired and jetlagged I said OK.
Since thenI have learned that this has happened to other people, too.
Always with very much those words. So obviously systematic.
So if you can't avoid Budget at least do not say yes to any however harmless sounding question!

I've experienced that from ALL rental agencies in the past. Some of them get real pushy with the various insurance coverages mainly, after they try to sell you an upgraded vehicle. My worst experience was with a very gentle and lovely grandma next door who was very firm about me not declining insurance. I kindly pointed out the availability of cars at the next counter and to release the car keys or cancel the reservation. I usually only rent from Budget as they have my preferences saved and in most places I go straight to the car and don't have to deal with people. Even in those airport where human interaction is required, they never push anything on me since I have all that marked on my profile.

While I understand that it may be common practice in the industry to pile on extra charges and mislead customers into paying more than they had originally signed up for, I feel like this thread is giving Budget too much of a free pass on this. Just because other rental car companies also employ these practices doesn't mean we shouldn't be critical of Budget (as well as the others) and should have no sympathy for the OP.

It seems pretty clear that the OP is young and inexperienced in car rental matters, and unfortunately learned an expensive lesson. It is worth pointing out to the OP that it is not just Budget so that s/he won't fall for it again, but it is a bit depressing that we are all so inured to these practices that we seem to feel that it is OK for Budget (and the other rental car companies) to engage in these practices.

^ Well spoken! We shouldn't really give any agency a free pass on this just because we are familiar with their methods, it should be fought.
On the other hand I have had both Budget and other companies flat out lie to me (after mentioning that I am covered by my card, my own insurance and a corporate policy) that they did not matter and I was responsible for replacing the car if anything happened to it.

I always love when people give the value of something and then expect extra "reward" when they choose to pay for it by some sort of loan method that ends up costing them extra in the end lol I feel for people who have money issues, we have all been there and it can happen again, but come on. Dont expect extra back or from something because you have to pay interest.

Why are people traveling on student loans anyways? No one would have given me a student loan for a top 10 university even with great credit lol

I don't think the OP is expecting some extra reward - just looking for ethical business practices. The source of his/her funds is a red herring.