Final charge 600 $ higher than confirmation
 

I hired a car from budget SFO on Christmas Day, and returned it on New Year's Eve. All within the times on my booking.

The final charge was about 600 $ over the email confirmation.

Turns out that when I picked up the vehicle, the counter agent added on a load of extra, and unwanted insurance options. He never asked me. However, following an 11 hour flight and being jet lagged, I unwittingly signed the agreement without looking into it in much details, assuming, albeit incorrectly, that items wouldn't be added to my bill as budget is a well known and trusted firm.

Any recourse?

Cannot see you have any recourse whatsover. You signed a binding contract and I am guessing you signed or intialled in the appropriate spots to buy that overpriced insurance.....had there been an accident or theft, they would have had to pay out on it, so I can't see them cancelling after the fact.

OP's problem is that many people do this and then assert that they did not want the coverage after they return a vehicle and did not need the various insurances.

While it is true that he has not a legal leg to stand on (which is exactly why there is a written document to review and sign), there is no harm in submitting a short & polite request (not demand) that Budget review the specific charges and credit them.

I would not count on this happening, but as noted, it's cost-free.

Thank you often1. That's what I wondered.

I will certainly be more careful the next time. I simply trusted the brand.

Just as feedback, I did as suggested and received a gesture of goodwill refund of about 60% of the perceived overcharged.

I'm find this fair and acceptable and thanks Budget.

Thank you.

I think everyone has trusted a brand too much. Glad to hear things worked out.

While to do rent from Budget occasionally, they will never get a large share of my rental car business. A few years back I found they were charging me approx 20% more for a rental when I was logged in, thereby taking advantage of my trusting the brand. After trying numerous times over the next few months to make sure it wasn't a one off situation, the same thing kept happening. They burned my trust.

So, by being logged into their site, and your account, the rates were higher!

Nice...

exactly, Amazon.com was found to be pulling the same crap with their loyal customers, if logged in, one was charged $1 more for a book or CD, than if not logged in.

Or if surfing from an apple computer since they know they are suckers for paying more for stuff.

Is there any such thing as a "trusted" car rental company? They seem to invent new ways to screw consumers out of money faster than we can keep track of the latest car rental scams on FT. I'm always on high guard when dealing with car rental companies -- much more so than with hotels or even airlines.

^ Exactly! They are the experts in sharp practices. I trust DL more than Budget and that's saying something considering DL are :-: mejor en su clase :-: Also they and other airlines are subject to enforcements when they try and renege (see recent MR thread about the post-Xmas DL mistake fares) and their service delivery is regulated.

Car rental companies seem to be subject to zero oversight and take full advantage of this.

OP, SFO is notorious for this bundling and not only at Budget. Complain to SAGO.

It is tedious to have to be on high alert, after 11 hour mega-redeye flights, but in reality that's the only way to deal with these guys. Always assume they are trying to rip you off and question every detail BEFORE driving off.

"Budget promises that the car rental rate on your budget.com reservation is the rate you’ll be charged either at the return counter or on your final receipt."

Yeah, right!..

When renting a car in the US, you've got to be very alert and have to carefully read the contract and everyting they ask you to accept or inititial.

I had cases where the agent told me that certain insurance options were already included in my voucher and I only had to hit accept on the little touch screen to activate the coverage. I noticed that they were listed with a price per day though, so I could ask the agent to take them back off. At first she told me this wasn't possible, but after a longer argument ended up doing it.

Another trick they use is to tell you that something is only USD 5.99, but neglect to mention that this is the price per day. Multiply it by 21 for a three week rental and you'll arrive at a completely different amount.

No matter how tired you are, you've got to read before you sign.

OP, if you were too tired to understand a car rental contract, how were you able to drive?
Nice that Budget reversed most of the charges.

This might technically be correct. Budget didn't change the OP's rate. They just added a bunch of optional extra serivices so that the total bill was much higher even though the rate was unchanged.