I am preparing to send this letter to Budget. Has anyone else had similar experence with Budget? I would be interested in what your outcome was.

Budget
4225 Naperville Road
Lisle. IL 60532
(630) 955-1900

Attn: Mr. Sandy Miller

Re: What is $10.00 worth?

Dear Mr. Miller,

I am a business traveler and frequent Budget car renter. As a business traveler I have the opportunity to see the best service that travel related companies offer and sometimes the worse. On a recent trip to Greensboro, NC I had an unpleasant experience with Budget that encouraged me to write to you. This experience continued long after I left the counter and continued with the calls made to the Budget customer service help line.

This letter is not about compensation, but rather the cost of unempowered employees who cannot or do not want to see the significance of $10.00, especially as it relates to a frequent renter such as myself. As a result of this experience, and unsuccessful requests to Budget to have this situation resolved, I have decided my only recourse is to speak with my pocket book and take my car rental business elsewhere.

I realize that the loss of my business will not overly impact Budget, even though my business is worth about $1,000.00+ per year. However, assuming I travel regularly for the next 5 years, the loss of my business to Budget could be considerable, especially when you factor in how little it would have taken to resolve this months ago. A simple $10.00 credit, a free upgrade on my next rental or some sort of recognition that my business is important or valuable and that we (Budget) are sorry you had this experience.

Here is my experience, briefly stated:
1. I made a reservation through budget.com for a pick-up truck in Greensboro, NC.
2. Arrive at car rental desk. No pick-ups, I am offered the equivalent size car. I inquire about a larger car at the same price and I am told that is not possible.
3. I accept the same size car offer.
4. Arrive to the car. Find the car to be completely smashed on passenger side. Tires and rims look bent; decide car is unsafe to drive. Back to counter.
5. No other same size cars available. I am given the full size Taurus. I assume (my mistake) at the same price as truck.
6. Return car two days later, review bill, $10.00 per day higher. I complain but to no avail. Counter agent is rude in her response.
7. Return home; register complaint with Budget, Case # 903408. I am told that I will be contacted in 3-5 weeks.
8. November 11th, no response from Budget. I call to inquire. I am told there is no response. I accepted a larger car and therefore was charged more. There is no mention of the damaged car.
9. I nicely explain to agent that I will take my business elsewhere and hang up.

Over the last few months I have seen many travel related companies such as airlines enact regulations and rules that seem so customer unfriendly. Everyone seems to be blaming the traveling customer for their woes. This is how this experience has left me feeling.

This is not even about the money, its more about acknowledgement that what I experienced should not have happened. A simple gesture to me on someone's part could have resolved this issue months ago, but here we are three months later with a customer having received no satisfaction and a company having lost a customer. So again I ask you, what is $10.00 worth? In this case quite a bit.

rawbert

April 2000: wrote a letter complaining about how the Chevy Cavalier I was given was so cheap that somebody was able to easily pick the lock and break in to steal my belonging -- got a $25 coupon

June 2000: wrote a letter complaining about a 50 minute wait fiasco at San Diego -- got a $50 coupon

Have written two letters. No response. Switched to Hertz.

Makes the point. In these situations I am usually successful getting something else substituted for my res, or waiting a short time for one to become available.

I think it just depends on who reads it and how they react. You can either expect a token response, or none at all. Probably time to take your business elsewhere.

I finally received a response from Budget. They apologized and credited my credit card $25.00 and gave me a discount on my next rental if I give them another shot at my business.

The ketter was well worth the effort.

rawbert

My last two rentals at Budget have been a disaster - the first one I was charged about $30 for 1/8 of a tank of gas and they refused to correct the charge. After fighting with them and getting the promise of a $20 refund, they gave me $9 weeks later.

The last one was the worst - upon returning the car, they changed the rate from when I picked up the car! Showing the receipt from earlier didn't matter. The high school dropout behind the counter couldn't comprehend the difference. "But dat's not what my computer say..."

I'm giving them a rest for a while.