Budget gas scam
 

I rented last week from Budget-had a free day coupon from their dropping Perfect Drive.I returned the car full of gas-attendant noted it and I left.A few days later a fuel charge showed up on my credit card statement.After 30 minutes on hold,the customer care person told me I was being charged $5.49 per gallon.Fortunately I had the receipt from the filllup close to the airport.The fee was almost 40.00 for less than 7 gallons of gas.

This cannot be an accident-Budget is the most crooked company I have dealt with.I left them long ago for Hertz,but returned for the free day.What a mistake-they have eventually credited my account after proved I put gas in the car.

I have discarded the other free coupons I have and will never consider Budget again.
Makes you wonder how much money they make from this scheme-my guess is that most of their customers to do not check once the car has been returned.

I have seen this mentioned in another thread, so I was aware of it. Yesterday morning, upon returing a Hertz car to SFO, I looked over the printout and found a charge for fuel. The slip stated "7/8 tank". I immediately questioned this, as I had just filled the car. The second attendant replied that "since I had traveled so few miles, and many people don't refill, hoping that it won't be noticed, they automatically add the charge for low-miles returns". The first clerk never asked if I had refilled the tank, just assumed that I hadn't, although the gauge registered higher than full. Looks like a new revenue enhancing scam being implimented by several companies.

That is the best time to question it, IMO. This happened to me and when I questioned the attendent he changed it right away. I make sure I have a reciept from the last fill up.

I just picked up a Budget car from downtown San Fran yesterday. I'll be returning one-way to Reno on Monday: $31.49++ a day AAA rate vs. $60 a day with everyone else. I've accepted Fuel Purchase Option, so I'm covered ;) !

KOA Hertz screwed me on fuel too.
 

I returned my car to Hertz at KOA airport. The attendant, Charlie, told me all the printers were down so he could not print me a receipt. Noting was mentioned about the fuel gauge. Upon receiving the receipt, I noticed a charge for fuel service. I called Hertz and the agent reversed the charge immediately.
KOA Hertz is crooked, be aware. This same agent, Charlie, screwed me when I went to pick up the car the night before.

Just rented from Thrifty and the car started out with 3/4 tank. I immediately called and made sure it was noted in the record. Always need to be paying attention.

Ya know, I see horror stories like this for EVERY company. Hertz, Avis, budget, enterprise, payless, ritz, national, alamo, thrifty, dollar.

the point is, lets take my location (avis) for example. The rover agents will roughly check in 98% of our total check ins on any given day, equating to 600-800 cars in an 8 hour period. Two rovers, 800 cars....thats 50 cars per hour per agent. At 45 seconds per transaction (flying), stuff gets missed. Although Budget is a Cendant Company along with avis, I must say that I am not in the habit of justifying for companies other than avis. But on this note, all it takes is one finger slip to charge someone gas even though its full.

THATS WHY YOU DONT WALK AWAY WITHOUT A RECIEPT. and if you do, get names, times, etc etc.

Ladies and Gents, at times, its not about the mistakes that are made.....it happens. For every mistake my agents have done, I can quote 7 mistakes made by the renter themselves.

its about how the company handles the mistakes. Do they put you though abnormal grief. do they tell you no outright.

Avis managers have tremendous latitude to correct mistakes. But if we can tell its totally your fault, like booked it for the wrong month (internet booking) or you went offroading and puncthred the oil pan and tried to say we rented you a car with no oil, we wont necessarily give it to you "your way."

At todays fuel prices, you should NEVER walk away without knowing if you were charged. And unlike my bretheren in the industry, I firmly believe that there are times when GSO is NOT an option.

It happened to me at LGB. There was some sign at the check-in desk about a $6.00 charge for not refuelling or something. When I returned the car, I was charged the $6.00. When I questioned the charge, he said something about "Didn't you see the sign?". I told him I refuelled. He then adjusted the charge. The whole thing felt slimy.

I've heard that Budget at LAX will charge you the $6.00 fee unless you can show them your gas receipt. I'm staying away from Budget from now on.

In the early 1990s I had to travel to Montana several times on business. Hertz of Bozeman, MT, had a policy of charging EVERYONE 1 gallon of refueling s/c because they said that one must have used some gas on the way from the gas station :td: . The only way out of it was to buy the FPO ( whole tank up-front.)

Rented with Budget twice in Sept - both one-way between Ft.Lauderdale in town location and MIA. There is no sign posted in the in town office which is an independently owned Budget licensee. MIA has a sign of the $6.00 surcharge at the airport counter. However the surcharge now is $9.50 and it would automatically show up on the receipt but get adjusted out at the bottom. We filled up the tank on both occasions (about 1.5 gallon each time for a 35 miles drive). The in-town location does not require to see the receipt and would adjust the surcharge out as long as the gauge reads full, according to the lady at the counter.

On another note, when we rented from Ft.Lauderdale in-town office on Sept 1
, the gas tank was only 1/4 due to power outage the day before, they were not able to refill cars returned not full. The same lady hand-written the gauge reading from a computer print out of 8/8 to 1/4 - we dont understand why it could not be noted in computer as only 1/4 - and that later gave us some trouble when we returned it at MIA the following day. The rover agent marked the tank was 1/4 on return, and agreed with us the gas was refilled (started with 1/4 and returned with 1/4, and a receipt from a gas station less than 1/2 mile away from Budget MIA location, with only 35 miles driven). But he could not adjust it because the computer said it was 8/8 out. We had to go to the counter and took the counter agent 2 tries to take out the fuel charge (which was a lot higher than $6.00 btw) - she eventually gave us a receipt showing the car was out 0/8 !!! but no fuel was charged - and she explained it was the only way she could take out the fuel charge. It was on Sept 1. I have checked my credit card statement periodically, and hope nothing would show up.

When the computers are up but they haven't filled up the tank yet, rental agents enter the low amt. of starting fuel. If you return it full, most co.s pay U a refueling fee which is > the price U paid but often < what they would charge U for the reverse.

The best defense is a good offense
 

I always try to fill up about 50 miles before returning the car, so that the gauge will still show "full".

That is insurance for the problems that might otherwise occasionally arise as discussed by the OP.

Just to clarify-I am the OP-I filled the car about 3 miles from the airport,the agent checked it in as full and I had the receipt where it was noted as full.Budget still charged for fuel several days after the rental--there is where I find it hard to believe that Budget is not purposely charging for fuel and hoping that customers do not follow up on their credit card statements.

I also emailed Budget and Cendant when this occurred to let them know about this situation,as of today I have had no response.

I realize that Budget could not care less that they have lost a customer,but as I am on the road at least 2/3 of the year,I will continue to use Hertz,as I have never encountered a deception problem there.

My response to that claim would be: Well, you are probably right that some gas must have been used on the way from the gas station. However, this also means the car I rented must not have been completely full since some gas must have been used on the way from wherever you filled the tank before it got onto the lot where it sat when I picked up. Since the fuel gauge read full when it left your lot at pickup and also reads full now upon return, unless you can prove I have returned the car with less gas than it had when I rented some other ways, your refueling charge would be considered fraudulent!

LAX

SMF pre-warned about $9.50 fee
 

I rented thru Hotwire this week and there was a sign at SMF and a verbal explanation given that if I was traveling less than 75mi I should bring my receipt for fuel or I'd be charged $9.50. Didn't mind, as long as I was given the info, although I sympathize with those who weren't told.