My daughter reserved an SUV from Budget. Car was to be picked up at city rental location in Annapolis, MD. When she picked up the car, she specifically asked if it had four-wheel drive (this was a necessity). She was assured that it did have this feature. The car was a Chrysler Pacifica. It turned out that she was lied to by the Budget agent -- it was only two wheel drive.

To make matters worse, she got stuck in the snow, and had to be towed out!

Has anyone here had this type of situation, and what recourse does she have with Budget, who misrepresented crucial info about her rental vehicle?

Thank you!!

AG

Why do you think this was deception rather than inadequate training? For example, an employee might think FWD = Four Wheel Drive rather than Front Wheel Drive.

And if it was that important, why didn't your daughter take a real SUV rather than a minivan-hybrid?

If she knows enough to ask for 4WD, she should know what the differences are.

Bad on both sides here.

I agree that this was probably inadequate training as opposed to a deliberate deception. That being said, I think a letter to Budget explaining what happened would be in order.

Most rental companies take great pains to point out that the car you reserve may be substituted by something "similar". "Similar" typically means something with the same number of wheels as the one you reserved, if you follow me.

However, if an agent at the counter promises that your vehicle has a particular feature, it had better have that feature. It's not the customer's responsibility to know whether a Chrysler Pacifica has 4WD or not, or even what the heck it is in the first place. Granted, if you get out to your car and it's not what was promised, you should go back in right away. However, that's not always practical.

Budget probably doesn't "owe" you in the legal sense of the word, but a good gesture on their part would be a partial refund or a voucher towards a future rental day.