Budget Rent A Car

To Budget Customer Service Department:

On 5/15/19 at 2:09:43 AM EDT, I received my confirmation email from Budget Rental for a Ford Explorer Confirmation Number 07498524US5; Pick up: Fri, May 17, 2019 at 05:00 PM; Drop off: Wed May 22, 2019 05:00 PM. I took the weekly rate (4 days paid and 3 days free).

Pick up: 3596 Lee Road, Shaker Heights, OH [protected]

I reserved a van for a family trip with 4 adults, one toddler and several suit cases traveling to Nashville for my birthday on May 18th and a family graduation on May 20th. We were looking forward to the trip until my nightmare with Budget Rental began and ended up costing us almost twice as much to rent a van.

I showed up on Friday after work, as planned, to pick up the van. I was told by two young men in their early 20s that they "overbooked" cars from the 16th through the 22nd and that there were no vans or any cars available. They let me walk out the door without trying to stop me to make other arrangements. I asked if I could drive to the airport and rent my van there and they said no cars or vans were available there either. Due to the late time and other car rental places closing soon, I got on my cell phone and called around and found a van at Enterprise. I rushed there and got a van just before they closed. If I had not been able to secure the van our whole trip would have been canceled with no way to transport all of us there comfortably with the baby seat in the back seat.

While I was able to obtain a van at Enterprise to save our trip, there was now no time to barter price or shop around now, I had to pay through the nose at a per day rate at the last minute. We rushed back on Tuesday, 5/21 in order to only pay for 4 days only to run into highway construction and miss the turn in time by only a few minutes, thereby making us pay an extra day on Wednesday, 5/22 until we could turn it in after work. If we had our Budget rental, as you promised, I would have had the weekly rate and we would not have had to be rushing back, stopping only for a few minutes to gobble down lunch and feed the baby. We would have had an enjoyable, leisurely drive back to Cleveland.

How do you run a business when you give a customer a confirmation number and lead them to believe that they have a reservation and that there will actually be a car or van awaiting to be picked up as promised?

Had I used Budget, as expected and planned, my rental confirmation amount was an estimated total of $252.56 for a weekly rental rate. By Budget screwing us out of our rental, as promised, and almost ruining our vacation, my Enterprise rental instead cost us $492.20 for a 5-day rental - almost twice the amount!

I am deeply disappointed in Budget's commitment to service to their customers. I now know that a "reservation" and a "confirmation" with Budget means a "sort of, maybe rental", not a sure thing. It is more of a "tentative" commitment to the consumer instead of a "firm" commitment - that "if you're lucky, we may have a car for you. Oh well.

I cannot see doing business with you again unless you can reassure me that my confirmation means exactly what it implies … a CONFIRMED reservation and a vehicle has been set aside awaiting my pick up. You lack of commitment cost me a great deal of money and aggravation on this trip.

Regards,

Jason Polster
4198 Stilmore Road
S. Euclid, OH 44121