Budget charged us extra $ for our car rental in Tampa

[rickandcindy23]

I am very disappointed in Budget. We rented a car through their promotion they had advertised for $129 for a compact car per week. With taxes, it was supposed to be $178.95. It turned out to be almost $200 when we picked up the car, supposedly because taxes increased.

We have never had this happen in all of our rentals, and I assume other car companies absorb the tax increases as their way of making customers happy. Budget chose to charge us their increase of $3.00 per day, rather than let us have the car for the reserved amount.

Will we use Budget again? I don't know, but I do know we rent a lot of cars, and it's not unusual for us to get a car for $90 per week with all fees included. We have rented cars for that price frequently, right from Tampa's airport. Apparently these companies are absorbing some of the taxes, or they are renting the car for dirt cheap and charging mostly for the taxes. Never have we had a car rental company increase their price.

It's maddening, because I could have rented a compact car for a little less ($19 less) through Hotwire the day before, but I chose to keep the Budget because I knew it was in the terminal for quick exit from the airport. The Hotwire was probably Avis or Hertz. I am so disappointed in Budget.

 

[Luanne]

I've had a couple of bad, very non-customer service related, experiences with Budget. I won't use them again.

 

[regatta333]

The taxes are estimated. We got socked with $60 of extra taxes in Chicago a year or two ago for a 5 night rental--don't remember what car rental agency, but I did not blame them so much as the city for hosing its out-of-town visitors.
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I am very disappointed in Budget. We rented a car through their promotion they had advertised for $129 for a compact car per week. With taxes, it was supposed to be $178.95. It turned out to be almost $200 when we picked up the car, supposedly because taxes increased.

We have never had this happen in all of our rentals, and I assume other car companies absorb the tax increases as their way of making customers happy. Budget chose to charge us their increase of $3.00 per day, rather than let us have the car for the reserved amount.

Will we use Budget again? I don't know, but I do know we rent a lot of cars, and it's not unusual for us to get a car for $90 per week with all fees included. We have rented cars for that price frequently, right from Tampa's airport. Apparently these companies are absorbing some of the taxes, or they are renting the car for dirt cheap and charging mostly for the taxes. Never have we had a car rental company increase their price.

It's maddening, because I could have rented a compact car for a little less ($19 less) through Hotwire the day before, but I chose to keep the Budget because I knew it was in the terminal for quick exit from the airport. The Hotwire was probably Avis or Hertz. I am so disappointed in Budget.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I am very disappointed in Budget. We rented a car through their promotion they had advertised for $129 for a compact car per week. With taxes, it was supposed to be $178.95. It turned out to be almost $200 when we picked up the car, supposedly because taxes increased.

We have never had this happen in all of our rentals, and I assume other car companies absorb the tax increases as their way of making customers happy.

I think you assume incorrectly. I've always understood that the only cost guaranteed on a rental is the base price. When I review the cost breakdown, it always says that taxes and fees are estimated, and the "estimated" is often in capital letters and larger. Plus I'm one of those people who often reads terms and conditions, just because when I spend money I like to know for sure exactly what I'm getting.

The only time I'm aware of that fees are fixed is when I rent a car by bidding on Priceline. In that case i assume that either PL or the car rental company is eating any increases in fees because a PL explicitly includes taxes and fees.

 

[BevL]

I just checked both a Budget and Alamo rental ressie that I have. Both clearly say that the "mandatory charges" are estimated. Alamo has another little blurb saying total price may change due to prepaid gas, optional coverage or change in taxes.

Up to you if you write off using Budget for this but why should they take the hit for increased taxes rather than the consumer? And comparing a hotwire rental the day before to something you reserved presumably a while ago is really an apples to oranges comparison, IMHO.

No offence, but I can't agree with you this is bad service by your car rental company.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Up to you if you write off using Budget for this but why should they take the hit for increased taxes rather than the consumer? And comparing a hotwire rental the day before to something you reserved presumably a while ago is really an apples to oranges comparison, IMHO.

I hadn't paid in advance for the car, so I had the option of taking the Hotwire deal and should have. Next time, I definitely will. I think there is a good chance the Hotwire rental would have been with Avis/ Budget, too. In January, Rick and I rented a car from Tampa (same airport) for a week with Avis (same company as Budget) for $90, including all taxes and fees.

We have rented hundreds of cars and never paid additional fees over the confirmation until this one. Has this happened to anyone else?

And many of the cars we rented, especially through Alamo, no way were we paying much for the car, because the taxes were more than the actual rental. They do what they must to rent cars, and sometimes they rent way too cheaply, like our upcoming rental for $154 for two weeks, taxes included, through Costco. This particular rental was not through Costco.

I should have gotten out my laptop at the airport and rented something else, even if I had to pay more with another company. It's the principle of the thing. We reserved the car only two weeks before, so how in the world did a car rental company not know they were going to have a new tax of $21 for the week. They are incompetent to have no idea what taxes are applicable ahead of time. And what is to stop all car rental companies from adding additional fees at the time you pick up the car?

The poor clerks at the counter were inundated with complaints. I am not a happy customer, and as I said, there were many others like me in line, which was costing them additional customers. Hertz had no line, and I saw several people go to their desk after waiting in line for the Budget folks.

 

[dougp26364]

I"ve had issues wtih just about every rental car company out there. I agree with the others that taxes are simply estimates and, if taxes go up, your cost goes up.

 

[Carolinian]

Budget is also a company I avoid, because they try to shortchange you on ff miles, at least with rentals in Europe. In the past on European rentals, I have found that Budget, Avis, and Hertz never seem to post miles unless you complain that the miles haven't posted, which is a huge aggravation. Europcar always posts like it should and National usually does. The last couple of rentals with Budget, I never got my miles despite multiple communications to them. They now seem to be by far the most dishonest in actually delivering the ff miles they promise.

 

[travelguy]

I've had this increase in taxes/fees happen at Alamo in the past. Note that dozens of times I've used various rental companies (including Alamo) the final fee is the same as quoted.

The Alamo increase was due to an increase in local government fees levied on ALL the rental companies (really on poor tourists like us)! The fact that I booked waaaay in advance (~9 months) meant that the local government (Vegas) increased their fees in the interim.

I'd blame local govs who burden the tourists with additional taxes/fees instead of the rental car companies.

 

[bogey21]

I should have gotten out my laptop at the airport and rented something else, even if I had to pay more with another company.

This happened to me once. What I did was wander the counters of the other Car Rental Companies, find those who had signs that cars were available, explain what happened, and ask if they could meet or beat the "all-in" cost on my confirmation. It worked like a charm. I ended up with a lower price.

George

 

[dioxide45]

I am very disappointed in Budget. We rented a car through their promotion they had advertised for $129 for a compact car per week. With taxes, it was supposed to be $178.95. It turned out to be almost $200 when we picked up the car, supposedly because taxes increased.

We have never had this happen in all of our rentals, and I assume other car companies absorb the tax increases as their way of making customers happy. Budget chose to charge us their increase of $3.00 per day, rather than let us have the car for the reserved amount.

Will we use Budget again? I don't know, but I do know we rent a lot of cars, and it's not unusual for us to get a car for $90 per week with all fees included. We have rented cars for that price frequently, right from Tampa's airport. Apparently these companies are absorbing some of the taxes, or they are renting the car for dirt cheap and charging mostly for the taxes. Never have we had a car rental company increase their price.

It's maddening, because I could have rented a compact car for a little less ($19 less) through Hotwire the day before, but I chose to keep the Budget because I knew it was in the terminal for quick exit from the airport. The Hotwire was probably Avis or Hertz. I am so disappointed in Budget.

Did you do a comparison of the base rate you were charged to the base rate on your confirmation to truly determine that it was the taxes that caused the increase? I wouldn't take the desk agents word for it that the higher charge was due to increased taxes/fees.

 

[Bunk]

Sorry: But I don't understand why you would be upset with the rental company and why you would expect a vendor to absorb the sales tax. Your anger should be directed at the governmental authority that imposed taxes.