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Budget Car Rentals Suck-Dublin Airport
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Aug 28, 2007 Budget Rent A Car complaint |
This is my letter to Budget...
Vultures at the Dublin Airport.
I will start with a little background of why I am writing this letter..
I am a Canadian and I came to Ireland for a work contract.
Before leaving for Ireland I researched my options for car/van rentals on the Internet. There were excellent weekly/monthly rates available to choose from. Much better rates online for cars.
There were several other Canadians who came ahead of me and they suggested that I approach Budget Car Hires. The arrangement with Budget was for 28 day car rentals.
I started renting from Budget in the beginning of June.
My particular arrangement allowed for flexibility to change the vehicle to a people carrier when my family arrived (six family members). Budget and I came to an understanding that when I needed to upgrade to the people carrier I would pay a higher premium. The agreement with Budget was that due to the timing of my family’s arrival I would need to supplement the monthly rate with a pro rated daily rate.
Unfortunately after the first 28 days that I rented the 6 pax van, I returned the van to find that a car was reserved for me instead (end of july).
I was stuck with making alternative arrangements with my families transportation for several days and changed our plans to suite the new situation. This disruption to our time planned together in Ireland was unbearable and I called to ask for the people carrier again. I eventually picked up another van for the remaining days that the vehicle was required. Again the agreement allowed me to rent the people carrier at the pro rated daily rate. When I returned from holidays I had a people carrier booked for several days until my family returned to Canada. After which time I would revert back to a smaller car at the lower rate.
When I returned from holidays with my family, Budget informed me that I did not book the people carrier and the only vehicle available was a 5 pax car. I clearly did not book such a car and I was stuck dealing with an inconsiderate agent who informed me that regardless of what vehicle I may have booked I would not receive a pro rated daily rate for a people carrier and the best they would do was 45 euro/ day!!!
I am very much aware of how the car rental business goes. I worked in an office where a rental agency resided. Clearly, there were better offers made on the people carrier both times and Budget figured that “they” could cash in with other clients. And worry about me when the time came.
Unfortunately the second time that this happened I had returned to Dublin Airport after a very long day and my family and I were very tired. We were “stuck” with this predicament and regrettably we proceeded with the van rental.
During this extremely frustrating experience several of the staff went off on a tangent about how the “Canadians” were making special deals to upgrade their cars and that we were taking advantage of Budget??? I have/had no idea what they were talking about and again during this rant one of the agents kept mumbling about “what makes him so special?...Why does he think he should be getting special rates??”
I had made a decision at the very beginning of the rental contract (in June) to pay a higher premium on the car due to the compensation on the monthly rental of a van. After this incident I returned the van after two days. And vowed never to rent from a Budget rental agency again. I am now renting a car for 65 euro a week and I am very happy with the way the other company is presenting itself. Very professional and up front.
Another blow against Budget, every car/van I rented was dirty and when I asked about cleaning before renting I was told to go and clean it myself and claim the cost!! How bizarre !!! I didn’t care that the cleaning machine was broken. Have an employee start cleaning by hand with a bucket of warm soapy water and a cloth. How stupid!!!This
There are many companies to choose from and clearly one can not be loyal to Budget. There was one staff member who was very helpful at one time, but this incident has marred the entire company image.
And
Why do I refer to the staff as vultures? When you approach the car rental area at the airport the only agency that I see clawing their way out to the potential clients is Budget. They are constantly preying on the passing passengers. It really looks quite pathetic. And the look on passing individuals clearly shows their distain in the behavior of the Budget staff. It is not good enough to try and lure in a potential customer you need to maintain a healthy relationship with trust so that the customer may return…
Ps. Budget was also useless when trying to rent in France. I rented from another agency there as well..
Ps I am sending this letter to over three hundred recipients
Your truly, Mark
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