Ok.

Poor car offered - MG - low budget car. Alarm kept going off.

I am a seasoned car renter for the last 4 years renting cars at different parts of the world but this time I had the worst experience towards the end of the rental process after returning the car as I was accused of damaging the car tyre by Budget’s staff the next day after returning the car. It was disheartening to find that the accusations came without clarification with the client and proper checking by the check-in staff. It impressed upon me that Budget is only trying to punish their clients who did not purchase a Zero-Excess Insurance from them and they would use dirty tricks to cheat money by falsely accusing the driver of damaging their car AFTER they return the car. The odds are always against the Drivers as the rental Company could easily find thousand and one reason to penalise the driver on any car system error anytime they want. For my case, when I return the car it was in good condition but the Next morning my rental company received an email that I was being charged almost 3 times the car rental for damaging their front tyre. That is so absurd as the car was alright all the while as i drove from Manchester to and fro Edinburgh without any issues at all. If the tyre was damaged I would surely noticed it and reported straight away and it wouldn’t be possible to drive back safely over few hundred miles journey. Through this experience, I became very sceptical of car rental companies and initially I was planning of renting another car however that incident changed my mind. Unless car rental companies start stepping up on their integrity, all renters would be wary whenever they rent a car. I hope they reflect on this incident, especially Budget.

Thankfully I have Wendy Chen assisting me to follow up with the case, coordinating both with the rental company (Budget) and my Insurance company (AXA). Without her help, I would have been penalised another £150 innocently. She is amazing.

On pick up the fuel gauge was not at the top. I filled the car the day before drop off and noticed when full the gauge does not go to the top. On the day of return I topped the cars fuel to full at a garage that was 10 miles away from the drop off( I have the receipt with date and time and garage). The gauge did not go to the top after filling again. Budget charged my card £16 when I returned home. I will be making a complaint to budget on Tuesday and will probably not use budget again.

I prepaid £60.40 for the rental. On arrival I added another driver and informed on this cost. However after returning the vehicle I was sent an receipt of charges that totaled £146.62. Rental Charges £51.37 Fees and Surcharges £16.85 Optional Services £27.99 Refuelling Charge £25.97 VAT (20.0%)£ 24.44 My Prepayment showed as £71.50 leaving an outstanding balance of £75.12. I queried the additional costs with Budget as the vehicle was full on return and they agreed to reimburse me £36.15. I am extremely disappointed with this service and unexplained costs and feel I have been ripped off. When I returned the car I was not told my the representative that I would be facing extra costs or explained what I was signing.

Car was great. Could have been more efficient on petrol for compact / size of car.