On a trip to Ohio for a reunion, my sister and I plus our 3 kids rented a car from the airport at Budget. It took 15 - 20 minutes to get the car. As we were standing in line a woman ahead of us was arguing about Budget taking money on her credit card and that she should not have to wait 7 - 10 days for a refund. We should have taken heed and gone to another car rental.

When we got the car, we noticed a loud sound and had to get out to check the tires. We were in a dim lit garage and attributed to maybe the concrete flooring which can sometimes add noise. Every thing looked fine on appearance and after telling the lady at the booth who lets you out, we left. The noise continued. We had to drive 2 hours to our destination and plus being tired we did not want to go back and wait for another car.

We got to our destination fine and all was well. On day 2 after the car being parked the whole time, we wanted to go to the store. We all piled in and immedately my brother noticed the noise. He got out and pointed to the rear tire and said it had a bubble in it. It was not safe to drive.

We called budget. They noticed on our agreement that we did not take the insurance. My sister's creditcard covers rental insurance for damage caused by us. They said that the tires were our problem. We even pointed out that there was no way we can cause a bubble in the tire just by driving it. It was obviously a worn tire in the first place. Plus the noise was apparant when we got the car. They refused to comply but did say they would send a tow truck to put a doughnut on the car.

We weren't too happy about that but said fine after arguing the point. We wanted a replacement car or tire. The tow guy came and said immedately that we were lucky the tire didn't blow on our way out there. He looked a the spare and said it didn't have any tread either and it was not safe to drive.

We called budget but they kept falling back on the no insurance thing. It took all day Saturday and Sunday morning to convince them that they were liable because they still didn't have a working spare and that was against the law.

When they finally wanted to help, it was too late because we would miss our plane. We had to have a family member take us the 2 hours to the airport. Budget at first agreed to not charge us for the rental, or for the fee of leaving the car there. What appeared on our bill was the rental (for all the days), the tire and the fee for leaving the car.

We contacted the corporate office and opened an investigation and also filed a complaint with the better business bureau. The ended up getting them to drop the fees. I do wonder if they have the beat up cars waiting for people who don't take their insurance just waiting....

Andrea
Lancaster, California

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