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| - Beware Budget's outrageously hard up-sell! To quote another yelper: "The line for every other rental company was 0-2 people deep. Budget, on the other hand, had 12 people in line. I was in line for -- not exaggerating -- 30 minutes to get my car! I even registered online a week ago." All this applies to us, except we waited 45 minutes in line, and the reason for the long wait, we discovered, is that every person in line was being subjected to a battering up-sell, including threats that I don't believe are even legal, such as: if you return the rental car with so much as a windshield pockmark, they'll charge you for the days it takes them to repair, as "lost use" days. I assume this is because the insurance pressure doesn't work with most people anymore so they've been reduced to heavier-handed tactics. People walking away from the window were muttering things like, "highway robbery," but by that point we'd waited so long in the line that we were sitting ducks for the pressure treatment.
We booked online for $237 for six days; it ended up being $348. When the Budget employee offered to reduce our cost by 10% because we're Costco members and rang up the charges again so we could sign for them, the figure was exactly the same as before. I said, "It's still $348. Nothing changed." Whoops. One trick discovered. We eventually gave in to the pressure to "upgrade" to a bigger car for $15 extra per day. Gas is $9.29 per gallon if you say you want to fill the tank yourself but don't have a receipt from a gas station within five miles of the rental car agency.
And of course, there are a zillion other charges: 10% concession recovery fee, customer facility charge $3.75/day, vehicle license recoup $1.59/day. I 100% agree with everyone else who mentions: WORST PLACE EVER; they use scare tactics, and will use every trick in the book to get you to pay more. NEVER, EVER AGAIN! We have always been pleased with Enterprise, and deeply regret not using them on this trip.
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