Society Central

I just spent the last hour on the phone w/Budget rent-a-car trying to extend a car rental that my client has already picked up. The reservation I booked for him had a rate of $207.89 per week unlimited free miles with each extra day being $29.70. When I called Budget they said the client was a "no show" and didn't pickup the car rental attached to the confirmation number I booked for him. I say he must have because he has the car with him. So, I reached out to my client and asked him if he made any changes to his reservation at that counter and if he could please send me the rental agreement number so that I could extend the car that way. He emailed me back that he didn't make any changes to his reservation at all. He then gave me the rental agreement number and once I had the rental agreement, I tried to do it online and the website said there was something wrong with the booking and the only way to extend it was to call. So I called back. They found the booking using that number but a completely different confirmation number was attached to it for $102.00 per day, not the $207.89 per week I had booked for him! They said a new reservation was booked at the counter. Neither my client nor I can understand why they would do that unless it was a scam of some kind. He was originally keeping the car for 11 days and now extending it for 3 more days and Budget wants to try and charge him $1364.20 for the entire rental. Unfortunately, my client didn't look and he signed the rental agreement at the higher price when he picked up the car so I don't know if there is any recourse. In addition to that, and I've never had this happen before, Budget wouldn't let me do the extension unless I could give them the credit card number he used when he picked up the car, which I don't have because in the GDS credit cards are not necessary to make a car reservation and the credit card used to buy his airline ticket is a corporate card that is different than the card he put down. My client will need to call directly and process the extension himself, which is nuts.

I have had issues with Budget before.....rentals that were picked up and used and then I never saw my commission. When I did the commission inquiry with Budget, every single time, they've said my client was a no-show when my client tells me that did pick up the car. I don't know if the prices were different or the same because I've never questioned it until now. I'm writing this today to alert you all that if you book Budget, advise your clients to make sure they use the confirmation given on your itinerary and to not sign anything unless the rate quoted matches what is on the rental agreement. I would even say, it would be smart for them to take a cell phone picture of the agreement they sign with that price in case Budget tries to come back to them later with different pricing.

I like getting my Budget Unlimited Dollars for my bookings and our contract rate is really good but this is concerning. I think as long as the clients are warned what to look out for, it's probably ok but I want everyone to be aware or what seems to be a problem.