William recently moved, and he rented a truck from Budget to ferry him and his belongings between the two cities. He drove the truck one way between his old place and his new one, and would drop it off near the storage space he’s renting in his new town. Easy. Right? Well… no. He paid for up to 202 miles: more than enough to cover his move. Budget is charging him for putting 299 miles on the vehicle. Even if he wandered around a bit at the beginning and end of the trip, that doesn’t account for an extra 185 miles.

I rented a truck on November 19 to move from [Village], NY to [Small City], NY. The rental was one way and I was renting a storage unit near the rental return so it was a straight forward move. I left the truck that afternoon at the return location and thought everything was fine.

Today I get a credit card statement showing an extra $88 charge and when I called they informed me it was for extra mileage and that I had put 299 miles on the truck. I was allowed 202 on the rental and the distance from [Village] to [Small City] is 115 so the extra mileage is not possible. I had four people help me with the move and who followed me to [Small City], 2 of them lawyers one who is also a state Supreme Court Judge. They can all swear to to the fact I drove the truck only from [Village] to [Small City] and nowhere else.

I did take pictures of the truck before I left since it was in bad shape and I didn’t want to get charged for damages I didn’t cause. I didn’t think to take pictures of the mileage though since I didn’t think that would be an issue since I knew the distance was 85+ miles less than the allowed.

Needless to say I called Budget and was told that the mileage on the previous rental and the one the one after matched so they couldn’t do anything and of course writing to them hasn’t gotten a response.

If you learn nothing else today, remember this: apparently you have to take a picture of the odometer when you take out and turn your truck back in.

In William’s case, it’s really his word against that of Budget’s staff if he deposited the keys and left the truck behind without agreeing with an employee on the mileage. He could try making his case to a higher authority using an executive e-mail carpet bomb, especially if he plans to move frequently in the coming years, and he’s someone whose business Budget should work hard to keep.

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