Gas near the Rent-a-car center.

Here’s a story about a bad experience with a business and how it was turned around by good customer service in the end.

Almost a month ago, Donna and I took a trip to Vegas to visit family. We had dinner plans off-strip, so we booked a minivan through Budget for the day because it would make it so much easier and probably cheaper than taking a couple cabs.

Other than it taking forever for the service agent to get us a vehicle, the pickup went without a hitch. I opted out of the “Fuel Purchase” option, because I knew there’d be plenty of gas stations en route when returning the vehicle. We got the van with a full tank and went merrily on our way.

Jump forward to the end of our trip. We’re packed and headed back to the airport. There was a gas station right off Las Vegas Blvd. that was only about a mile and half away from the newish “rent-a-car center“. We only had the car for a day, so topping it off was quick. I didn’t print the receipt, which I soon found out would be a mistake.

We pull in to the facility and hand the keys over to the Budget employee. He checks the van over for damage and verifies the fuel level, then hands us a slip of paper where the fuel level was marked as full, and that indicated there was no damage. He told us to stop by the small booth nearby to close our contract. I don’t rent cars all the time, but the last few times I’d rented a car, they typically wrap everything up on the spot and hand you a receipt printed from their little wireless handheld computer. This is when I started to get an uneasy feeling.

Donna and I were in a bit of a rush to make our flight at this point, so with a little bit of frustration, we stop at the booth and hand over the slip of paper and our contract. The guy asked if we had refueled and if we had a receipt, to which I answered that I didn’t have a receipt for the gas. He proceeded to tell me that he’d have to charge me for topping off the van since I didn’t opt into the fuel option, it would cost $15.95 (@ $7.99/gal). At this point I was livid. It was only $16, but I just really felt like we were being had, which is never a good feeling. I probably said something like “…this is BS!” and that I never get receipts when getting gas (save a tree yo!) and we got it just a couple miles away. The budget dude then said that without a receipt, there’s no way he could tell that we’d actually gotten gas, and that even though the gauge was on full, the van could have been driven up to 74 miles without the gauge indicating any use. Seriously? Seriously! He printed my receipt and we stormed off frustrated, and I noticed later that he had indeed charged us the extra fee for gas.

First off, using a gas receipt as proof of a full tank is crazy. Who’s to say someone didn’t just watch the gauge while fueling until it hit full, print a receipt and have proof of a full tank? I topped it of as everyone does – until the fuel nozzle indicated the tank was full by triggering the safety. Budget handed the vehicle over to us with no further proof a full tank other than the gauge on the dash, so it’s absurd for them to expect anything further from their customers.

The whole situation left such a bad taste my mouth, that I filed a complaint via the Budget website as soon as I got home. That was around midnight on the 11th of May. I got a reply from Budget customer service on the 29th saying that the Vegas location is privately owned and that they couldn’t view the billing information directly, but that they’d look into the matter further. I haven’t heard anything since, but I was surprised to see a refund show up on my account from Budget for $17.80 on June 4th, which I assume is the $15.95 fee + tax.

So kudos and thanks to Budget customer service for doing the right thing. And renters beware. If you opt out of their fuel option, be sure to ask the agent if a fuel receipt is required at the time of turn in.