Car rental scams at Frankfurt airport
 

I reserved a car online with Budget rent a car at Frankfurt Airport.As I was picking up the car the agent said there is a mistake with your reservation and she made a new reservation with an upgrade she did not tell me about the much more pricier upgrade.She made a new reservation with almost four times the original reservation price. She than also lied to me about the refueling options telling me if I did more than 120 km there is a flat 15 euro fee for the fuel and I should not refuel the vheicle.An original price of 70 dollars they ended up charging more than 200 euros.Beware they are a fraud and sleazy operation. Is there an authority in germany that I could file a complaint?

If you signed the agreement, no.

Your credit card company.

I hate Budget at Frankfurt airport. They have some sort of scam for sure going on there. We filled up before returning the car and the guy in the garage wanted ten euro because we didn't have the receipt. The tank was full. My husband said I will be back, took the car out of the garage, put in a tiny bit of diesel and returned with the receipt for under a euro. I was so mad, I am a fastbreak budget customer for many years and we have rented from them at Frankfurt three times but first they ever tried pulling that stuff. He would not give us his name and got very nasty with us. I told Budget. They don't care.

The answer to this is to read what you sign and not accept anything but what you reserved.

Sorry this happened - but since we don;t really know the whole story hard to say what to do except contact your credit card.

We always use Hertz since we get a corporate discount and have never had a problem anywhere in europe.

<i> Is there an authority in Germany that I could file a complaint? </i>

Yes, BUT (and this is a very huge but, like Kim Kardashian butt big) you signed the contract and agreed to ALL THE TERMS therein. Germans are sticklers about written contracts. If you didn't like any of the terms you could have not signed or renegotiated. The chances of resolution in your favor are very slim.

Be glad your lesson only cost 200€.

<i>The answer to this is to read what you sign and not accept anything but what you reserved.</i>

The OP said there was a mistake with the reservation. The OP did not mention what the mistake was. If the OP was the one who made a mistake when reserving the car online (eg wrong pickup date, wrong pickup location etc), there would not have been a choice for the rental agent but to cancel that reservation and rebook the car rental. This will hardly give you the best rate. If it was Budget's error, I doubt they would have charged 4 times the original rental price. The OP could have asked what the new rate was and walked away if they did not like it.

And it is not unusual for car rental agencies to ask for the receipt for filling fuel in the car. Some go as far as telling you which petrol station to fill it up at.

<< Some go as far as telling you which petrol station to fill it up at. >>

Really? I have never heard of this. Why would that be? Kickback to them or close proximity to return location?

I fill up right before returning the car so I always have the credit card receipt.

Should have added that I have never been asked to show my credit card receipt.

<i> Really? I have never heard of this. Why would that be? Kickback to them or close proximity to return location? </i>

Proximity to return location (maybe a kick back too, who knows). And those who do not specify, I always keep the receipt as proof of filling up, since I do it before returning the car, I haven't had the chance to lose it.

'Proximity to return location '
Exactly. I took several times a car which was full - and refueled it after a short trip.
I calculated the consumption and ended up with figures like 16 l/100 kms for a small car (yes, go translate it into miles per gallons, I've never been able to ;-) )
So obviously previous renter filled up at 50 kms awayy from airport and I was the one scammed by the driver, not the car company.
So the receipt is a help, it proves the fill up has been done close to the airport.

But surely the receipt cannot prove that the car tank was filled to the brim, only that some fuel had been bought at that place at a certain time and date?

"But surely the receipt cannot prove that the car tank was filled to the brim, only that some fuel had been bought at that place at a certain time and date?"

In the US, the receipt shows the price of the fuel per gallon, the number of gallons, and the total price of the transactions. Does it not elsewhere?

Yes, but that does not mean that the tank is full; you could have added 10 litres to an empty tank which doesn't make it full.

If there's a signed agreement, I don't know if your CC company will be of much help.

I might consider contacting Budget hdqtrs to file a complaint and asking for some remuneration. All they can say is no.

As for the "you shoulda read the agreement" responses: I don't get it. The OP is alerting us to what appears to be a scam that could befall anyone, unless you're a person who is absolutely never a bit careless and hurried. I, for one, appreciate the warning.

I took a picture of the sign on the wall for night drop off, nothing about receipts. I have never had to show one before but will have it from now on. Frankfurt airport has the rentals in the parking garage and you leave it with a person there. It was an obvious scam among the garage return guys. Ten euros per car and they make a little extra cash in a day. I am just very vocal and my husband worse so we fought it.

Thanks for all the support.While holding the original confirmation she lied to me by saying it said in her system that I reserved the car for two days .The confirmation that Budget online sent me had no such error .It was a scam to redo the reservation and to make me assume it was the original deal. If we talk with our pockets and stop patronizing them we will acheive that they will change and stop cheating the public.

Legal action would be senseless because you signed the new contract. However, you did it in a stressful situation, and so, morally, you are right albeit you are not legally.

You can in fact write letters to complain and ask for a compensation. The first address would be Budget Germany:

Avis Budget Autovermietung GmbH & Co. KG
Zimmersmühlenweg 21
61437 Oberursel
Telefon: +49 (0) 6171 - 68 0
Telefax: +49 (0) 6171 - 68 10 01
E-Mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.budget.de

If they are not cooperative, write to Budget USA.

And if they do not help you, write to AVIS, the parent company.