Q: Budget charged my credit card a fee of $125 after finding animal hair in a rental car that I returned. I do not have any pets, and the people I stayed with on my trip to Austin, Texas, do not have any pets.
I asked for a damage report. It is not clear how they determined that what they found was animal hair. Additionally, they made the claim based on less than 10 strands of hair. Donβt you think that the fee seems excessive considering what they found? β Bernard Sia, Shelby Township, Michigan
A: Youβre correct. Something is not quite right with this Budget cleaning fee.
For starters, the damage report has several photos that show several tiny white strands in the vehicle. A Budget employee could have vacuumed them away during the cleaning. Are they animal hairs? I have no idea, but the point is, there werenβt that many.
But thereβs another, even bigger problem. When I asked you to review the bill again to make sure that they were charging the right renter, you discovered a discrepancy that should have immediately made Budget zero out your cleaning fee. It appears the company sent you a bill for a car other than the one that you rented.
You can prevent unnecessary cleaning fees by taking before and after photos of your car, including the vehicle identification number, and ensuring that you clean the vehicle before bringing it back.
While weβre on the topic of cleaning fees for pets, itβs definitely a thing. Budget has a reputation for charging these fees, which can go as high as $450. So, make sure that if youβre renting a car with anything that sheds (a dog, a cat, or even a coat or a blanket), you clean your rental thoroughly before returning it.
But as Iβve already said, this looks like a case of mistaken identity. So, an appeal to one of the Budget executives I list on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org, might have convinced the company to drop its bill.
I contacted Budget on your behalf. It reviewed the bill and refunded the $125 cleaning fee.
