When Corwin Simmonds rented a car from Budget in Marseille, France, he never expected a simple transaction to become a frustrating ordeal with multiple overcharges and a bewildering lack of customer service.
But that’s what he got.
Simmonds ended up paying an extra $186 that he never authorized, and an additional $271 in mysterious extras — a total of $457.
“I’d like the erroneous charges refunded,” he says. “And that does not cover the aggravation, angst, or anxiety I expended.”
Compensation for angst isn’t really my department. But a refund is something my team and I can certainly help with.
Simmonds’ experience raises a few questions:
- Can a car rental company change your price after you return your vehicle?
- What should you do when a rental car company charges you for a car you didn’t rent?
- What recourse do you have when a company changes the terms of your agreement after the fact?
First, let’s take a drive down memory lane with Simmonds.
“We made a mistake”
Simmonds had reserved a rental car for a week at the Budget Marseille airport location through Hotels.com. Total quoted rate: $549.
When he picked up the car, he received a rental agreement showing an estimated amount due of 528.89 Euros, which seemed roughly equivalent to the confirmed dollar amount after currency exchange.
He authorized a 728 euro charge, which included a 200 euro deposit.
But while he was vacationing in the south of France, Simmonds received an email about a charge for another car from the same location on his credit card. This one was for 168 euros, or about $186. (Related: Budget says we drove through a hailstorm. Now it wants me to pay $2,133.)
Simmonds locked his credit card to prevent further charges. But then he received a strange phone call from Budget.
“A representative called to ask if I still had the car,” he recalls.
He said yes.
“We made a mistake,” the agent replied — and then abruptly hung up.
Problem solved? Not exactly.
A bill for the wrong rental car
When Simmonds returned his car at the end of his vacation, he discussed the erroneous charge with the office manager, Virginie. She canceled his original agreement and issued a replacement, assuring him that Budget would void all of the incorrect charges.
She told him to “give the process some time.”
But when he returned home, Simmonds discovered another email from Budget sent the day he picked up the car. Although the email appeared to be for his rental, it was for a car with a different tag number and a duration of only 10 hours. But the credit card number and agreement number matched Simmonds’.
The email also indicated that the renter had returned the car within 10 hours. The renter’s name was Marc.
Oddly, this information also matched the receipt for a car returned three and a half days after his pick-up date with a charge of 168 euros. (Related: Budget billed me a $450 cleaning fee for dog hair. I don’t have a dog.)
Who was Marc? Why was his name on both bills? What kind of mistake did Budget make?
Simmonds had no idea.
Instead of making the promised price adjustment, Budget revised his bill upward, billing him $821 for the rental. (Simmons initially attributed this to a slightly different exchange rate, but later realized that this did not include the 200 euro deposit, and was simply a higher price.)
The actual charge on his Visa statement was $821, which was $271 more than the quoted, confirmed amount.
Simmonds was now facing two problems:
- A $186 charge for a car he never rented.
- A $271 overcharge due to a replacement agreement he never asked for.
Is that even legal?
Can a car rental company change your price after you return your vehicle?
Simmonds is not the only one to encounter overcharges or surprise fees after returning a rental car. But his experience highlights a troubling trend in the rental car industry, where consumers are often left to sort through confusing and frustrating charges with little recourse.
Can a car rental company change your price after you’ve returned the vehicle? No — and yes.
According to most rental car agreements and consumer protection laws, the terms of the contract, including pricing, should be finalized when you return the vehicle.
Once you return the vehicle and hand over the keys, the car rental company should close out your contract.
If the company wants to change the final price, it must be justified by additional services that you agreed to, like fuel charges.
But there are times when a car rental company will charge you more after your rental, such as damage to the car.
Often, these charges are outrageous. For example, one of our readers had to pay another $850 months after returning his car to Hertz. Another one was charged $573 for a damaged windshield.
These extras are barely legal. The car rental company should disclose any additional charges immediately, and it should allow you to dispute it.
That’s not what happened here. Budget had no valid reason to raise the price after the fact, and Simmonds certainly didn’t sign up for any unexpected extras. Instead, Budget created new charges for services he never used and billed him for a car he never rented. In essence, Budget is attempting to unilaterally rewrite the terms of its agreement after the fact.
But Simmonds’ ordeal doesn’t end there.
What do you do when a rental car company charges you for a car you didn’t rent?
Car rental companies sometimes charge their customers for cars they didn’t rent. But that doesn’t have to happen to you.
ou’ll need to keep a log of all communication. Every email, receipt, and phone call — particularly the one where Budget admitted to making a “mistake.” That conversation could be key in proving that the charge was an error. Simmonds had a reasonable expectation that, after Budget’s admission, it would fix his bill. Instead, the situation deteriorated into more confusion and bigger bills.
If that doesn’t work, you can file an appeal to one of the Budget executives or ask my advocacy team for help.
A final option is that you can try disputing the charge on your credit card. In Simmonds’ case, his Visa card should have provided consumer protections that allow him to challenge these unauthorized charges. Credit card companies typically have procedures for disputing fraudulent or incorrect charges, and they are often more responsive than the rental car company.
But even with a credit card dispute, Simmonds faced an additional hurdle: a lack of transparency and communication from Budget. The company made a promise to correct the charges but failed to follow through, which is too common.
What recourse do you have when a company changes the terms of your agreement after the fact?
Consumer protection laws should be on your side. In the European Union, for example, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, protects you against misleading or unfair terms in contracts.
If a company like Budget tries to change the price after you’ve returned the car, it could be violating the laws. Consumers like Simmonds have the right to seek redress through direct negotiation, filing a complaint with a regulatory authority, or taking the matter to small claims court if necessary.
Simmonds did the right thing by contacting Budget immediately and asking it to reverse the charges.
Unfortunately, his request fell into a black hole of bad customer service. Hotels.com, the online travel agency through which he booked the car, refused to help him, and after he disputed the charges on his Visa card, Citibank flatly declared: “We have determined you were billed correctly.”
While most consumers would simply give up after being told to “give it time,” Simmonds pursued the matter with persistence. And he wasn’t done fighting.
“I don’t know how you got through”
As a last-ditch effort, Simmonds contacted our team.
I couldn’t understand why Hotels.com and Budget hadn’t resolved this. After all, he had a promise in writing to address the billing problem.
Case closed, right?
There’s only one explanation. Both companies are relying on artificial intelligence to process customer complaints. And they processed this one incorrectly — or, more specifically, not at all.
I contacted Budget on Simmonds’s behalf. Within a few days, the company acknowledged its error yet again. A representative explained that their station accidentally closed Simmonds’s original rental agreement and created a new one but failed to modify the rate to fit the original contractual price.
A few days later, Simmonds checked his Citi statement again and saw a full credit from Budget. Additionally, Citi resolved the erroneous $186 charge, making the credit permanent — no doubt, after Avis agreed not to contest it.
“I don’t know how you got through, or who you got through to, when I was running through mazes, bumping against brick walls, whatever metaphor you prefer, but this appears to be resolved,” Simmonds wrote.
Car rental companies should be held accountable for honoring their agreements and addressing billing errors promptly and fairly. Consumers should not need to spend hours trying to resolve billing problems, and they certainly shouldn’t have to pay for mistakes made by rental companies.
If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, remember that you have options — whether it’s contacting the rental company directly, disputing the charges with your credit card company, or seeking professional advocacy to ensure you get a fair resolution.
Loading ...✋ Your turn
Have you ever been wrongly charged by a rental car company like Budget? How did you handle it — and did you ever get your money back? Scroll down to share your experience in the comments after the story FAQs.
FAQs
Start by contacting customer service with receipts and a timeline. If they don’t respond or resolve the issue, escalate to corporate contacts, dispute the charge through your credit card company, or seek third-party advocacy like Elliott Advocacy.
Generally, no. Once you return the car and close out the agreement, the company can’t legally raise the price unless you incurred valid additional fees (e.g., damage or fuel charges). Surprise rate hikes after return may violate consumer protection laws.
First, gather your documentation (rental agreement, bank statement, emails). Then contact Budget’s customer service. If unresolved, file a credit card dispute. If all else fails, escalate to executive contacts or seek advocacy help.
Pro Tip: Always take photos of the rental car’s condition, license plate, and rental agreement at pickup and return. If you’re hit with an unexpected charge later, you’ll have visual proof to dispute it.
