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I am contacting you today to initiate a formal complaint of fraudulent and misleading advertising being carried out by Tiger Car Rentals of Dublin, Ireland and the Budget Car Rental Company.
These two companies have entered into some sort of business arrangement whereby you can book the rental of a vehicle through Tiger Car Rentals and then pick the vehicle up at a local Budget office. The Budget Car Rental logo is featured prominently on the Tiger Car Rental website.
I attempted to rent a vehicle through Tiger Car Rentals only to find that Budget would not honour the terms and conditions as set out in the Tiger Car rental advertising.
Tiger Car Rental is claiming that they have no hidden fees and that all of the vehicles they rent come with unlimited mileage. Obviously these claims make renting a vehicle through Tiger very attractive. The claim is blatantly false in many circumstances and specifically in my particular case.
When renting a vehicle through the Tiger Car Rental website at some point you are offered a number of vehicles to choose from. As with almost any car rental company they range from small subcompact to luxury type vehicles. Despite claims that all the vehicles come with unlimited mileage, many do not.
In my particular instance I was attempting to rent a large van for a trip of approximately 4, 000 kms. Obviously a guarantee of unlimited mileage was very appealing.
I went through the booking procedures on the Tiger Car Rental website. I was offered a Dodge Grand Caravan and again the promise of “unlimited mileage” and no hidden fees.
I have attached copies of the rental information as it appeared on the website, clearly illustrating what I have explained.
I subsequently attended the local Budget offices to inquire about how many Dodge Caravans they had in stock, how much advance booking they required and to confirm that the price quoted on the Tiger website was indeed correct.
It was at that time that Budget informed me that they would not honour the claims provided and that I would in fact be charged for mileage after a certain number had been reached.
I had the rental information printed out and showed the staff member at the Budget office. While he agreed that the information clearly showed that I was being offered unlimited mileage, he was adamant that he could not provide this. He eventually agreed that the claims being made were very misleading but that he could do nothing about it and provided me with a pamphlet to contact the Budget Car Rental head office.
I subsequently e-mailed the Budget Head office. My initial inquires were met with the same refusal to honour Tiger’s claim of unlimited mileage. After numerous e-mails complaining about the false claims it appears that Budget began to agree with some of my concerns and there final e-mail does seem to cautiously suggest a possibility that I may in fact be able to rent a the vehicle in question with unlimited mileage.
With this in mind, I returned to the local Budget Car Rental offices to confirm the information I had received thus far and that I would be able to rent a Dodge Grand Caravan with unlimited mileage. Again, I was informed that the local office could not provide me unlimited mileage.
With the documentation provided it seems clear to me that there is definite deception occurring.
On two occasions Tiger Car Rental was contacted through their website. They refused to respond.
Budget appears to blame Tiger Car Rental for the misinformation, however refuses to contact them about their claims and the use of their logo.
As of this writing I again went through the Tiger Car Rental website and made a request for another vehicle rental, looking for unlimited mileage. The same false claims are being made today. Nothing has changed.
The trip I had planned has already taken place. Obviously we chose not to rent a vehicle from either company and made other arrangements. I have not suffered any financial loss.
Other potential customers may not be so lucky.
If I had not checked with my local Budget office prior to my departure, I would have shown up at their office, accompanied by my family, ready to embark on a trip only to be told that my agreement was being breached and I would be expected to have to pay several hundred dollars more than what was agreed upon.
Irish citizens in particular could find themselves in a very costly and unfortunate situation. Someone from Ireland, planning a driving tour of the U.S. or Canada might reasonably book and pay for a vehicle rental from their local Tiger Car Rental. They would fly to a North American destination fully expecting to pick up a vehicle at a Budget office and have unlimited mileage. Imagine their reaction at learning that the claims of unlimited mileage would not apply.
I am contacting you to inform you of the practice. It appears to be blatant fraudulent advertising. The fact that Tiger Car Rental refuses to even acknowledge the e-mails sent to them in this regard leads me to believe they are aware of the situation.
Thanks
This following is printed directly from the results of our booking the
vehicle.
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Fully Inclusive Quote - No Hidden Extras
Includes: Unlimited Kms, Local Tax, Vehicle Registration Fee, ONT
ENVIRON FEE, ENERGY
RECOVERY FEE
Quotation
Booking
Dodge Grand Caravan or similar CAD 696.09
Doors Seats Bags Suitcases Transmission
4 5 2 2 Automatic
Car Type: Ford Escape or similar
Your Rental Details
Pick Up details..
Location:
1400 Kingsway Unit 5
Address:
1400 Kingsway Unit 5, , Sudbury, CA
Date:
30th September 2011
Time:
11:00
Return details..
Location:
1400 Kingsway Unit 5
Address:
1400 Kingsway Unit 5, , Sudbury, CA
Date:
11th October 2011
Time:
11:00
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Tiger Car Rental Ltd., Commercial House, Millbank Business Park, Lucan,
Dublin, Ireland
phone: +[protected] email: [protected]@tigercarrental.com