5-19-13 Sunday (They Did)

What a busy weekend!

Thursday night we had Ruby and Jamie’s wedding rehearsal followed by a pizza party at their house.  For their wedding (Friday), I took 4 hours PTO.  The pizza party was fun, alcohol was flowing and I time marched on.  I had to call out sick for the 4 hours I didn’t have scheduled. 

On Friday afternoon, Jim and I got ready for the wedding.  Jim was a groomsman and the limo was to pick us up at about 4ish.  When the limo arrived, it was smaller than anticipated and so one of the groomsman was going to have to sit up front with the driver.  Since I wasn’t in the wedding party, I opted to stay home and ride to the venue later myself.  In the meantime, I was given the task of picking up some stuff from the bride’s house.  It all worked out.  Now Jim and I had a car available so we didn’t have to wait on others.

The wedding was awesome.  The venue was an old bank.  The lobby, where the ceremony and reception was held was so ornate and pretty.  The original vault was cool looking.  It can be seen in a few rehearsal photos I took but was covered during the actual wedding.

Above: Jim was a Groomsman.

Above: Jamie and Ruby.

Above: Jim and our friend Beth.

Above: Jim, Ruby, Garret

Above/Below: Me and Angie

Saturday morning, like way too early, we dragged ourselves out of bed and dropped Dasher off to the vet to have surgery.  Once again, he’s got “growths” that needed to be removed.

Also on Saturday, work begins on our sprinkler system install.  It’s a cheap way of doing it since the guy basically connects lines to the hose bib and runs a special hose with sprinkler heads underground.  If it were done the expensive way, we’d have to get a special water meter, permit, license to do this, a degree in that, and all the other bullshit the county does to collect an extra $2k. Naturally, they had issues.  In most places the ground is too hard so he’s going to have to rent a trench digger.  First he had to call and get the utilities marked.  It’s a work in progress.

Continuing the story of Budget and their Priceline scam, a refresher.  When we arrived in FL and went to the Budget counter to pick up our car per the Priceline reservation, we made no changes.  No upgrades, no deletions.  We were asked if we wanted to upgrade from the Hyundai Accent to the Elantra.  We declined.  We ended up getting an Elantra anyway which I suspect was all they had left.  Funny how that worked.  We were presented with an $11.63 balance.  We questioned it, she said it was what Priceline doesn’t cover.  Meanwhile, the next agent over had presented another customer with the exact same scenario.  We just signed.  It was after 10pm.  Upon return of the car, I questioned it.  She said it was a fee Priceline charges.  I told her that wasn’t true since Budget was collecting the monies.  She said we’d have to call corporate.   We did.

Here’s some excerpts of emails back and forth.  It’s in purple (we) blue (they) so feel free to skip over the email stuff if you don’t really give a crap:

I made this reservation via Priceline.  Per Priceline when you accepted this reservation, ALL fees and charges were to be covered.  There were to be NO additional charges.  Why was I charged this fee at the counter. When can I expect the refund I am due?

Typically, at the time of every Budget reservation, we ask renters to provide us with important information that can affect your rate. These details include expected duration of your rental, dates, times and locations. This information is gathered through our reservation centers, rental counters, from a web site, or from a travel agent. Your rental fee was calculated based on this data, with the understanding that if any of your rental parameters changed at any point, it could affect your quoted rate.

After reviewing our records carefully, we have determined that this is what happened in your case. When your rental circumstances changed, a different rate (that accurately met your new rental parameters) was applied to your contract. I am sorry for any miscommunication or inconvenience.

Because we value your business, we have adjusted the rental agreement in the amount of 11.63 USD. As the final charges for the rental have not processed yet, the hold on your credit card in the amount of 11.63 USD will simply expire and be returned to your available use. To confirm how long the authorization will hold, please contact your financial institution for their hold time.

Thank you for the refund but I'm not satisfied with the explanation.  I made no changes to the rental.  Please provide me with an explanation of what changed causing fees to be added.  At the time I picked up this reservation, another customer was charged the same thing.  It sounds to me as though you are doing this to all of your customers.  What changes were made?

The reservation was booked for pick up and return at 10:00 PM. When the rental was returned at 12:00 PM, the rate value changed.

Something still isn't right.  My plane got in at 10pm, I picked up at 10ishpm.  The charge was billed to me upon PICKUP.  So how was a $10.63 charge calculated then.  The terms did not change. Incidentally, I returned the car Monday 1/13/13 before noon.  Again, my return info shouldn't matter since this charge was created at the time I picked up my rental.

They ended the banter by thanking me for my feedback.  Jim filed a complaint with the FL state attorney’s office and we’re working on getting the info to Priceline.  Scum bags.

That’s all I got!