Rental car company loses nearly $80,000,000 in business after trying to rip off a frequent customer for an extra $70: 'My company won't be renting from you again'

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
May 3, 2024 9:00 AM EDT

Much like the used car sales industry, the rental car biz can be a little shady. Like so many industries that take advantage of their customers being stranded, rental car companies are known to try and rip off their customers for every cent–however, one diligently vengeful traveling employee saw to it that his continued business was far more valuable than a tack-on fee. 

After renting a car for nearly a week while away on business, this traveling worker returned to the rental car lot to return the car and finalize some paperwork. He noticed an undisclosed $70 fee added to his bill stating that he hadn't returned it with gas in the tank, which was a bold-faced lie. The traveler insisted that the fee was a mistake, but the VP of the company wouldn't yield on charging the fee. 

So in retaliation (and after years of patience), the traveling employee blacklisted the rental car company from his multinational company's trusted travel list, effectively causing them to lose MILLIONS in annual business. 

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  • 01
    REM "That was the most expensive $70 they ever ripped someone off for" Signature
    via canva
  • 02
    r/pettyrevenge. Posted by u/RockyShazam Rental car company wants to rip me off? My multinational company won't be renting from you again.
    via RockyShazam
  • 03
    TL;DR Rental car charged me when they shouldn't have, wouldn't fix it, I stopped everyone in my company renting from them. Years ago someone hit my parked car. My insurance covered a rental and set it up for me at, let's call them, Company D.
    via RockyShazam
  • 04
    They were supposed to have the car ready when I dropped mine off at the body repair shop in the AM - they didn't. Said they would deliver, so I grabbed a taxi to work (on my dime). At the end of the day they show up, have a junky Chevy economy car 'ready'. Ready but I have to shuttle the worker back to the rental car place.
    via RockyShazam
  • 05
    I rent a lot of cars (this is important later) so I look it over, decent shape, but the gas is like just above half. I tell the guy and he's like, ya, we had to run some errands. Just bring it back at the same level.
    via RockyShazam
  • 06
    Oddly, I had to rent a big SUV (from my usual rental car company A) for work that week and was out of town. I worked for a multinational consulting firm (also important). So this rental from Company D, I drove a whopping 16km when it was time to return it. I put in $5 of gas and dropped it off after my work trip.
    via RockyShazam
  • 07
    I get my credit card bill and there is a $70 charge. The rental should have been paid for by insurance but my card was on hold. I call and ask what's going on. Was told I didn't return it with a full tank. I
    via RockyShazam
  • 08
    explained I got it not full. He said, you got it at 13/16ths (no joke) of a tank and it was 11/16th when I dropped, so with the fuel and refuelling service charge, boom $70. I fought, sent on my $5 receipt,
    via RockyShazam
  • 09
    box 4 pointed out in/out mileage was only 16km and this was a cylinder engine so how could that use so much. I called managers, corporate, argued logically nothing. It was the principle at this point.
    via RockyShazam
  • 10
    Eventually got a hold of some VP I found on LinkedIn or something. I said, reverse the charge and apologize or I will make sure we never rent from you again. He didn't care.
    via RockyShazam
  • 11
    Fast forward a couple years. I had told everyone I know not to use Company D anymore. They lost some business but it didn't hurt I'm sure.
    via RockyShazam
  • 12
    Then, as luck would have it, our company was negotiating rates with all the big firms for hotels, cars etc. Our head of procurement wanted feedback from frequent travellers from various operating companies. My name was picked for feedback as one of the more experienced global travellers. Lucky me, unlucky Company D
    via RockyShazam
  • 13
    I told procurement that I liked this hotel chain or that airline, whatever. I kept an even keel, nonplussed. Then when it came time for rental cars, I had a big song and dance for how Company D can't be trusted, some various made up shady practices like not having safe cars, not offering extended services - whatever I needed.
    via RockyShazam
  • 14
    A month or so later, I see our online portal that we must use to book travel no longer features Company D (or the sister brands) as a car rental option. I personally had probably spent $20k on rental cars a year on average. If I extrapolate that to just my operating company's 4000 employees, that was the most expensive $70 they ever ripped someone off for.
    via RockyShazam
  • 15
    RJack151 15 hr. ago I hope you called the j rk's corporate office and let them know that they lost a ton of future business over the $70 charge. 238 Reply Share hugepedlar 15 hr. ago "Tell Cersei it was me."
    via RJack151
  • 16
    CoderJoe1 13 hr. ago I had a similar situation with a Toshiba laptop. I even bought the extended warranty. The hardware errors cropped up the second week I had it and I sent it to them five times to fix it before one of their
    via CoderJoe1
  • 17
    people admitted they'd keep letting me ship it back and forth until the warranty ran out, but they'd never try to fix it. Nearly twenty years later I've convinced every IT company I worked at to veto Toshiba computers.
    via CoderJoe1
  • 18
    BeautifulPhantom1 15 hr. ago Wow, that's a big bite out of their bottom line. That's nuclear level money if all 4000 employees also spend $20k on rentals a year. 63 Reply Share Academic_Dare_5154 14 hr. ago Dollar an so do their sister companies.
    via BeautifulPhantom1
  • 19
    Lahwuns 13 hr. ago Rental companies are the scummiest of scum. :/ △ 12 Reply Share Shark_bait5 15 hr. ago ::chef's kiss::
    via Lahwuns
  • 20
    Jelly Oceana 13 hr. ago I wanna know the company now 6 Reply Share RockyShazam OP 13 hr. ago This was like 15 yrs ago. They were absorbed by another brand as I recall. Don't think I can take credit for that though. Haha
    via JellyOceana
  • 21
    Knitsanity 4 hr. ago This is exactly the level of pettiness my husband has embarked on at various times in his life. Hurt corporations in their wallet but be sure to let the higher ups know why and what and who was responsible for their dip in revenue.
    via Knitsanity
  • 22
    Rachel Silver · 8 hr. ago How on earth are you spending 20k/year on car rentals? 1 Reply Share RockyShazam OP. 5 hr. ago It's Canadian dollars so a little less in real dollars But, it doesn't take long. Sometimes like a 5-day trip every other week and never rented compact cars. Sometimes renting a big truck or SUV for the entire summer month for field work.
    via Rachel_Silver

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