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charged retrospectively at a higher rate

when asking to extend the car for 1 day, before the 4-day contract expired =which had been paid in full months beforehand - i was then charged retrospectively at an extremely high rate. this rate i would have expected when you book a car for one day the day before; but then this new "daily rate" was then applied to my past 4 days. i phoned and email and phoned and emailed (phoning from Australia) it took me the 6 mths to get an answer, which was different to the original answers supplied in emails throughout those 6 mths, which weren't really even answers; the excuse they gave me was -> because the length of the contract was different, there was a whole new rate to be applied - retrospectively, and 5-day bookings have a higher daily rate than 4-day booking. So I tested this theory on their booking page, and in fact the longer you book a car for, the lower the daily price. i also checked the paperwork provided at the booking stage and can see no such reference to different rates contingent on length of contracts, just perhaps a penalty if you extend AFTER the contract has ended. but mine was not a penalty, it was a whole new daily rate applied retrospectively, as per the receipt they sent me. they have refused a refund and told me to talk to budget Australia if i am not happy. I will be investigating what other avenues i am able to take

Date of experience: Sep 17, 2022