The last time we went skiing in Whistler, Canada, we hired a shuttle service. It made us feel important when we arrived from LAX to Vancouver International Airport and saw a man holding up our name. The problem occurred when they asked us to wait till the next flight came in because they had to wait for 3 more families. It took us about 5 hours later to get to our resort in Whistler. This year I decided to drive. Budget had the best deal. A 2006 Ford Expedition for the Presidents Day weekend from Feb. 16-19.
The weekend was almost perfect. The people at Budget were so nice. They showed me the car, did a walk around looking for obvious dents and scratches, signed the contract with all the insurance and then we drove off. It was a smooth drive to Whistler. I parked the car in the underground garage at the Holiday Inn and never drove the vehicle until the day we left. On Monday Feb. 19th, we drove back to the airport. Here's where the duped part comes in, (you be the judge).
I drove back to the airport right after filling up the tank. I parked behind 3 other cars that were being turned in. The inspector approached me from the driver side and asked me for my original inspection form. When I handed it to him, he looked along the driver side, walked to the front of the car and told me that there was a crack on the bumper. He wrote it on the back of the paper and told my to tell the Adjuster inside the office. I bent down and saw a 1 inch crack on the bottom lip of the bumper right under the headlight. You can't really tell when the plastic is flush, but once the inspector pushed on it, it was obvious.
The Adjuster, Justin, seemed friendly and calm when he saw the crack on the bumper. I explained that I had no idea how the crack occurred, that I only drove the car to and from Whistler, that the crack is barely visible when it is flush and that it probably wouldn't even affect the performance of the bumper. He calmly told me that he will look to see if it was reported by any previous renters and proceeded to walk back to the office. He went into the back room, came out 5 minutes later and told me that no other renters reported this damage so it must be a new accident.
I knew this was bad when he used the word? accident? He calmly showed me a picture of the new bumper on the computer and told me that the bumper will need to be replaced and will cost $1100. This is where I start to feel my insides being torn up. Picture this, my wife and kids are sitting with the luggage wondering what's going on, we have 45 minutes for our flight and we haven't checked in yet, and the Adjuster is looking at me as if he has all day to discuss this. I had no choice but to pay the $1000 deductible from the insurance. You can imagine the quiet flight back to Los Angeles.
Let me tell you why I am suspicious about all this. When I returned the vehicle, the Inspector checked the driver side, walked to the front and saw the crack, wrote it up and did not check the rest of the car. When Justin the Adjuster went to look up previous renters of the crack, he went to the back room instead of using the computer at the counter. I'm a tourist in a foreign country that will probably not come back to argue, and I'm likely to be pressed for time to catch my flight.
I guess, as a consolation, Budget did call me back the next day and told me that they were able to repair the crack rather than replace the bumper. They will be reimbursing me $470. Basically, that will be $530 of very expensive superglue.
If anyone plans to rent from Budget B.C at the Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, can you look for a red 2006 Eddie Bauer Ford Expedition, license plate 105GTA. Let me know if the crack on the bottom flap of the front bumper just below the driver side headlight was ever repaired. I don't want anyone else to get DUPED.
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