What’s this $450 cleaning fee on Irina Safonov’s Budget Car Rental bill? Sure, she rented a Chrysler Voyager in Detroit recently. And yes, she returned it with “a little” sand on the floor mats.
But $450? There must be a mistake.
“I’m hoping you will be able to reduce the $450 cleaning fee,” she told me.
Let’s find out. And while we’re at it, let’s answer a few more questions:
- What’s a reasonable fee to clean a rental car?
- Should you clean your rental car before you return it?
- How do you dispute an unfair car rental fee?
Before we continue, a warning: Safanov’s case takes an interesting turn at the end that even I did not expect. You’ll see. But first, let’s have a look at the damage.
“There was a small amount of sand in the floor mats”
What kind of damage merits a $450 cleaning bill from Budget? Not much, apparently. Safonov, who rented the Chrysler minivan in July to visit relatives in Toronto, says the vehicle only needed a good vacuuming.
“There was a small amount of sand in the floor mats but no food, spillage, dirt or other damage,” she told me.
Safonov reviewed the rental agreement, which mentions that Budget would charge a “reasonable” cleaning fee “for what we determine in our sole discretion are excessive stains, trash, dirt, soilage, odors, or pet hair.” (Related: Avoiding travel fees: Here are the shocking ways people are doing it!)
“I don’t believe a small amount of sand qualifies as soilage,” she says. “And I don’t believe that $450 is a reasonable fee to vacuum it out.”
Alright, then, let’s take a look at the photos from Budget’s damage report.
Another view of the back floor seat.
And the front seat floor mat.
Looks like a fun day at the beach.
I asked her if she had any “before” photos of the car and how the sand got there.
“I did not take pictures of the inside of the car at the start of the rental, but I did take pictures of the outside,” she says. “The sand was either there at the start, or brought in on the shoes of my family, or some of both.”
But $450? Maybe I’m missing something.
What’s a reasonable fee to clean a rental car?
Most car rental companies clean their vehicles after each rental. (If they don’t, you’re probably renting from the wrong company). Cleaning fees would cover anything beyond the usual cleaning.
Car rental companies don’t detail the charges or how they determine them. For example, a car rental company like Budget may charge anywhere from $150 to $450 for damage to a vehicle, but it rarely breaks down the cost or explains it. (Related: Be careful using this money-saving car rental trick.)
But what’s a reasonable fee? For example, think Lyft does a pretty good job of justifying its cleaning charges:
- $20: Minor damage such as mud, dirt, fur, food or drink residue on the vehicle seats.
- $40: Moderate messes such as biowaste, and large messes from food or spills, on the exterior or floorboard of the vehicle.
- $80: Moderate messes such as biowaste and large messes from food or spills, on the vehicle’s interior.
- $150: Major damage such as extensive damage to the vehicle’s interior or exterior.
These fees should pay for the cost of a professional cleaning for almost any vehicle. So when you’re looking for guidance on how much you should pay to clean your car, Lyft has some of the industry’s most reasonable policies.
Should you clean your rental car before you return it?
Yes, you should clean your rental car before you return it. Treat your rental as you would your own vehicle. Take good care of it and definitely clean up after yourself.
I have spoken with car rental employees who say it’s fine to leave a few candy wrappers in the car, but I disagree for two reasons. (Related: I have proof that I didn’t damage my rental car. So why do I have to pay?)
First, you should treat your rental car with respect because it’s not your property — you are just renting it.
And second, because car rental companies will use the smallest excuse to extract the biggest cleaning fee from you. That’s particularly true of Budget:
- Here’s a $150 fee for pet hair (the driver didn’t have a pet).
- Here’s a $125 cleaning fee (the renter didn’t have the car in his possession at the time).
- And here’s a $450 charge for cleaning up dog fur (the renter didn’t have a dog).
In other words, you don’t want to give Budget — or any other car rental company — the opportunity to charge you for cleaning. It just doesn’t make sense.
How do you dispute an unfair car rental fee?
If you didn’t mess up your rental car, there are a few steps to getting the charge removed. Let’s review them.
Send a polite rebuttal with proof
You’ll want to send a brief, cordial email to the rental company with photos of the car’s interior on the day of your return. The images should conclusively show that you did not mess up the vehicle. Car rental companies reject most of these rebuttals, but they’re a necessary part of the claims process. You need to get your denial on the record.
Ask for written proof of the cleaning charges
If you’re paying $450 for a job that looks like pocket change and a strong vacuum cleaner could have done it, you’ll need proof of the car rental company’s costs. You may wish to challenge some of the items, including loss of use, and diminishment of value charges. Repair bills often contain these inflated fees. I’ve seen these charged reduced or even removed after a little prodding. (If you see a diminishment or diminution of value charges on a cleaning bill, you are dealing with some slick operators, and you might want to just dispute your credit card charges.)
Appeal to an executive
Use the problem-solving escalation strategies detailed in my article on the topic. Appeal your case to a manager, a customer service vice president, or the CEO of the car rental company. As a last resort, you might want to loop in your attorney and the insurance commissioner in the state in which you rented the car. I’ve spoken with damage claim companies who say if the damage is less than $500, they’ll often drop the claim at this point.
Dispute the charges on your credit card
But be careful; if you win the dispute (which you probably will), you’ll be on the car rental company’s Do Not Rent list, and won’t be able to rent from it again. Not that you would ever want to.
If none of those strategies work, contact the Elliott Advocacy team. We’ll always try to help. And that’s what Safonov did with her Budget problem.
Here’s what Budget had to say about this case
I contacted Budget by email and sent over Safonov’s paperwork. Here’s our conversation, which happened by email.
Me: I’m a little confused about the documentation. It shows a little bit of sand on the mats. How does that justify a $450 cleaning charge?
Budget: The Maintenance Team had to take the vehicle off the line to clean the vehicle so it will be in the condition expected by the next customer. The vehicle was out of use for that time, we had to pay workers to clean the car. All of those factors come into play when the $450.00 charge is billed.
Me: So are you charging for the rental days that the car was not in use — in other words, for loss of use?
Budget: That is one of the components in charging the fee.
Me: I understand, but I’m having some trouble with the $450 figure on this one. It looks like she could have spent a quarter to vacuum the seats and it would have been fine. Am I missing something?
Budget: The Maintenance Manager determines the cost of the cleaning fee. I am not in a position to discount the charge.
Me: I’m very curious, and I think readers will also want to know. Is there any way you could help me find the answer?
Budget: What is the question you would like clarification?
Me: I’d like to get a breakdown of the costs that constitute the $450, please. What needed to be done to the car to return it to service? How many days of loss of use did the charge cover? Were there any other fees, such as administrative costs?
Was that Budget’s final word?
A resolution I didn’t expect.
I thought Safonov shouldn’t have returned her minivan in the condition she did. But I didn’t expect Budget to charge her $450 without any kind of documentation of the work it had to do.
Instead of sending me the breakdown for the costs, Budget replied directly to Safonov:
We are reversing the charges that we made on your credit/debit card for the Cleaning Service to our vehicle.
The amount of reversal is $450.00.
Please allow up to 72 hours for the credit to show on your records.
We apologize for any difficulties you may have experienced during your rental. We hope you continue to choose Budget Car Rental as your rental car company of choice.
Safonov added, “I’d like to thank you again for responding to my request for help, and having excellent information on your website on how to dispute charges similar to mine.”
Her case serves as a warning.
Car rental companies will now add loss of use charges to your cleaning bill.
Your bill could be as high as $450.
The charge you pay for cleaning may or may not be related to the cost of the actual cleaning. Rather, it is a lot like the old airline change fees. They’re charging them because they can.
