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When Joseph Hall returns his car to Budget, it drops a $450 cleaning bill on him. Does he have to pay all of it?

Q: I rented a car from Budget for our family trip to Niagara Falls, Canada, for 10 days. We also drove to Toronto and Montreal. After I returned the car, I received a bill for $450 for it having to clean up "excessive dirt and sand."

I called Budget using the customer service number provided in the bill. When I spoke to the representative, I asked for pictures to substantiate the claim. Once Budget sent them, I refused to authorize the charge to my credit card. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and the representative said that I would be entered into a queue and should expect a call back in 24-48 hours.

I don't think I should have to pay a cleaning charge. The amount of debris left behind would be vacuumed during their normal processing of a vehicle to the next renter. Can you help me? -- Joseph Hall, Brooksville, Florida

A: I agree with you that $450 is too much for a cleaning fee. Yet Budget and other car rental companies have been charging these fees to drivers, often for what appears to be a normal cleaning. The question is, was this a normal cleaning?

Budget's initial answer is "yes" and "no." After I began working on your case, a Budget representative contacted you and offered to lower the cleaning price to $150, which is much more reasonable.

You also sent me pictures of the car. Clearly, you had taken the vehicle on a 10-day family vacation in it. There was sand on the floor, and although you say you had cleaned the car, it appeared that there was more cleaning to be done.

What does your rental agreement say? Under the terms and conditions of your rental (section 2.6 (c)), it says you will have to pay a reasonable fee for cleaning the vehicle's interior or exterior for "what [they] determine in [their] sole discretion are excessive stains, trash, dirt, soilage, odors or pet hair after the vehicle is returned."

In other words, Budget gets to say what is dirty, and it gets to set the cleaning fee. Unfortunately, the company also doesn't offer any guidance for renters about what constitutes above-normal use. Is it a few candy wrappers? A little dust from that memorable hike in the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona? A few seashells from your Sanibel, Florida, beach adventure? Who knows?

You called Budget to negotiate the cleaning fee reduction, but it is also a good idea to put requests like this in writing. When you write to a car rental company, you create a paper trail, which is often essential in getting a fair resolution. You can always appeal your case -- again, in writing -- to someone higher up at Budget. I list the names, numbers and email addresses for the Budget customer service executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.

I reviewed the photos of your vehicle. It brought back memories of my family vacations with young kids, a few of which were in Canada. There's no doubt that there was some sand and dirt left in the car. I would have found a vacuum cleaner before returning the vehicle. You never want to give a car rental company an excuse to charge you extra.

Just to make sure, I also checked with Budget. My contact at the company confirmed: "The charge is valid." You appealed the charge, and Budget agreed to lower the cleaning fee to $75. Good work!

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Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at elliottadvocacy.org/help/.

(c) 2025 Christopher Elliott

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