When I first saw my credit card bill I felt pretty bad. I booked my car through QEEQ and picked up a Budget Kia Rio in Orlando around the evening of June 1. It was a small automatic car and it felt okay for someone like me who was visiting from another country. At the airport counter there were quite a lot of people. The staff asked me to sign on a tablet. I just followed their steps and tapped and signed a few times. I did not really read every line. I only wanted to get the car and leave as soon as possible. The car was clean and the fuel gauge was full. I told myself I must keep it that way and return it with a full tank. Time passed fast. About two weeks later around the evening of June 15 I drove the car back to the return spot in Orlando. The staff walked around the car and checked it. I looked at the fuel gauge again. It was still full. They gave me a return slip and the fuel line on it also showed full. I felt safe at that moment so I left with my bags and went to catch my next plan. The real problem came up after I went back home. One day I checked my credit card and saw a fuel charge from the rental company. My first thought was that maybe I had made some mistake. But then I remembered the full fuel gauge and the return slip that said full fuel. I felt it was not fair. I contacted the customer service team and told them what happened. I sent them a photo of my return slip too. In my head I kept replaying the moment at the counter. I tried to remember if anyone told me about some fuel option but I really had no clear memory of it. Later the support team told me that in the rental contract from the car company it showed that I had added a prepaid fuel option. So the company charged me in that way. I was very confused because in my memory I only signed on the tablet and did not notice this option at all. I told them I did not plan to buy prepaid fuel and I really filled the tank by myself and returned the car full. In the next days they kept talking with the rental company and shared updates with me. At one point they explained that because I did not have a fuel receipt or a photo of the full fuel gauge at the time of return it was very hard to get a full refund of the fuel charge. When I heard that I felt a bit helpless. I could only blame myself for not taking a photo of the gauge. One thing that surprised me was that they did not just say there was nothing they could do. They checked the contract and my signed record again and explained what was written there. During this time I was a bit emotional because I felt I was charged too much but they spoke in a calm way and did not push the problem back to me. In the end the rental company still refused to refund the fuel fee and the contract was clear. At that moment I was ready to just accept the loss. Then the support team told me that even though the car company would not refund anything they could give me a small fast compensation in GBP as a way to say sorry for my bad experience. I felt more relaxed when I heard that. The money was not the perfect result I wanted but I felt someone was on my side and they tried to cover part of my loss. When I look back I know the main problem came from me not reading every point on the electronic contract at the counter. But without this kind of one to one follow up service I think I would only hear one answer that I had signed and that was it. Now when I see that fuel fee I still feel a bit upset but I also know they tried their best and gave me compensation so I do not feel so angry. For someone like me who does not rent cars in the United States very often this whole thing taught me to check fuel options carefully at the counter next time and also that I can ask them to follow my case instead of worrying by myself.
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