I used the Southwest Rapid Rewards program to choose a rental car for my recent January 11, 2023 flights # 0797 and # 0212. I flew to Long Beach, CA on a flight that was delayed so the arrival was after dark. My Southwest flight was fine, but I had problems with your partner, Budget. The car was in a dark lot east of the terminal and Budget rental office. As I drove my car to my hotel, the tire pressure warning light came on. The tire didn't look low when I got to my hotel but was visibly low the next morning. I promptly returned the car to the Long Beach airport on January 12 and exchanged it with another car for the remainder of my 2-week rental agreement. They didn't have an equivalent car and I had to pay an additional $10 per day for the 14-day rental agreement, or $140 additional dollars. Several issues have made me regret that Budget was an option with the Southwest Rapid Rewards program. The first issue is receiving a car with tire damage at the airport. The second issue is the Long Beach Budget outlet is a "licensee location" rather than an actual Budget outlet. Initially Budget didn't want to help me with this issue even though their licensee has the same customer service phone number as Budget provided on the rental agreement through Southwest's Rapid Rewards program. But the main regret is the Budget "licensee" at the Long Beach airport sent a bill to me for $860.94 to replace a damaged tire that I did not damage. I am disputing this claim, but I feel Budget isn't meeting the customer service level that I get through Southwest. I've submitted a complaint through Southwest customer service, and I hope Southwest will review their use of offering Budget as a partner company for car rental...particularly the licensee at Long Beach Airport in Southern California. I would appreciate having this issue investigated.
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