You plan a trip, rent a car, and travel across the country. Then, when you get there, the car rental company delivers the news: It doesn’t have a car for you. What do you do?
That’s what a woman visiting her parents in Michigan says happened when she showed up to Budget Car Rental. The agent purportedly told her they didn’t have the car she paid to reserve in advance. So she was left with no ride.
TikTok user Briana (@twfrogs) posted about the incident from her childhood home on Sep. 28. In the video, she explains that she decided to get a rental car for part of her stay and specifically chose a location away from the airport for logistical reasons. Except that the transaction didn’t go as planned.
“I really don’t understand how rental car companies are still able to get away with just lying to people and not providing the service that people are paying for,” she says.
Her post has over 223,000 views as of this writing.
Michigan Woman Pays For Budget Rental Car…
Briana says that she paid for the car, got a confirmation email, and received several follow-up communications from Budget. However, when her father drove her to pick up the car on the way to work, she learned that the Budget location where she reserved the car didn’t have any on site.
“This does not seem like something that should be that confusing and that complicated,” Briana says. “But I know so many different people who have shown up to a rental car place to get the rental car that they have already paid for, that they have already secured, they have all their confirmation information and the car isn’t there.”
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The situation ended with Briana not getting a car. “And so now I just don’t have a car,” she says. “There was no option. And now I just have to sit around for the next few days hopefully trying to catch rides from people when and where I can to try to do literally anything at all. How are you able to sell me something that you do not have?”
Common Complaints About Car Rental Companies
In the comments section, viewers expressed frustration with the state of rental car companies and reservation management.
“You know how to TAKE a reservation but you don’t know how to HOLD the reservation,” complained one viewer.
“I have never gotten the model I’ve reserved and paid for,” wrote a second person. “Why is it so difficult?”
“It’s literally like buying an airplane seat and you get there and it’s oversold,” a third person said. “Why are you banking on people not showing up when they buy a ticket?”
Why Do Rental Car Companies Run Out of Vehicles?
Unfortunately, Briana’s experience is not uncommon. According to a travel article in USA Today, approximately 1% of car rentals aren’t available when the customer arrives. That’s because the companies do indeed overbook with the idea that a certain portion of customers won’t follow through with their reservation. But this dynamic does leave some travelers—like Briana—effectively stranded.
There are ways to protect yourself, however. Travelers on a Reddit thread recommend not prepaying, booking directly through the company instead of a third party, escalating to management, and—if all else fails—disputing the charge through your credit card company if the worst does happen.
Motor1 contacted Briana via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We also reached out to Avis Budget Group via email for comment. We'll update this if either responds.
