Budget Rent-A-Car

I was careful to verbally decline the LDW coverage at the counter when renting a car for one day in in Las Vegas recently. I was also careful to return the car within the 26 hour timeframe that the paperwork clearly stated was allowed (including a 2 hour grace period). However, when I returned the car the next day, 24 hours and 20 minutes later, I was unpleasantly surprised to notice that not only had they deceptively charged me for the declined LDW coverage, they actually charged me for two days of coverage. Apparently, somewhere in the fine print (though I haven't found it yet) it notes there is no grace period for LDW coverage. If you keep the car for one minute over 24 hours, you get charged another $25.

Of course, a quick scan of the paperwork quickly turns up verbiage stating "rate is good for up to 26 hours," clearly implying that this includes the LDW coverage. When I raised the issue, they pointed out that I had initialed a box indicating acceptance of LDW coverage. Shame on me for not reading the paperwork carefully enough. I guess I trusted the woman at the counter to fill in the form based on my verbal responses to her questions. After some discussion, they did credit me for the extra day LDW coverage but I was still left to pay about 75% more for the one-day rental than I had anticipated. One expects such misleading tactics from sellers of used cars and snake oil but not from a major US corporation.

When I rented a Ford Escape at Phoenix, I was told by the sales person that the cost per week including all taxes and fees is $184.50. I foolishly expected the tank filled in return because the price per gallon quoted was $3.099 per gallon. The taxes were added upon return of the vehicle. I took my own GPS but was told a GPS came with the car. To me, that meant at no cost, however, $99.50 was charged to my card for GPS rental. And it was a piece of Garmin.

Total fee came to $814.41. Never again. Being a disabled Vietnam vet on a very fixed income, I can't afford to get taken like this. We need a bill introduced to force all rental agencies to disclose all charges before the rental is out of the door.

On Dec. 26, 2011, my husband and I picked up our Honda Sonata from the Logan Airport Budget Car Rental. There was minor damage on the right bumper that we documented and time stamped with our phone's camera. We drove the car until Dec. 30, 2011 when we returned the vehicle in the identical condition in which it was when we drove off the lot. Today we received a letter asking for information about the damage to the entire right side of the vehicle. There were no damages incurred by us at all. How can protect our rights? Our credit? Our money? What can we do? This is fraud. This company's practices should be investigated.

It's the second time I have had issues with Budget at this location (Alexandria, LA Airport). For your information, I spent over $3,000 on car rentals in 2011. It's not my first time renting.

I was paying the way to a conference for 3 couples. I reserved a car and a van on Priceline. I figured everything was good, until I got to the Budget counter at the airport. They proceeded to tell my card wouldn't go through and that I would not be able to rent a car. Quite a surprise, being 1,000 miles away from your home and having no family in the area with 2 other couples. Thanks, Budget, for all the help.

As my blood boiled, I just went to the counter next to Budget, National Car Rental. Of course, not an ounce of trouble. It cost me $100 or so more dollars, but I would have paid more for the excellent service at National Car Rental. Budget is a joke, and do not rent a car from them.

My daughter made reservations online with Budget rental while she was still in Afghanistan. When she flew back home to PDX Budget refused to rent her a vehicle because she was under 25. She was stuck at the airport. She is a two-time veteran and has a credit score over 700. This is how Budget treats it war veterans. I will never support a business that will not support its vets.

I reserved a 10ft truck in Billings, MT. When I called to move the pickup date, I was told they did not have any 10ft trucks, only 16ft. They also said they would only charge me for the price of 10ft truck. I was nervous to drive a 16ft all the way to Missoula in the winter. When I arrived to pickup the truck, I was a bit overwhelmed by the size of the truck and should have paid more attention when the Budget rep was showing me the inside of the truck. She turned on the ignition and said the truck was full (the dial was on the F). I should have compared it to the folder as it had another line after the F to indicate full tank. Also, the windshield and inside of truck was dirty.

On the 6-hour trip to Missoula, I had to stop for gas several times. At each gas station, it was difficult to fill the tank as the nozzle kept releasing and it took 20 minutes to fill the tank. The gas station attendant said that the Budget truck's intake pipe is at the wrong angle and the nozzle cannot fit in correctly. After we arrived in Missoula, I realized I would need at least an extra day or two. I called the Budget rental where I picked up the truck (I was told when I picked up the truck, if I needed any extra days, it was cheaper to call them than the drop off location). I was not sure if I needed one or two days and told her two days. She did not say anything about no refund on days not used.

When I received my charge card bill, I was charged for two additional days. I called customer service and they were rude and said I should have read the terms and conditions online when I reserved the truck! When I returned the truck at the drop off location in Missoula (I had gone to a gas station close by and filled to the exact amount as I had in Billings, right on the F), at the drop off location the attendant said it was not full and showed me where the needle needed to be on the gas gauge. I had to rush to another gas station and return before the deadline. This was an additional $22. I will never use Budget car or truck rentals and will make sure the word is out. They should not be in business.

I rented my car through HoteWired and paid $37.27 on Jan 6, 2012. It turned out to be Budget which I had already. I had a very unpleasant experience with a few days earlier. I rented the car for 1 day. At the rental desk, the woman asked when was I returning it. I told her I was set up to return it the next morning but that I was trying to leave that same afternoon and showed her my itinerary leaving later the same day. I was able to make my flight that afternoon and there was some old woman working for Budget/Avis that took my car keys and all of my rental agreement and gave me back nothing

What happened next was I noticed on Jan 9, 2012, my checking account got a charge of $144.80 from Budget for additional charges.

I called Budget for an estimate on a 10 foot truck rental. The customer representative gave a reasonable price and I made a reservation.

When I went to the pick-up location to get the truck I was told that they did not have a ten foot truck available and that they would then give me a sixteen foot for the same price. However, my move was small, and I didn't have enough to fill up a 16' truck and, more importantly, I did not want to pay for gas for such a big truck (about $130 to fill the tank). The representative at the location said "not having the reserved truck happens all the time" and that "the phone reservation representatives do this on purpose to rent the bigger trucks"" I asked him to check on other close locations for a truck with the description I reserved. He checked and said none of the locations within 50 miles had one. Therefore, I told him to cancel everything, and that I was very upset, because I had my move all planned and packed. He then tells me that he will cancel but that I would lose the deposit money.

Unbelievable, right? I know! I told him I would not pay one cent to this terrible, dishonest company. He kept saying that the computer system simply would charge my card and there was nothing he could do. I called and complained until the phone rep told me she would remove the charges. Budget is unreliable and a terrible customer service. Do not count on them for a rental, they are likely to leave you hanging and you are likely to have to change all your plans. Also, after not meeting your expectations, they might charge you for a service they failed to provide.

I rented a vehicle from budget rent a car in Florida from 10/27/11-11/2/11. The rep asked me if I wanted additional coverage & I declined all charges since all of that coverage was already covered in my own insurance policy. She then asked me to write my insurance company down on the pad & sign, which I did. Approving that I declined all additional charges & who my insurance company was, to only a few days later come back to return the car with $200 extra added to the bill. I prepaid everything through orbitz months before. When I questioned the charges, they said I accepted LDW, which i did not, and b/c I signed, I was now in contract. So I left and as soon as I got home, I contacted budget through email. They said b/c of the contract, they would only refund half of the charges. This was their error & I even had a witness with me that heard that I denied all additional charges.

I have now been in a fight with my credit card company trying to fight the charges which they have denied me as well b/c of the contract. Thanks a lot budget. I will never use your services again.

I booked four separate reservations for Budget Rental Cars in Las Vegas, Nevada at a very nice rate using the usually dependable Travelocity service. The rate was so low that my wife and I actually called Budget's 800 number to confirm and they said no problem whatsoever the quoted rate is correct. We later saw the same rate on Hotwire.com and the rate lasted more than one day on both Budget.com and on Travelocity. So all seemed to be well. This was done on or around June 11, 2011.

Approximately seven months later, we (my wife and I) received separate emails from D. ** (a supposed manager with Budget in Las Vegas). These emails were not only curt (to the edge of rudeness) and they stated that Budget would not he honoring our 7 month old reservations because they were too low. Ms. ** contended that a "computer" error was responsible and that she was so sorry for the inconvenience. When I checked my reservations through Budget.com, I found that Ms. ** had raised the prices on all four of our reservations by (on the average) three to five times the original confirmed rate. We called Las Vegas and Ms. ** refused to come to the phone although we had been told that she was working at this time.

When we reported this to budget customer service, they were apologetic but refused to restore our confirmed prices. They promised an investigation. Then Travelocity also was apologetic but promised nothing but, you guessed it, an investigation. So with the first rental scheduled to occur in less than two weeks we are stuck paying over $1000 more than we were promised or we were told that we could cancel the reservations altogether.

So the very next day, Ms. **, still pretending to be a manager, called us at home and told us that Budget reserves the right to rent to whomever they choose and that we were not their type of customer. She also said that if we did not cancel our reservations willingly, they were going to charge us a $75 per rental processing fee. I sent the emails on to budget customer service and as of January 4, 2012 nothing has been settled. They did offer to refund the difference after we completed our rentals. Tell me please if you would trust them to do that after all that has occurred. I don't think I will be that trusting of people who have willingly lied to us, who obviously plan to cheat us, have declared that our business is unwanted and unwelcome and do not do business in an honorable manner. What would you think?

I was overcharged on a 5 days car rental. I tried to talk with the manager to solve the problem but he was rude and did not care to help.

I rented a 2011 Hyundai Elantra sedan at Sears Budget Rental, 303 US Hwy 301 Blvd., West, Bradenton, FL. 34205, from November 22, 2011 to November 29, 2011. James, Budget representative, examined the rental vehicle on November 22, 2011, and there wasn't any damage on the lower right front bumper. I returned the rental vehicle a day early on November 28, 2011. Again, James examined the rental vehicle on November 28, 2011, and there wasn't any damage on the lower right front bumper. On December 03, 2011, Avis/Budget Group created a falsified Accident/Incident Report claim (accident date, 11/22/2011). Avis/Budget Rental Car Group falsely accused me of having an accident on 11/22/11 with the 2011 Hyundai Elantra sedan to get more money from me. I don't think this is an isolated incident. Avis/Budget Rental Car rip off their customers by accusing their customers of being in an accident. Budget's Vehicle Damage Claims Department requested that I pay for the damage to lower right of front bumper which I didn't damage. Budget Rent-A-Car System, Inc. is falsely accusing of damaging the lower right of front bumper.

I reserved a car over the phone. I called for a pick-up (which they have done on several occasions) and was told no. I had to walk 3 miles in the rain to get there and was then told my credit score wasn't high enough to rent a car. They never bothered to ask if it was ok to do a credit check (which should be against the law). I had to walk another mile to rent from Avis, who had absolutely no problem renting me a car. I'm telling anyone and everyone who will listen about my experience.

This includes many small business owners like me. If another company rents a car for me while I'm out of town, I will not drive a Budget car again. I have driven a lot of rentals in my life so far and this is by far the worst experience I've ever had. Are there any other places in the internet that I can complain to? I'm also going to call the PA Attorney General's office on Monday. How can they get away with treating people like this? I would like to be able to refuse them even the one star that I have to.

I booked a rental for an intermediate car on Budget.com and was quoted a reasonable rate for a 2 week rental in St. Louis, MO.

The courtesy bus was fine, but my first red flag was the customer service rep at the rental desk. The guy said "I assume you're taking the four insurance options" and proceeded to go ahead with printing out the agreement. No! I have full coverage with my CC + travel insurance for the excess. He grudgingly took the options off the rental.

(Second red flag was overall state of the car- lots of miles, stained seats, bad smell, poorly washed etc. But I got over it and assumed this is what you get for the price).

Imagine my shock when I got the credit card statement a few weeks later showing an extra $200 on top of the original rate. After inquiring I was told during the paperwork process, I chose to accept a $10 per day vehicle upgrade fee! The service rep never asked me if I wanted this, nor did I ask about getting an upgrade. Nowhere on my agreement does it mention this upgrade or fee. Currently waiting for a reply with a copy of what they claim I asked for! Disgusted with the service rep and will not be renting from them again.

I rented a car in St.Louis on Thanksgiving day returning the vehicle the next morning on Friday. 14 days after returning the vehicle, I was slapped with an assessment fee of $250.00 for "excessive sand/dirt in the interior of the car". Later, I was told it was "detail fee". No possible way. When I called the customer service number (as directed by the document I received), I was referred to the St. Louis branch of Budget. After being put on hold four times and speaking with as many people, each person trying to send me back to the main customer service number, there was no resolution. I relayed that the fee was subjective and arbitrarily imposed without proof. One person was dismissive and told me if the car was dirty, I would be charged. Another person asked me if I had been smoking (not) in the car and that would be the reason for the fee.

What am I being charged for? Sand, smoking, dirt, a cadaver in the trunk? Which is it? The letter I received says "excessive sand/dirt in the interior". Okay, show me the dirt and sand. I have requested time stamped photographic proof of the accusation. The St.Louis branch said that they will send photographic proof. After which I will need to contact the main customer service number. I contacted the main service directly after the St.Louis commitment to send the photo evidence to find out what phone tag sequence I need to take. While very helpful, the customer representative relayed that it was the St.Louis branch's responsibility. Merry-go-round.

My wife and I rented a Nissan Versa in San Diego on 12/4/11. I must say that it was not clean and was a car with over 33,000 miles on it. When I could not get good visibility through the windows, I realized that the car's interior windows had not been cleaned therefore making it particularly difficult to see out of the rear window. The tires were well worn and should have been replaced. I'm not happy with this rental. I have used Budget previously but may not do so again. Outwardly, the car was unsightly.

I believe that Budget is practicing deceptive advertising. They ran a TV ad promising $139 per week for a small SUV. When I called, they wanted 250% of that offer price. Their explanation is that it's only offered at airport locations which I was willing to work with then that it's only at certain airport locations then they admitted that there are no airports in NY State that will honor that program.

I rented a car from Budget Rental in San Diego. A few days later, I noticed one tire had a nail in it. I took it back to get another car. After a few weeks back home, I received a letter in the mail for $129.00. Budget charged me for a new tire. What a rip-off!

I do business with you. And I never had a problem till now. I used my credit card for a car and flight to Chicago and that was for a friend. And he leaves this weekend and he gotten a ride with a family member. His name is Donald ** and I called and told your company to cancel the car and they told they could not do it; so I called my credit company and I was very upset on them saying what said. So if you do want any more of my business, please do not send me a bill. On some, I already tried to cancel. I cancelled my credit card. And I feel you are scamming us Americans. And I'm a veteran of Vietnam. So just cancel the darn car, please. Just cancel the reservation, please. And that is that. May god bless you and you do the right thing.

First I would like to apologize to Mary ** who works with the security group. I spoke with her this morning and in a frustrated moment spoke to her in a manner which was crude and no matter my level of frustration, was unacceptable.

With that said, I am writing regarding RA 267318730. We turned the car in and found that the amount that the young man was quoted that morning on the phone was off by an additional $355. Upon investigation we were told that the amount was for a repossession fee because the car was over a month in rental and a new contract needed to be signed.

During the time we had the vehicle, I spoke with two individuals (returned one of the calls as a message had been left). Both of those individuals sounded as though they were from the Middle East and they didn't understand me and I didn't understand them. They asked if we were going to keep the vehicle longer and I affirmed that the young man's vehicle had not been repaired and he required the vehicle to get to his drilling job in Oklahoma. In addition, the individual who was driving the car had spoken to several individuals regarding the increased time he would need to have the vehicle.

The morning of the day we were to return the car, I received a call from one of your local contractors who was responsible for recovery of the vehicle. I again explained that the young man was on his way home from his job in Oklahoma and we would return the car that day. He asked that I call him when that had occurred, which I did.

In addition, I found an additional $60 charge outside the already $2000+ I had paid pending on my charge card. I have called the bank and disputed this charge as there is no explanation for this amount and was not included on the final billing.

I make a reservation for Budget rent-a-car for the country of Ireland. When I reserved the car online, the price in Euros was 170.10, which coverts to US$228.02. I had the car for a week and I added insurance which was 37.63 in U.S. dollars, plus I was charged because I didn't have time to fuel the car before I went to the airport and they charged me US$110.60 which I think is outrageous.

But nonetheless, the total should have been US$376.35. My total ended up being $621.59! How did it go from $376 to $621? I got charges extra for some APT surcharge, a road fund, something called EXW, something else called V.A.T. and another thing called P.A.I.! I think this is ridiculous because these charges should have been included in the first price. I chose them because I thought they were the cheapest. What they don't tell you is that it doesn't include everything and that's how they get their customers by raping them in the long run because they can. I think there should be something done about this. It isn't right to lure you in with a reasonable price and tack on unnecessary charges after you already rented the car. I will never rent from them again!

Budget Car rental is a real cheating company with extremely bad customer service. I rented a mini van in Vancouver, BC downtown location for one day on November 28. When I reserved online, it showed total $22.81 after tax. I drove 199 km and filled over 25 liters of gasoline. When I returned the car, the location manager Ashton ** took care of me. He said the gas tank is not full. I told him the tank was not full when I got the van. I only drove 199km and filled over 25 liters gas. It should be enough. However, Ashton does not care. I eventually paid $95.45 for the rental (not the $22.81 when I first checked online).

The manager Ashton ** is the worst manger I ever see. I think he meets the unhappy cheated customers every day and he gets used to this situation. He does not care what the client says; he does whatever he wants with very rude attitude. Budget is a real cheating. Bad customer service company. Try to stay away with it.

They overcharged me! I pre-paid at $171.63 for my rental and they wanted to charge me an additional $265.00, like "what's up with that?" I took the car back to them the next day and complained. They insisted that they would fix it. I listened and trust that they would.

What they are doing is being really nice and friendly and telling you that they will take care of you as they have you sign the computer screen. When you return, you will see the bill. Read everything twice!

We rented a car in San Francisco and had a change of plans and dropped off the car in Fresno instead of San Francisco. Budget sent us a bill that was triple the amount quoted and said that since we dropped off the car in Fresno, our rate was no longer valid and they charged us the highest rate possible for the car. We want other consumers to be aware that rather than a drop-off charge, like other rental agencies charge, Budget takes the opportunity to gouge the customer for the highest amount of money possible.

First time I rent with them. So I made a pre-payment to get a better day rental. So $122 was charged to my card. On the agreement, a total estimated of $196 would be the rent. I returned the car. Then I discovered they charged me the full amount plus the prepayment. A total of $307 was charged for 3 days. Their customer care webpage sucks.

Budget had the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Not only did it take over 20 minutes to speak to a representative, but when I did talk to one, he did not speak English very well and I could not understand a thing that he said. He eventually hung up on me. When I contacted another one, he disregarded me and what I needed. He was very rude and clearly disrespectful to a customer.

Nowhere on my rental confirmation, or contract does it state I would be charged $0.40 per mile in addition to my daily rate. It mentions taxes and recovery fees, but nowhere does it indicate that there would also be a $0.40 per mile fee during my rental period. It is fraudulent that this company can get away with failing to clearly disclose this fee, which can add up very quickly. It spells out the additional amount of taxes and other fees, but never indicates there is a $0.40 per mile fee. What was most infuriating was the snotty customer service representative that said it was "my fault" (when should a CS rep ever flat-out say it's "your fault", some serious re-training needs to occur there), for not asking more questions at checkout about additional fees.

I already complained to customer service about overcharge on a full tank for a truck returned this Saturday only to be called on Monday that it was not full! Our nephew filled it with less than one gallontruck was on an incline. Unbelievable. They would have charged us $30. On top of that, the Clute Tex agent asked our nephew to take the keys and go get the gas. My nephew isn't even on the contract. Customer service told us that if the dealer allowed someone to drive the car and an accident occurred, the dealer would be responsible. Yes, sureon an open contract in my name! What a joke. We spent two hours dealing with this and another $10 on a gas can and $3.30 for gas. Budget is ripping off customers. My suggestion: take a photo of the gauge, mileage gauge (ours had 7 additional miles on it), and truck before turning it in. We will never rent with them again!

I've been charged for 370 Euros for rear bumper replacement of Nissan Micra. The damage was a minor tear (5 cm) found at the lower right corner on the rear plastic bumper (I assumed that I missed it during check in or during night parking). Nevertheless, the reverse sensors showed no sign of obstacle at all. So, I assume this damage was already there, covered by paint and by a minor push it was open. This kind of minor damage should not cost more than 30-50 Euros to fix. But the company "decided" to replace the whole rear bumper and charge me outrageous amount.

Last winter, we were making plans to visit Albert and British Columbia in September 2011. Since renting a car is the best way to discover the parks, we compared the rates of the different car rental companies. After comparing the different offers, we concluded Budget's price was the best. On April 27th 2011, we made an online reservation through Budget Switzerland for a Group W SUV with 4WD. The total price for the three weeks was confirmed to be CAD 1,585.00 including unlimited kilometers, all taxes (HST, location fee) and excluding CDW/LDW.

On September 9th, we arrived in Vancouver and happily went to the Budget counter at the airport to pick up the vehicle. The clerk at the counter greeted us and verified our reservation. We were informed that no standard SUV with 4WD was available, but we could go for a Ford Expedition or Ford Excursion. We declined due to the size of the car. The clerk offered us an upgrade to a Volvo SUV with AWD informing the cost would be CAD 79 per day. Never was it mentioned that this upgrade was an additional CAD 25 per day. Had we been aware of this fact, I would have rejected the upgrade.

The employee insisted that we were not allowed to drive to Alberta and that the car was being tracked, and insurance would not be covered and we would have to pay a daily penalty. The Vancouver Airport Station Terms allow for cars of group W (SUVs) to travel to Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan for an additional charge of CAD 10.00 per day. This point was not mentioned when the reservation was made.

According to Budgets Swiss website the terms and conditions the three western provinces (Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia) are included as an integral part of the contract and not only British Columbia. So this kept us from going to Alberta, although it was included in our travel plans.

On September 30th, after three unforgettable weeks visiting British Columbia, the car was returned to Budget at Vancouver Airport. At the counter, we were given the invoice. To our surprise the amount was a total of CAD 3,384.72! That was CAD 1,118.82 (excluding CAD 680.90 for insurance) more than the original reservation amount. Besides the upgrade plus HST other items: ELI, PAI, PEC, VLF/AC Tax Recovery and Energy Recovery Fee were included. These items were never mentioned in the confirmed reservation of CAD 1,585.00.

This was the first time we rented from Budget and we are upset that our invoice amount exceeded the original confirmed reservation by CAD 1,118.82. We emailed a complaint letter to Budget on September and to our disappointment, Budget has not had the decency to even acknowledge receipt of our complaint. One thing is certain, never again shall we consider Budget. We will also tell our friends and coworkers and report this to the Better Business Bureau.

I was duped into getting insurance. I told them, "No." But they put it on the agreement and I initialed it. They pressured me constantly about upgrading at the counter but I did not do that. But the insurance thing got by me. This is very crooked.

Yet another "insurance fraud" case against Budget! I used AA Advantage Miles for rental, picking up rental in Milwaukee, WI. I clearly twice stated I was the only driver, no insurance, I had my own, and I would refuel before returning the car. There was never a mention of how much their LDW would cost or I would have caught it immediately. I signed their form without seeing that the agent had added the charges. I called and complained when I arrived home, the CS rep offered 1/2 credit on the unwanted LDW. What a total rip off of a senior citizen, the agent totally heard me and understood I refused their "extras" then added it in any way to boost her sales quotas. Shabby way to run a business, Budget!

I sent a letter to Budget. I got no reply. I had a corporate account as I rent two-three times monthly. Please be advised, remove me from your mailing list and cancel my corporate account and Fast Break. From this point moving forward, I will no longer rent cars from your company. I recently rented a car at LAX Fast Break. Due to an emergency in another city, I returned the car to another airport. I was charged $484.00 over the quoted amount. This will never happen again. I will not rent from your company. And I will make it my top priority to advise everyone that I come into contact with, in the many cities that I visit, to never rent from your company. The ridiculous excuses I was given at the returning site make your company a total joke. And finally, my colleague rented from a different car company at LAX the same time as I did. But my colleague also had to return the car to the same city I did on the same day, and was charged nothing extra.

First, Budget did not give me the kind of vehicle secured through Orbitz. When I checked in with the Budget at the Albuquerque airport, the Budget representative coaxed us into accepting "an upgraded vehicle" which, he represented, would be at no extra charge. That was not the case; instead, he doubled our expected cost for the rental car.

The Ford Explorer 4WD which we were given had not been serviced in quite some time. The oil light came on before we exited the Budget airport parking lot but your attendant at the exit told us that the oil light wasn't a problem, to go ahead and the vehicle would be serviced upon return, so we proceeded on our trip. Little did we know the other issues ahead of us due to Budget's negligence--issues that endangered our safety on the road.

Driving to Taos, another light came on at the dashboard of the vehicle that indicated an issue with tire air pressure. We got out, looked at all tires and saw no obvious problem--possibly a low back tire. As we tried to make it to a service station, we had a blow-out on the front driver's side tire which was no fault of ours but due to an over-inflated tire.

When the blow-out occurred, we tried to call Budget's 24-hour service number for help but to no avail. After hours of being stranded in the dark, on a mountain road, we finally secured assistance on our own without any help from Budget. We paid out of our pocket for the service and provided documentation to Albuquerque Budget from the serviceman who fixed the tire. He deemed that the blow-out was caused by over-inflation--no fault of ours.

When we finally reached Budget's 24-hour emergency number concerning the matter, Budget's only concern was that we would not be reimbursed any of our out-of-pocket expense for the tire service. After numerous and exhausting dead-end calls to Budget, a company that I now rank as the most inept and least customer service oriented company on the planet, we finally received another car without a doughnut tire for the remainder of our trip--but we had to demand that!

Now, Budget is demanding that we pay for the tire--over $200! Conveniently, they're billing us the same amount of money for the tire that was eventually refunded to us after I reported Budget's overall piss-poor service to the New Mexico Better Business Bureau. Budget states that we declined their insurance and we are contractually liable to pay for the tire. Budget should not be without contractual liability in providing an appropriately inspected vehicle to insure that Budget did not act with reckless disregard to customer's safety by putting us in a totally unsafe vehicle.

On October 10, 2011, under confirmation number **, a reservation was made for car pick-up and return at Tampa International Airport, Tampa, Florida. Date to pick up was October 14, 2011 at 3pm. Payment was made with Delta SkyMiles in cash; all was paid in full prior to pick up. Between the time the reservation was made and the pick-up, my credit card was stolen. Consequently I had it canceled.

I did have a temporary card from the company of the stolen card however Budget would not help us. I offered an open ended check, a call to my bank, etc. but all went to no avail. I am one of the very few now who doesn't have a credit card. Budget kept my SkyMiles and payment with no refund, and by the way, I did not get a car either. The whole experience was absolutely the worse I have ever had with a rental car company.

I might add that on arrival the Budget clerk advised me that all information would be done in order and then proceeded to offer me more expensive cars with GPS, insurance, etc. I told him several times I wanted what I had rented without all the bells and whistles. His response was, "everything will be done in order". The long and short of it all is I will advise Delta and my friends not to participate with Budget in any way, shape or form. The only helpful human I have dealt with was the afternoon manager at Budget; he was very apologetic.

On August 5, 2011, my son and his girlfriend rented a small car from Budget Rent-A-Car Roanoke, VA (airport). My son used a credit card in which I am also a co-signer. They returned the car on 08-08-2011. When the car was returned to Budget, I was told by my son that the car was checked by the company's personnel and nothing wrong was found after the inspection. During their 3 days rental, my son and his girlfriend sat in the front seats and never used the rear seats. A few days ago, in October (more than two months after the rental), I received a threatening letter from a claim company under the name of Khoury Alternative Claims, representing Budget Rent-A-Car, billing us for the damage of the rear seat belts (the receipt reads "replaced all rear seatbealts and shoulder harnesses"). The bill was for $1,114.73. The bill reads: Physical damage $534.77 - anticipated loss of use (4 days at $119.99) $479.96 and administrative fees of $100.00. Total of $1,114.73.

Their letter suggested that if they do not receive payment, they will send us to a collection agency which will ruin our credit history. In addition, Khoury Alternative addressed their letter to my husband when the rental was done by our son. I explained to Budget, in one of my many telephone calls to their office in Roanoke - phone number (540) 3662436, that my husband had an open heart surgery in July 14 and in August 5, he was still under hospital care so he was unable to do the rental. After searching for the credit card bill, I found out that the letter was inappropriately addressed to my husband. In addition, none of my phone calls to Budget Roanoke were answered even though I left multiple messages for their manager.

I consider this to be an incredible situation. Anyone could be on this situation that we found ourselves into. Budget can claim any damage and charge anyone, anything. By the way, the total amount of the rental was less than $80.00 for a 3-day rental, but they charged on their bill $479.96 for anticipated loss of use of 4 days or $119.99 per day. They waited two months to let us know of their claim for damages to the car. The car was repaired one month after on 9-6-11. In all this time, we were never contacted. After about 40 years as a car owner, I can say that I never had to replace one seatbelt on any of them. This is a very hard to believe claim, having to replace two seatbelts and shoulder harnesses!

I am appalled at this situation since first of all, the car was returned with no damage in the car where nobody sat on the rear seats. "Damage to the seatbelts to the tune that it requires replacement of all rear seatbelts and shoulder harnesses" points out to a definitely very bogus, incredible and fraudulent claim! To me, this is a clear fraud. I now feel nervous to rent a car, not knowing if they will be able to bill me for some unknown damage that I did not cause. This claim is so bogus and has no real base. As a family, we have used Budget for a long time but right now, I lost all confidence on this company after this incident. I require a company's investigation of this claim. I require an immediate answer to this email.

I returned your Nissan rental car, on July 1st 2010, in perfect condition with a full tank of gas and I verified full levels of oil and critical fluids. I properly returned your car's key and completed your exiting paper work with your agent that same day. Then to my astonishment, 9 days later, I received a phone call not from you but from a third party representative named Emmale ** from Purco Fleet Services, telling me that there is $1,200 worth of "hail" damage that all of a sudden appeared on your Nissan rental vehicle. I can't help in finding these claims to be highly suspicious and deceitful.

If this "hail" incident is truly my responsibility, I will honor fixing that vehicle, but first there are troubling concerns about your motives, methods, perceptions and Budget's policies. I expect any prudent and reasonable persons or business, with integrity, to answer these legitimate concerns before I pay this bill: Why was this "alleged" damage not reported on my exiting paperwork when I checked out that day? Why did you or a representative from Budget not immediately call me about this incident? Why did you or a representative from Budget not call me at all? (All calls confirmed by cell phone records). Why have you not responded to my emails? Why are you using a third party to act as a non-eyewitness and liaison to this event when you were the one who initiated these proceedings? Why do you "professional" representative of Budget, deny conversation of help and direction? Why do you withhold the name of the person or persons who "inspected" this vehicle? Therefore, what questionable qualifications and experiences are you hiding for these vehicle "inspectors"? If this incident is truly my fault, why was I not allowed an opportunity to fix it? In our initial phone conversation, July 12th, 2010, you mentioned there had been "hail" storms in South Dakota for the past 6 weeks.

If this is true, Budget must have a fleet of "hail" damaged vehicles sitting at the Rapid City Airport car rental, non-covered, parking lot. Doesn't Budget carry vehicle insurance for these unforeseen circumstances or does Budget still assign arbitrary damage claims to innocent customers? How many car rental contracts, of the Nissan in question, were issued after my exiting paper work to the vehicle repair shop? Why has it taken 10 days, after my request on July 11th, for Purco Fleet Services to fabricate these damage and documentation papers?

In the interest of motive, honesty, transparency and good old-fashion customer service: I would like to see the repair bills for all these "hail" damaged Budget fleet vehicles during the period of my rental agreement including the Nissan(I find it hard to believe that a "hail" storm single out your vehicle in question). I would like to see the certificates and experience qualifications of all vehicle "inspectors" involved with this Nissan. I would like to see original dated photos of this "hail" damaged Nissan. I would like to see original dated photos of this "repaired" Nissan. I would like to see original dated photo of the current vehicle mileage at the time of repair. I would like to see the other non-biased bids for vehicle repair. I would like a copy of my rental agreement. I would like a copy all paper work concerning the repairs to this vehicle. I would like a copy of all rental agreements and damage claims to this Nissan during the 6 week period of "hail" you claim had happened (You may omit or censor customer private information).

I understand Budget wanting to protect their vehicles, properties and investments. I appreciate any valued business wanting to protect their vehicles, properties, investments and customers, but not at the costs of misperceptions, falsehoods or fraudulent policies.

Please respond to these queries, by email or letter, before July 26, 2010 5:00 pm MST so payment is not delayed. At the end of this required response time, If you have not given reasonable honest answers and the required materials stated from above I will initiated criminal investigations of Budget's fraudulent and deceptive business practices starting with, and not limited to, the United States Federal Trade Commission, National Insurance Crime Bureau, The Better Business Bureau, and the syndicated televised Get Gephardt Program.

There was a Budget moving vehicle at my place of work at Victoria carwash and the driver was very rude - he would always shake his head at my co-workers and me. He was doing this because we were parked in his way and he wanted us to move. We were simply doing our job by parking in our reserved parking spots. He then proceeded to harass our customers about moving out of his way which thus made our customer mad, he was just trying to get in his vehicle. These actions could have possibly made our customer not feel as welcome or as happy towards our carwash. I felt this was inappropriate behavior whether he worked for Budget or was a consumer of their vehicles, these actions would make me avoid use of your vehicles. He was mid 30s driving your truck #82825 at 4:08 pm October 7th. I just wanted to bring this to your attention. Thanks.

What a rip off! I went to Kelowna, BC. Budget Truck and Car Rental. They quoted $34. I used the truck for an hour and ended up with a bill for $50.00. And they call it "Budget", with hidden charges galore charged for the 14-kilometer journey. Overall, I'm very disappointed with "rip off car and truck rental". It is a bad business model based on greed.

On 9-24-11, we went to the Budget in Las Vegas. My daughter had pre-rented the car, although I usually do it. I think that is why the person felt they could pull a fast one on her. Laura ** told her that she had to buy "Loss of Use" insurance. My daughter declined, but Laura insisted that she had to buy it.

When presented with the papers to sign, the price of the rental went from approximately $210 to over $400. At that point, I was called over and I said, "Absolutely not." I then asked our friends who already had done their rental with another agent to check their papers and see if they were charged for that. All of the insurance boxes simply said "declined" without any argument from the agent.

We then went to the counter where my daughter was now waiting for the people Laura had taken and had asked her to step aside while we did this stuff. As soon as the papers from the other rental were shown to Laura, she started with, "You misunderstood me. I wasn't really saying you had to take the insurance." I really would like to know the proper government agency to report this to. I thought these car rental insurance scams were done!

The other side of the coin needs to be looked at.

I work for Budget Rent-A-Car. These complaints are so normal for what normally goes on. Here's some important info you need to know that's often complained about. First of all, please remember, rates are often on a strict 24-hour clock from the time of pick to time of drop off. For example, you pick up at 3 pm, you would need to drop off at 3 pm the next day. Otherwise, another day's charges often applies. Before you leave, carefully check you car for damages. Because saying "I didn't do it" will not cut it upon return. You can argue with the attendant all you want, but it will get you nowhere usually if you don't report damages before, and not after you leave. Also, taking your argument out on a customer service rep about not having your car doesn't help, because they are not the ones that control the company's inventory. Usually, this is done by upper management.

Sometimes we are even told by managers to give out minivans as substitutes. It is because we are over sold on certain car classes, only yet to hear a customer complain and say "but this isn't what I reserved". Often times when this happens, the agent's hands are tied cause they really don't have anything else. Usually it appears you're pretty much guaranteed a vehicle of some sorts at minimum, even though it's not a vehicle you expect. If you think about it, you're not owning the car. You're just renting it. And a mini van for example still gets you from point A to point B just fine. If you really do have a gripe about your vehicle, it's best you take it out on upper management, cause again the vehicle inventory is controlled by them, not the employee.

Another bad Budget episode. This time, in San Francisco on 9/3/2011. Once again, we had a Priceline prepaid reservation. We were ready to decline all coverages, including LDW once again and we're ready to pay extra special attention to this item during our rental experience, having been burned defrauded by your Tampa office in July. We arrived at the car rental service center (I'll refer to this as CRSC from here on in) at approximately 12:30PM on Saturday, September 3, 2011. What ensued was chaos. The lines were horrendously long for Budget car rentals; so much that I called the Budget toll-free number to ask if we could pick up a car at a different Budget location with our Priceline reservation, but was asked to call Priceline directly. I couldn't get through to Priceline.

We were traveling this time with a party of four. Approximately 4 hours after we arrived at the CRSC, we were given a rental car. That's more time than our flight time from Milwaukee to San Francisco. My guess is that there were at least 500 (at 2.5 people per reservation) people in your line waiting for cars, and with every train arrival, more people lined up after us. After at least 2 hours of waiting, one of your representatives handed out $25.00 discount coupons on car rentals, but it didn't apply to prepaid Priceline reservations. He estimated the wait at about 40 more minutes. He told us that they moved 500 cars off the lot to make room for the huge influx of incoming cars that they expected back in on Tuesday. Due to the immediate demand at the CRSC, they were shuttling those cars from a lot 1.5 miles away back to the CRSC. Who is in charge of inventory at this location? Why didn't you have enough cars? This is basic inventory management. We waited and waited. We even offered to help shuttle cars, anything to get the line moving.

As I said, it was chaos. People talked about selling their spots in line. People told the crowd that the Budget was lying and had no cars. We feared that we wouldn't get a car at all that day and we would be forced to find a hotel for the night in a strange city, losing our hotel reservation and infringing on our prepaid car rental reservation. Once at the counter, our service person offered us an Equinox for $20.00 per day more. Shouldn't you just give me the next car available since 4 of us have been waiting 4 hours? Funny that with no apparent rental cars in inventory, the agents were still upselling. How can you do that with no cars? We offered $5.00 more per day for an Equinox if she could produce it right then. She looked doubtful and informed us that she'd still wait for a full size which is what we rented. We waited and waited. She offered a Jeep Liberty, which we took out of pure exhaustion but no mention of the $5.00 (total $43.10) additional charges we had offered for an Equinox only, not a Liberty. Again, shouldn't you be handing out any types of cars at this point as they come in? Upon returning the Liberty, I was asked to sign for the additional $43.10 in charges, not at the time of rental. Ugh!

I rented an SUV on 9/13. Prior to pickup, I was told the gas gauge wasn't working on the SUV we wanted so they were getting us another one. I ended up picking up what I thought was the working SUV about 4 hours later. An hour into my trip on the highway, the gas gauge suddenly dropped and I was out of gas. A month later, I was charged $55.00 for 3 gallons of gas that was brought to me by who told me they were the rangers. Mind you, I had 2 infants (4 months and 19 months) in a hot truck on the turnpike. This was the worst experience and would never rent from Budget again.

I called to reserve a car and asked if visa check card is acceptable and the answer is yes. When I showed up to pick up the rented car, I am told that anyone other than Alaska residents can use a visa check card. That is discrimination! I am seeking legal action!

I would like to follow a case about Budget Car rental because it caused loss of money, time and it caused my family and parents lots of frustration and stress at one of your local branches in Calgary. (**)

We booked a car from Sep 15 to Sep 29, for a total cost of $350 (we have the confirmation emailed to us from budget) and when we showed up to pick up the car they mentioned that they don't have anything available that day, so they apologized (the name of this guy was Marvin) and told us to come back on Sep 16 to get a car. We said okay and we made sure that our confirmation number is the same and we should pay for Sep 16 to Sep 29, so it should be $350 minus cost of one day rental.

Today (Sep 16), we showed up to get the car but the manager of the branch charged us a total cost $375! And when we asked to look at our emailed confirmation about the $350 rental for Sep 15-Sep29, he refused and said, "I won't look at your email on your cell phone." He acted and behaved very badly, as he had issues with our country or something! Obviously, we didn't get a car from them, as we asked for the same price of $350, that we booked yesterday and we did not even had the car yesterday, so it should less than 350! It caused loss of money and time (2 days) and also emotional and physical problems (as my mother cannot walk and we really needed a car) for us (my parents and my wife were there at the branch too!

We are going to pursue this case from you or from the court, as it caused lots of problems in 2 days, for us. I have the emailed confirmation and the confirmation ($350 from Sep 15-Sep29) and the one that the rude manager printed for us today (for $371 from Sep16-Sep29). The one thing that the manager told us when we asked for our car that we booked for $350 was that he does not see us as customers! This is not how the customers should be treated. I will provide you with the confirmations and documents and we also recorded some of the conversation.

Same story as I have seen over and over. I came from Europe to Phoenix, and I rented a car from Budget on September 11, 2011. When I returned the car I was shocked to find out that I had been billed for LDW insurance.

I clearly declined all insurance. The clerk apparently failed to note the refusal of the LDW insurance and I did not notice this at the time of the rental. Whether this action was intentional on the part of the clerk in an effort to commit fraud or simply an inadvertent error remains to be seen.

I signed the rental agreement presuming that they merely needed my wet signature never expecting that these were additional charges. This is really bad practice in their business. This company is forcing their employees to make commissions in selling insurance.

I would give this negative star if I could. They were not transparent with their pricing fees for insurance coverage, costing me almost $400 in insurance cost for a week's rental. It was twice as much as the rental itself. The agent that helped with the car did not explain the choices or prices clearly. The agent told me that the high cost was just a deposit and would credit back to my card. I truly feel that I was scammed. By reading some other reviews, I see that I am not the first, and sadly not the last either.

On September 10, 2011, my wife and I rented a Chevrolet Equinox during a trip to Hawaii. Upon arriving in Kailua-Kona International Airport at the Budget counter, I was informed of all my options regarding LDW (Loss Damage Waiver). The receptionist was helpful in explaining to me that LDW covers the vehicle for damage and loss of use, but did not explain what is not covered. Upon leaving for our hotel, I noticed some scratches in the rear right corner of the vehicle and advised the receptionist of these damages. She said to mark them down, but do not worry, that those scratches would have been covered anyway. She, again, never explained what is not covered.

On September 12th, the key fob got wet and was unusable. Of course, it was my mistake, but I thought to myself that it would be covered by our LDW. Her failure to explain what LDW did and did not cover is a complete misrepresentation of their coverages and misleads their customers. She explained to me, over the phone, after the incident that she specifically said LDW does not cover damage to the key fob, even though she needed to ask her manager if it was covered by LDW after I called Budget to notify them of what happened. To me, that was an outright lie. This company is underhanded, tricky and only wants to use their customers for a higher profit no matter what the consequences are to their reputation here in Hawaii. Never use them!

Beware the hidden fees and shop around to avoid 'gotcha' charges.

I reserved a car rental at the Budget Nashville airport counter for 8/25 to 8/29. Confirmation #38xxxxxxxxx. I paid $168.84 online via a credit card. I was dropped off at the airport to pick-up the car. After completing the paperwork, the attendant informed me that $200 was needed as well on a credit card "for incidentals". This was not made clear in the initial online reservation.

I am only recently employed after a long time out of work, and I shopped for a while to find an affordable option to rent this car. I struggled to have enough money to afford the rental to take my daughter to boarding school (where she was awarded a 4-year, full ride scholarship). I needed a larger car to transport her new school stuff. It is a stretch to afford even this, but I can't deny my daughter this life-changing opportunity.

The surprise imposition of an additional $200 holding charge to my account was beyond my means. There just wasn't enough money against my credit limit to afford this. I have only 1 credit card. My debit card likewise didn't have enough to cover this charge.

I offered to pay the $200 through a combination of $100 on the credit card, $85 cash and balance on the debit card. This was refused. My gripe now and at the counter was that this charge was not clearly advertised. The attendant would not take another person's credit card that agreed on the phone to accept the $200 holding charge.

Frankly, this policy of a hidden charge sets a potential customer up for a deeply humiliating experience and is likely (and did) elicit colorful language on my part. The utterly false "I understand" boilerplate repeatedly offered up by the attendant only enraged me, as it was clear that they neither understood nor cared about my circumstance as a customer.

After pausing for a moment to control my anger and fight back tears at the situation I now found myself, I arranged for my transport to return to the airport and put the charge on his credit card. This person was also annoyed by the situation and said as much on the phone to the attendant. Several minutes later, the attendant informed me that they would not rent the previously arranged contract despite the impending arrival of another person to physically sign for the $200 charge.

This seemed vindictive to me. I was told that the reservation would have to be cancelled online. I did not have access to internet (no smart phone or laptop with me). When I protested, the attendant threatened to call airport security to have me removed from the premises, despite the fact that I never physically threatened anyone.

I removed myself to the seating area in an attempt to collect myself. A lawyer, who witnessed most of this interaction at the adjacent Avis counter, came up to me and explained that he was appalled by my treatment and offered to vouch that I was not threatening anyone. He let me use his laptop to cancel my reservation. At this point, I hoped to still rent a car with another company. The very slow airport internet finally allowed me to cancel my reservation, where I was treated to a $50 cancellation fee.

However, the temporary authorization of the $168 would stand for up to 7 business days, thus denying me the ability to rent from anyone else. Budget has stolen $50 from me through the cancellation fee, when I was forced to do so by the staff's refusal to rent to me. Budget also temporarily stole an additional $118, tied up in temporary authorization, preventing me from renting from a competitor.

I never made my original destination that night to pick up my daughter and take her to a high-school football game with her former classmates before leaving for school the next day. She was in tears, I was in tears and two other people were inconvenienced by this policy and the refusal of the attendant to complete the transaction after I arranged to meet the unreasonable conditions. I eventually arranged for another person to rent the car for me the following morning through a competitor.

There was no disclosure by the renting agent about the rental CUS FAC CHG of $10 and 11.11% concession recovery fee of $12.48. Thus these charges are dubious and conciliatory in nature to the customer.

The car was fine. Prior to returning the car on 8/29/11, I stopped and filled up at Valero Gas in San Diego. I purchased $34 in gas at 6:16 in the morning. I ran the pump until it stopped and then put approximately 40 cents more to round off to $34.00. I got in the Suzuki and drove off, noticing that the gauge did not register full. I wasn't about to go back for more gas.

I drove directly to Budget, returning the car to the walking check-in person. I also told him that the gas gauge did not register full and told him the above story. He said it was okay. He checked me in, and away I went. I had no reason to leave the tank short 2.2 gallons.

I believe that this is Budget's way of nickeling and dimeing unsuspecting customers to make a profit. Unless I am credited for the 2.2 gallons, I will gladly take my business elsewhere.

My experience with Budget at this location was very good, until I got the additional charge, which I feel is an error. I paid the full bill when I turned the car in. I even turned it in the day before it was due to be returned with about half a tank of gas left. I had paid upfront for a full tank of gas, which was a gift to Budget. When I returned to Florida, I got an additional bill for $59.64 . I do not feel that I owe this amount so I would like a refund.

I registered my car online and got quoted $349.99 for the car rental. When I got to the facility, the person asked me if I wanted additional services, gas prepaid, insurance for the car, etc. However, I stated, "No thank you. We have it covered under our own insurance." They had me look through a small TV window. I was told to read the fine print and sign, which I did on the same screen. Upon return, I was rushing to get the car checked in September 9th. It was raining and the workers did not have a means to help cover me. He took a picture of the serial number and stated, "We have to give you credit on the gas because I had filled it prior."

I was in a rush to catch my plane to find that the $349.99 jumped way ahead to $794.46. I was on the plane but once I got to Miami, I called to get the price reduced to its original record. I noticed the additional charges that were unauthorized. I called customer service and complained of the outlandous way of treating their customers. This was a trick, not a fare call, and I will never ride the budget again. I receive $149 credit, but I will still be going forward with my decision.

Our experience with the Budget Rent a Car franchise, owned by Steve Antrim of Sioux Falls, SD, was dreadful! The car was fine, but the way they structure their billing system is horrible. We rented for one week but kept the car for only 4 days and 6 hours and dropped it off before they opened. I called Budget Rent a Car that morning, after they opened, and one of their employees said we would pay a lower rate. After getting the bill, the information was incorrect and we had to pay the full week. We were presented with something which was wrong and Budget Rent a Car does not stand behind its employees.

When picking up my rental, I deny any additional options. The agent then had me sign on an electronic monitor. I didn't realize until I was turning in the car that he had marked down that I wanted additional insurance which is an additional charge of $127.73. As soon as I returned home, I called to have that charge removed but I was told that it wouldn't happen since I signed for it.

This is a scam! They said that they would take half off, but I refused to even pay half considering I never agreed to anything additional.

I will never use Budget or Avis again and I will warn everyone I know about their evil tactics.

I rented a car from Budget on July 16-29, 2011. I recently received my credit card bill and it appeared as though I was billed twice for the car rental. When I called to inquire, I was shocked to find out that I had been billed for LDW insurance.

I had a prepaid Priceline reservation. At the rental counter, I clearly declined all insurance. The clerk apparently failed to note the refusal of the LDW insurance and I did not notice this at the time of the rental. Whether this action was intentional on the part of the clerk in an effort to commit fraud or simply an inadvertent error remains to be seen. I signed the rental agreement presuming that they merely needed my wet signature on the Priceline paperwork, never expecting that these were additional charges.

I reserved a car through expedia with my flight. Rented the car for a week, noon to noon. They gave me the car 2.5 hours early but failed to tell me that the week rental ended 2.5 hours early. A $380 bill turned into a $520 bill. I got the number of the branch manager and after repeated calls got a hold of her. I explained my situation and that my reservation said the car was due back at noon. She said that there was nothing she could do and charged me for an extra day. She was a broken record - sorry sir there's nothing we can do . . . No understanding or empathy for the customer. I'll never rent Budget again.

I am writing concerning a problem, a very big problem with Budget Car Rental Tamuning, located at A.B. Won Pat International Airport, Guam.

As I was leaving Guam at 7:50 am on Mar 27, 2011, I arrived at the airport at 5:00 am. Immediately upon arriving at the airport, I go to turn in the key for my rental car. When I arrived at the counter, there was no one in attendance to accept the key. Since it was early and no one was at the counter, I then went to check in my bags. After checking my bags in at 6:00, I went back to the rental car checkout counter and again no one was there to receive the keys. I waited for over an hour and 30 min, until 7:30, to turn in the key, to no avail. I waited as long as I could before my plane departed but still no one showed up to receive the key and neither was there a visible drop box to leave the key secure. Therefore, I left the key on the counter and ran to the security check point to board my plane. I have the airline boarding pass to prove I left on March 27.

It was not until April 22, 2011, while checking to ensure the rental charge had been satisfied that I noticed $1,942.20 was debited from my account by Budget. Because of my military duties, I sent my first email to Budget on May 5, 2011 inquiring about these charges. I received a reply from Budget on May 6, 2011 informing me the car has not been checked in. My first thought was why did it take more than a month to discover one of your cars was missing when I only contracted the car for one week. I sent a response back on May 9, 2011 explaining what happened and that it was unprofessional for no one to be manning the counter and that I had no choice but to leave the key on the counter. I never received a response from Budget on my May 9th email which, by the way, is not a good way to do business. It seems strange to me that anyone besides someone who worked at the rental car agency could know which car to take or the location of the car.

While disputing and awaiting a resolution and response on the $1,942.20 taken from my account, another charge of $2,736.95 was taken from my account on Jun 3, 2011. I tried to call repeatedly when those charges was taken, with no one answering the phone. I then sent another email on May 16 and did not get a response until May 21st stating they had found the car and that a police report will be emailed to me as soon as it is made available to them. This does not seem correct because if the car was found, a report should have been sent to resolve the case. As of the date of this email, I still have not received a police report.

To date, your company has behaved in a very unprofessional manner. You have taken exactly $4,679.15 from my account without bothering to contact me to ascertain what happened to the car nor did your company take into consideration what impact taking this much money from me will have on my financial situation or what other bills I may have to pay. Because of your unethical conduct, my house is in danger of being in foreclosure, my car is in danger of being repossessed and my government travel card has not been paid which is putting my military career in jeopardy.

This issue needs to be resolved and my money returned to me less what I actually need to pay for the original week I contracted. In hindsight, I could have handled this situation differently. I could have taken the key with me and mailed it back but as I have not been in such a situation before, I was not able to think. On the other hand, with people traveling locally and internationally, someone should have been manning the desk, which makes your company just as liable.

This issue has taken 4 months to resolve. My finances are in chaos. I am getting charged bank fees left and right due to your company's actions. As I am in Korea, I am appealing to you to give me my money back and resolve this issue. This matter is being handled unprofessionally by your company. You took my money on two separate occasions as if your company bares no responsibility or liability. Questions should be asked on your company's part, why did it take so long to know this car was missing as I only reserved it for a week? Why was I not informed immediately instead I was informed of it a month later when all my personal information was given at the time of the rental? Why was I not interviewed by the police. I was the one who rented the car so how could an effective investigation be conducted without me being questioned? Why was my money taken before a police investigation was conducted? Why was the money taken prior to resolution of the case?

I need a quick resolution to this matter. If not, I have no other option but to seek legal recourse plus damages. I am not threatening your company. I am only looking at the facts as I have presented them and anyone, even a court of law, can see I am a victim here. I gave my credit card to rent a car with the understanding, the car would be checked for damages, and to insure the car was refilled and then my card would be charged only once to satisfy my rental contract.

In addition, if this is not resolved as quickly as possible, I will launch a campaign throughout the Military and the Civilian Sector so this will not happen to anyone else. I do not want to issue threats but I seem not to have any other recourse. I do not wish to damage or hurt your company's reputation but I will do my best through letters and the media if need be to get a quick resolution. This whole situation is being handled shabbily. Your company, as a whole, is not to blame but the rental car people in Guam is not very cooperative.

Please help me resolve this issue.

Adrien **

There was an incorrect charge placed against me. I reserved a vehicle online with an online receipt that said Toyota. At the Budget-Rent-a-car location in Burbank for $116, an agent stated they needed a credit card but that it would not be charged as I said I would be able to pay the vehicle with cash once it's returned. The clerk was unable to find the Toyota keys so instead, I was given keys to a Hyundai Accent. I noticed a bit of shaking when I entered the freeway which stopped immediately upon entering. However, I didn't worry too much as I attributed the shaking to the condition of the freeway entrance's pavement. After work, I started making my way to Vegas. It was not until I was in the middle of the desert, where there's no cell reception or traffic, that I realized that the shaking wasn't the road but the car's steering wheel that was having serious problems. I deduced that the shaking occurs only at highway speeds, above 65mph.But, I had nothing but traffic to work and until I reached the desert so I was not able to discover the defect. It being too late and not being able to call anyone, I preceded to Vegas as there were other vehicles on the road. Luckily, I made it safely.

Prior to leaving Las Vegas, I called the rental place in Burbank to explain the situation. I was then referred to the 800 number because they couldn't help me. I called the 800 number three times and was given the run around (e.g. wrong dept., "let me check" and subsequently disconnected). After spending about two hours trying to get help I called one last time and explained my story again. At this point it was getting dark and I was concerned for my safety driving through the desert with a car that had mechanical problems. I asked if I would be able to drop off the car at a Budget in Vegas. They stated "yes" I would be able to do this. I asked if I needed a confirmation number or to speak to anyone else as this was not the location where I originally picked up the vehicle from. They checked and confirmed no further action was needed, as long as it's a Budget I should be able to drop it off with no issues.

When I arrived, I checked the car in and let the clerk know the situation and that I had to book a flight because no one was able to assist me in the situation. The clerk mentioned "so do you want to talk to the manager or check out" I told him I would have to speak to the manger at a later time as I had a flight to catch. He did not seem concerned about the vehicle having issues but he was trying to rush me out. He rang up my car and did not mention the amount and I asked if he had already charged it to my credit card he said yes as they have it on file. I received a receipt for the $116. (Note: I'm pretty convinced they rented this vehicle out to another customer and didn't look into the mechanical issues it had, possibly putting another customer's safety in danger.)

During this entire ordeal no one ever mentioned additional charges being made. Even my receipt read $116.00. According to their website they advertise "No Surprise".

Well the following day I received a $1,547.00 surprise charge for dropping off my vehicle in Vegas in addition to the $116.00 for the rental. That's not including how much I had to pay for my flight ticket, which is $188.00 due to this situation I was put in.

When I spoke to the manager, Luis Uz of the Budget Rental at Burbank, not only did I receive sarcasm, but he was condescending as well. I explained everything to him and asked him to put himself in my shoes, his response to that was I wouldn't drive a car all the way to Vegas if I noticed it was an issue. I explained to him the shaking occurred briefly and stopped, I wasn't concerned at the time because I thought it was the road at the time. I asked if maintenance and checks were done on their vehicles. His response was "we cannot decommission a car and let it sit for two days not being available." I asked how he knew their vehicles were running fine and safe and I was amazed and shocked at what he responded with. He stated "we won't know unless the customer reports a problem to us" then they will decommission it till it's resolved.

So I guess as a consumer it's my responsibility to serve them as a crash dummy and wait for something to happen before anything is done. He continued to argue that I "did not give them a chance to correct the issue" yet I called in four times to get it resolved, I even called his office and nothing was done.

Every time I spoke to representatives they spoke to me like I wasn't their problem and passed me along, no one was focused on the car issue or my safety but focused on getting me off the phone. After this extremely stressful and shocking conversation he finally agreed to look into it and would contact Vegas. He stated unless they believe the car is not drivable, I would have to pay the $1500 charge. I let them know my priority was my safety so that was the reason I booked a flight and did not take that car. He stated he would then call me that day or the next day. I asked him if he also wanted me to speak to Vegas or corporate or if there was anything else I can do on my end. He said no wait for my call.

After 2 days and 2 messages the manager finally contacted me stating that there was nothing wrong with this vehicle according to their office in Las Vegas, which led me to believe he was either lying to me, or they drove the car in street traffic, which does not trigger the problem. During my stay I did mention it to a friend who drove with me down the block and she said, she too experienced the issue. But it must have been our imagination, as the dealership according to the manager "wouldn't gain anything from lying about the car working". Really? I see a gain of $1616.00. To add insult to injury he gave me an option of negotiating 50% of the $1,500 cost. How do you figure I owe them when they provide with a faulty car and every attempt in trading it out failed on their part and lack of accurate information played a huge factor in my decision. I believe I exhausted every option. This was supposed to be a vacation, instead I'm here dealing with a cost that totaled $1,851.00 for transportation due to the failure of them maintaining their vehicles. This should have remained at a $116.00 cost with a functioning vehicle. This is Toyota all over again. It will take a disaster before they will be willing to admit they're at fault. They still refused to take responsibility and give me my money back!!

I had just left a vacation home to go and get some food. It was about 15 minutes from the house when I had to pull over because both rear tires went flat. It was in a residential area with a gated community and no shops.

AutoVantage defrauded me of $228.84 over a fourteen month period. Budget rental cars gave my credit card information to AutoVantage without my consent. A class action settlement of $25 million was supposed to shut this scam down but it didn't.

The tricksters are continuing to defraud the country.

I rented a car for vacation in Hawaii. A small rock chip was noted on the windshield when I turned it in. Then 2 weeks later, I got a bill for $500 for replacing the whole windshield! I was ticked about that, but still turned it over to my insurance and to Visa, to have them cover the $500 (no way I was paying for it.)

Then I started getting letter after letter from Budget, asking where their money was. I would call every time to give them all the insurance claim information - the adjusters name, phone number, claim number, etc. Still - more letters. I'd call every time and go through Budget/Avis's horrible customer representatives.

I eventually got a letter from Budget saying they were going to turn me over to a collection agency! I called Budget and they said that they hadn't received the money from Visa. Visa said they sent a "release" to Budget, but hadn't received it back yet. I finally got a Budget representative to admit that they had the release, but hadn't sent it back in yet.

So essentially, they're threatening to turn me over to a collection agency because they haven't returned paperwork to Visa to get their money.

Back on May 9, I reserved a rental car online to be picked up at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. Because we were leaving the country a few days after needing the car, we were only taking debit cards. The website clearly stated that they accepted debit cards but that they could place holds on the funds needed for the rental, which was not a problem.

Upon arriving at the airport location, the woman informed us that they were out of the mid-size cars, which we had reserved, but she could give us an upgrade to a Dodge Ram or Mustang for almost the same price. We agreed, after all, we needed a car and they didn't have what we requested. Upon giving us the total, she swiped the debit card, looked at it then said she couldn't rent to us with us using a debit car on a luxury vehicle. I kindly asked if they had anything cheaper to which she replied, "We can't rent to you, period."

They were refusing to rent us a car because we were using a debit card, even though the website clearly stated we could. When I explained why we didn't bring any credit cards with us, she simply said, "Sorry, try another company. Good luck."

So we're supposed to be stranded in a strange city with no car! Without an explanation! So my husband and I went down to Alamo Rental Cars, who were happy to rent us a car using our debit card.

I rent a car in Orlando. They offered me an upgrade and I said no because I'm on a budget with four kids. We talked and the contract ripped and he had to reprint. He had me sign an ATM type screen with no data in it and advised me that he just got a car which I can have and it's much nicer. I thanked him for this. I dropped off and ran to catch the plane. While on the plane, I saw that I am charged an extra $350 plus tax. I called them and I was advised for an upgrade. I explained to the counter person that they flamed me with conversation and that they put them in without my knowledge.

I told him that I did not want to pay for an upgrade. That person submitted my request and got a call later which I turned down as I signed for it. I asked for a supervisor to call but I received no call.

On July 11, 2011 I made an online reservation to rent a car from Budget Rent A Car. My reservation was for 6 o'clock. I got to Budget at 6 o'clock and my car was not available. The girl working at the front counter told me they did not have my reservation on file yet and sometimes it takes 30 minutes to an hour after the scheduled reservation time for reservation to come through their system. I then waited 30 minutes after my 6 o'clock reservation before I asked if they could check to see if my reservation had come into their system yet. It still had not.

At this point I asked if I could cancel my reservation and just rent a car without one. The woman told me they were currently out of cars and were only offering SUV's so unless I wanted to pay for an SUV it would be best to wait for my reservation to come through. To make a long story short my reservation was made for 6 and I was not in a car until 8. That was 2 hours after my car was supposed to be ready. Come to find out the reason why it took 2 hours to get this rental car was not because my reservation had not come into their system but they did not want me to have an SUV for the car price. So they were waiting for someone to return a car before they would rent me a vehicle. Instead of telling me this they lied to me.

So I finally get in my rental and on my way. Once I got my rental car to my hotel I noticed that the headlights were not working. I did not think much about it at the time I just assumed that the headlights were not turning on because it was still day light. The next day I drove to Texas during the day light and once I got there I just parked the car at my hotel and did not drive it at night. The next night though I did need to drive my car at night and the headlights still did not come on. The parking lights and the bright lights worked but the dim lights did not. I called the emergency roadside assistance number because the Monroe Louisiana office where I rented the car was closed. I was then informed that corporate could not help me out or send me a new car because the Budget in Monroe Louisiana was not a car of the corporation which left me stranded in downtown Austin Texas without a ride. So I was forced to take a taxi to my hotel.

The next day was my day to return home and have the car returned. When I got to the Budget in Monroe I let them know the headlights did not work and I was stranded in Texas and corporate told me it should not be a problem for them to refund me one days off my bill because they were not able to send me a working car out. I was then told that they were not going to refund me any money because I did not call them to inform them the head lights were not working. To which I responded with you were closed when I needed a new car and I was bringing the car back today so what was the point in calling?

They told me that it was not their fault the headlights did not work in the car they check all the cars before they rent them out. I know they did not check the car before they rented it to me because it had just come in. Four other people then came to the counter to put in their opinion on why I should not get one day refunded back to me. This one man who worked there asked me if the air went out in a home I rented would I expect money off my rent just because it went out. To which I responded YES too. Needless to say all I got refunded from my $335 bill was $10.99. So I filled a corporate complaint and when I was filling the corporate complaint they also assured me they did not understand what the problem was with refunding me one day off my bill which was all I was asking for. I am waiting now to hear from someone that working in higher management in the Budget Corporation.

When I accepted the vehicle, its fuel showed a full tank. I drove approximately 16 miles to pick up my family and the gas gauge suddenly dropped half way between 3/4 and full. I returned to rental place, and showed manager what had happened. He told me to go 1/2 block to the gas station and fill it up; and when I returned the car and brought in the receipt, he would reimburse me. It took 6 and 1/2 gallons to refill it to a full tank. I returned the car after closing and left the receipt along with the key and other papers as instructed. I have called him twice and gone to his location twice. The girl says he is not there, but she will give him a message. The car was returned in 6/18/11. It is now the 14th of July, and he has made no contact. It is not the money but rather, the fact that I do not like to be lied to. If no reply comes, I have other resources.

They told me how much a full tank would cost if I bought it upfront, plus tax. I agreed. When I got the bill, the price for the tank was higher, and they charged me 2 service fees plus 2 taxes -- 1 at 11%, another at 11.5 % -- on top of the hold bill. I called the airport and they basically told me, 'too bad'.I asked for the main consumer department number and they said I was wasting my time. But, I called anyway, and she was right. The main office didn't even give me a chance. They said, 'too bad'. I said that I was going to call my credit up; and they said it wouldn't matter, and they didn't care

They tried to force me to tack on LDWs, which are clearly and plainly stated in the contract, on the wall posters, and on the website as OPTIONAL. I even called the toll-free number and had the CSR from Budget's national home office tell the desk that LDWs are NOT a requirement for a 16' truck--unless you are a commercial customer. The ignorant clerk still insisted in spite of everything and said that I won't get a truck without an LDW, even though I had rented the same 16' truck only 17 days earlier without the LDW.

Inane and stubborn customer service makes this location. I would stay away from this in the future.

We first rented from you last March. We had a very stressful experience. In the end, everything was addressed and corrected and we even decided to give you another chance, which brings me to today.

Let's start at the beginning. We arrived at the Whitehall Budget Location in Ohio and to our surprise, the door was locked and no one was there. There was a sign on the door that said "Processing cars call a phone number given." When I called the number, it seemed to be someone's cell phone number, which went to voice mail. I left a message asking where everyone was because it was now 12:16 pm and I was supposed to pick up my car at 12 pm and no one was there. A few other customers joined us so my husband decided to walk around to the back to see if anyone was there. He found the processing area but no employees. We waited a little longer and then several cars came rushing into the parking lot....the staff had finally arrived and opened the doors. Keep in mind that the location supposedly opened at 8 am.

He processed our reservation. I informed him that I didn't see any Fusions in the parking lot and if they were at the back being processed. He said no, that they only have an Impala ready. The only Impala in the parking lot I saw looked like a customer had just returned if after a rough ride--certainly not like one that was ready to be rented out. He advised me that indeed was the one he was referring to. I refused the car. I called your sales department and spoke with Kelly.

I informed her of the situation and she graciously agreed to contact the nearby Budget at CMH Airport and gave me new reservations there. We left that location, got to the airport location. Of course there was a long line so we waited and waited and waited and waited. Finally, our turn at the counter. We were given coupon voucher as a courtesy because of previous issues we have had in March. On the vouchers, they had my husband's name. On the new reservation Kelly placed, she put it in my name. The girl refused to let us use the vouchers because of this. I asked if she could just put the reservation in my husband's name; she said no, that I would have to call reservations back. I went to a bench and proceeded to call Kelly back to let her know the current situation. She asked me to request that the girl behind the counter just switch the name of the reservation to my husband's. She told me no reservations have to do that. Kelly asked to speak with her and after their chat, the girl finally agreed to do the change.

After she got off of the phone with Kelly, she told me to get into the back of the line. I was like...wow, seriously?! She ignored me and proceeded to help the next customer in line. By this time, it's past 1:30. I was fuming and steaming. My poor husband, who hadn't gotten off of work until 5 am this morning and is due to be back at 3 pm this afternoon, is nearly comatic. I bit my tongue and waited in line AGAIN behind three customers.

FINALLY, it's my turn AGAIN and this time we got the manager. He processed the reservation, forgot to apply the coupons but quickly corrected it and proceeded to hand us the keys to a Ford Fusion. We walked out to the parking lot. I was thinking finally we got what we should have gotten at noon, although now it's well after 2 pm. We got to the car, very nice and very pleased. It had a sun roof, pretty red color and looked like it just had gone through the wash. At the back, there was a white arrow point down to the lower right side panel where someone apparently hit it. At this point, we just documented that along with other scuff marks along the bumper, soiling and dust on the interior and just know it's just not worth anymore of our precious time or mental energy to go back inside to request another one...we just took it.

My poor husband has been at work 12 minutes now. The plan had been to pick up the rental car at NOON so he could come home and take a nap before another long shift. No such luck. He barely had enough time to change into his work clothes and grab a quick bite in order not to be late for work. He probably won't get off until 5am in the morning again. Our anniversary is tomorrow (7/2) and we're supposed to be taking our first trip alone in five years without the kids. It's a seven-hour drive. We left at 6 am. I'm sure he'll sleep the entire way there now. This is not a great way to start off our anniversary weekend.

We're very disappointed at the lack of care and concern by certain employees of yours today. That Whitehall location needs a makeover on both the establishment and the employees. Very unprofessional. The customer service staff at both locations need to be retrained on customer service. The entire day we were made to feel as if we were burdening them with our presence. We weren't greeted with smiles of hello-how-may-I-assist-you-today but with annoyed looks of what-do-you-want.

You're immediate attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.

On 6/27 recevied a letter stating that we going to be billed for $125.00 for the interior damage to the vehicle. We rented a vehicle for 1 week and did not drive it much just to drop off my daughter off at school and back home. We are sure that we did not cause any damage to the outside and the inside of this vehicle that special detailing to the vehicle. My wife and dont smoke we have a 12 years old daughter that she sat in the front seat when my wife dropped her off to school we did not eat or drink anything while we had rented the vehicle.

We had the rental car for 1 week total and did not put than 200 miles during the rental. I think that Bugdet was giving the wrong information about the states of the vehicle after we dropped it off. There is no way that the interior was damage.

My husband and I rented a car for 1 week from the Budget Rental in Nanaimo, BC. We had a walk around before renting it. While on the ferry a delivery truck had its passenger long narrow door come inadvertently open and hit our driver side mirror; it did not sound like it hit the door at all and we were both stationary so would have been difficult for its range of motion to have accomplished hitting both. No damage could be seen by us or the ferry employee.

We turned the car in, Budget did a walk around and saw no damage and SIGNED OFF on the car. (we did take other vehicle's license number but don't see why they should be involved either now that no damage was confirmed at rental site)

Now, a FULL WEEK LATER they are saying the drivers' door has scratches and needs to be repainted! They state car was "dirty" and it could not be seen. This car was not driven in any high dirt or mud environment so makes no sense. Of course it is ridiculous with a signed off walk around also. Angry that we even have to be harassed by this shenanigan at all. It has not been settled yet. Will not rent from Budget again and we go to Nanaimo frequently.

On May 14th 2011, I made an internet reservation for a Group C rental car from Budget Car Rental at Heathrow airport in the UK. The rental was quoted at GBP 217.13.

I picked up the car on May 27th and returned it on June 6th. Towards the end of the rental period a piece of the car's plastic trim must have fallen off the passenger door. There was no accident, no one hit me, the car was not damaged in any way whatsoever - the trim must have fallen off the car while I was driving.

When I returned the car I explained what had happened, fully and naively expecting that it would not be an issue. Instead, to my horror, I was told I would be charged GBP 110 for the loss of the plastic trim.

I complained there and then, but had a flight to catch back to the USA and so could not afford the time to work out the matter.

On returning to the USA I immediately contacted Budget's customer services in an attempt to resolve the matter. My hopes went unmet and I was informed curtly by email, that the damage was my responsibility and that the charge applied.

On June 8th GBP 481.46 was taken from my account by Budget. The original quote was for GBP 217.13. With additional charges for an extra driver,a pre-paid tank of fuel (which I do not believe saved me any money at all, as promised by the sales person, and indeed may well have cost me money), and the GBP 110 charge, the total should have been GBP 452.61 - a discrepancy of GBP 28.85.

I immediately informed the people with whom I had emailed of the discrepancy and asked for at least the GBP 28.85 to be reimbursed. Instead, they clearly refused to believe me, emailed me a copy of the receipt, and stated, "as you can see from the rental contract it does state 452.61."

That was on June 9th. Today is June 16th. I have written to Budget repeatedly in the intervening time asking for clarification of why they have taken excess money from my account and asking to be reimbursed. As yet the only response I have received apart from automatic out-of-office replies and automatic "we will respond as soon as we can" replies, is one email from a customer services representative, stating, "I have forwarded your complaint onto Budget Customer Services and have asked them to reply directly to you." Needless to say, I have heard nothing from Budget Customer Services.

Needless to say again, I will never be using Budget or Avis Rental Car companies again.

I originally reserved an SUV for 6/3-6/6/11. The morning of 6/3 my fiance and I went to pick up rental and the representative, who was a middle age black woman who lacked any type of professionalism, repeated stated that she didn't want to be there and on several occasions used profanity (ex: I really don't want to ** be here this morning..) If we weren't already running late we would have left and went to another rental place. She offered us an upgrade of $5 a day for the dodge grand caravan and $10 for the tahoe which we took the offer for the dodge..

We were there for over 45 min.. On 6/6/11 My fiance and daughter returned the vehicle and the rep did not do a walk around with my fiance nor did my fiance think to ask for one.. 10 minutes after my fiance left I received a call from Budget local ofc stating that I needed to come and fill out an accident notice because there was a dent on the left front tire well. She (Budget Rep) stated that she noticed it after she pulled the van into the garage to have it washed then pulled it back out. I automatically assumed it was someone from my neighbor's house that accidentally backed into the van as they were backing out of their driveway.. My fiance and I pulled into the Budget parking at the same time and the dent was noticeable from at least a car length away so I am stuck wondering why if this dent was there, and that big, when the van was dropped off why did the rep, my fiance and my daughter not notice it then?

So then i am wondering if maybe the rep could have done it moving the van.. And since my fiance didn't realize to request a walk a round prior to his leaving I had to report it to my auto insurance.. I also notice that there was a $100 that was charged to my debit card and was told that the $100 is a hold and would be refunded to me less any addt'l charges. Which I was assuming would be no more than $30 due to the upgrade of $5 per day..

Then on 6/7/11 I again checked my back and not only is the $100 still pending but now there was an addt'l charge of $62.22 for a total of $162.22.. I called the local ofc that I got the car from and was told by a man w/ a middle eastern accent (i asked his name and couldn't understand what he said) he said that he would look into it and call me back in a couple of minutes.. I waited for 2 hours then called him back. He stated that the $162.22 was that amount of the upgrade.. and that there was nothing in the system showing that I was offered only $5 a day addtl.. I asked for the corp ofc # and was giving customer service and was told the same thing. when i became upset she stated that she would call the manager at the local ofc and call me back... Have yet to receive a call back... And I am still out $162.22.. I am totally disgusted with Budget Rent a car and their soo called "customer service".

I am a USAA member and asked them about the discount rate offered for the members that is stated on USAA website. They told me they don't give discounts but gave me a 10% discount being what I thought was "nice." Then when I got the bill they charged me for additional coverage which I specifically said I didn't want or need. I didn't realized it at the time I signed the contract because of all the codes on the paperwork. So I told the manager that there was a mistake, that I told them specifically I didn't want any additional coverage on my car. He gave some BS reason for adding it in, and making it sound like I got a good deal anyway so I shouldn't complain.

Those people conned me. And they did so intentionally and they try to justify it with some BS rationale that apparently made sense to them. Then I checked my credit report and it turns out they checked my credit, without telling me. Apparently it's their standard procedure when someone uses a debit card which makes no sense at all. It's a federal offense if someone looks up my credit report without my permission, and how is it it is legitimate when companies do it without disclosing this fact to the consumers?! When they check your credit report, it affects your credit score. How is this standardized practice?? It's outrageous that corporations can just get away conning and scamming consumers. Budget robs you blind and faces no consequences.. I don't think there are any legal remedies for me because I stupidly signed the contract without taking my time to read through. I just hope other people won't be scammed by Budget in the future.

I am in need of a car rental each week until year's end. I called Budget (along with other car rental companies) and got a quote from Budget on Independence Blvd, Charlotte, NC. The manager, Yonas, gave me a quote and I accepted. The reservation was made. When I returned the car, I was charged a different rate. The next time I rented, the same thing happened. When I called Yonas about the problem, he told me he was busy and would call me back. Needless to say, I never got a call back. Extremely unprofessional! This company allows its employees to lie and say anything to get business. I wouldn't rent from them again, ever!

Apparently Budget and Avis have merged. Mergers are all about greed; upper management makes grandiose deals and concessions without taking into account how they can be implemented, and all heck breaks loose. I know this from being a computer programmer and seeing, time and time again, this form of stupidity and power-grabbing in action.

As a Fastbreak member, and having chosen their prepay option when I reserved, I should be able to grab the keys and go when I pick up; and drop the car and keys off, and say goodbye as soon as they've checked the fuel level. My recent experiences at Budget are nowhere near this. On my latest rental, there was no one manning the Fastbreak line. I had to wait 15 minutes just to get to the counter, and then it took an incredible 23 minutes longer to get the car, even though I'd prepaid.

When I turned the car,and the required gas receipt in (because I'd driven less than 75 miles), I was told the charge would be $24+. Luckily, I'd recently reviewed my reservation and knew it was supposed to be $18+; else I'd have said okay and left. However, that $24 wasn't the total it was balance due after prepaying the total! Arrrgh! After quite a long time, it was determined that since, on check out, they'd given me a larger car than I'd asked for (which of course often happens, when that's all they have), they wanted to charge me for an "upgrade" totaling more than twice what the total should have been.

Budget used to be a pleasure to deal with but now they're just more Corporate Crapola.

I rented a minivan from Budget Rent a Car of Orange County (at the John Wayne Airport), back in March 2011. This week I received a letter from an attorney that I owed approximately $600 for damage that was done to the van.

When I rented the van, I did the normal walk around (along with the 5 other people that were with me) and saw that there was damage to the vehicle. I filled out there piece of paper, took it to the desk and had the employee sign off on it. She said to turn in the paper when I returned the vehicle. When I returned the van, I turned in the paper and the man that checked me in walked the vehicle and acknowledged that I turned in the paper and saw the damage that was done prior to me renting. He charged my credit card for my rental and I was done.

I believe they are scamming people. I am ready to take this to the top. I made several calls today to Budget and could only reach their corporate Customer Service Center who documented my complaint and said someone would be in contact with me. She also mentioned that sometimes when they don't know who damaged the vehicle, they will send it to everyone who has rented the car in the last 6 months. Can you say scam?

I had confirmation using a debit card, but the agent at Islip AP would not rent me the vehicle because the card was a debit card. I had to pay $100.00 for taxi fare. Finally, I rented a car from Avis (which is Budget) and paid with the same debit card when I returned the car to Islip AP three days later.

Hidden charges are not disclosed at desk and counter signed as accepted by customer. Specifically, the RSN charge (a lost key replacement service). My wife was swindled by Budget into paying $113 for a service she didn't want or agree too. I asked for refund from Budget, they refused saying it is customer responsibility to find hidden charges, challenge them and strike them from contract. What kind of customer service is that?

Use Dollar, Hertz or National, they do not cheat customers.

In 2010, I rented a 2010 Mercury Milan from this location. During that time, I was in transition of moving to another city. When I applied for a job at a company, I was informed that my DL had been suspended and that it had been since March of 2010. I was completely unaware of this because I hadn't received any correspondence regarding this.

When I learned of this, I immediately contacted Budget Rent A Car at 1-800-GO-BUDGET and informed the phone operator by the name of Reuben, that I needed him to make the necessary reservations with roadside assistance. I wanted them to pick up the car from my new home address and that it needed to be picked up that day because I was being picked up by family and I would be out of town for several months. I also informed him where the keys would be. Reuben gave his word that he'd have someone retrieve the vehicle. I also explained to him my reason for needing it to be done this way due to the suspended license. I wasn't comfortable driving and didn't want to assume any responsibility for any accident, etc.I thought I was using my best judgment by notifying the company directly. The company may have even tried contacting me but again, my phone was off and also where I was the cell reception wasn't/isn't that great.

I returned back home a couple of months later only to discover the vehicle still in the drive way. Reuben had not honored his word. I made 2 additional phone calls and was told that (1) We can't find a contract (2) We'll have someone pick it up and we apologize that this wasn't done. It appears, I was getting some reps abroad because they didn't seem to understand me very well. I was unable to contact the company where I rented from because my phone was cut off due to being out of work so I had to call the toll free number available. The last 2 times I called the company, I was placed in the queue for a little over an hour each time and disconnected on, as well being placed on hold for a period of time. The experience was very aggravating and stressful.

I rented a car for 2.5 days. I picked it up on Saturday and returned it on Monday evening. When I rented the car, it was near the closing time. So, the owner rushed us out and didn't even look at the car (I was in a rush too so I just signed and got on my way). When I came to return the car, they told me the rental is $200, instead of the $90 I was told because I'm 23. But weeks before when I made the reservation online, I asked if there was a charge and was told no. The owner and his employees were absolutely no help and were very rude. I showed them the email from Budget customer service and he said it's a fake, unbelievable. I will never deal with this company ever again and would never recommend it to anyone.

I rented an SUV for the Christmas holiday from Budget Rent-A-Car at the Baltimore Washington International (BWI) Airport location on the evening of 12/21/2010. Due to winter storms on the east coast, my return Southwest Airlines (SWA) flight from BWI on 12/26 was cancelled, and the BWI airport was closed to air traffic. I was not able to book a flight home from BWI until Wednesday evening of 12/29. As a healthcare professional scheduled to work from 12/27-12/31, I needed to return home as quickly as possible.

I was able to book flights for my family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on SWA with no change fees incurred. I attempted twelve times to contact the budget office at BWI by phone between the afternoon of 12/26 and throughout the day on 12/27. This action was based on a conversation with a 1-800 budget corporate customer service, who stated they were not able to assist me with changing the reservation, and I must call original budget office. It was particularly interesting as the SUV rental was booked online at Budget.com.

I have cancelled two new SUV rentals for early 2011, and I will not be using this very non-customer friendly rental car company in the future! Renters, beware!

After booking a car rental through Expedia, we went to pick up our car rental from the airport. I've rented several times before from Budget and I've never had them tack on this LDW fee. When I asked the service department over the phone, she tried to make up some lie about how it's part of the insurance, that I requested for it to be on there. After I told her I read that it wasn't mandatory to have this on my rental, she then just said that it was my fault for not catching it sooner.

My original rental agreement was for 77 dollars through Expedia. Although my insurance company does cover rentals, I thought it would be better just to purchase the added insurance coverage. When I asked the clerk that was there when I picked up the car, he said it would come out to 35 dollars. I asked several times if it would only be 35 dollars for the entire duration of my trip, and he said yes. I'm now stuck with an additional 25.99 dollar a day fee that they tacked on. It's because I couldn't see where they had added it and the clerk never once mentioned that there would be such a fee on my rental.

This is my first time renting a moving truck from Budget and will be the last. I've reserved a rental and was told the terms were a flat fee of $79/day and 99 free miles included. Yet, when I returned the rental, I was told that my reservation only reflected 21 free miles and their system showed the same information.

This company charged me $30 for an extra 36 miles and all the representatives insisted that my reservation never stated 99 free miles. I spent over 1.5 hours on the phone with the company's rep and supervisor and the situation was very poorly handled. I'm so glad that I had kept the reservation email to prove that I was right.

There are plenty of rental companies out there and how you treat your customers do matter. Needless to say, I will avoid Budget at all cost in my future rentals. And for others, please make sure you keep all papers so that you can have proof for these types of companies.

We had a nightmare dealing with Budget on a truck rental. Here are some numbers that will actually get you people. The corporate office number is ** and the legal department is **.

Don't just leave comments on here. Call and complain to them. The customer service number is worthless. You need to call direct.

I rented a car at the airport on the 13th of December and returned to the location within 19 hours on the 14th of December. The total mileage driven was 118 miles. Prior to the return to the airport, I gassed the vehicle up about 10 miles from the airport. It was $15.83 and more than 5 gallons, which was about right for the Chevy Cavalier that I had. I made sure that the car was full by topping up (as I wanted to make sure that the gauge will show full when I return the vehicle).

I returned the car and specifically pointed out to the attendant who accepted the return that I gassed up and the car is full. The attendant read the gauges and recorded the readings, walked around the car and accepted the return. About 5 days later, I received a letter in the mail telling me that they had to add another 3 gallons of gas in the car, and at a price of $7.98 cents per gallon I was charged an additional $23.94. This was billed to the credit card that I used to rent the car.

I contacted the rental location and they hung up on me when I demanded to know how they were allowed to charge me additional amount after a completed transaction and there is no possibility that they suffered any loss.

I then contacted the credit card company to dispute the charge. After a written complaint to Budget, they reversed the charge. I am now demanding that they explain to me how it was possible to add 3 gallons of gas into a car that was full. There is no physical way to put in 3 gallons in the vehicle after I ensured that it was full.

On the 2nd of October 2010 I arrived via a cruise ship to pick up a one-week rental from Budget at Cape Canaveral. On returning to the UK I was charged over $220 for the rental. I had prepaid on booking the car. When I contact Budget customer services it took over 10 days to get a response that the charge was an under 25 charge. I am 41 years old! When I queried this they had to do further investigations (another 10 days). I had to provide evidence of my age and state in writing my dispute. I am a Fastbreak customer. Budget's loyalty (ha ha) scheme! So they already know this. I had provided everything on renting the car, but it was my place to prove they had it wrong. Where is the service in that?

It took over 2 months for me to recoup my money. Whilst this was all happening I received a toll charge through Budget, $13.75. I have never driven through without paying a toll. I have been driving in Florida for over 11 years. I know the roads and what I have to do at a toll! I decided to include this second dispute in writing with one of my letters. This was completely ignored and only the refund of the $220 dealt with. On calling the customer services in the UK, I was told that I should have known they weren't dealing with the second error! Customer service at its best!

I was then sent a web address, which I cannot use as I don't have a US driving license. I contacted their customer service and surprisethey couldn't find the transaction. So they requested more information. Today 29th December, I have received an email saying they cannot help me. Their company did not debit me and I am to contact a number in the US. I have contacted my credit card company who are writing off the money and giving me a refund. They will not contact Budget as it would cost them more money to follow the process than it would to refund me from their own pocket.

Whilst I'm grateful to my CC company, how many times does Budget get away with this? How many other people have been charge and as there are so many barriers to getting a refund given up? I have been using Budget consistently for at least 5 years and will never rent a car from them again. I went back to the US in November and used both Enterprise and Dollar without any problems.

I returned my rental car to Fort Lauderdale airport on December 10, 2010 with full tank of gas. I was charged $67.99 for refueling service charge. Now, they asked me to provide receipt. It should be customer's responsibility for this type of error.

I rented a vehicle through them and all was fine for a month. But when I went back to renew, they would not renew which was fine. But due to their negligence they took out the total twice, causing my bank account to be put in negative standing and it has never been in negative standing.

They did this on 12-11-2010 and it is now 12-14-2010 and I still am having problems getting this fixed because they were supposed to fax a paper to my bank but they did not. Then they were told of the specifics that had to be put on the fax which the customer service gentleman understood. He even told the bank representative what the form was, but again, he did not do it correctly so the fax was no good.

I rented a car online one month prior to the date needed and received an automatic upgrade due to a recent rental. When I arrived to pick up my rental, the guy gave me a compact car. I kindly asked if this was a compact and he told me no. I called Budget 800 number right then and they told me it was in fact a compact car. I returned to the desk and told the man that he was incorrect and that I wanted a different car. He rudely told me no, he had nothing else for me. I told him I would come back the next day, which was after I was already supposed to have left on my road trip. I went on my way and early the next morning, before I returned the car, I had a flat tire. I contacted the 800 number, who never answered the call three different times.

Here I am a woman, alone with a flat tire and no road side service that is advertised on your key fob. I finally had to pay someone to change my tire. I immediately returned the car and picked up another car. I explained to the new employee the situation and he gave me a different car. No perks or apologies, just another car. I left the town with my young daughter and started my road trip to Florida. As I was driving, a light came on the panel. I had no manual in the car so I had to stop and call to find out what to do. I waited 1 1/2 hours trying to get a hold of someone so that I would not mess up your car and when I finally got a hold of someone, they told me to go immediately to exchange the car as the tire pressure was incorrect. I tried to fill the tires to the correct pressure and within a few minutes, the light came on again.

The closest Budget that the representative could find was 1 1/2 hours away from me in Atlanta airport. So now, I have to drive a car with tire issues and find Atlanta airport and exchange this car. I should already be in Florida. Many hours wasted. So I am now looking for the airport and have no clue what is around me in Atlanta so I did not fill the gas tank; second car now and the first one was full. I got another car and head on my way. Unbelievably, within 30 minutes of leaving Atlanta airport, the tire pressure light came on again in this 3rd car. I am in total disbelief that a car company this big cannot maintain its vehicles. I called the company again and waited and waited. So I filled the tires and tried to continue on. This time, the light stayed off and I have to continue all week to check the pressure to make sure my child and I are not once again stranded.

I left Florida to return to Tennessee and when I arrived in Murfreesboro to return the car, I was shocked to find out that even though the car repair issues were Budget issues, I am now being charged over $60.00 for gas. Really. So the young guy at the counter said he can do nothing to help me but give me a $30.00 credit and maybe that will soften the blow of the extra charges. I am stunned that this is really happening to me. I had my attorney contact the company who rudely argues that I am the problem and should never return a rental car not full of gas. Did she realize how ** that is when I have already been stranded and stopped twice with car issues and no road side service or personnel to answer the phone? What kind of customer service is this?

So now, I have been reimbursed the gas fee and I have been told but of course not received a $17.00 credit. I believe that I should be reimbursed for the unbelievable hassle and hazard this company has caused me. Believe me, this is not going to happen to me again and I have spread the word in many ways. If you cannot take care of your cars, at least take care of your customers. No such thing has happened. Budget rent a car is the least reputable company I have every dealt with and I will be pursuing this until it is resolved.

I rented a car yesterday at 8 am to go to Seattle to watch an NFL game. Originally I was thinking of renting another car (Volvo v40) but the car they gave me looked like old and the trunk never opened so I decided to change for a Fusion instead. It was a great car and excellent customer service of the person at the counter, but that excellent experience with the car and the customer service changed completely today when I decided to return the car since I finished my trip despite of the fact that I rented the car until tomorrow morning. After the inspection, they told me I will be charged with 300 dollars as a deductible for a chip on the windshield. That chip is as tiny as a pen point in a piece of paper.

already there or not. The manager told me that that car was brand new and that wasn't true. It was with 450 km, therefore it's not new. Upon reading and researching a little on the internet, I found that I'm not the first person who have the same problem with that Budget at that location. That sounds as a cheat and suspicious like Mr ****** on this site. Please let me know what I can do. I'm not the first person who have this problem with Budget at the YVR airport. Pretty much for this company. it is the same thing if the car has a tiny chip on the windshield or if you completely destroy the car. They say I'm covered by their insurance but I need to pay the deductible.

Not serious. But, I have found on both times I needed Budget, the owner to be unpleasant, unhelpful **** near rude. His reputation with 25th St. Automotive (car repairs) around the corner, who "sends" me to Budget, seems to be the same. I'm going to ask the repair shop to drive me elsewhere in the future, when I need a rental car. There's no need for this!

The supervisor named Rodger ** was no help in a situation of a prepaid Hotwire rental. I only had cash for the deposit and my daughter had a credit card, but he wouldn't take that. We were going to school and had six suitcases in the heat--I'm a cop. I didn't want to steal the car. He could have helped us, and we had to catch a cab to D.C. for $75. I deposited my cash, and took a bus back to the airport the next day just to get the car. He was rude, condescending and racist.

I was attempting to rent from Budget using a coupon sent to me by a local wholesale club. The agent I spoke to politely let me know that their system was not accepting the coupon code. The gentleman offered to transfer me to the customer service department, which I accepted. At customer service, I explained the issue. The representative claimed the coupon was not valid for what I was attempting to use it for, though no where on the coupon did it state any restrictions related to my intended use. I asked why they distribute coupons that they have no intention on honoring, to which she responded, giggling, "That's all right. Thank you," and promptly hung up.

Please help investigate this issue.

I reserved a car through Budget Rentals for a pick up and return to their airport location in Phoenix. The agent quoted a rate of $266.45 for the size car I reserved. He then asked how I wanted to pay for it. When I told him I wanted to use a debit card, the rate jumped to $400 for the same car and same rental duration. The company requires an additional charge for using a debit card to cover the cost of a credit check. I told the agent that I didn't think that was legal and that I would pay cash instead.

Given the recent government rules changes, I find it hard to believe that Budget would charge customers an additional $149 to use a debit card vs. using a credit card. A debit card is a withdrawal from a checking account and not an addition to an existing credit card balance. Is there a federal office/bureau where I can file a complaint? I really think Budget is ripping off its customers.

At the end of July, my husband flew in from Iraq on two weeks leave. We own a home in Kentucky but neither of us have been living in Kentucky since he is a deployed member of the US Army and I got sick had surgery and had to live with friends in VA to recover.

He was given short notice, so I flew to KY as he was flying. He arrived first and rented a car since our car was in VA. We had a lot to celebrate as he was home for two weeks and it was our tenth anniversary and neither mother knew he was coming. We drove to St. Louis, Mo where my husband's mother lives. She's been ill and has had a rough time while he's been gone.

We got pulled over by the police for no reason whatsoever. It was super-hot and we had a car stuffed with food for our anniversary dinner and an elderly sick mother-in-law that insists on being a busy body. He stopped us because the tag looked strange to him. After he ran the plates, he said the tags had expired in May.

The sticker on the plate had been faked. He wrote my husband a ticket. Now we got the total run-around. We were mistreated, left on hold, hung up on, and brushed aside. We were treated rudely by the St. Louis Budget. After a call to corporate, we got a new rental and our trip went on. We drove to Ohio to see my mother and then back to KY to relax at home for five days before we both flew on the same day the seventh of August. We were told to turn the ticket and mail in information to the Budget manager and the ticket would be paid.

Well, the ticket hasn't been paid and they are issuing a warrant for my husband's arrest. He can lose rank and get in all types of army trouble, not to mention our insurance going up, etc. If my husband loses rank, we lose our home and our way of life. He works hard and it's hard to have an anniversary together in ten years and this is the third one we've had together. Please help.

I arrived late at night at the Las Vegas Airport and went to Budget Car Rental where I had made a reservation for a car. Both my wife and I were extremely tired and listened to the "customer service representative" give his talk about insurance. He gave me three options and not one of them was I didn't have to take his insurance. I initialed and walked out to the car. After getting into the car, I told my wife I think I made a mistake there and she thought so, too.

I have never taken any insurance because I am covered by my own. Told her we would take care of that when we returned the car. Another mistake. At the end of the trip, I complained to the same customer service rep and he said they are instructed to never mention the option to take no insurance. Typical salesman scam. Moral: never take insurance or prepaid gas at a car rental.

I rented a car at Orlando airport and was asked by the representative if I only wanted the basic insurance. I found it strange, to say the least, that they assumed I wanted insurance when I said nothing to that effect. Even though I verbally and non-verbally declined all insurance, I later found out I was charged for it anyway. I called to complain and was told it would be my word against the word of their own representative. Yeah, that's fair. Gee, I wonder how that would turn out? Talk about zero customer service!

Their argument is that since I signed for the car, I have to pay. Unless you work for the car rental agency and you are an attorney, there is no way you could decipher their form. Even their customer service agent thought I had signed using a machine that discussed everything. When I said that was not the machine I used, there was no response. They must have decided they don't need any more customers. I will never rent from them again!

My coupon was not honored by Budget Rental Car at BWI Airport. My coupon was for a 3rd free rental day, when renting for 2 days on the weekend. When my coupon was not honored, I wrote a letter and had an initial response which stated: We will not honor your coupon because, as stated on the coupon, the rental has to be picked up on Thursday by 12 noon. That was the initial ridiculous statement, as the print I sent back to them stated, that the rental period was 12 noon Thursday, at the earliest, and 12 noon Monday, at the latest. Upon speaking to a higher official, Budget stated that they would not honor my rental, for various other reasons, which were never fully explained.

But eventually, the person, Mr. Hampton agreed to give "something". He decided to refund $19, or a portion of the coupon value. I guess after trying to find reasons not to honor it, the manager decided that although the company was wrong, on every level, including the knowledgeable staff working for Budget Rental Car, BWI, there should be something done. One half of the coupon value does not satisfy me, and I'm regretfully seeking damage for this awful service company in Baltimore.

The disrespectful conversation that I had with the manager only infuriated me more, because I assumed a manager would be equally concerned about all the mistakes made by counter staff and customer service reps, as any small dollar amount of this coupon. I was wrong. This manager didn't even give me the respect of attempting to properly pronounce my name. He continued to mispronounce, although I corrected him on 3 occasions.

The Baltimore location does not care about service or repeat customers. To this date, I have not even received the $19 they agreed to refund. I would be happy to answer any further questions about this case.

I rented a car from Dulles Airport for 1 day. They did not take me to the car to inspect it, they just told me what row it was on. I returned the car to Waldorf, VA. There was no one at the office so I dropped off the keys in the night drop. I called the next day to make sure they checked it in, the guy I spoke to was extremely rude and told me he didn't have time to do it and to call back later. I called back and he told me there was a charge to drop it off. I told him that nowhere in my contract did it state that and he told me if I had rented from him then I would have known. I want it refunded. He said to call customer service which I did. Customer service told me I had to call the office I dropped it off at, I said I did and he told me to call you and that I did not wish to speak to the man there, but she transferred me there anyway. I called back and a lady told me that they do not charge a drop fee, but looked it up on the computer and it said drop fee, so she assured me it would be refunded within 7-10 business days. It has been a month and I have yet to see the refund.

I have recently had this experience and I think it's important to advise Accenture employees on. I recently rented a car from Budget/Avis Rent-A-Car (one and same I have learned). I found good rates by using some coupons and was happy with the rate. When I arrived at the airport rental agency, I was offered 2 cars (the car I rented was intermediate and advised it would be similar to a Pontiac G6). I chose my car as a Malibu, thinking they were in the same class. Never was I instructed this was an upgrade. I signed the contract with my initials without realizing any of this. I had just finished a 28.5-hour flight from Perth, Australia.

When I returned the car 1 week later, on time, full of gas, I noticed it was $100 more. When I questioned the return processor, he said I could see someone in the office. Unfortunately, I had a flight to catch. I called a few days later, though, with my confirmation number and the initial email reservation. I was told I had agreed to the additional charges by initialing various locations, though it was never communicated as an upgrade. I have traveled for 15 years renting frequently and have never had this happen. Budget refused to budge saying, too bad; I should have known my base rate. I have encountered a few other Accenture people having this issue with Avis who owns Budget.

I went on-line and rented a car trying to use my prepaid debit card. I confirmed my reservation. I made my reservation from a Budget in Florida. When I landed at Newark Airport from Orlando on August 27, 2010, I was told at Budget that I could not get a car using a debit card. That I had to have a credit card. I told them I don't have a credit card. So I asked them for my money back because they took $271.00 from my debit card. They told me that I could not get my money back, unless I went online. I told them how was I supposed to go online to cancel a reservation, if I don't have a computer. I just came off a plane.

They employees got rude and disrespectful. I asked to speak to a manager, who gave me a number for customer service. I called customer service and every one of the people I spoke to, told me to call someone else. I went back to the Budget counter and explained how no one wants to help me and that Budget is stealing my money.

The assistant manager Jim ** leaned over the counter, as if to attack me, because I asked for his name. He told my husband and I to move away from his counter. I explained that I'm not moving, until I can speak to someone who is willing to give me my money back. I told him I was stranded in Jersey, and I had to get to New York. He told me that was not his problem. All I wanted to do is for them to refund my money.

After an hour I finally spoke to someone in customer service, who was so nasty, and she was in Ohio. Her name was Heather. She stated I'm not helping you, and hung up the phone on me. Finally, 30 minutes after that, I got someone on the phone who stated they will cancel my reservation, and I had to wait for 14 days to get my money back. I asked them what was I supposed to do being stranded in New Jersey.

Finally I left the airport and had to spend $100.00 on a cab into Brooklyn, NY. When I got back to Orlando on Sunday August 29, I emailed Budget because corporate refused to speak to me. Then on Sept 1, 2010, I got an email from Budget that stated, they are going to charge me for cancelling my reservation. I wrote them back, how am I getting charged, if Budget refused to give me a car. I didn't realize that I couldn't use my card to rent a car. All I wanted from the beginning was my money back, so I could get into Brooklyn.

Every person I dealt with in Budget was nasty and disrespectful. Especially assistant manager Jim **, when he leaned over the counter in an intimidating fashion. I had to spend a hundred dollars on a cab ride from Newark NJ to Brooklyn, NY. I spent $210.00 to rent a car for one day, and Budget stated they will not give me the full $271.41 that they owe me. So I am out $581.41 and I'm on a tight budget. This trip ended up putting my family is dire straits. we will be late on our bills this month.

I was told by the Budget rental person that if I prepay for a tank of gas before hand. I can bring the car back empty of fuel and they would charge me for a full tank of gas, it sounded reasonable. I then asked the rep that if I filled the car full of gas before I returned it do I get this money back. I was told of course I will get the money back. I also asked if if it is only 1/2 full what will happen. The person at budget said I only will pay for the gas that I use. I use 1/2 I pay for 1/2. I returned the car full of gas as there was a gas station 1 block from the rental place.

I told the lady behind the counter that I already filled up the car 10 seconds ago so she will not need to fill it up. She said too bad for me, that I already paid for a tank of gas and I will still be charged for a full tank of gas even when I brought the car back full of gas. She then turned into a real difficult person and said that I signed the contract and she again said too bad. I could not believe this person or the way I was treated very unprofessional. So I would like to warn everybody out there that do not prepay for a tank of gas at all. I cannot believe that this is Budget rent a car policy to out right be crooked the way they are and outright dishonest. This is not a way to run a company at all.

we booked our hire car through a third party, My car hire for the rental company Budget, we booked a 7 seater and received a 7 seater no problem, however the car was faulty and extremely dangerous to drive, the break pads were completely worn, we managed to get to our villa and immediately called the company to complain to receive a replacement car.

So firstly the car supplied by Budget to us was completely unroad-worthy. So this car should have never been given to us or any other customer in the first place. Secondly, Budget car service guarantees to provide us with a replacement car within 6 hours if there is a fault with the car which they did not, it was 2 days until we got another car from Budget and then they only gave us a 5-seater which was no good as we needed a 7-seater, we spent 3 days on the phone to Budget to sort all of this out, we only had a weeks holiday so it completely disrupted and ruined our holiday.

Thirdly they had the cheek to charge us over 70 Euros for fuel, when we replaced what was in the tank as it was given to us. When we returned the car they checked all of this and said it was fine, and did not say anything about the fuel or additional charge. We should be compensated from Budget not be sneakily charged!! Now they are trying to say we only ordered a 5-seater car and when we arrived to collect the car they upgraded us for free to a 7-seater because 6 or us turned up so they had no choice, which is funny because we traveled separately from the airport so only four of us went to collect the car so they have completely lied.

I am appalled with Budget Car hire, they cannot say they offer a professional service when they act like cowboys and try to lie there way out of their mistakes! We are still fighting this complaint with Budget so I still don't know what the outcome will be. Budget Customer service is terrible. They take a month to respond and are plain rude! Do not rent with Budget Car hire! Completely unsafe car supplied to us, which was extremely dangerous. Completely disrupted our whole holiday. We should receive compensation!

We rented a car for 24 hours to drive around the island for $69.95 a day. This was the 3rd car we had rented on the 3rd island while on a cruise. We got stuck in road construction and expected a normal $15.00 hourly rental fee like Thrifty had been charging. To my surprise, we were charged $52.47 for the extra hour.

What a rip off and obviously a franchise praying on the cruise ship tourist. Another family we rode in the shuttle van with was also furious because they were charge $150.00 for being 2 hours late with a minivan. The gentlemen said they paid. Needless to say, this one dealership has caused both myself and the other family to never again rent from any Budget / Avis rental place ever again and to forever recommend to everyone they never use them either. I also intend to notify the cruise line about the predatory practices.

I returned the car and left a cell phone in the car. After 10 minutes, I realized my mistake and went back but the car was gone. I filed a report of lost cell phone. Jenny called and stated they found it and I gave her an overnight FedEx account number to send it to me. It has been 7 days and I still have not received it. Now my personal property is gone with vital information and I know they had it in their possession.

July 4, 2010, I rented a car for a week and while driving the car I had a flat tire. The tire could not be repaired therefore I was forced to replace the tire. I need to know when I will get reimbursed the $90.28 for the purchase of this new tire. Both front tires on the vehicle were in very bad shape though I did not realize this until I had a blow out. When I returned the car back to the rental office I was told to fill out a Vehicle Damage incident report which I did and provided a copy of the sales receipt for the tire. This is the second letter I have written. Will someone please respond to my request?

I rented a car this weekend from Budget Rental Car at the Newark Airport and I was not very satisfied with my experience at all. When I picked up the car, I was 50 minutes early to pick up the rental. I gave the representative my name and she pulled up my reservation. At this point in time, she did not explain to me that if I picked the car up earlier, then I would be charged for a full day rental. If this was the case, I would have surely sat down on a bench and waited the 50 minutes. This makes no sense to me at all.

She should have explained to me the situation and let me know that would incur extra cost by picking up the car earlier. She also asked me if I wanted a bigger car and I told her no that was fine with whatever my rental agreement had on it and that would have room for my luggage. When I got the bill after I rented the car, I saw that there was a discrepancy in the price I had to pay vs. the rental agreement. After calling in the customer service, they did refund the price difference for the upgrade I did not ask for. This is a case of really bad customer service and I feel like she was trying to pull one over on me and not disclose any extra cost I would incur. I am now very upset with my experience.

I booked online for my elderly Mom a 4X4 Jeep Grand Cherokee at the rate of $325 dollars, including insurance. Mom dropped the vehicle off, and the charges had increased to $575. She has been taken advantage of by Katy, the desk clerk. All arrangements had been made online for $325, then Katy added $250 and padded the bill.

This is wrong to take advantage of an elderly traveler. Mom was also placed in a Ford Flex; the original agreement was for a 4X4 Jeep Grand Cherokee or similar, not a Ford Flex crossover. Risa, the manager, was not helpful and have contacted the district manager Remi to discuss the ripoff that happened.

While planning a long-weekend vacation with my cousin to visit a family member who lives in Palm Coast, Florida, I decided that instead of making a 9-hour drive (each way) and be completely drained by the time I got there, I'd fly from Birmingham, AL (where I live) to Jacksonville International (the nearest major airport to Palm Coast), rent a car there and only have to drive the last 80 miles. I wasn't looking for any big luxury car or SUV -- merely something enough to get me the 80 miles to Palm Coast and back, so their least expensive compact car would do just fine.

I made a reservation through Budget.com. I do not have a major credit card, but I do have a MasterCard debit card linked to my regular checking account. I used this to make the reservation and had no problem. I knew I'd have to use my MasterCard debit card for final payment as well. According to the terms and conditions at the time of reservation, if you use a debit card as payment, they'll put a hold on funds of between $400 and $500, so I kept this in mind and made sure that I had more than adequate funds in my checking account to manage this. It also said that a credit check at the time of rental would be performed to determine credit worthiness, but I assumed this only meant they'd check to see if I had sufficient funds to cover all their charges. I was wrong.

I got to the airport, went to the Budget counter, handed over my license and debit card, the agent entered all the information into his terminal and went off to get the keys to a car. When he came back and checked his terminal, lo and behold, I was refused rental of the car because my credit isn't stellar and because I don't have a major credit card. I had just flown into Jacksonville, had a round-trip itinerary vouching for that fact and it showed I'd be flying home two days later.

I'm way older than 25, have excellent insurance (State Farm), have a valid driver's license, have an excellent driving record, and more than enough funds in my checking account to cover all potential charges, yet nothing could get them to provide me with a rental car. The only help the guy offered was "you can check one of the other agencies, but I'm pretty sure they all do the same thing."

To me, this is a completely ridiculous reason to refuse to allow me the privilege of renting a car to two days. Suddenly feeling completely helpless, mortified (not to mention humiliated), I moved (upon the suggestion of the Budget agent) to the next counter down -- Thrifty -- and they did the exact same thing.

The more sympathetic Thrifty rental agent directed me toward the National Car Rental, saying he was pretty sure that they didn't do a credit check. I moved on down the line and sure enough, all the National Car Rental agent wanted to see was my round-trip itinerary. Not only did National not put any extra hold on funds in my checking account, their rental agent was much more professional. Beyond paying slightly more than I had anticipated, there was the feeling of humiliation I felt standing at that Budget counter.

We rented a car at the Salt Lake City airport after reserving a standard car online. The online reservations system said that a standard car holds 5 people and 2 small bags, 2 medium bags and 2 large bags. It does not give size in inches. We arrived with our 2 friends who accompanied us on the trip. They tried to give us a Mustang 2-door car. We had 4 25-inch bags and 3 small carry-on bags. No way would that fit. Next they tried to give us a Dodge Charger. The bags would not all fit in the trunk. We would have had to have a 25-inch suitcase between 2 people in the back seat for a 6-hour drive.

No way. Then, after my husband and his friend talked to the person on the garage about just paying for a day and canceling the rental, we were given a Ford Edge. It did hold everything very well and was very comfortable. However, we were charged twice the rate we were supposed to be paying for renting the car for 9 full days, turning it in by 10:34 am on the 10th day. I consider that bait and switch-saying you will get a low rate and then providing an unsatisfactory product for more money.

I made a car booking in May 2010 for July 15/7/2010 with Budget Rent-A-Car with Jordan as the car agent. I was promised to pick up my car at 15.00. The person came at 16.30. I was supposed to pick up a car category of Mitsubishi Pajero or a similar one. They gave me what is available and they downgraded, not upgraded me for a Hyundai Elentra and it was incredibly unsafe to drive with a lot of noises while driving. They promised to change it the next day, Friday, 16/7/2010.

On Friday, they gave me a Hyundai Sonata a model of 2006 and it was extremely unsafe to drive and the speedometer reading was 120,000 km. The rental period is 24 days and also the car has a huge smell of petrol coming out inside it so when you come out of it, you smell like the petrol station itself. Please take immediate action.

On 6/19/2010 we rented a Budget Rental Car for two days in Anchorage, AK, agreeing to return the car with the same amount of gas as received. We refueled the car with slightly more fuel then received with just a couple of miles from the return location (airport). Subsequently Budget charged our credit card $20.00 for two gallons of gas claiming the car was not filled. We contacted the office in Anchorage and faxed them our receipts which they now claim they never received. We have invested six phone calls trying to get this resolved.

This would appear to be a scam, just think if only twenty percent of Budget's rentals are charged an additional gas fee how much extra income this would generate. Why not just fill the gas tank and require it be returned in the same state? Loss of twenty dollars, loss of over three hours spent on phone. We are retired but have places to be and things to do.

I have been working with Budget Hungary more than 3 years and I was very satisfied so far. However, I rented a car again for 4 days between 28 June and 02 July 2010 and I got the car with basic insurance which my responsibility is around 450 EUR. When I returned the car, they realized a small scratch on the front bumper lower part and they told me that they can not give me invoice now as they have to see the cost of this damage. It was so small the cost can be maximum 40-50 EUR but I saw they did charge 110 EUR for this damage. I called the downtown office in Budapest and the lady on the phone told me that she can send me only the invoice. I told her several times that I need to talk to the guy who made this invoice but she refused my request and hung up the phone. I do not accept such amount for such a small mistake. Otherwise, I will rent a car with full insurance next time and I will return the car wrecked up.

On 6/11/10, I rented a Hyundai Accent from Budget Rent-a-car at the Farmington airport in order to attend a continuing education seminar in Albuquerque. I left at 6am on 6/12. Two and a half hours later, I was a half hour from my destination when I was pulled over for speeding (80 in a 70). The officer asked if I knew that there were no license plates on the car. I said yes, but that there were temporary tags in the window. He informed me that the tag was a Demonstration Permit that is given to dealers to test drive cars (they aren't supposed to leave the area of origin, so I was never supposed to leave Farmington with it) My contract states my destination as ABQ, so Budget knew where I was going.

The officer asked for the registration and insurance. I checked the glove box and found only the owner's manual. The officer informed me that I was driving an improperly licensed vehicle and was illegally driving without proof of insurance and registration. He wrote out warnings for these two charges. Then he had the car impounded and towed. Police dispatch was trying to contact Budget and I was able to get Ashley from the Farmington office on my cellphone. I gave the phone to Officer *** who informed Ashley of why the vehicle was being taken. The towing report states the reason for towing was due to lack of registration and insurance.

I was stranded over 150 miles from home. After repeated phone calls to the Farmington Budget office and to their corporate roadside assistance, I was finally told after 4.5 hours that no new car was coming and the rental agreement was terminated. I was on my own to get back home. I have only one friend in Albuquerque and paid him to get me home. I missed my CEU seminar and a baby shower that evening. I've complained to the corporate office starting on 6/15, but as of today, the Farmington office has ignored their inquiries. The ultimate injustice however, besides being abandoned far from home, is that on 6/28/10 Budget charged my debit card $626.37! I discovered this on 7/8/10 when I was balancing my company's checkbook.

I was overcharged for an extra day. I told them about it and was told I would have to contact the main office. There's been no response back. Overcharge was $66.00.

Our experience with your corporation has been a complete nightmare. We rented the car out of Salt Lake City Airport with the understanding that it would be $30.00 a day if we returned the car to the airport. If we did not return to SLC, then we would be charged $185.00 per day. On Monday we were on our way driving back to SLC, a five-hour drive, when we called to confirm the drop off spot. It wasn't until then that we learned that even if we did drop it off in SLC, that the outrageous $185.00 rate would still apply.

Instead of continuing on with the drive, we back tracked to Idaho Falls and left the car there. At least at this Budget station the employees were courteous, knowledgeable and helpful. However there wasn't much they could do. The manager Sherry (SLC) was completely unscrupulous in her business ethics, even resorting to charge us even more to drive the car back, appalling even the manager at the Idaho Falls station. I have come to learn that this is an independently ran Budget operation who has a mile-long list of complaints. I'd hate to think that is acceptable to your corporation's principles and would like to think that some compromise could be negotiated. Please get back to me as soon as possible.

With less than 18 hours notice, Midtown Auto Care called to say they would not have my Budget rental truck the next day due to overbooking. I had confirmed with them my reservation the previous week thus I was very upset and stressed to hear this news. The only option given me was to rebook with another Budget truck provider via Budget's customer care people. They had nothing withing a commuting distance of my home in Manhattan. I was left with no reservation and no help from Budget. I have the loading dock at my new apartment reserved along with hiring moving loaders and unloaders at both locations. Now I am in a state of flux and have no idea if I will be able to move tomorrow. No compensation or recourse was offered or given when requested (I suggested they pay for a cab fare to their Jersey City or Staten Island locations to pick up an available truck). I am very upset that having a reservation did not work with Budget. I am more upset at the very, very short notice given as to no truck being available at a local location. This may result in me losing my move-in time slot and fee at my new apartment, losing the deposit for hired help to load my truck, etc., etc..

I am being charged fees for things that are not in my contract and that I was not informed of. In addition, the local representative has sent me on a wild goose chase to track down customer service that he said could help me. When I called them to complain they told me that only the local branch could help. Very sneaky and not helpful at all. They even admitted that this fee is not in the printed contract I receive, but it is part of their policy and cannot be waived. It is a total SCAM! Do not rent from Budget - use a company that is up front about their fees and charges. This rental ended up costing me a lot more than I had intended.

I received a reservation confirmation for a 2-day rental for $73.52. Upon arrival, the attendant asked me if I wanted an upgrade, which I declined. She still tried to give me one, but I again declined, so I was told that the final price would be $73.52. I returned the car at the scheduled date / time in the same condition, including a full tank of gas. Their computer system was down, so they did not give me a bill at the time. However, upon returning, I see that my credit card was charged $90.63. I have been overcharged $17.09

: On May 13, 2010 I reserved a moving truck from Budget Truck Rental on their website. I received a email confirmation for the pickup of the truck in Lehigh, FL on May 25, 2010. The email confirmed a price guarantee of $116.00 for 10 days, unlimited mileage. The drop off location in Caldwell, Idaho.

The following day, May 22, 2010, I called several U-Haul locations in regards to installing a hitch on our car and pulling a small trailer. At 8:10 AM, May 22, 2010, I called to cancel the reservation with Budget Truck Rental as they were not being honest about what had obviously been a mistake on their part in guaranteeing such a low rate.

At 10:16 AM I once again called Budget Truck Rental customer service to confirm the latest email I had received and once again was told they had no record of it. The representative I spoke with transferred me to a female supervisor and I explained the situation to her. I was told by this person that if I had received the rate quote from their website and had confirming emails they would honor the price. However, she said since it now showed as cancelled I would have to call the pickup location and rebook the reservation. I was told to pick up the truck under the new reservation, save my emails, complete the trip, and they would honor the quoted price at the drop off location. At 10:53 AM I called the pickup location and rebooked the reservation.

On May 25, 2010, my wife and I picked up the truck from R and T Rentals in Lehigh Acres, FL. The rate was now $1512.94 but I went ahead and signed the contract, since I had been told Budget would take care of it at the drop off location after the trip was completed.

On June 2, 2010, I dropped the truck off at Beckham Collision Center in Caldwell, ID. I explained to the agent what I had been told, showed her the emails and she called Budget Truck Rental. Budget denied ever having such a converstion with me and said sinced I signed the contract in Florida, that was the price, nothing they were willing to do, end of story.

I was deceived and lied to by representatives of Budget Truck Rental. I believe they should do as they said they would do and honor the price guarantee confirmed on May 22, 2010.

To Customer Care Department, Our recent visit to Vancouver which was to be a birthday celebration and my final treatments for cancer turned out to be an unpleasant experience with BC- Budget Rent A Car. Please review in bullet form the several disappointments we encountered with our rental reservation and car rental. Feb.23rd, I made our flight booking with Air Canada and noticed they had a link to your Web Site which I made our car rental reservation for the week of May 15th to the 22nd.

Confirmation #05345951CA2 was for an intermediate car. Pontiac G6 or similar at $160.00 for one full week. ($245.88 all inclusive) We were informed this car in not available in the Vancouver, airport terminal upon arrival! Misleading...Upon arrival on May 15th, I presented a copy of my rental confirmation and my drivers ID. The sales clerk proceeded to ask my common law husband his drivers permit and his platinum credit card. Having reserved under my name we wished to transfer the principal driver to his name as I was not going to drive the car for personal health reasons.

The sales clerk, Josh then informed us that they did not carry this model we had reserved. He then told us we would be getting a Volvo instead. We then asked him how much more would this cost and both Jacques and myself understood his response of $50.00. So we considered that from our initial $160.00 to $210.00 for the week this was fine. We also presented a coupon from RCI for a $35.00 discount which he kept without explaining where the deduction would be applied on the contract. His manager confirmed to the sales clerk it was valid, accepted. No one ever took the time as to where it would be applied!

Afterwards the sales clerk proceeded to offer us extra insurance coverage. Normally with our Platinum credit card we would not need this extra coverage. However Josh said it did not apply In BC and we had to take the extra insurance. We are going to contact the credit card company and also the BBB in Vancouver regarding this law. We were then rushed by Josh to initial all documents quickly as he told us there was a line up and he didnt have time to explain. We were told to read the documents afterwards.

Later that evening we discovered we were going to be charged for an extra $70.00 for an additional driver, me! We also found out that we would be charged an additional $175.00 for the upgrade instead of $50.00 as mentioned. When we returned the car on May 22nd to the rental return area, the young man at the receiving area went directly to the windshield and told us there was damage in the windshield. So my husband and I looked at the damage on the left side of the windshield on the passengers side. Barely visible as it was like the size of a pin head!

The manager on duty, Mike S. told us they would add an additional $1000.00 charge on Jacques credit card for repairs. They responded this was not covered by the additional insurance they said we had to purchase a few days earlier. We were told to claim the costs from our insurance company in Quebec! This car was new and barely had more than 800km...! My husband requested that Mike the manager come back out to see the windshield but he refused to go back.

Today we left messages at the claims department in BC and have had no response as of yet. We are looking into contacting the Better Business Bureau of BC as we feel we have been mislead and overcharged for a one week vacation car rental that was suppose cost $245.88 and turned out to cost us $1,657.97 + $116.11 Total of $1774.08. Furthermore, the customer service by the staff we received at arrival and upon return of the vehicle in BC was the worst we have ever experienced to this day.

Our perception of the sales staff was pushy, in a rush just finalize as many transactions as possible and they had no time to explain and this at all levels of management. We will wait to hear back from you by the end of this week before taken further measures. WE were taken for a ride with extra charges Ex: Upgrade from $50 to $175 and the so what windshield damages charging over $1,116. We left many messages and faxes NO REPLY.

I also complained about the $65 charge for the booster seat and told the man at the counter that the seat should NOT be rented out again. He completely ignored my comments, charged me over $18 for gasoline refill, and was basically very rude. I also spoke with the so-called "supervisor" who was no more helpful, and lied and said his computer was down. These two men were the rudest counter persons I have ever had dealings with. I will NEVER rent from Budget again. Their names were James and Damion. overcharged; ignored; treated rudely

On May 8th 2010, i rented a truck and vehicle carrier from Budget rental cars in Lanham, MD. when i arrived the clerk at that location informed me that the trailer for my vehicle was not the right one. So they brought a truck with trailer intact to the front and told me this is your truck. I went home loaded the truck with out removing the trailer and started on my trip to Texas. Within 20 minutes of driving I heard a bang and it became very difficult to steer the truck.I looked in my rear view mirror only to see the vehicle carrier with my car flailing from side to side and slamming up and down and into the rear of the truck I was driving.

When I eventually stopped, I exited the truck to inspect the damage. My vehicle was leaking fluids and the front bumper was missing a piece. The trailer became unhitched and slid underneath the truck damaging my vehicle. I also noticed that the inside rear passenger tire was torn wide open and that the tires were crack, aged, and bald (no tire tread). I took pictures of the scene and the tires, as well as my vehicle damages. My wife who was 10 weeks at the time called the roadside assistance department for Budget and was given a ETA of 45 minutes to an hour, this was 6 PM. At or about 6:45 i called again to check on the status of my wife's call and was told they had no record of any incident involving the vehicle that I mentioned in my conversation. They took another report from and gave me an ETA of one hour. At or about 7:50 a tow truck arrived, not to fix the tire or to bring a new trailer, but to assess the damage on the trailer and truck. The first comment that the tow truck driver made was that the Hitch and ball were not compatible because the hitch hook up was bigger than the ball on the truck. He informed the roadside rep of that in front of my and I while on speaker phone with Budget. Yet the rep still maintained that it was our fault. 5 hours later a tire truck arrived to fixed the tire and my car was towed to a lot in Laurel, MD.

That night I had to check in to a hotel because my wife was cramping and spotting. I was suppose to start a job that Monday, but I was not able to because of this incident. At this point i still have not started because i was put on hold status. My car is still in Maryland at a dealership being repaired and Budget refuse to have it transported to Texas. I was told to buy an airplane ticket and to pay for a cab from the airport to the dealership. So basically I am to drive from Maryland to Texas use my money after I paid 1400 dollars to use a truck to transport my vehicle in the first place.

On May 27th, I called the 1-800 no# for Budget to reserve a Truck to go out of town, he asked me where and I told him to Detroit, Mich. After he took all my information, I asked him how much would it be, and he quote 188.94 and I would end up paying $380.00 for the total trip. I went to pick up the truck on the 28th of May at 1:16 pm. I asked the lady when she told me the amount that have to be put on my card. About how much will it be she asked me where was I going I told her, she said that she didn't know, I asked her to give me a question at how much it would be and she told me she couldn't take.

I wanted to bring the truck back the next day, but because she said that they close at 12:00 we couldn't and they didn't have a drop off. But if they did it would be a extra $10.00. She asked if we want to purchase cover for the furniture, I asked how much was the pads she informed me that they were $1.00 a piece, when she asked me about insurance she told me it would be 23.95 she didn't say that this was for 2 days, she informed me that for additional driver it would be $10.00 again she didn't tell me that it would be for each day. I believe that she didn't give me enough information it was if all she was interested in is renting the truck.

The total bill came to $694.50, I believe if she had give me more information, I would not have taken the truck. I feel that this was to much much money for really one day. I called the 1-800 and spoke with a customer service person, I explain the situation to her and I told her I feel that more information should have be given, and I feel that if the have informed me I would have taken the truck. When she started get a little nasty, I asked to speak to a Manager, and he was a polite nasty person, I asked to speak to someone over him and he informed me that he wasn't going to give me another person, because would he was tell me was want it was going to be.

I told him that I have the right to speak to someone over him, and he told me that he was going to give any other person. To just pay the money and because no one was going to change what he had said. That I should have read the contract, I informed him that it wasn't in the contract, he told me that if it wasn't in my contract then it was in another, because they have different contract. I told him how was I to read the contract on what he was telling if I didn't have it. He change the subject and told me to just except the amount stop complaining. I feel that they weren't fair and something should be done I don't have money just to give away. Not for a one day rental. I will NEVER rent from Budget again. Because I don't feel they are FAIR, and they are High with no free mileage at all. Next I rent a truck I will get more inform and if it doesn;t feel and sound right I will not take it.

We rented a pickup truck (Budget) through Orbitz online services. With this online reservation, the option to choose Deluxe Rental Car Damage Protector was offered. We opted for this added insurance on the rental truck. Access America billed our credit card and took money for a policy that that we have now found out does not cover trucks. We never received any confirmation, or denial of confirmation of the insurance coverage, even before the actual transaction (picked up the truck) took place. The truck was involved in a minor accident and, so, they knowingly took our money even though they do not cover pickup trucks, which is what we rented. Is this not fraud? We are now having to turn this in to our company Insurance carrier and having budget biting at the bit for the repairs to the truck. In the mean time Access America took our money and have no intentions of refunding our money or paying the claim. This does not sound like a company that is operating on the up and up, and actually seems to be practicing some very questionable (illegal) practices. If this is legal then we as Americans are in trouble.

I will never rent another Budget truck or even a car! Budget is responsible for this action and will not do a thing about it. I rented a 24' Budget rental truck (Vehicle # 558374) from 21 South Mini Storage (Dealer # 313260), McCall Road, Rincon, GA 31326 on Thursday, 12/17/2009 with a destination to Mississippi. At the time of the rental, the Budget rental truck was inspected by my self and Brandy an employee of 21 South Mini Storage. The Budget rental truck had 83,561 miles on the odometer, and the fuel level was checked and marked as full.

However, Brandy did advise me that the fuel gauge did not work properly and showed me how to check the tank fuel level manually. This information was not documented on the Budget truck rental agreement. I also paid for an auto trailer to tow my personal vehicle to my destination, but Brandy advised me that they didn't have one at the location she worked at and couldn't find one at any of the surrounding Budget rental dealers as well. I advised her that we were going to North Augusta, SC to see my children before we headed to Mississippi. She said she would check in that area to see if she could locate one for us.

Brandy was able to find an auto trailer for us at a Pep Boys in Augusta, GA, and we decided that I would drive the Budget rental truck and my mother would follow me in my personal vehicle until we were able to pick up the auto trailer. After we picked up the Budget rental truck, we drove it no more than 20 miles or so while it was being loaded and it stayed parked at the location we were staying while not in use for loading purposes.

On Saturday, 12/19/2009 at approximately 11am, we checked out of the motel we were staying at and started heading towards North Augusta, SC to see my children for a little while and then pick up the auto trailer to start heading towards Mississippi. We started heading towards North Augusta, SC and about 30 miles into traveling, the Budget rental truck stalled on me and I had to coast it off the main road. Once I got it off the main road, I tried a few times to restart the Budget rental truck but it wouldn't restart.

The Budget rental truck broke down at the Highway 67 exit off Interstate 16 East nearby Brooklet, GA at approximately 12pm on 12/19/2009. I immediately contacted Budget's Roadside Assistance department to advise them of the situation, and the representative I spoke with took down all of the information and advised they had paged an emergency roadside assistance serviceman in the area and that he had been dispatched out. The serviceman, Larry **, contacted me about an hour or so after the initial breakdown advising that he would be there in about twenty minutes to assist. When he arrived, he immediately could tell that regular gasoline had been used in the truck instead of diesel fuel.

Larry advised that the Budget rental truck would have to be towed to his shop, so he could drain the fuel and replace the fuel filter in order to get it back in working condition. He towed the Budget rental truck to his shop, and we followed him in my personal vehicle. We arrived at his shop at approximately 4pm, and he advised that it would be several hours before the Budget rental truck would be ready and recommended that we just get a hotel room for the night.

Since our clothes for the trip to our destination were in the cab of the Budget rental truck, my mother climb into the truck cab on the passenger side to retrieve her change of clothes for the evening. While getting down from the Budget rental truck, she missed a step and felled out of the Budget rental truck. She hit her head on the door and felled on her left side of her body and head. She complained of difficulties of breathing and serious pain on the left side of her body under her arms and around the breast area. I immediately rushed her to the nearest hospital and advised Larry that I would contact him later to check on the status of repairing the Budget rental truck.

I went back to Larry's shop after my mother was discharged from the ER to check on the status of the Budget rental truck, and he was done with the repairs at that time. I asked him if we could leave the Budget rental truck parked at his shop until I was able to get some help there to assist me with getting my mother back to Mississippi, since she was not able to ride in the Budget rental truck due to the injuries she obtained from falling out of the Budget rental truck.

He said we could leave the Budget rental truck parked at his shop until we were able to leave and parked the Budget rental truck in a secured location. I obtained a copy of his receipt for the work done on the Budget rental truck with the odometer mileage documented. At the time of the Budget rental truck breakdown, the mileage odometer had a reading of 83,612. I had only driven the Budge Rental Truck for a total of 51 miles since the vehicle was checked out.

Troy ** (brother), Kenneth **(uncle), and David ** (my mother's pastor) left Sunday, 12/20/2009 afternoon from Mississippi to assist me with getting my mother and the Budget rental truck to Mississippi. They arrived later that evening and had to check into a hotel room for the night. We all woke up the next morning, ate breakfast, and decided that it would be best not to pick up the auto trailer and just drive my personal vehicle back since we would have to go about 2-3 hours out of the way to pick it up, and I would just come out to visit my children in a few weeks when I had to come back to Georgia to finalize some personal business.

We picked up the Budget rental truck at Larry's shop on Monday, 12/21/2009 around 10am to start heading towards Mississippi. Since the Budget Rental Truck tank was completely drained and only $46 of fuel was put back in, I had to put in the additional replacement fuel.

The following additional expenses were incurred by us due to the breakdown of the Budget rental truck, and we are still waiting on medical expenses that my mother incurred. I hold Budget Rental Trucks fully responsible for the additional expenses incurred as well as liable for my mother's accident. She had to visit the ER in the area the accident occurred and her primary care physician and the ER twice in her home town.

If the Budget Rental Truck didn't break down, we wouldn't have gone back into the cab of the Budget Rental Truck to obtain clothing for an overnight stay, and my mother wouldn't have fell out of the Budget Rental Truck. My mother has 3 broken ribs that occurred as a result of the truck breaking down. I will be sending Budget Truck Rentals the medical statements from the medical facilities as we receive them. I expect Budget Rental Trucks to resolve this matter for us in a timely matter.

Please feel free to contact me on my cell phone if any other details are needed. My mother's injuries and having to pay for expenses are not my responsibility. Also, I'm not responsible for having to get someone to travel to where I was located to help drive a vehicle since I had my car and the Budget truck.

Well on the receipt it shows amount still do. So I email them again. They told me to turn in my credit card statement as proof of payment because they cannot show a zero balance when you use a credit card to pay, unless you prepay. I sent them an email back telling them how absurd that sounded and to please let me know for sure that this is their policy.

I rented a car to go out of town on business and accepted the 2-day car rental. Once out of town, I found that the vehicle would be needed for a week so I called and extended my contract. Not a problem at this point. I returned the car to PIA as scheduled and received my receipt and that's when the trouble started.

My receipt states I paid $100.00 in fees and taxes. A energy recovery fee of $3.29, what kind of scam are you running Budget? Tell the consumer some more about paying for energy recovery fee, that is a bogus way of collecting money from the consumer and the states attorney general is investigating this. The lady I spoke with at customer care said it is in the contract I signed, yes it is something that was not read or agreed on. I don't want to pay your light bill budget, I have my own light bill to pay.

Then there is an additional $59.49 charge for airport rental fee, what the heck is this about? Does Budget condone the scam of charging the consumer an outrageous fee like that because the car was rented from an airport? An additional fee of $11.90 car rental tax is being condoned by Budget Car Rental System. On top of those fees was another fee of $28.00 for a surcharge fee. Yet another fee or tax Budget Car Rental has agreed to stick the consumer in the back with.

So after speaking with Cyrstal-7840 and getting no satisfaction about the fees and taxes Budget Car Rental System allows to be imposed on the consumer, I contacted the PA States Attorney Generals Office and spoke with them. Pennsylvania AG office is going to investigate the situation with Budget Car Rental System and send me some paperwork to fill out. Maybe we can get this consumer scam under control where it won't continue happening to the consumer.

No physical damage occurred from this but the economical damage to my bank account was in the red because of the additional $100.00 in fees paid above the sales tax and rental agreement.

On March 12, 2010, I rented a "Standard SUV" (Rental# 587439252) because my best friend and both our girlfriends were going on a weekend ski trip to Mammoth, Ca. I have to admit that I did make the reservation on Orbitz to get a better deal than directly with Budget. However, before I made the reservation, I called all the rental companies that offer deals through Orbitz and asked each of them whether or not their SUV vehicles were either 4WD or AWD. All the other companies told me they do rent 4WD or AWD, but cannot guarantee me either.

When I called Budget at their LAX location, some guy told me "All of our SUV vehicles are either 4WD or AWD". I said, "Are you absolutely sure, because I'm taking it to go skiing?" And he said "Yes". So I then went to Orbitz online and made the reservation with Budget. When I arrived on March 12, 2010 to the LAX location, there were no problems. I once again asked the lady at the counter (ID 55282) "Are you sure this is either 4WD or AWD because I'm taking it to go skiing and there's snow". She said, "Yes, I'm absolutely sure".

I drove off the lot and went home to get my things. I took a look at the vehicle (Ford Edge) and didn't see any markings on it that said 4WD or AWD. I thought to myself "Don't all 4WD and AWD vehicles say somewhere on the body that they are 4WD or AWD"? I looked in the glove box and there was no manual or anything to ID the vehicle as such. So, I called the Budget LAX office again just to be sure. I gave the vehicle ID to the woman on the phone and she looked up the vehicle and said "Yes, I am absolutely sure it is an AWD vehicle".

At around 11pm on March 12, 2010, the 4 of us in our group drove past Bishop and onto Mammoth on route 395, into the high Sierra Mountains. Surely enough, it started to snow on the road. About 15 miles outside of Mammoth, notices were posted that chains were required, but snow tires and 4WD or AWD vehicles are OK.

So I pushed on and the road was packed with snow. I didn't go over 20mph, but noticed that the SUV was swerving and sliding as we drove into this blizzard. We finally made it to our destination, but this was after slipping and sliding all over the place. The next day when we went to the ski lodge parking area, the guy working there told me that the SUV I had was not even AWD. When we arrived back to LAX on March 14, 2010, and I returned the vehicle, I complained that it wasn't either 4WD or AWD and that Budget had told me on 3 occasions that it was. The manager came over and said, "I don't know who told you that....sorry", as he lightly chuckled like he didn't even mean it. He gave me like $20 bucks off the rental.

I wonder what someone's life is worth to this company? They'll tell you anything to get you to rent a vehicle from them. Our lives were put in danger because they don't even care what they rent to you. All 3 times I either asked or called about the SUV being either 4WD or AWD, I specifically told them I was taking it to the mountains to go skiing. They are absolute scam. Our lives were put in unnecessary danger all due to fault of Budget Car Rental. They sent us into a snow blizzard in a vehicle that they misrepresented as OK for snow. We slipped and slide all over the road.

We rented a car from Budget when one of our family cars had to go into the local dealership. We told them it would be a couple of weeks. When the repair kept getting pushed back by the dealership, we called and told "Jason" we'd need the car longer. He always said "no problem". Then I began getting threatening letters from Budget accusing me of stealing the car. I would call "Jason" and he said he'd taken care of the problem but the letters continued to come. We received three altogether. When we returned the car after eight weeks, we didn't complain about the rental fees.

But, then I received a charge from the corporate offices of Budget Rent A Car for the costs of the return receipt letters they sent me. This shows what poor communications there are between the corporate offices and their rental offices. When I disputed the charge, Budget had the charge run through again. This shows flagrant misuse of confidential credit card information. Beware. You may received unapproved charges from Budget also.

I reserved online based on the rate of $22.99/day for an economy car to reduce headache. When picking up at Portland Airport, I was asked what kind of car I wanted, I told them as long as a Japanese car. I was then given a choice between a Toyota Camry or a Nissan. I picked Camry. Big Mistake! Apparently, Camry was in a different car group and cost $39.99/day.

After the trip, I wrote an email to Budget customer service about the rate difference. Customer service indicated that I agreed to an "upgrade." I told them I was asked to choose between two cars. Anyway, a lesson learned: say no to anything they offer when you pick up your car.

I went online to search for a good price for a rental for a week. I got on Budget's website and it looked like an okay price, $230 and some change for a week. I paid for it online that Saturday for pick up the next day, or so I thought. I went in on Sunday and picked up the car. The customer service lady said, "We have the following car (don't remember the name of the car) for you, is that okay?" I said sure (not really thinking about it).

When I looked at the receipt, it had two different columns of prices. On the left, it said $207 and on the right it broke down prices for a week, a month, etc. I asked her about that because I put $230 and change on my credit card. She said she wasn't sure and said not to worry about the prices on the right side because it wouldn't apply to me that the $207 and change would be the price that I would be paying. So I initialed where she told me to initial and went on my way.

Well, I ended up returning the car a day early so I asked if I could get some money back. I was told that since I brought in the car past 10am (That's when I took the car off the lot a week prior was at 10am) that I would still be charged the full amount for a week. Then I got a receipt from the attendant in the parking lot showing a price of $162 and change. I went inside and I asked her why was it that I had a total of three different prices and which one would I actually be paying for? The customer service lady said that the only one that I wasn't going to pay was the $207 and change but that $230 and change and the $162 and change would be charged to my card. I asked why.

At this point, she had to get a manager because she couldn't explain to me why so many different charges were involved. The manager told me that I made an "upgrade" to what I originally reserved or "pre-paid" for online. I told him that the customer service lady I dealt with never mentioned that I was upgrading. My fiance asked the manager to show us on the receipt where it shows that we upgraded. The manager circled some numbers on the left side of the receipt and circled another set of numbers on the right side of the receipt.

That was their proof that we agreed to an upgrade! The customer service lady never mentioned or reviewed any of the things that he circled and to make things worse she said that the other prices did not apply to me! The manager was not helpful at all until I broke down. He then decided to cut the last charge in half. I'm not ungrateful but I still ended up paying over $300 for a rental that I originally thought would be only $230 and some change!

We booked a one-day car rental a month ahead of our trip, to be picked up at the Fort Lauderdale Airport and dropped off at the Miami Airport, where Budget has a free shuttle to our destination: the Port of Miami. After a 45-minute wait in line at Fort Lauderdale, we got our car. But the Budget representative changed our drop-off point to the 8th Street location, saying that it was closest to the port and also had a free shuttle. When we dropped the car off the next day, we were told that there was no free shuttle.

Based on the fact that a Budget representative using misinformation left us without the expected transportation to the port, I reminded the employee "Milton" that Budget had a legal responsibility to help get us there. His answer was, "So? Go tell it to your lawyer." He would not even let me use Budget's phone to call a cab. A later made a phone call to Budget's poorly named "customer care" line. This resulted in a rude and dismissive representative who basically told me the same thing - Budget had no legal responsibility. If I had a problem with that, I should call a lawyer.

I have just received the "sneaky check" scam, where cashing the check allows some unknown company to bill my credit card every month for something I didn't order or want. On further checking, I found that Budget rent a car is the company providing my credit info to a third party! I haven't rented from them in over a year, and of course never will again! My question is how do I get my debit info out of their records? Isn't this illegal for them to sell it to a third party?

If you rent a car at Budget Rent-a-Car on-line, make sure that you read the fine print and make sure the site gives you the reservation dates that you selected. I just reserved a car for March 27- April 4, 2010 to drive our family to DC for Spring Break. When I received the confirmation email 2 minutes later, it showed that I had reserved the car for 1 day on Feb 4 which was the next day and a school day for my children!

When I realized what I had purchased, (I already gave my credit card #) I immediately called the customer service number on the email, and the rep said that since I was canceling the reservation within 48 hours of pick-up, I would be charged a $75.00 cancellation fee! I was shocked! I reiterated that I had just made the reservation 5 minutes ago. There is no way that I could give them 48 hours notice, further, it was their on-line system that changed the dates on my reservation. Apparently when I used the back arrow to change some details on the reservation, it reset the dates to a default date. I asked to speak to a manager and called their corporate office and they also confirmed that this is their policy. The corporate office said the 48 hour cancellation policy is the policy of all the car rental locations at the Columbus Metro Airport in Columbus, Oh where I had scheduled pick-up. Finally, I asked her to change the reservation to March 4, which she did, and I called back and canceled.

After a lot of emotion and argument, they did cancel my reservation, but they should have been trained to offer me a viable solution to this problem. There usually needs to be an exception to every policy and it felt like I was being held hostage. As a result, I will never use Budget for car rentals again. I will avoid picking up rental cars at the Columbus Metro Airport, and I will tell everyone I know about my experience. People remember how you make them feel much more than what you actually say or do.

I recently rented from Budget and was promptly sent junk mail enrolling me in a Healthsaver program for $150. After calling the Healthsaver company, they told me that Budget gave them my name, and that I cashed a check and agreed to the service. I know for a fact that I did not do this, and suspect that they fraudulently enrolled me in a worthless program. After several conversations with them, my membership was cancelled and I was (allegedly) refunded the $150.

This is not your problem. However, the fact that you sell my information to this kind of company really makes me angry. This morning, I spoke with Amanda from customer care. She told me that I had no recourse with Budget except to remove my name from their mailing lists, which she did. Amanda then informed me in a rude manner that there was nothing to be done, and nobody else that I could talk to at Budget. This is very bad customer service, as you all know. Right now, my only recourse is to make sure that neither myself, or my company ever rents from Budget again. If this does not get your attention, then I will know that the company really does not care about it's customers. I would appreciate it if this message could be passed on to the chain at Budget, and I am really curious to see if anyone there cares for their customers.

A Budget Agency Operator screamed and canceled my contract all for being thorough! Bugdet complaint no. **. On Sunday January 30th, we made a reservation for a car rental for pick up on Monday (Feb 1st) morning and bring back February 28th . We wanted the Mazda but we were told by Mr. Shahnawaz that he could not guarantee the car. Nevertheless, on Monday morning when we went to pick up the car, Mr. Shahnawaz (the agent operator) was behind the desk and as we asked for the Mazda he informed us that he did not have it but showed us another car. The car he showed us was dirty inside and out. The outside was so dirty by a mixture of mud and dried up snow that I did not know how I would be able to see from outside the back and rear windows.

When I asked him to please clean it, he became very rude and defensive and said he would not clean the outside of the car as it was very cold but would clean the inside. I thought that this was a strange reply since he had an inside garage and was able to at least rinse the windows from the outside, in order to be able to see clearly while driving. Anyway, I did not make a fuss and figured at least if he would clean the inside, I would take it to the nearest gas station and just wipe clean the outside of the windows with those handy squeegees they have.

When we went back to the counter to sign the contract, I asked Mr. Shahnawaz when he would have the Mazda back as this is the car I really wanted. He rudely replied that he cannot look at it now as he has too many customers to deal with and that I should call him later. I was surprised at this man's reply however, did not reply in return. I signed the contract that he provided but he then gave me one of those small car diagram paper to sign, which if signed proves that he gave me the car in the condition it states and any damages thereafter are my responsibility. The car diagram showed no dents or scratches whatsoever to the car (not one pen mark from his side).

I found this odd for a car rental especially since it was not a brand new model. Also, as mentioned the car was so dirty on the outside, how would anyone be able to see if there were any dents to this car prior to my rental. I told him that I did not want to sign the diagram as the car is so dirty I cannot verify that there are no dents or serious scratches to the car. He did not reply and waited for me to sign the diagram paper. I signed it but, next to my signature stated that I was unable to see any prior damages (if any) due to the car being so dirty. He then proceed to take the document from me and tear it up while screaming at the top of his lungs that if I did not want to sign it, just to say so and not to state any comments on the document.

He proceeded to take me to the back to show me the car once again but then changed his mind and said I was too much of a headache and much to my disapproval canceled my contract. I felt all eyes on me by other customers at this establishment. I was embarrassed by this whole ordeal. I feel my rights as a consumer were violated and disrespected. All I was doing was being thorough and for this I got punished and refused a car rental. Consequently, I had to take my husband out of work and have him drive me to the airport to rent a car from Thrifty.

In addition to the humiliation I felt, it cost my husband and myself loss of time from work and gas mileage to the airport. This was a no win situation on my side. I was left with two choices: sign a document only to pay someone else's damages thereafter and get a car rental or don't sign the document and no car rental. Shahnawaz cannot get away with doing this to the consumer.

I rented a car at LAX on the evening of December 3rd, 2009. In less than an hour on Highway 101, the car's front left tire blew and at the same time the alignment went. This nearly killed me since the car could not drive straight and with the highway speed, it was about to cross the separator. I managed to steer the car to the shoulder on the right and called Budget. It was going to take several hours for the towing car sent by Budget to show up. I called a nearby towing company to take me to a nearby hotel while I wait for a replacement car to show up.

They replaced the car three hours later. However, now they are insisting that I have to pay for the damage, which I think is clearly the result of poor maintenance. I demanded a proof and document of the maintenance of the car. I demanded a proof that the tire was checked to be in a good condition when it was rented out. The claims guy said I have to first prove that I was not speeding since tire blowing can happen as a result of speeding. He said if I am not willing to pay, they will have to bring collectors and tried to scare me.

I was so tired of having to talk to a different person each time and having to recall the scariest experience of my life while I am pregnant. I gave the insurance contact information and my policy number. But I still cannot let go of the thought that this was poor maintenance issue and they should be responsible. If I died, would they have still requested that my husband pay for the damage in the car? Do I have no right as a consumer to see what kind of maintenance they did to the car?

I booked a flight and car through Orbitz. At the airport budget counter in Indianapolis, IN, I was told they did not have a mid-size car I had requested and paid for. I was told they had a Rav4 which turned out to be a small SUV. I was not told it was an upgrade and that I would be charged $20.00 more per day. I signed the contract thinking I was just signing to leave with the car. Now Budget has charged me $306.65 on top of the $404.45 I paid Orbitz. If I had wanted to upgrade, it would not have been a Rav4 but a nice large sedan. I feel I have been taken advantage of and have no way of proving it. I will pay $711.10 instead of the $404.45 I had agreed to.

Be extremely careful what you sign with Budget Rental. I, a senior citizen, rented a car from the Fort Lauderdale Airport on January 2, 2010 and specifically told the clerk that I did not want insurance. She acknowledged this, a little sarcastically, and then had me initial and sign the form. I later found the cost for insurance on my credit card.

The customer service rep was obstinate that it was my fault. The law is on their side but what kind of organization will hear you refuse insurance and then have you initial for it. I believe this is a pattern as there was a similar incident in El Paso, Texas a few years ago in which the company relented. This time no. I would not rent anything from Budget from this time onward and consider them to be deceiving crooks. I lost the cost of insurance. The amount was only $29 but the action was despicable.

Budget Rent A Car confirmed a car reservation for me overseas, providing confirmation number, rates, car type, etc. Upon arriving to pick up my car, I was informed that there were no cars available, and that the local company had no information about the rental request. A conversation with Budget headquarters pointed the finger back the other way, claiming they had no responsibility, even though they had issued the confirmation number. As I relayed this story to colleagues, they informed me they had experienced the exact same problem. The local company had no information about the confirmation, and Budget took no responsibility.

Building up heat internally. This increases resistance in rolling and reduces fuel economy by up to five percent. Handling becomes sluggish, losing steering precision significantly and reducing cornering ability. The build up of heat and the flexing can lead to mechanical damage and, ultimately, tire failure. The life of the tire is shortened by as much as 25 percent.

The absolute main cause of tire blowouts is low tire pressure. A tire riding along under inflated means more pressure is being put on the sidewall of the tire, eventually causing the tread to wear uneven and the tire to possibly explode. Most tire blowouts happen with trucks because they carry heavy loads, but it can happen to cars too. Heat along with low tire pressure is a deadly combination. The easiest way to prevent tire blowouts is to maintain proper tire pressure at all times. You can do this by checking your tire pressure every other time you fill up with gas. You can find the manufactures suggested tire pressure and ratings on the sidewall of all tires. And make sure you keep a tire pressure gauge handy in the glove box, the gauges at most gas stations and truck stops are not always accurate.

If you are driving down the interstate and you feel your truck or car pulling to one side or the other, or if you feel the vehicles handling to be mushy or non responsive, please pull off the road and get to the nearest filling station and check your tire pressure. The bottom line is Budget Truck rental rented me an unsafe truck to drive long distance that included three mountain passes. My safety as well others were placed at risk. The delays in dealing with safety issues and misrepresentations about the truck capacity by Budget have cost me and I expect to be reimbursed.

Moreover, I was only scheduled to miss a week from work, not two weeks which put my position in jeopardy. Once back, I had to return to work immediately and begin making up for an additional week of work, recover from bronchitis as well as try and find help unloading the truck, as my family was no longer available due to work and other commitments. My family had been available to help but when the weekend of my scheduled arrival came and went (Friday 11/13/09) they were no longer available. To make matters worse, it was Thanksgiving weekend.

What's more, Oregon is not like California. You cannot find day laborers everywhere, as you can in California. That is why assistance from my family was crucial and being delayed by all the safety issues with the Budget truck caused me a multitude of problems, which included a delay in returning the truck to Budget. I was finally able to find some local landscapers that I had to pay to unload my belongings.

I told the yahoo at the desk that I did not want insurance and that I already paid for it through Orbitz. When my credit card bill arrived, the scam artist known as budget had charged me $313 more for insurance. They do this all the time. Avoid at all costs!

I rented a car on November 23 to drive to Atlanta for the Thanksgiving holiday. I took my two dogs with me as I usually do. I covered all seats with sheets and towels. The car was due back on November 30th but I brought it back a day earlier, on November 29th, since I didn't need it any longer. I cleaned the car out good, went over all seats front and back with a large lint roller just to catch any dog hair. I checked the car back in at the Ft Lauderdale Airport, an employee and myself went over the car, checking the interior, the gas gauge and the exterior for any damages. He printed me out a receipt using a hand held computer and told me thanks for renting with Budget.

A week later, I was checking the charges on my credit card and found where Budget had charged me $105.78 for a "dirty" car. There was no mention of this when I checked the car in and had it been dirty, I had a whole extra day to clean it. After two days of trying to reach someone in charge of addressing this issue, I reached a rude young man by the name of Jamal ** who explained the charges by saying I had excessive dog hair in the car. The customer service rep at the 800 number told me that when the rental agency makes such a claim, they have to have substantiating pictures. I told Mr. ** that I wanted to see the pictures of the "so-called" dog hair. He told me he had mailed me a letter notifying me of the extra charge, I told him I never received it. He said he would mail it again.

In the meantime, I received two letters from Mr. **; one dated December 2, two days after I returned the car and was charged the excessive fee for the cleaning, and another letter identical to the first dated December 9th. I just happened to be checking my credit card status that day and saw where now Budget had charged me again another $105.78 for the same charge, dated on 12/9. I attempted to reach Mr. ** several times over the two day period and finally reached an "Anthony" who stated Mr. ** was on vacation. He told me he could probably resolve the issue for me and asked for my information. He told me the second charge was obviously a mistake and he would reverse the charge. I told him I wanted to see those pictures of this so-called hair, that I have the right to see them. He said he would email them to me and also get back to me regarding the reversal of the charges on my card.

When I didn't hear from him for a week, I called back. He told me he had been busy and that when he tried to email me the pictures, the file was too big and it wouldn't go through. So I told him if it's that big, email them half and half. I've never heard from him again, even after leaving several messages asking him to resolve this matter. If Budget does not resolve this matter, I am going to court. This is nothing but a scam and I have read pages of complaints against Budget for doing people wrong. I just wish I had read them before I rented from them and I will never rent from them again.

The check engine light came on and the vehicle felt sluggish we almost broke down. Here my family is in a foreign country with a vehicle that we do not feel safe to drive.

Report the problem when I turned the vehicle in to Budget no just to one person but two two employees. One of the employees wrote on my rental copy where they saw the engine light visibly on, and wrote side notation. Did not want this vehicle breaking down for the next family! Huge safety issue.

Followed with with someone at the corporate office and the vehicle was never checked out and re rented 4 times in the last couple of weeks, the problem was never addressed and the vehicle was never serviced after I returned the vehicle according to Budget's executive corporate office. Robert Salerno CEO's spokes person.

So much for Budget keeping their vehicles safe for a family.

The check engine light came on and the vehicle felt sluggish we almost broke down. Here my family is in a foreign country with a vehicle that we do not feel safe to drive.

Report the problem when I turned the vehicle in to Budget no just to one person but two two employees. One of the employees wrote on my rental copy where they saw the engine light visibly on, and wrote side notation. Did not want this vehicle breaking down for the next family! Huge safety issue.

Followed with with someone at the corporate office and the vehicle was never checked out and re rented 4 times in the last couple of weeks, the problem was never addressed and the vehicle was never serviced after I returned the vehicle according to Budget's executive corporate office. Robert Salerno CEO's spokes person.

So much for Budget keeping their vehicles safe for a family.

We purchased a trip to Texas for my husband on the Orbitz website. This purchase included plane fare, hotel, and rental car with Budget. Of course, the trip was paid for in its entirety weeks before it was actually schedule to take place. Mr. Jones arrived at the Airport in Austin late Saturday night after flying all day, having a 3 hour lay-over, etc. so he was exhausted. Budget Car Rental was closed for the night, but there was a girl in a booth in the parking lot giving out the cars.

When Mr. Jones went to pick up the rental, he was told that he had to give them a deposit on a credit or debit card. It was their policy. He had the debit card, but there was no money in the account. Because he couldn't come up with a deposit, they wouldn't let him take the car (that was ALREADY PAID FOR). Mr. Jones took a cab to the hotel and called me. I told him that I would go to the bank Sunday morning (thank goodness our bank has weekend hours) and deposit $100.00. He could then go back to the air port, they could swipe his card, hold a deposit, and give him the car.

They didn't tell him how much the deposit would be, but I couldn't imagine that they would want more than 100.00. I mean, the only reason I could think they would want a deposit is if he returned the car with out gas or something, because as I have said, the rental car was already PAID for the entire length of the trip.

Sunday morning, I deposited the money, Mr. Jones took another cab back to the airport, two cab trips totaling $70, which he had to take out of his food budget. Mr. Jones was going to ask them to reimburse him for Saturday, since he had paid for that day and not used it. When he arrived at Budget, they told him that if he had a credit card, the deposit would be $100, but if he was using a debit card (which he was) the deposit would be $200!

That was their policy. (I didn't have any more money to deposit.) Not only that, but since he didn't pick up the car on Saturday, he no longer qualified for the "special rate" and he would be required to pay an additional $400 to use the car! Another policy! Mr. Jones called me in a panic, stuck at the air port with NO CAR, needing $600 to rent the car that WE HAD ALREADY PAID FOR IN FULL!

I then called Budget , told them the situation and said I would give them a credit card number over the phone so they could charge the $600 and Mr. Jones could get a car. We were really being screwed over, but I felt like we had no choice. They then tell me that they don't take credit cards over the phone and I had to come in person to process the transaction!! By this time, I was furious and asked the man how did he think I was going to get to Austin Texas from Richmond VA to give him the card in person. He actually giggled and said, "Well, I wouldn't know, ma'am." I asked for a manager. He did not transfer me or offer to transfer me. He gave me another telephone number to write down and call. I had to hang up and make another call to the manager. You can imagine how mad I was at this point.

So, the manager, a woman, answers the phone and I tell her the situation. I tell her they won't take my credit card number. She says, "That's right. That's our policy." Me: "So my husband is supposed to camp out at the air port until his flight leaves on Thursday because he can't have the car WE HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR or until we come up with 600 additional dollars and you won't take my credit card?"

Manager-"yes, ma'am. I understand your frustration but this is our policy." Me-"Well, your policy is stupid! Everyone in the world takes credit cards over the phone. I shop on-line and use a credit card and no one needs me to be in person, I buy things off the TV. with a credit card and no one wants me to pay in person! The whole world is taking credit cards by phone and you won't!"

Manager- "no ma'am, we won't. That is our policy." Me- "you have the right to your policies and I have the right to tell all of my family and friends to NEVER use Budget Car Rental and I certainly am going to!" And I hung up! Poor Mr. Jones, meanwhile, is stuck at the air port waiting for me to come up with $600.

In an act of desperation, I borrowed $600 from a family member and deposited it in the bank account. When the money was in the account, they then let Mr. Jones take the car. They are holding the $200 deposit until he returns the car on Thursday. And the person at the rental counter manually went in the computer and overrode the amount of time the car was rented for, so he didn't owe any additional money, he just lost the one day, Saturday. Now why couldn't they have done that in the first place? After all that he went through, he was just happy to get the car for no additional money, so he didn't argue about losing a day he had paid for.

Mr. Jones was scheduled to pick up the car on Saturday at 9:50 p.m. Instead, he FINALLY got the car at about 5 p.m. on Sunday! He lost a day of rental he had paid for, and $70 for cab fare. He lost a day of his trip, being stuck at the airport for hours instead of spending it with his kids! Not to mention me running around all day Sunday trying to come up with money from somewhere to deposit in our account. ALL BECAUSE OF BUDGET'S STUPID POLICIES!

I can understand requiring a deposit, and in fact should have thought of that before putting Mr. Jones on the plane. However, never booking a trip on line previously, it did not occur to me that he would need any additional funds to cover trip costs. I am frustrated at the fact that 1) no one told him the amount of the deposit needed, 2) the amount was different for credit and debit, 3) someone wanted to charge us an additional $400 to rent the car for a time frame that was less than originally scheduled and previously paid for in full, rather than overriding the pick-up date, as was eventually done, 4) the counter clerk got "funny" with me and giggled when I was obviously very upset, 5) an archaic policy of not accepting a credit card number over the phone, 6) an overall disregard to basic customer courtesy.

I have passed this experience on to all of my friends and family and co-workers. I want everyone to know what a terrible hassle it was for us to use Budget Car Rental! I have told everyone I know: NEVER GIVE THESE INCOMPETENT PEOPLE YOUR BUSINESS!. I would also like to add that I have been TOTALLY AMAZED by the number of complaints filed on ConsumerAffairs.com concerning unethical behavior on the part of Budget! You can believe that I will be adding my story to that website as well!

Rented a vehicle from Budget Rental Car at the Boise Airport. Customer service placed unauthorized charges for insurance on the vehicle. My wife did not authorize these charges. One charge was "Overseas illness protection." We are not 'overseas.' We are local to Boise. Agent verbally informed my wife that the daily insurance charge would be $14.99 per day and tricked her at the counter into signing up for additional insurance.

I called that same day and asked what the TOTAL weekly rate would be and the representative on the line said, "$227.99." I agreed to that and when we brought the vehicle back two days early, we were charged for a full week with lots of extra unauthorized charges for a total of $673.54. This charge was for a Hyundai Sonota. I think they are illegally adding charges and tricking people into signing. Most customers don't notice or just pay the bill.

I rented a truck from Budget to move from Colorado to Washington. My online confirmation quoted me $381.99 since the deposit would be waived if I paid with a credit card, which I did. When I went to pick up the truck I requested a dolly and was told that it would cost me an additional $17 and that there was no extra fee for an additional driver.

I was frazzled, I'm a new (and first time) mom so I didn't even check my receipt and left. It wasn't until I arrived at my destination that I saw that I had over drafted three times because I was charged over $600 for my rental.

At this point I took out my receipt and found I had been charged $37 for a dolly, $25 for an additional driver and $150 deposit for a total of $193 more than I was quoted. Since I over drafted three times because of this (I don't know why they couldn't have just done this in one transaction) I was now negative almost $300! Again... NEW MOM!

When I returned the truck I was told that it would take up to 10 days to get the deposit back and that I would have to contact customer service for additional help with the other fees.

I called customer service and was hung up on twice. I then asked to talk to a supervisor and got a woman named Dina. Later, I found out Dina was NOT a supervisor though she claimed to be. Regardless, I sent her the information she asked for asking for a refund of $18 for the dolly (the difference of what I was quoted), $25 for the additional driver fee, $102 for my over draft fees and applicable taxes for a total of just over $137. Of course, my first fax wasn't sufficient so I had to fax the information again, at an additional cost to me despite the fact I was already over drafted.

I waited for several days for an update with no news. I called and asked for Dina to call me back. Nothing. I called again and asked for a supervisor and found out Dina was not a supervisor per Annabell. Annabell then hung up on me.

I'm still awaiting a call back from a supervisor. At this point they have only refunded $18 and told me that my bank would just "forgive" the three over draft fees. When I spoke to my bank they told me that it didn't matter if it was my fault or not, they would not refund those over draft fees.

I'm still waiting. My calls are going ignored and I am still severely over drafted. I don't have money to help support myself, let alone my baby and Budget continues to refuse to work with me. I have suffered severe emotional distress. I am tense all the time and break down to tears often over fear of what we are going to do as we don't have the money to support our baby at this point. I'm angry, frustrated and scared.

I rented a car, through Priceline, at the Budget Rent-A-Car at the Philadelphia Airport over Thanksgiving. I was renting the car for 3 days and 9 hours and paid for the full 4 days rental as expected. I had the good fortune of my flight coming in almost an hour early and it landed just before 11pm when it was schedule for 11:45pm.

I had specified the pick-up time for the rental to be 12:30am but we got to the rental counter at 11:30pm. The twits at Budget told me that I had to sit there and wait for another hour until my rental start time of 12:30am came up on the clock or I had to pay an additional full day rental of $60+taxes. There were about 50 cars available in the lot and nobody else waiting to rent a car. Of course Budget has no 24hr customer service and both the manager on duty and the lackey behind the counter refused to do anything about it. Then when 12:30 rolled around and I finally got the rental, they had the audacity to try to pre-populate the damamge waiver and fuel option on the paperwork in an effort to get me to pay more.

I forgot to tell you that they tried to upgrade me to a Cadillac and I thought it was a gesture for my troubles....then the counter twerp told me it would be another $20 per day. I really got steamed and my wife convinced me to walk outside before I totally freaked out. This was one of the most incredibly bad customer service experiences I've ever had.

The whole scenario was patently ridiculous and I will never again rent from such a backwards company with moronic policies and such abysmal customer service.

Corporate responded with a patronizing and ignorant 2 line explanation of policy. They totally blew me off. I am sending a certified letter to their CEO with the hope that it sparks a response.

Budget Rent A Car screwed me in three ways. First, the rental was dirty, covered with dings and was only 3/4 full of gas. This was noted on the Vehicle Condition Report and signed by the agent before leaving the lot.

Second, the rental agent refused to accept the Free Upgrade coupon that was clearly applicable to this rental. A manager supposedly overruled the agent, but then lied when he said the replacement rental was an upgrade. It was the same class car (a compact)as the first. Third, the manager refused to accept my Costco Member discount coupon ($25 off weekly rental). I obtained the coupons and rental price using the Internet. Upon returning the car, I explained all of the above problems and asked for compensation for at least the cost of a quarter tank of gas.

The complaint desk at the McCarenn Airport location basically stonewalled me. "Lucy" said it was too hard to find her copy of my Vehicle Condition Report, so I faxed her my copy, along with my gas receipt when I filled the car and the Costco upgrade and discount coupons which had been refused. I was offered no apology and no compensation.

Few people, including me, have time to deal with life's minor ripoffs. But you can see why Budget Rent A Car has dropped to fifth place in customer satisfaction. I won't rent from them again. I paid more for my Budget Rent A Car than stated on my Internet confimation. I also got a damaged, dirty car which was not even filled with gas. Estimated loss: my future business.

I then Cancelled and will never ever book with Budget again as always their customer service is very poor. I always rent cars min 10 times per month. They have lost a valued cusotmer.

November 20, Friday I expect a reserved largest Budget Diesel moving truck reserved by Promotions Kelly, to be at Budget truck rental N. Popular, Casper, Wyoming. Budget Casper says I am told no trucks available, but they would have one biggest diesel Friday Nov. 20, 2009. Did not when I arrived. Said one they went to pick up in Sheridan Wyoming, broke down, next they said they were going to have it Saturday Nov. 21 at 8 a.m

I arrived Sat. Casper Budget said they drove over 400 miles to border of Idaho and Wyoming to get one and drove back. Wow I thought, how did they do this some hours 5 p.m. Nov 20th til Saturday 8 a.m. truck is in Casper. Time and driving time did not add up. I took truck drove it less than 1 mile had professional movers load up household furniture for two days.

Leaving Casper on Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Nov 22, 2009 the truck shakes violently, headlight go out we are out some 90 miles from Casper, Wyoming, we struggle to get to Newcastle some 180 miles away from Casper now crawling about 45 mph. It quits Newcastle wyoming. Nothing open to help. I call next morning we are stranded in Newcastle on way some 1200 miles away in Illinois. Roadside Assistance and Customer Service play phone tag, drop calls. My family, dogs and possessions are stranded, separated, left abandoned.

Budget Trucks, Casper Wyoming Janice, rents unit number 577677, Licens OK 26A271, full size diesel truck milage 67433, November 21, 2009 to me. I am told after talking out all insurances programs and paying for truck and insurances on credit card...I am fullly covered and my possessions are entirely insured from theft, breakage, etc. as well as truck in all ways is insured. I am told to call roadside assistance 1-800-. KeyFob and numbers on truck 557677.

Ref. 08891015887377. Olson Tow truc 1-877- Rapid City South Dakota Key 577677 License 26A271 Unit no 577677

Nov. 23, 2009 broke down stranded in Newcastle Wyoming my phone call reports from Budget Lisa Customer Service Budget keep receipts budget might pay meals, damages to furniture claimes dept. Roadside Assistance Bob C. you put one person in your broke down towed truck behind the tow truck to ride with your pets, and two people ride in tow truck. We will not come and get you, if you dont do this you are stranded. I said legally this is not safe. I was told by Bob C. he would send another truck unload our things in Newcastle Wyoming, he changed this, said no and said you will have your truck towed, if you and son do not ride the tow truck you will not see your furniture removed by our professional movers and your things if broken if not seen by you will be your lose and Budget is not responsible. I said I dont think this is fair. He said you take it or leave it.

Next some 4 hours later, (I called at 8:00 a.m. Nov 23, 2009, he called me 10:00 am. Nov 23, 2009. a tow truck arrives. I am told you sit on a crate with a towel on it in cab. no back no safety belt in tow truck and son sit in seat. We do not go fasted route to Rapid City, driver goes through Custer South Dakota. slow winding, mountainous up and down high way. arrives At Wester River INternational Rapid City South Dakota 4:00 p.m. taken to Budget. sit to 5;00 p.m. and by 6:00 p.m. I am told they are closing to leave. I walk to truck stop.

Denise Budget asked for Supervisor as I am turned down for help, Lisa Supervisor, RoadSide Assistance Vehicle ID NO 1HTMMAAM76H159639 on door 557677. 12:35 p.m. Monday Nov 23, 2009 I complain to Roadside Assistance, I am told I have to ride, inside tow truck, no seat, I am disabled I can not climb up and I have multiple disabling conditions, I am told I have to ride by Budget. I say my family can not fit inside truck, Budget says they can ride inside the broken towed Budget truck being towed. I say no, they said they will have to remain behind in Newcastle, Wyoming, you have to ride tow truck to Rapid City S. Dak and your driver, your son, 12:45 p.m. as well to ride in tow truck

Next tow truck arrives 1:00 p.m Nov. 23 2009. Budget said Allied closes 4:30. No gated area your truck and posessions are not protected. your problem if broken into, and stolen, told you have to unload your furniture off the broken budget truck yourself at 6:00 p.m Nov. 23 because Budget called back saying they did not honor the decision made by Rapid City Budget manager to allow pick up of furniture and movers to do work in daylight, no lights on lot cold 30 degree wind at night no lights in truck, I am left to walk to my broken Budget truck some one mile at 6:00 p.m. at night.

They lied at Rapid City Budget played games, endless phone calls, denied me fair contractual expected assistance and help. Budget Cathy said you sent away the budget contracted movers, your problem get your things off the broken budget truck. YOu hire movers, you hire another moving truck. She lied, I did not dismiss movers, and she lied. Cathy Budget called me and said my problem, contracts all now void with Budget. 1-940 called me saying I was not getting my contracted help. I stood inside Budget rental store in Rapid City South Dakota at 6:00 p.m. receiving all these calls saying I am getting no help, to move my furniture by myself off the broken down Budget truck, NOvember 23, 2009.

The load Swap EW99606 fraudulent by Budget. I received no papers, no identifications, no business identifications only endless phone calls, strangers, and threats by Budget. Tiffany 1-800- said Angela to call, I say it is dark now, cold windy, I cant see, I can not be outside in this wind and cold, I am disabled, please help me. I am told I have been offered movers, I am told I had to stand outside in cold 30 degrees for 3-4 hours to watch my furniture, physically I can not do this, The Budget offices Roadside Assistance, Customer Assistance did not assist me, I was left outside as store, Budget in Rapid City closed their doors I was sent outside.

Budget Rental Moving Truck, Casper, Wyoming rented full size diesel truck to us, we had movers place items in truck started move. At 11 p.m. truck shook violently, headlights quit, items in truck bounced, drive train went bad, we are stranded midway to Rapid City, South Dakota, I call Road Assistance, WE have Taken every insurance offered by Budget, they do phone switch, from customer service to Road assistance, and tell us they will send a truck

I am told I must see unload of furniture or release Budget responsibility of breakage of furniture, Budget insists my driver, son, and me renter, must ride in truck, leaving the rest of my family some 90 plus miles alone at roadside, they did not provide them transportation , and Budget did not send furniture movers to where we are located to help, did not send a Budget truck replacement , did not tell us Budget sent a huge tow truck with only one legal seat we were told to place three people in tow truck West River Internation, Rapid City, SD arrived my family and dogs now stranded left behind. I am told to sit on a milk crate, no seat, and my son rides in seat. We are told as arrive to West River International, here is a truck to ride in go to Budget get your new truck and here are three movers who appeared and later rumored to have been there some 90 miles away buy 1:00 p.m. waiting on tow truck we are riding, we are blamed to have called them we did not. Go to Budget.

They play phone tag and all endless 800 numbers, it is now 4 hours later than we left Wyoming pick up tow truck. Businesses closing. I am told movers gone dont know where they went. I am left at 7:00 p.m. walking in Rapid City no car, I am told I have to unload truck myself and Budget closes. No transportation, separated 90 miles away from family I walk in 30 degree cold and wind to sit in a truck stop. I am told by Budget I have to hire movers myself, and my furniture must be off the truck at end of Budget rental agreement. I took pictures of the Budget rental truck the WEST RIVER INternational Rapid City took off the drive train left the part on running board, key in truck ignition, I am told I am responsible if my furniture is stolen, Budget will not pay me, anything for motel, meals, transportation, my family is stranded November 23, 2009 in Wyoming and I am split sitting in a truck stop with no help or transportation and the Budget truck with broken drive train, with my furniture on board is sitting, I am told I have to take my household furniture off myself.

I am 58 year old disabled, breast cancer, arthritic, knee awaiting replacement, teacher, no work. I need help. How can a business leave a crippled disabled woman out at 8:00 p.m walking with no help. Budget truck ...West River INternational Rapid City...YOu are liars, fraudent, Casper Budget you rented us a truck in need of repair, Rapid City Budget you lied to us, delayed us into the darkness of the night, you left my family 90 miles away at the side of the road, you left me and my son stranded at 8:00 p.m. walking , sitting in a truck station. If any of the readers see this...believe me. I am a person who has been set up with a Bad Budget Truck and left some 200 miles away from Casper Wyoming in Rapid City South Dakota on November 24 Tuesday with no help. I am traveling 1200 miles trip.

I have suffered travel costs. I must find movers and a moving company. I am without help.in Wyoming 20's tonight Nov. 23 2009, Now today Nov 24, 2009 I must find a way to try to get transportation after being left stranded in Rapid City South Dakota, Move my furniture, get a truck that runs, find my family, get them inside warm with food and bed rest and medical treatment

Very sharp practice conning people into having additional insurance and appalling customer service and follow up. Cost of rental was twice what we had been quoted due to extra costs. Originally quote $80 - final bill $180.

We rented a Budget rental car in Edinburgh, Scotland in Sept. 2009 and purchased extra damage protection. We were hit by a tour bus through no fault of our own and Budget has charged us the 600 BP deductible! Our purchase made null and void anything Chase had to offer as protection. The result is we have been charged the $1001.16, plus the regular cost of renting the car for a week - so disappointed in Budget and Chase for that matter. A police officer witnessed the accident and wrote up a report. One might think this kind of scam would only happen in Mexico.

I rented a budget truck for a one way trip from green Bay WI to Chicago IL. The Chicago Budget rental center also Known as Moving Chicago LLC was the final destination. When I got there it was after hours. There was a note that if I didn't have a copy of the paperwork with the keys they would charge $25. I didn't have an additional copy of my receipt so I wasn't willing to leave my only copy and I never agreed nor signed anything that said this was a requirement.

I dropped the truck "fully fueled and clean" with the keys in the drop box. Seeing as they "couldn't" for something I never agreed to (dropping the key with out paperwork), they charged me a fuel fee (I have the receipt to show I filled it up and witnesses to testify to the cleanliness of the truck) they charged me fees for this. They blatantly lied. When I called the store, they said to call the 800 number. I called the 800 number and got no help at all.

Moving LLC of chicago on Elston Avenue is a total scam shop. It's as sleazy as it looks. Beware if you are dropping a budget truck to this destination. Budget Rental is a sleazy operation that lets "obvious scammers" like these operate using their name. I was charge over $80 in false charges. I called Budget who gave me no resolution even though I told them I had the receipts and witnesses to prove it. I am filing a complaint with the BBB and anyone else so others will be warned.

They REFUSED to shuttle us back to shelter and left us (me, my 4 year old and my luggage)in the parking lot, at night in the freezing temperature. We crawled over fenses, and walked A LONG way to seek shelter. This company is EXTREMELY irresponsible and put my family in a very dangerous situation. I don't want ANYONE to experience anything similar! I had plenty of cash, they wouldn't accept it.

My Mistake. I didn't present my gas receipt after filling the tank when I returned the car. So Budget added a second "fuel charge" to my credit card the next day. I mistakenly assumed they would read the gas gauge and see I had topped off the tank at the Shell station around the corner.

Budget customer service refused to refund the fuel charge without the hard copy gas station receipt.

In 2007 Budget settled with the FTC for this deceptive fuel fee. Apparently they are back to using the same scam as before. More profitable to pay the FTC fines than give honest customer service?

gave me the going rate. I argued, but this guy was dead set on what he invoiced. I am also reporting this to AARP.

I am going to talk to the Raleigh Budget who booked the contract but The Charlotte guy said he was right/

It should be a Class Action case for lawyers that cares.

On 10/03/09 I was late to pick up the rental car because I did not know the Budget Rent a Car at Oakland International Airport closed early. So, I ran back the next morning and the sales lady said the contract expired and changed with a new contract. That was fine, but she did not ask if I do not need any Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) and circled couple of items together and asked me to initial for it. I did question about her practice why I had to initial for something that I do not need. (Normally the LDW is covered by the customer's auto insurance and / or covered by the credit card used by the customer.) She said not to worry and that is for items that I declined. Sure enough the LDW was charged on my way to return the rental.

I think this is an illegal practice that the Auto Rental Industual is pulling on their customers in order to increase profit through some sort of commission.

Pursuant to my flight leaving at 6:30 am on Friday October 16, 2009 I filled-up the rental the night before and drove it to my residence. That morning I dropped the rental car off at the Budget rental car agency at the Golden Isles Airport. I filled out the paperwork and put the key in the drop box with instructions to fax the final bill to my office. I received two faxes to my office. The first for $823.59 and then a second for 835.31. A difference of $11.72. I called the agency for clarification of the bills and was told by the manager that this was a service fee for pumping 1.5 gallons of gas in the car. I told them that I rented the car from August 20 through October 16 2009 and that yopu are going to nickel and dime me for one gallon of gas. He told me it was for 1.5 gallons and anything over a gallon there's a service fee.

As far as I am concerned that service fee of $11.72 for 1.5 gallons of gas has just lost them a customer.

I booked by car with Budget through Hotwire for pickup at 1:30 PM and arrived 20 minutes early. I was told that I would have to wait the 20 minutes for pay for an extra day even though the number of days of the rental would not have changed. They also said that if I returned the car even one minute late they would charge and extra day. They claim this is Hotwire's policy. I showed them Hotwire's terms and conditions and they could not show me theirs for this policy. Another person there was waiting for exactly the same reason. And they said it was a regular occurrence, several times a day. Their own contract stated otherwise.

On June 16,2009 I picked up a full size car with a coupon code for a free upgrade. The coupon number clearly printed on my receipt. When I tried to ask for the upgrade, I was told that the upgrade was already given to me and if I wanted the next car(premium car)up, I would need to pay extra. I tried explaining to her that it was a free upgrade, but would not hear of it. Having two children under 5 with me and after flying from Tampa, I did not feel like arguing nor did I have the patience. She offered me an upgrade, but I ended up paying an extra $7.00 a day for it(plus taxes and fees). I needed the extra room so that my children would be comfortable and not fight with each other.

I am about to rent another car from the same location and the same issue comes up online. I have a free upgrade, which clearly states that the upgrade will be given to me upon pick up, but it is not spelled out for the counter rep to see. I called their 800 number and the first time I was disconnected. I dialed it again and transferred to a customer service rep and explained my dilemma. After explaining a few times, she still stated that the reservation would indicate the free upgrade, but it did not. I asked to speak to a supervisor and she put me on hold and then proceeded to hang up on me. We travel for leisure 2-3 times a year and we often rent cars longer than 5 days and my husband travels for business. I will never rent from this company again. I'd rather pay more than deal with ineptitude, rudeness, and most of all, bad business practices.

We got in and they had no cars available . said when you make reservation, guaranteed a car but not a time. Wait time was 45 /hr./1hr. minutes. Ending up renting from Enterprise and when we went to get our car there were all sorts of cars available from Budget. This is not the first time, Budget pulled this. This also happened at the airport in San Francisco, line was an hour long and wait for a car was 1 hr. long. When we returned the car in San Francisco at a different location, we were told on the phone the day before returning there would be a $25.00 charge and when we got there it was a $50.00 charge. Seems their ethical practices are quite sloppy and they make the rules as they go. In San Francisco we ended up renting from another car rental also. I will not book any more cars with Budget.

This is another viscious effort by corporate americar to weed out the less fortunate who can't get credit cards and visa debits is all they have .Budget needs to explai there reasoing behind behind unauthorized credit checking.

We picked up the reserved car on September 25, 2009 at the Budget garage at Albany Airport, NY. We had reserved a gps along with the car. We got the pin # of the device written down. We drove to Vermont and took the gps off and stored it away to prevent burglary. Next morning the device powered up and asked for the pin #. We entered the number but the gps did not except it "Invalid pin #". So we could not use the gps.

Next day we drove to Burlington airport. The Budget counter was unmanned, but at the Avis counter an associate tested the device, managed to boot it anew with the same pin #. But next morning the gps again did not except the pin #. We were in the White Mountains region then.

Next day on our way towards Bosten we phoned Budget customer service and asked where the nearest Budget office was, so that we could exchange the faulty device for a functioning one. The service gave us a new pin #, which would work only for one day. So the gps was technically ok, only that its internal battery probably died every night and would lose the pin #. We drove to Manchester airport and got a new gps (an older and slower model) in exchange for the faulty one.

We used the second gps until we dropped the car at JFK airport on October 4th. At the counter we noticed that Budget would charge us for the faulty gps-device as if we had lost or broken it! We phoned to customer service and the Albany office to no avail. We send e-mail to Budget billing address but got only the advice to "contact the location". USD 269.99 plus tax

Budget charged 800 dollars more than expected without providing any explanation. I am trying to be refunded. I spent 800 dollars more than expected. i could not go to the doctor (dermathologist) because I did not expet to pay 800 dollars more for the car

my husband rented a car for 24 hours for $299.99 plus an airport fee, taxes and insurance he decided we would need. also I was an additonal driver for an extra $10. My husband took possession of the car at 1:18p.m. but noticed on the contract the time was listed at 1 p.m. The rental date was 8/12/2009. after filling the gas tank, we were slowed down by construction and a heavily traveled two lane road going to the small airport.

my husband parked the car in the budget lot at 1:18 p.m. on 8/13/2009 and reached the rental desk at 1:20 p.m. we were told since we were late in returning the car we would be charged an hour rate, which we thought we may, but was shocked when we were charged $149.99 for that hour. In addition, we were being charged .39 per mile after the first 100 miles, something the agent did not mention to my husband prior to the rental. the total for this came to $196.95. This brought our total time/mileage to $646.93.

even though neither myself nor my husband drive the car again, we were charged for two days of insurance totaling $49.98 and an additional driver's fee totaling $20. after applying the apt fee, which came to $64.69 and various other charges, our grand total for renting a vehicle for 24 hours camt to $850.46. We were told this was a privately owned budget car rental, but that does not give the person can act unfairly in his charges.

There is a discrepancy between what we were charged and the rules listed on the back of the contract. the first contract my husband signed listed only those charged we agreed on, but the contract he was given with the new charges added was not signed by him. This particular car rental should be outlawed, especially since that's what they seem to be-outlaws in overcharging innocent customers.

In July 2008 my wife flew to Milan and rented a car from Budget (Autoleggio) at the Malpensa Airport. The car appeared to be in good shape when she rented it but 3 days later is found to have a defective clutch which failed on the German Autobahn endangering the life of my wife and 3 children. Another car was provided by Budget in Germany and the remainder of the trip went well.

The German Budget company told my wife not to worry since it was so obvious that there was a defective clutch in the car. My wife has driven a stick shift for over 30 years and could in no way be held responsible for not using the clutch properly. Nothing was said when she turned the car in. Six 6 weeks later I noticed a charge on my credit card for $1500. There was no explanation and no invoice.

I notified Visa to stop payment on this invoice since we could not be held responsible for repairing a defective car and were in fact no longer in Italy. Visa told me that they could not stop payment on international charges. VISA tried for 6 months to recover information from Budget in Milan but with no results.

I have contacted Budget Rent-A-Car in Rome, Milan, London, and the Budget Avis World Headquarters in Parsippany NY but they have not refunded the repair bill. Budget contends that since my wife drove through Switzerland she must have burned out the clutch in the mountains. My wife is an experienced driver who has been driving a manual transmission for 30+ years. We even lived in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the German Alps for 7 years without incident.

It is preposterous to claim that she damaged a clutch while driving straight down the Autobahn. The clutch was obviously either defective from the factory or was burned out by a previous renter. We have now been charged for repairing Budget's rental vehicle which is unfair and unwarranted. We are out $1,454 for this incident

We rented a car in PR for 10 days and traveled the island while we were there. Once we returned, I noticed a charge on my credit card from Budget/Highway Toll Administration (HTA). The charge was for tolls incurred while traveling but we paid cash for every toll we went through. Budget referred me to the HTA and stated that each car has a transponder that registers the toll when I go through it. I was never told about the transponder and didn't agree to pay any toll fees on my credit card. I was told that I agreed to pay any and all fees/parking tickets associated with my rental (this language is in fact on the agreement). Further, the agent told me that there are no cameras in lanes where you can pay cash and that HTA would send me a photo of my vehicle rental to determine if in fact I incurred those charges. I explained that I did go through the toll plazas and they obtained my account information somehow, despite having paid cash. I remember a small paper envelope taped to the top of the windshield. I believe this is a scam and was caught unaware. I have no way of verifying that I paid cash through those tolls, and did not realize that each car had a transponder. No one discussed with me what we were supposed to do if we wanted to opt in OR out of the program.

"All cars include unlimited kilometers with the exception of cars driven outside the renting province which include 200 km/day, 1400 km/week." This was fine as we intended to stay within the Banff area so wouldn't be driving much. I was shocked therefore, when on picking up the car in Vancouver, I was informed I would have to pay a $252 surcharge for taking the car into Alberta. Unfortunately, I didn't have a copy of the detailed car rules with me to prove what I had read, so it was my word against theirs. The Budget representative said that there was no clause in the small print allowing up to 200km a day, so I was forced to pay the surcharge.

Corporation, which was owned by Cendant Corp, which was the parent Corp of Budget. I'm going to guess that Budget still sells information to HealthSaver and that I inadvertantly signed up for this service while renting from Budget.

To make a long story short - I will NEVER rent from Budget or Avis again - and if I am able to prove that this enrollment was a result of my recent rental, I will file a complaint with the Atty General of the State of NC against Budget and HealthSaver."

I called them to cancel, and was told I was enrolled as a result of cashing a check from Budget. I have been in correspondence with Budget on this issue--waiting to see if I still get billed anyway. I expect that I will based on what I've read elsewhere. This isn't so much about me, as it is the thousands of people who don't know they are paying for something they don't even know they have. But I do want to see if I ever actually cashed their check, because if I did not, I think they violated the law.

At 8.30 AM I arrived to pick up a moving truck, which I rented more than a week prior, as I was moving some personal belongings to AZ. As soon as I walked out to the vehicle I noted that it had a flat tire. The attendant told me that the truck I rented (and he had saved for me all week) was the only truck they had of that size, which was good enough for a cross country trip. He spent 45 minutes on hold with the customer service line as he didn't have a clue what to do about the problem.

Before hitting the above 100 degree temps in Oklahoma the air conditioning stopped performing. A little later the truck started to over-heat. The truck wasn't capable of speeds over 55 MPH, so I slowed to around 35 MPH to bring down the temp. I drove in these conditions for the next two days.

I called customer service and spoke with a very indifferent chap named Robert. Robert didn't seemed appalled that the customer was asked to drive a truck in disrepair out of the lot then spend his days taking care of repairs that should have been addressed prior to the customer arriving to pick up the truck. Robert also felt that because I took the other truck I was responsible for the over-heating on that truck and I should have called for road-side assistance in the middle of my move.

This is an example of the customer being held responsible for the lack of maintenance and other issues that should have been addressed by the originating rental center before renting trucks.

My husband and I flew to Salt Lake City for a vacation on 8/15/09 and rented a car from Budget at the airport. Everything seemed ok and we took off to drive into Twin Falls Idaho. The second day we were in Idaho we noticed the tags on the car had expired in July. And my husband also noticed all the tires on the car were bald. Aside from being worried we would be stopped for expired tags, we were also worried about a blow out.

I called the number on the contract and got a person and told him the tags were expired and could we go to another Budget place in Twin Falls Idaho and have them fix it or give us a replacement and he said they didnt have another rental place there. There were several different addresses on the back of the contract and one of them was in Twin Falls, but he said there was nothing he could do about it. I asked him what if we got a ticket for the expired tags, and he said just bring it to them and they would take care of it. I dont know about the law in Idaho, but I think any ticket you get like that would go against your licence.

Any way we were traveling around Idaho, Utah, and Nevada on bald tires and always worried about a blow out or being stopped. When we brought the car back the lady that came out to check it said " Oh well, sorry about that. The person that was supposed to check those things must have brought it out and said it was ok, so we just let it go out."

My husband and I will never rent from Budget again. They also tried to get us to buy their insurance but we declined it, as our insurance does cover us in a rental car.

I had the occasion to depart from my regular patronage of Hertz to rent from Budget as part of an online travel package, visiting a Budget office on July 25. Here follows a brief description of the deplorable customer service experience I encountered at [their] JFK International Airport location:

My friend and I were returning from an international leg of a family vacation carrying more than the normal amount of luggage. Therefore, my brother drove us to the Federal Circle location in order to ease the transfer of our belongings from his vehicle to the rental. While we understand that there are security concerns that prohibit the casual driving on-or-off the yard by other than company-owned vehicles, we felt sure that we could get a manager's approval to ease that luggage transfer. It's hard to imagine that this would be an unusual request, particularly with a reservation and proper identification.

There was no security guard at the gate but there was an unfriendly, surly young man named Dion who shrugged to indicate that we'd have to get a manager's approval to drive on the lot. Fair enough. There was no manager available and upon walking the length of the yard more than once, no manager was visible. There were two female employees in the reception area serving other customers, neither of whom would even glance up and make eye contact to indicate that they would serve us shortly.

Disappointing. In fact, it took about thirty minutes to be acknowledged despite the fact that I counted three customers in addition to myself. On the way out, Dion stood with another man near the service area and took the time to curse at me in the car. Maybe someone had already chastised him. As far as I'm aware, nothing was said to evoke this antisocial behavior from him. Maybe he's unhappy with his work or with life in general. In any case, it should not be the problem of Budget nor my customer experience.

When I politely indicated my dissatisfaction with the experience, your Janet Simpson coolly changed to a more professional demeanor. It was obvious that a client is an inconvenience.

In this or any economic climate, its hard to believe that employees fail to value clients more highly than ever and to treat them as they themselves would like to be treated. I believe that people are more than willing to wait but do deserve to be treated kindly and to be acknowledged as important to their business success.

Need I say, Ill spend a few more dollars if necessary and go back to the reliable service of Hertz, or any other firm rather than to take a chance on another negative encounter with your firm.

There was an unexpected sporting event and they were OUT of cars. Usually in this case they upgrade you to a more expensive model, nope they had higher end vehicles but I would have to pay for it. I paid for it all right..3 times more than I had expected. When I returned the vehicle I disputed the charges and was met with 'sorry, call our customer service line, I can't do anything for you' attitude! Never again! Don't assume because the word 'Budget' is in the company name that you are getting a bargain!

when i got to the counter, i told the budget rep that i was in a hurry, that my grandmother was waiting and that i need the car and i need to go. he asked me if i wanted to upgrade for 10 or 12 dollars a day, i replied that i didnt have the extra money and that i just want what i had paid for online and nothing extra. he offered me different insurances, i said no, im in a hurry, i dont have any extra money for anything else. i just want what i had paid for. he said ok, printed out a page, told me to initial here, here and here, sign here. all to which i did.

upon returning the car, the lady that came by to check the car in said that i would have to go to the counter to turn it in because there was an issue on the miliage, i was bringing it back with less miles than when it had left them. the line again was outrageous, i waited another hour. with my 80y/o grandmother. finally i walked up to the counter and just dropped off the paperwork (7 aug 09) and told the guy i had to go or im gonna miss my flight.

when i check my bank account today (11 aug 09) there is a charge for 172.00. I called numerous numbers, finally calling the desk at budgets seattle office. the manager there said that she would heve to talk to the guy that rented me the car. so now im waiting. the guy ought to be fired for taking advantage of customers in a hurry. obviously if i didnt up grade for 10-12 dollars a day, i wouldnt have opted to pay and extra 26.00 a day for somekind of insurance that i didnt need. I am a Law Enforcement Officer, I should not be treated this way.

I recently rented a car from Budget.com and did the prepay option on the internet. I chose the prepay gas option because I knew I would be short on time on the return and it is "cheaper" per gallon. When I returned the car I was charged a larger amount than I was told which I thought was understandable since I chose the gas options and of course the hidden fees all rental car companies have. When I checked my credit card statement a week later, I was charged an additional 74 dollars to the original $67 I paid on the internet with the prepay. After sitting on hold for 20 minutes I wrote them on budget.com to get my complaint looked at. After 5 days I did not get a response and decided to talk to a person. After sitting on hold for another 27 minutes I talked to someone. The woman looked at my account, found the error and put me on hold for another 10 minutes to fix it. She came back and told me my account was credited $30.

I rented a car from Budget in Las Vegas. They were low on cars so they gave me a car that was damaged. I circled the damage and stated the damage on the white slip they give you when you pick up the car. There was also a sticker where the gas flap had been torn off that stated there was damage. When I returned the car, they said everything was allright. Now they have sent me a bill for $830 to fix the problem.

They sent a picture of the damage and they removed the sticker that said there was existing damage when they took the picture. I could not have done anything else except demand a car that was not damaged when I rented. I expected the company to be honest. They have the paperwork that stated the damage. The guy at the exit was the one that noted it and wrote it down. It was very clear that the damage existed. I cannnot believe how dishonost they are. Does anybody have any suggestions?

Now Where to start? How about I will never ever rent from Budget again and I will be going on a crusade to get the word out to family, friends and even online via review sites, forums and possibly even create a website to show incompetant your company is. However it is my fault as well, I should have researched your company much closer and seen allllll the horrific reviews your company has managed to get online.

Its in these economic times that companies need to rely on good customer service (something in which you don't seem to instill with your employees) in order to gain repeat customers. I really believe its only a matter of time before your company is exposed and I hope I am a part of that process. Renting from your company has probably put me through my worst vacation ever. I know I am only one person and losing me as a customer will not even affect your company, but be sure after this email I will try my best to take any action possible that this doesn't happen to anyone else I come across.

I will be asking for a full monetary reimburstment but what you can't give me back is my time spent stuck in the desert in 112 degree weather on the phone with a budget customer service rep telling us to turn away a AAA tow truck in order for "your companies" tow truck to come out and help us or if not we are held accountable for paying the $450 tow truck fee. Amazing customer service reps you train, also whom don't understand the difference between a city and an exit.

I won't go into all the details although I have all the time in the world here waiting for a new rental car from Las Vegas, 2 hrs away oh and let's not forget there's a major accident holding the driver up. So here we sit in Baker California, going on 5 hours waiting and waiting and waiting...! Thanks for a horrible car rental experience oh wait its not over just yet, I am sure there's more to come.

i was hit by one of the moving truck of BUDGET car rental system inc. As soon as i was hit the driver ran away. I called 911, and policemen got the report. My insurance refused to cover as i got liability plan. i was told to contact to the "BUDGET"'s insurance dept, what i actually tried to do. I have been calling the 4 days straight, and no one is helping me. whenever i call i have been transferred to message section. I left tons of message, i Send emails, 5 times, followed all procedures and suggestions, and another failure, NOBODY responded. I am going to work and to school by my own, taking a bus, and wasting time. I cannot drive my vehicle as the rear of my car is totally gone, but the eployees of insurance dept of BUDGET inc do not care at all and no one is assissting at all.

I booked a vacation to Disney for my family and reserved a mid sized vehicle through Budget with several months notice, to be picked up on our arrival July 11th. When the flight arrived in Orlando on July 11th I proceeded to the Budget counter with my family in tow, waited 30 minutes in line, completed the reservation and paid for the rental. Only after this process was I told by the rental agent that they did not have any cars available; I would have to go wait with a group of more than 50 people who were also waiting for cars. The expected wait time that was given to me was between 30 and 45 minutes.

Unfortunately, this process resulted in me losing my prefered room assignment at the resort we stayed at and resulted in me paying more than twice as much for the car rental. Budget's price was $290 and I ended up paying $647 at Alamo for the last minute reservation. This economic damage resulted in, you guessed it, one less day at the Magic Kingdom.

He then processed the bill on his portable terminal and handed me the bill. I saw that there was a $24.00 charge for fuel on the bill and asked him what is this for. He looked at me and said it was a fuel charge for not filling it up. I told him you asked me if I filled it up and I said Yes. You looked at the gauges and could see that it is full. (I got gas across the street and used about a tablespoon to get over to the lot). He then said you didn't show me a receipt. I said you never asked for one!

Well you got to show me a receipt. I showed him the reciept and he finally too the charge off. On the shuttle bus I told they guy across from me about this and he told me they tried to do this to him too. I then asked the two ladies that were at the back of the bus (only for of us on the bus) if they filled up when they returned their cars and if they were charged for gas as well. They said they did, but didn't know if they were charged. Then they looked at their bills and found that they had been.

We rented a car from Budget for a week at Sea Tac airport. I had reserved a small car (Ford Focus or similar), and the confirmed price was supposed to be $465.99, including all fees. Got to the airport, signed the papers, and went to the lot to pick up our car. The car turned out to be a Lincoln Town Car! I looked at the contract, and I didn't see anything about the price being higher, but maybe I didn't look closely enough. At no time had we been verbally advised of, or offered, an upgrade.

Returned the car on time, full of gas, no damages. Since our flight was early in the morning, we returned it about 4:30 am, and left the car and keys as instructed when we rented it, since there was no attendant at that time of day.

When I got home, I checked my credit card, and it had been charged for $744.11! After numerous attempts to get through to Budget via email and telephone, I finally talked to a rep, who said that $30 a day had been added because there was an upgrade. He offered to transfer my call to the Seattle management. When he did that, I was connected to an answering machine! This was at 3 pm Seattle time, so someone should have been there.

Budget's customer service appears to be so bad that it is non-existent. Their nationwide customer service phone number is closed on weekends. They do not answer their emails. When you call their number, you are on hold forever (my one successful call was after 15 minutes on hold). It's like they are counting on you finally giving up in disgust.

I have filed complaints with the FTC and the Washington State Attorney General.

On July 17, 2009, we returned from a cruise to the Bahamas and was renting a car at the Budget Car rental in Miami, Fla. I ask the lady at the desk for a one day rental rate and she quoted me $116.00 per day for a full size car. This seemed to be a little high compared to Enterprise where we usually go, but I had to accept this rate as we were stuck there with no transportation.

When she said it had to be back by 12:00 pm the following day, I ask her for a grace period, since our flight didn't leave until 6:00 PM. She very rudely replied that the additional rate of $87.00 per hour would apply. I got really irritated at this point, and told her how rediculous that was and she said "take it or leave it", thats the way it is. So I ask her how much was it gonna cost if I kept the car until 3 or 4:00 PM and she said she would charge me for another day. My total cost for renting a Saturn, was $275.00 for a day and 3 hours. I have rented many cars, and never have I been charged this much.

And then, they added $13.99 for gas that they assumed I would be using, after I told them that I would fill the tank before I returned it. She said just bring the receipt and we will take the $13.99 off. When I returned the car, the attendant at the door told me I was done, and was not going to let me take my receipt in to the reception desk. He was very rude, and almost insisted that I leave. I did get the $13.99 removed from my bill, but not to his liking. I will never use Budget again, Enterprise will always be my choice when it comes to renting a vehicle. They have always been fair. These people were obnoxious and hateful from the get go. Now I feel better.

Summer Vacation--We rented a 7 passenger van to take our kids to Sea World. Sonia was very pleasant on the phone and told us that it would $301.95 to rent the van from the 7th of July to the 10th. We picked up the van on July 7th at 10am and Sonia showed us the paperwork and told us where to sign. She took my debit card and charged what I thought was the $301.95. The contract had the price per day and the unlimited mileage. She gave us a big smile and said "Enjoy your vacation".

That evening we arrived in San Antonio from Harlingen, TX and checked in at the hotel. We went to our room and something told me to check our bank account because we were on a tight allowance for our family trip. When I checked my balance I about fainted. Budget rent a car had charged us $601.95!! I thought oh my god they made a mistake. So I called the number on the contract and spoke to a guy named Ivan. He told me that the other $300.00 was for a deposit and that everyone gets charged that. I told him that Sonia never told me that there was a deposit. He said that it was standard practice and there was nothing he could do about it. I told him that we had our family in San Antonio and now did not have enough money for gas or food. He put me on hold to talk to his manager. After about 4 mins he came back on the phone and said there was nothing that they could do about refunding the $300 and only when we return the van will we get it back. I also told him that no where on the contract we signed was there a clause that said we would be charged a $300 deposit. Again, he said there was nothing he could do for us. I had to call and borrow some money (which was really embarrassing) from my mom.

We returned the van on July 9th about 5:30 pm, a day early due to lack of funds. The lady behind the counter said the deposit of $300.00 will be automatically returned to our account. I checked my bank account on the 10th of July and still no money. I called Budget again and asked when the deposit money would be returned, she said that it would take 3-5 business days to credit my account. I am furious, they are sure quick to take the money from my account and then 3-5 days to give it back. Someone please help and make sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else. I know $300 doesn't go far these days, but it makes a big difference of what soveniers you can buy at Sea World. I am sure they are making interest off of OUR money.

I spoke with this woman over teh phone at 11:30am on June 27th 2009. I had asked her about renting a vehicle. She said she in what I was looking for she had a pontiac vibe. I asked her how much it would be for a week. She said 180. I went directly there to rent said vehicle. When I got there it was now going to be 199.99 for the week. I was upset but I really needed to have a vehicle by that day in order to drop my car off for a transmission rebuild.

She then asked me if I wanted to purchase their insurance. I asked if I had to. She then asked me if I had full coverage. I said no I have liability because my car is paid for. She then told me that I had to purchase their insurance because mine would not cover their car. I went ahead and did so as I was told "I had to."

The day before I was to bring the car in I looked at the budget website and discovered that I did not have to purcahse their insurance. I filed a complaint with Budget. When I went in to drop it off I told her that I had an issue. I explained exactly what I said above. I had someone on the phone to witness the conversation. She also had her cleaner boy in there. She then said "I told you that if you didn't buy the insurance and something happened that you would own it." I told her nothing of that sort came out of her mouth. I said again that she told me I had to buy itand that I wanted a refund.

She then said I don't have to take this from any customer. She asked me if I saw seomeone else outside and that she just walked into this. She said would you like to walk back outside and start this over. I told her that it is dishonest business she is conducting. I am furious that Budget Auto ius allowed to conduct business in this manner.

When we got to the airport, There was a long line at the budget counter. After about 2 hours in line, I finally got my number. I gave them the my confirmation paper. First they wanted me to get mini van for $15 more per day, I said no I like an SUV. Then they said ok, you will get Pontiac Vibe. I was like really? Vibe is not an SUV. It is more like a small car. and They told me it's a same class as Ford Escape. Ofcourse they know i had no choice so i would either take vibe or get their upgrade for additional $$.

But fortunately I had another reservation with Enterprise, which i forget to cancel. The reservation with enterprise was for Full Size Car and i wanted SUV so i went with budget (it was more money to go with budget) so that i can get an SUV. I told the guy at the counter that i don't want your car and i went with Enterprise and got my CAR. and guess what they told me I can get either full size or an SUV since they had it at that time without any charge. So I picked up an SUV for the price of CAR at enterprise. They did not bug with me about all the upgrade etc. Also they did not force me to get their insurance (which is btw waste of your money).

I drove that SUV for 12 days in Florida and loved it. When I returned the car, it took about 30 seconds to complete the whole process the person was very helpful. They directed to the way i can get to the terminal and gave me his business card incase i need anything after i leave the counter. We traveled with kids, so after a long flight they had to wait in the airport for 2+ hours for nothing. If i didn't had another reservation, I would have had to spend another $200+ to get the bigger car (which i was supposed to get it anyway)

On 6/11/09, I picked up a rental car from Budget Car Rental. I had no problems at the time of pick-up, was handed my paperwork and went on my way.

On 6/16/09, when I went to return my car, it was a completely different story. I drove into the address shown above where I had rented the car, but the building was abandoned. No cars, no people, nothing. It still said Budget on the building. I was very confused. I kept looking around the building for some sign of life, or a sign saying something. I could see nothing. I decided to call the 800 # as I was getting close to missing my flight now. The woman I spoke to told me that I was at the correct address, my paperwork said to return the car to same place I picked it up, as my frustration was really starting to boil, I looked high up on the front of the building and say a sign saying that they had moved (from the time I rented the car, they moved). The lady on the phone didn't know how to tell me to go to the other location, so I told her " thanks for nothing!" and hung up on her.

By this time, I was furious. I took a chance and started driving down the same road I was already on where I could see other car rental companies and eventually found an AVIS car rental with a sign that showed "/Budget". Apparently, Budget merged with AVIS during the 6 days I had my rental car. Nobody said a word when I took the car that any of this was happening and to return the car to a totally different location. Even my paperwork says to return car to same location from where I got it!

I pulled into the lot and asked other customers if I was in the right place, they said "yes". They also had had trouble finding where to go. There were about 10 cars waiting to be checked in and given their receipts. The guy out in the lot could not figure out how to work his machine. He said that he was just given it and told to go outside, he'd never used the hand-held machine/computer before and was sorry for the huge delay that people were experiencing. Several people were complaining about possibly missing their flights. It was a zoo!,and extremely stressful!

At the rental counter, the Budget agent told me that the insurance coverage that I have with my VISA would not cover loss of use and that I had to buy their basic coverage. I did and upon returning home, I checked with my VISA credit card company and they would have covered loss of use. However since I accepted and paid for their basic coverage, any further insurance through my VISA card would have been invalid. Watch for this scam and don't be conned into believing their bs, just so the agent can make a few extra bucks. They don't care about you, just themselves. I have called Budget customer service to no avail. They don't have anyone answering their customer service phones and I never did receive a return call to all the messages I left on voice mails and their website. When I did get through to a manager, she said she would review the audio and video tapes of the rental and get back to me in two days at most. A week later and many more calls to her still no reply.

I rented a one-day, one way rental from Budget at the Kansas City Airport for $170.00. When I went to drop the car off in Omaha at 10 p.m. that evening, there was no one there--although they were supposed to be open until midnight. I left the car and dropped the keys in the drop box according to the directions on a sign out front. My credit card was then charged for an extra day ($170.00 more than agreed)--indisputably wrong (one would think). After waiting on hold for over an hour on the 800 customer service line, I was told that I needed to deal directly with the Kansas City airport franchise to find out what had happened.

When I managed to contact the manager in Kansas City about a week later, I was told he needed to look into the matter because the car hadn't been checked in until the morning after I left the car. (As I told him, I can prove through gas station and airport parking receipts that I dropped the car at 10 p.m.). He said he would call me back within the next five days but didn't. I called him, but he didn't answer and didn't call back that night.

In the mean time, I had e-mailed the online customer service. I received an automated confirmation e-mail stating that I would be contacted withing five business days. After almost two weeks, I still hadn't heard anything, so I e-mailed again. No response as of yet.

After the ridiculously poor treatment I have received thus far and after reading everyone else's posts, I find this claim difficult to believe. I have filed a dispute with my credit card company and am hoping to recoup the $170.00 Budget theft from Visa.

We already filed a complaint at Budget before we left Las Vegas and sent Budget Car Customer Service 2 emails, and called Las Vegas Customer Service to follow up with our complaint, because it's quite sneaky and dishonest when they tried to rip customer of by charging more money due to the lack of attention from customers.

I asked Customer Service in Las Vegas to check their audio records to know if their agent asked or offered us to pay more money for LDW, because it's not necessary and we did show Budget agent our insurance policy, he said it's OK but still charged us more money without notice or telling us what's is that, and they just said that we signed the contract that meant we accepted their service. Is that correct if they try to solicit customer without ask or explain anything but sneaky charge extra money for their profit? Our insurance covers everything, and if accident happened, our insurance will pay for the loss, not Budget Car Rental.

The way they run their business is dishonest and untrustable. Now I report this to BBB in Las Vegas and hope that Budget Car Rental will credit back to us the extra money they already took dishonestly and malicious.

My airline ticket was purchased through Delta. Subsequently, on April 2, 2009, I went to the Delta website and was given the option of renting a car. I reviewed the car rental information and chose Budget Rental at SEA-TAC airport in Seattle, WA. I filled in all of the forms and received a message back "your car has been added". I assumed that the same confirmation number for the flight would apply to the car rental but printed the page out.

The page indicated Budge Rent A Car, Car Type: Mid Size, In Terminal, 10 day rental with the proper pick up and drop off times indicated. It also included the estimated total price. The amount quoted to me was $320.58 for 10 days and the quote said included taxes. I had trusted that I had booked a reservation online for a midsize car for $320.58 (including taxes) on April 4, 2009 for pickup on May 2, 2009 and drop off May 12 at 10:00 am.

When I arrived at the airport and the Budget desk at Seattle, the customer rep said that they did not have any record of my reservation. I had no recourse. It was my word against theirs except that I had the printout and a confirmation number. They just said the confirmation number was incorrect.

The only option I had was to sign a contract for $358 per week plus $64.99 per day. I believed that the $384.99 per week was only $65 more than I had contracted for for 10 days so I agreed. I decided to only keep the car 9 days because of the extreme charge of $64.99 per day.

Unbeknownst to me, Budget put a hold on my Discover card on May 2 in the amount of $829.51. I returned the car on May 11, 2009 and was appalled that the final bill was $737.29. The breakdown on the bill was $384.99 for the week, $129.98 for the two days for a total of $514.97. The following fees were added: $4.68 ERF, 11% Fee $47.73, 9.5% Tax $54.85, $5/day fee $49.05 and 7% rental tax $56.01. The fees/taxes total $222.32. That is more than 43% of the actual rental charges.

From the first moment, I set foot at the Budget Counter and presented my confirmation, the employees have denied that they could honor the original, quoted amount. I booked through the Delta.com website who passes the buck to Budget who passes the buck back to Delta which leaves me holding the bill for $737.29. Immediately upon leaving Budget on May 2, I started to call around to resolve the matter. I called Delta who referred me to Budget.

No one would honor the reservation for the $320.58 including tax quote I had signed up for. Once I returned the car and got home, I tried another round of phone calls to resolve the matter but Budget will not return my calls and Delta blames Iseats which takes care of their bookings.

I am just looking for some adjustment from Budget that is more in line with the $320.29 originally quoted. I cannot believe that they can charge more than 43% in taxes and fees on top of the $514.97 rental. I believe they have taken advantage of my predicament and I believe they did not honor their quote.

I have spent fruitless hours trying to resolve this matter so I am hopeful that we can reach a compromise. Overcharge of $416.71 for a rental car

I called Travelers to cancel. They "gave" me an extra month to see if it was something I could use. It wasn't and I called the following month (March 09) to cancel. Aside from being rude, they did in fact cancel Travelers for me.

When I called them this morning they told me that I had been enrolled since Feb.'09.

My complaint against Budget, Travelers & Shoppersadvantage is the way they underhandedly signed me up for services that I had told them I didn't require.

I rented a Mazda 3 for a day while my car was in the garage. When I picked it up, we checked and recorded the damage on the car - some dents, a lot of scraping on the front. I drove the car on the highway and parked it in a level lot at work. I drove it home and parked it in my driveway. The next day I called and arranged for another day as my own car was still not fixed. That afternoon, after picking up my own car, I returned the rental.

I had filled the tank but it was not filled to their satisfaction so they added 3.28 l of gas to the car (part of which spilled out of the tank and ran down the side of the car). Then the young man who identified himself as the owner suddenly discovered some scratches on the very bottom panel under the back door on the passenger's side. He said it looked as though I had hit a curb. I told him that it was impossible but he insisted I fill out an accident report. Did I mention that I had refused their insurance? We had to kneel on the ground and practically turn upside down to see this "damage".

Although he did not have the copy of the existing damage sheet that was filled out when I took the car, he ignored all the scrapes and gouges and went right to these scratches. My credit card was billed before I was given a copy of the contract. On the contract it shows I was billed for 3.28 l of gas at 1.65/l -- but it adds ups to 9.26 -- something wrong with their math I think.

I am not happy with my Budget experience. Not sure what is going to happen now. I will be consulting my insurance company and my credit card company but I am afraid that I am going to end up with an astronomical bill.

We have left several messages with him and finally return call came back. He advised us that there was something wrong with the car but would not refund the second day as the car was still driveable. I have this on tape on my cell phone. This is outrageous for a large company to ignore this problem and still charge for the time it took to get the disabled car back to his company. Thanks,

NASHUA, NH 11th May09 at morning.

At 9.20 representative gave me call to come down in office to see the damaged car. When I went there he told me to see damaged when he showed damaged I told him that this damage is minor and that scratch was so old anybody can tell that it was not happened in recent days. I showed him other scratches on car which looks new.
His behavior was very rude and looks like his only intention to charge money from credit card. When I denied the damaged from my side he told us do whatever you want to do.

I am not agree on my charges. He is mentally harassing me

On April 24, 2009 I rented a car from Budget Rent-A-Car at the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Airport: MKE. I returned this car April 26th at 7:30 am. I was catching an early flight back to Atlanta, Georgia. I noticed when I parked the car that there was no attendant on duty. I did wait awhile but then I saw the sign that said I could put my keys in the key return box, along with the contract and my gas receipt. I did fill up at a local BP station and attached the gas receipt to the contract information. I locked the car and dropped the key and paperwork in the return box and went to my flight. All seemed okay.

I spoke with Misty and told her my problem. She put me on hold and checked out the information. She stated that the car was listed as returned and not to worry. I asked her if she would let Cedric know this information. She said she would. She was very helpful. I failed to ask her what was billed on my credit card. Cedric never did return any of my calls.

The following day, I checked my Visa card and found that I was charged $94.00 for two days, but it was supposed to be $56.71. I called Budget again (of course it was Saturday by now) and there was no way to resolve this matter. I could not get a hold of Budget at the front desk at the airport. It kept automatically transferring me to the reservation department. They could not help me.

May 4: I called the customer service department and waited on hold for 15 minutes. I spoke to Mark. Mark said that they charged me $94.00 for an upgrade. I did not ask for an upgrade. I did receive a Toyota Prias but if I was upgraded they should have told me that I was upgraded and the cost would be different. That was not stated to me. Mark stated to me that he would call me back. Nothing.

May 5, 2009 Cindy stated that she will check on the cost of my rental. She also stated that she will contact me once they get the original contract. No return call. I went online to Budget.com and used the contact us section and related my problem. Nothing from them either. I went online two more times to try and get a response and also called again. No response from anyone.

I finally called Wachovia to file a dispute claim. They told me there was a credit on my account for $37.00. So I guess someone finally credited my account but again no one called to let me know. It had taken me 22 days from the day of rental to resolve these two issues.

I was really disappointed in the service provided by Budget and by the lack of customer service. Not returning phone calls to the customer when there is a problem does not make sense to me. Alerting a customer that their car cannot be found is unacceptable, especially since it was returned in a timely manner. I have spent countless hours worrying about this and trying to contact a customer service rep to finalize this matter. Case is now resolved, but not without many days of frustration.

Sincerely,

Pat Banks

I rented a vehicle for vacation in Orlando, Florida through priceline.com. I put in a name-your-own-price and Budget Car Rental accepted it. I PRE-PAID FOR THIS RENTAL A MONTH BEFORE I ACTUALLY RENTED THE VEHICLE. This part of the transaction went smoothly.

When I got back to Seattle, Budget sent me a bill charging me for a full supposedly empty Huyndai Accent's tank which has a maximum capacity for 11.9 gallons. I was billed $89.22 for fuel charge which was listed under the category of "@ NON PKG ITEMS". This amount WAS SHOWN AS ZERO on the ORIGINAL RECEIPT under the same category "@ NON PKG ITEMS" that I'd obtained at the airport.

The whole process has consumed about half of my day waddling through endless waiting on several 1-800 number lines and eliciting the help of a local Budget representative to no avail.

I am very upset about this. The error made on Budget's part in Orlando or the actual theft of Budget's resource by a Budget employee by passing the buck onto me is very egregious and unacceptable. It has cost me tons of valuable time trying to correct the issue.

American Express refused to pay after I sent them all the supporting documentation (letter from Tilton's saying that they paid the cost of the rental).

Upon returning a rental car to this location I was advised that the amount chargerd to my credit card would be $261.00. I showed her the signed rental agreement that I was quoted $174.19. This agent named Carrie was very rude and advised me that she was unaware as to why the charge was higher and that was not able to print out why and show me what the extra charge was for. She provided me the 800 # for customer service which was closed. No manager was avaialable at the location to talk to. She advised me that I would have to call back Monday morning to find out what the extra charge was for but until then I would be charged the amount the computer showed, not the amount I had the paperwork for. She had no customer care skills or concern about her nor did she make any effort to find out what the charges were for. It seemed as though this was a regular thing for Budget to charge more and not care. This was the first and last time I will ever use Budget for my rental cars! When I became slighly upset her response was "Don't talk to me like that cause I just call the police!" What an easy way out of handling a customers concern! Budget is a rip off!

We rent a van fro sfo airport on mrch/6 when we returned the van we follow the direction to return the van a guy approch us with scanner in his hand he checked the milege, full tank of gas ( he was training a lady with him) try to print a reciept it did not print , and he asked us to go to the counter to finish everything , it was me , my wife and our 4 kids with me around 2 pm on march 9, when we went to the counter I noticed a big line and my flight with united airlines around 3: 45 pm, so left the line and rush to the airport , we came to losangeles after 2 wheeks I received a bill from the credit card compny that budget charged me over $800.00 . When I called them thy said the reason why because they found the van 10 days after I returned it so they charge me for 12 days rental, I explained to them what happened but the still playing game with me

We rented a car from here on March 20th. We rented the cheapest we could find, and were told we would be getting a ford probe or focus. We were given a rate of ~64.00 for the extent of the stay. We were also told that we could return the car to LAX for no additional fee. Suspiciously, the agent scratched out the numbers on the contract that indicated the 'estimated total' and sent us on our way. When we went to the car we were given, it was a Nissan Versa, but such a small car that we assumed that it was within the cheapest range and besides that we had a receipt for the rates. We returned the car to LAX, where we were charged 192.00! The woman at the LAX counter was completely unhelpful and rude and told us to take it up with the Ontario Budget Rent A Car center.

When I called them, in ONE phone call the agent -- while looking at our receipt-- quoted me 3 different rates and offered to reduce it to $42.99 per day, a rate that had never even been mentioned before. We've left multiple messages with these clowns and have not received a call back. Today I found out that they charged an additional $129.00 for returning it to LAX. Also, because the transaction was done with a debit card (never do that!) the put a hard-pull on our credit report WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE or CONSENT! Then they took out $400 at the time of renting it as some sort of deposit on the car (which we haven't received back).

When we were on the bus from the parking lot to the airport to catch our plane from L.A., I was on the phone with the agent and I was listing all of the different rates that she had just quoted me and asked what the heck she was talking about. Others on the bus came forward with very similar stories of that same thing happening to them! I've received NO help from Budget Rent A Car and I am on a campaign to warn you of their fraudulent ways and hopefully save you the hundreds of dollars that this has cost us. BUDGET RENT A CAR IS A RIP-OFF!

1. Fraudulent hard-pull on credit report (we think). 2. Unauthorized additional charges of 336 and 129 (separately). 3. NSF fees 4. Possible impact on fiance's daughter's Financial Aid applications -- she was just admitted into Vet school.

I rented the car threw orbit. I informed the agent at budget that I had purchased insurans threw orbit but he insisted that the car was not insuered. I didn't want to drive a car with out insurance so i purchased the insurance from budget. when i get home and check i found an e mail conformation of insurance from access america. so early next day i call budget and spoke to a worker wish I,m sorry I didn't take her name. told her what had happened. she told that she has been working thier for 21 years and never heard of any one perchasing insurance for a rental threw an outside agency like orbit or hot wire. but that she would tell her manager to call me when she got in. i recived no calls would apprishiate your intervention thank you

I'm out $36.00 dollars a day for a three day rental.

I made a offer on a rental car thru Priceline.com's Name your Own Price option. I received an email that Budget had accepted my offer and the fees for the weekly rental were debited from my credit card. On 3/14/09 I went to the Budget Car Rental office at Houston Hobby airport. The Budget clerk claimed that my credit card would not go through and then spoke to a PriceLine employee over the phone inquiring about some number.The Budget employee then wrote down the Budget confirmation number, which matched the Budget confirmation number on the Price Line confimation receipt that I handed the Budget employee.

The Budget employee then handed me the phone and the Price Line employee apologised and said that Budget was refusing to honor the car rental contract that Budget had accepted a week earlier. Priceline told me my only option at that point was to make a seperate contract agreement directly with Budget, and that Price Line would later re-imburse me for those unneccesary charges.

I had a decision as to whether to cancel my family vacation or make another rental contract with Budget. Reluctantly I made a new rental agreement with Budget at a cost of $258.00 plus a $400.00 hold on my credit card, while forfeiting the money I paid to PriceLine for the origional rental agreement. When Budget ran my credit card a second time, the charges went through.

On my way out of town I spoke to Alan,the Budget officer mgr and asked for an explanation of why Budget had refused the Priceline contract. He claimed that his understanding was that you did not book this thru Priceline. Since his answer made no sense, I told him that I would investigate this matter once I got back from vacation. I have emailed both Priceline and Budget trying to get the truth as to why Budget refused the rental offer they had already accepted.

Unneccesary additional charge of $258.00 plus $400.00 hold on my credit card.

So, I reserved a car through Budget Rent-A-Car for 2/28/09. I needed a rental that I could pick up a Sarasota Bradenton Airport, and return closer to North Port so that my family could easily drop me off. They said no problem.

I dropped the car off at the lot (before 13:30 on 3/1). I was surprised to see that it was a broken down lot, was closed and that there was a drop off box only. NONE of this was told to me when I picked up the car- I was under the impression that it was a regular location. I was really nervous about dropping it off there, as it was not even a full day that I had the car- I was very wary that something could go wrong. I had my mother with me at the time and she said not to worry about it...they will get it right.

Come to find out I have a charge for another full day on the car. I now believe that these people are true scam artists- I looked them up on line and they have hundreds of similar complaints about them posted on different sites.

There are several things that could have done to circumvent this. One would have been for budget to actually tell me what kind of location I would be dropping it off to and that they would only be open specific hours. They should have advised me that I would be charged a full extra day, even if I returned the car before my full day was up because they would be closed. I never even knew they had such locations, or I would have opted not to return the car at a place like that.

I contacted the 800 number, and at first they tried blaming the situation on me, saying that I should have told the person at the counter that I might drop it off after 1:00 (13:00). Why would I just tell them that when I had no idea of the location that I was dropping it off to and that it would not be open?!

I am out $73.96. It is a shame because had I known that I would be charged an extra day, I would have actually used the car another day instead of dropping off before my time even ended.

I do have my mother as a witness that it was dropped off before 13:30 (1:30) on Monday, 3/1. The way that these people run their business is frankly disgusting. I will never rent from them again (I travel alot) and will tell everyone I know not to as well. I will also be posting similar complaints on other sites to warn other consumers. Unfortuantely, I am not the only person that this has happened to.

Forget the high ground. These perps ensnared me in a toll-missing scam. Typical Chicago extortion. I received a threat (recently realized) to take a huge multiple of three 80-cent tolls --that I allegedly missed about 2 years ago--out of my credit card.

The huge multiple (in excess of $137) of three 80-cent tolls was billed to my credit card. Legal remedies are OK, but BEWARE AN ANGRY CONSUMER. I will proactively reach out to recommend Budget to my many friends who travel. Yes, indeed, I savor the opportunity. --Suppose I recommend Budget to 10 friends in the next year. Will Budget come out ahead? I doubt it. A pox on Budget Rent A Car and all their houses. Never again.

Like others, I reserved a car throuth Budget online, received a confirmation number and gave the number to my employee. When he got the car, it was upgraded without any knowledge to my employee. I had also purchased additional insurance online. The counter person was given the confirmation number and had all the info on what was expected.

Bottom line, we ended up paying $800.00 for four days. the estimate was $350.00. We have put in a dispute, they told us twice that they wanted us to fax over the confirmation number and they would call us back. However twice now!! no one returnes our call. This is a little trick they do at the counter in Sea-Tac as I am learning online reading many complaints regarding this same issue. At this point I will never rent from Budget nor will my friends nor family, which travel alot!!!! this is disgusting! I am wondering about a class action suit?

I reserved a mid-size car online for 33.99 a day for 2 days in Seattle/Tacoma airport. After returning the car they charged me 59.99 a day. I emaild Budget to complain, and the response was car was upgraded and I signed for it. There was no mention of any upgrades that was made at the counter, attendant never mentioned anything about the upgrade and they just asked me to sign. Budget is telling me that they can not do anything about it since I signed the paper. By the was car was Nissan Altima, which is mid-size car. Is there anything I can do to resolve this?

I, a single woman, picked up the car on a Saturday, returned it on Monday, after having done nothing but visit my 2 elderly aunts in the Bay Area. 2 weeks later a letter just came from Budget claiming I had returned the car with the interior in a very soiled condition and they would have to charge me to clean it. What rot! What a scam, as there is no way 1) I can prove the contrary nor 2) can they prove the truth of their fabrication, so it seems they win. Why did it take them so long to decide the car returned by me was so dirty? Seems like several other people must have rented it during that time.

I got the paper work for the car and it showed there were no defects in the car.

When I checked the car I found several areas of chipped paint. I went back in to report this and was told it was a corporate car and most of them had damage on it but the agent added the defects to the agreement. When we started the car the fuel gauge arrow was on the under side of full. The car was returned to the Denver airport having filled the car in Parker with more gas that the car started with. the receipt that was given when the car was returned was for $127. My credit car was charged $169. I called the company to question the charge and was told that I had to contact the local company since it was not a corporate owned company. I called the local budget and was told that the would refund the amount charged for the under 25 drive. I have not recieved any refund and was not told the added $17 was for.

I emailed Budget and have not heard from them this was 2 weeks ago

Charged $42 above the reciept

I rented a Ford Edge at the counter of the Budget Rent a Car office in South Burlington, Vt. on 12/19/09. I was quoted around $650 at the counter - outrageous as on-line I later found it quoted for around $380. But, my car had broken down and I had to drive to NYC that night, so I didn't have much choice. I told the woman at the counter that I would be returning on 12/22/09 after 9:00 PM. She said that they would not be open at that time, but that it was fine - all I had to do was write down the date and time of the return on the contract and place the key and contract in a drop box outside their office door. I did exactly that.

Now, unfortunately, I don't have a copy of that contract. When I checked my credit card bill, I found that they had over-charged me by around $400. I couldn't imagine what the problem was. I went into their office in person on 1/19/09 and asked them to explain why I was charged more than what I was quoted. The same woman who rented the car to me was there and she pulled up a record that claimed that I was 4 days late returning the car. That is totally false.

I had a co-worker with me and she can testify that we returned the car between 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM on 12/22/09. The woman appeared to believe me when I explained that I had returned the car as agreed to on 12/22/09 and she proceeded to fill out some paperwork that she said would be forwarded to another office for processing of a credit in the amount of the over-charge to my credit card. She said the credit could take up to 15 days to go through. Today, 2/14/09, I called my credit card company and found that no credit had been posted by Budget Rent a Car.

I immediately went into the office again and the same woman was there. She said that she would try putting a request for a credit again, but said she couldn't tell me what the amount would be. She said that I should call them on 2/16/09 to find out what they would be able to do because she needed to obtain a copy of the original contract and she needed to confer with a supervisor in the meantime. I asked her if she could check the GPS records which would should show that the car was in their parking lot on the evening of 12/22/09, but she expressed uncertainty as to whether that was possible.

She then seemed to indicate that their office wasn't even open until 12/26/09 to which I asked how they could hold their not being in the office on 12/23/09 against me? She had no answer. I am extremely frustrated, as I agreed to an outrageous amount to begin with and then I was falsely charged about $400 for being late when I was not late. I will now have to wait and see what they say on 2/16/09 when I call them.

A few months back my wife rented a car from Budget rental, and as always we checked our personal car insurance package (with USAA) and contacted them to see that the car was covered,w which it was. We also checked with our credit card company to see if we had CDW/LDW coverage, and we did. so we declined the extra coverage from Budget. Unfortunately my wife was involved in an accident with the car. No personal injury, just body damage to the rental car ( a deer ran into the car). We did the paperwork/police report and all for the car and took photos and all.

After a few months we heard back that the car (a 2008 Toyota Camry, valued at about $25,000) had about $4000 worth of damage which our insurance was going to cover. However this is where it gets concerning, Budget decided to not take the money to fix the car and sold the car for about $10,000. Now my understanding is they did not total the car because the damages was not more than 50% the value of the car. Now they are billing us for the remaining amount on the car. We had CDW/LDW with our credit car, but per them they would cover just damages too, since the car should not have been totaled, and thus sold. We are been harrassed by the handler of this for Budget, and are trying to seek counsel to see what is our next step. we feel we did all the right things as a consumer, yet Budget sold the car.

Per our insurance and credit card company they are saying Budget is in the wrong and should not have sold it. We are just confused frustrated and upset. We really want to know are they in the right to do something like this, because if we had taken their CDW/LDW would they had done the same thing and their insurer declined to help the same as the credit card company is doing. We are just upset and want to insure this does not happen to another consumer, and that consumers are aware of this.

We are being harrassed daily to pay the remaining $10,000 by the handler for Budget, and threatened with collections. We just feel we did everything as an informed consumer, but are being swindled by the rental car company, who appear to have sold the car to try to make money as oppose to just fixing the car.

After contacting you we called Ron S at Indianapolis Airport to give them another chance to resolve the matter of our car rental on December 25, 2008. The matter has been resolved to our satisfaction and the account is closed after they learned we had contacted your organization.

We wanted to notify you before anything further is done. Thank you for your time.

We rented a Chevy Impala from Budget at Indianapolis Airport on December 25th, 2008. We made the reservation online earlier in the month of December. The arrangements were we were to pick up the car in Indianapolis and were to drop off in Dayton Ohio on the 26th before 4:00pm. We were charged $125.00 for the above transaction. It was a one way drop off for one day.

We stayed in Miamisburg Ohio with our daughter. When we left to drop off the car on the 26th, we discovered a flat tire. We pumped the tire up but the tire would not hold because of a slow leak. After numerous phone calls to Budget we finally were transferred to the Miamisburg location. The woman we talked with said they would contact the Emergency Roadside Assistance and they would pick up the car. We told her we were instructed to drop off the car at the Dayton Ohio location. She replied their location would be fine. They would take care of seeing the vehicle was returned and settle our contract. We were to leave the keys in the gas tank cap and the contract in the glove box which we did.

We were unable to refill the gas tank as instructed per the contract. We also could not return the car to the Dayton location as instructed per our contract. The Emergency Roadside Service did pick up the vehicle. No one seems to know what became of the vehicle next. Miamisburg location is the key to the problem.

I, Diana, waited two weeks for the payment to show up on our debit account to no avail. I started calling the 800 customer service number in mid January 2009. My first phone that I marked down was on January 17th. I have made subsequent phone calls to the 800 customer service number, then to Indianapolis airport, too numerous to count. The reply has been that the individuals mentioned above (and many others) would look into the situation and call me back. Each time they did not. We are in their computer listed as an open account.

All we want to do is resolve this problem and pay our bill ($125.00). We left all copies of our contract in the vehicle as instructed. We therefore do not have any documentation.

As soon as i had walked in at 8am on the 4th February 2009 the customer service was disgusting until i had left.. i was previously involved in a car accident & the insurance co for the driver at fault had organised for budget car rentals revesby to lend me a car while my car was being repaired.. now somewhere along the way there must have been a mis communication because as soon as she looked at my provisional 2 licence she said without hesitation 'we will not give you a car as you are a p plater' mind you she blurted this out with such disrespect as if i was supposed to know.. she did not try & explain why being a p plater had restricted me to hire a car & wanted to call the insurance agency who had organised for my hire car just so she could prove it to me (as if i was fighting her on it & i hadnt uttered a word FYI)..

she was on the phone with them & asked (more likely demanded) her to tell me that i wasnt eligible for a hire car from budget rentals.. she did not apologize (even though it wasnt her fault) but after coming to the realisation that i was suddenly stuck without a car for a few days & had a buzy schedule ahead an apology wouldve been nice or at least a detailed explanation.. a bit of warmth & sympathy would have been nice.. but she was as cold as ice with me & for what reason i do not know.. im not one to ever complain about anyone & generally keep to myself but this was too much to let go. all i ask is that you talk to her & hopefully she will change her attitude towards kind, pretty customers, im being serious. i have my own perception as to what her problem was but put all issues aside when you are a professional between the hours opening & closing. Blatently speaking i did not deserve to meet such a sour person so early in my day & after being so disappointed that i couldnt get the hire car that i was promised..

When renting the car I was told that I wouild be charged $1.90 per gallon of gas. When i brought the car back I was charged $25.87 for the full a full tank of gas. I HAD JUST FILLED THE TANK BEFORE RETURNING THE CAR. The contract i signed said amount due $28.87 I WAS LIED TO BY THE FEMALE THAT HELPED ME.

I rented out a mini van to pick up my family from air port. The mini van they gave me was dodge van Very very uncomfortable. I wish they can make dodge vans like dodge carvan etc. It does not have good road grip at all. I returned the van and when I check my credit card charges next day, their was $50.00 charge extra just for nothing. I called the manage and he told me that he does not know why they are their and he told me it will be refunded.

Its been a week I did not see that refund back on my card yet. My profession is related to audit companies and my question is if they are doing this with many cutomers they will be soon in big trouble. I will give them a little time to refund my money. But I will never do business with budget at all.

and we are confident that no better decision could have been made.

The Vox Populi of our local paper often contains notices of found
property and expressions of thanks for turning lost wallets, credit

cards ,etc. into a store's Customer Service.

primes one for a scam.

All stages of this damage claim is rife with deficiencies.The
pick-up inspection is done in an unshaded parking lot with the bright sun
reflecting off the car's paint.The glossy sides of the car reflects passing
cars, pavement markings, people,etc. Under these conditions a unobtrusive,
inconspicuous imperfection would escape detection by the eyes of an
automotive professional and much less than those of a retired nurse. Today
one may not enter or leave a major retail store without being filmed. The
eyes of the lens are focused on store's public rest room entries to have
documentation needed to corroborate the theft of a petty item.

The return inspection also has its flaws. Instead of the auto expert
providing the renter with a written detailed description of the alledged
damage found and corroborating it with pictures it insists that a lady who
has an unblemished 47 year driving record and has become overwhelmed with
the anxiety caused by being accused of negligence is immediately required
to prepare an incident report being provided with assistance in wording
the description of the undetected damage that its auto expert discovered.
She was also instructed to ignore the damage diagram because it is only
marked when another vehicle is involved. Budget's style of documenting a
claimed damage is suspect.

The estimate for the damaged claimed was done a week later in a
different state. The b&w pictures included with the estimate now have both

sides of the car included.

There are integrity issues in every aspect of this damage claim and

they accuse Budget.

No one should be held responsible to pay for Budget's alledged
damages when it has not provided corroboration of the vehicle's pristine
condition at the check-out inspection. A copy of a police report
documenting the presence and extent of damage upon return was not included

with Budget's claim.

I need to make a correction. Health Savers did state that Budget would give them my credit card number. This is how it works: HealthSavers sends Budget a bill for my membership fee of $94.99. Budget pays it and then uses my credit card number, which I gave to them, to get their money back. That way they get past their own privacy policy and break no laws. Pretty fancy, hey? Budget gets to pretend they are a billing agency for other companies.

In late June 2008, I rented a Budget car at the airport in Asheville NC. I was a satisfied customer.

In October 2008, I received a check for $10 from Budget Car Rental, along with a letter saying this check was their way of thanking me for choosing them and urging me to use Budget again.

I thought it was a rebate or discount of some kind. I cashed the check.

In January 2009, HealthSavers sent me a membership card, ready for use, for discounts on health related goods and services, including prescription drugs. I never applied for this membership.

It took a careful reading of the fine print on the BACK of their letter to learn that after a 30-day free trial, they would charge my credit card for the next six months of membership to the tune of $94.99 OR for the then current membership fee.

I called the number on the card and asked to cancel this membership that I did not apply for. I was told that when I cashed the $10 check from Budget six months ago, I had agreed to sign up with HealthSavers!

I asked the person if HealthSavers already had my credit card number. She said no, but Budget did. And if I did not cancel the 30-day free trial, they'd notify Budget Car Rental and Budget would give HealthSavers my credit card number.

I am outraged that this transfer of my private information would take place without my knowlege or permission.

If I had thrown away that HealthSavers card, thinking it was junk mail, and did not call immediately to ask what the hell it was, I'd be shocked by my next credit card bill and have to spend days on the phone trying to find out who charged me $94.99.

I found out on the Internet that Budget is also running this scam with rebate checks that sign you up with an outfit called Elite Excursions.

If this practice is not illegal, it is at least a violation of Budget's own privacy policies. Can something be done about this?

I am 64 years old. I can't read fine print even with my glasses. The most damaging thing is that I feel duped and stupid and worried about my competence. The economic damage is that I'll have to buy a monster magnifying glass and trust NO ONE ever again.

I was supposed to have received 3000 delta skymiles from Budget Rent-a-car because I rented a car for 2 days during the last week of August. At this time, I only received 100 sky miles. I have been told by Budget countless times that it takes up to 90 days in order for the miles to post.

However, the 90 day time frame has passed and I still have not seen a credit of 2900 miles on my account. It is now January 13th (PAST 90 days!!!!). Budget has not been responsive to my emails about the status of my 2900 miles. I've been given the runaround constantly by them and I will NEVER use them for my car rental needs. I will also discourage anyone else from using them.

The billed us for 2 days on a one day one way rental. We are out $138.035.

Financial loss...we need the money back

The billed us for 2 days on a one day one way rental.

I rented a vehicle from Budget in 2007 for a trip I was taking. In December of 2008 I got 4 letters from Budget stating that I was liable for unpaid tolls in IL, for a total of 180.00 and that they would be charging my card. When I called the number the young lady told me, it could have been an error at the toll booths but that It was still my problem. I pay cash for all my tolls but was not able to get receipts and if I did I would not have kept them that long. She said without the receipts, I would have to pay, but that she would waive the 25.00 admin fee on each. i refused and she sent me to a supervisor. I then spoke with him about it and he agreed that it seemed weird that I would have picked and choosed to pay certain tolls and blow by others.

he wanted me to find proof that I paid and said it might be beneficial if I could in order to remove the charges. I refused again stating that 14 months later is a bit absurd for them to be contacting me about tolls that I know I paid..after all who rents a car to blow through toll booths??????? so now I am waiting to hear back. I will take them all to court if I have to and spend all my money doing it.

Car they gave me, not the one they showed me. It was a wreck e.g. no hub caps, 6 wide scraped down both sides. Dents and gouges everywhere. I was scared to drive it. Refused to accept it. They said no refund. When I told them I was going to report them, they offered me new mecedes at sub compact price. I said no. Just cancell the contract. They said okay but it would be a 200.00 dollar airport fee. I said I would challenge them. The lady that waited on me acknowledged the attempted fraud. When I told the manager, he threanten me with PHYSICAl ATTACK if I complained further.

AMEX said I was right but I was billed by Amex anyway.

Budget shared my credit card number with a 3rd party, Trilegiant Corporation, for completely unrelated marketing purposes. Credit card number treated in violation of merchant agreements and trafficked illegally. This is no different that some kid stealing credit cards online.

I rented a Chevy Cobalt 2dr , the cheapest car category during a 3 week stay in Hawaii. After 10 days , the car started acting up while I was driving so my friend who was with me suggested I can return it and get a replacement car: I made a Uturn and decided to bring it back when a burnt smell started emanate. I stopped the car , checked the tempature level and noticed there was none on this car.

I called the towing service suggested by Budget on the rental papers.

On the phone , they said they are coming and would bring a replacement car for the inconvenience.

When I returned the replacement car at the end of my stay , the agent told me that the first car I had was ruined , there was a hole under the car in the transmission :I complained as I had no accident and she said it was my responsibility as the pb was outside the engine. Now they ask me to pay $4221.00 for a car that I DID NOT HAVE ANY ACCIDENT WITH .

has been unsuitable for me and my family.

My question is Budget being well known across the country and abroad doesn't screen its employees? How could they be proud of having people of this kind under they pay roll?

I rented a car from BWI in September, 2008 for two days. I rented it with fast break and when I went to pick it up it wasn't there (IN THE FAST BREAK AREA). The girl at the BUDGET CHECKIN counter told me that they haD RETURNED IT FROM THE FAST BREAK SPACE TO THE GENERAL LOT BECAUSE I HAD ARRIVED LATE. SHE GAVE ME THE KEYS TO ANOTHER CAR IN THE GENERAL LOT. AT THE TIME, IT WAS INCONVENIENT BUT I DIDN'T THINK MORE ABOUT IT

Two months later (November 18, 2008, when they mailed me a claim for $2,700.00 with pictures showing the whole drivers side of the vehicle damaged - including the left front end and headlight. When I returned the car it had no damage. I don't know if the photos were of the car I rented or not. How do you handle this kind of problem? They say the DOL (date of loss) was September 16 in one place and the the DOA (date of accident) was September 9th in another. I had not yet picked up the car until after the 9th and I had returned it by the 16th. I am in a quandry as to what I can do at this point.

I am extremely upset that they are trying to extort money from me for damages caused by someone else. I don't even know if the car damaged in the photos was the one I rented. they want my insurance information but I have denied the claim and dont want to give it to them.

I am an ex shift manager of budget rent a car. It all started when one of my employees told me in confidence that my district manager told her to pull up the 01 report, (the list of the corporate clients that used the fast break option for picking up thier rental). and charge them for picking up thier rental that day which was never picked up. The employee feared for her job, so my recomindation was to do as told but under protest because it was fraud.

When I brought this up at a so called meeting, I was told that issue was not my concern by the district manger, and my senior manger Bill Rosuto. Well after that I could not do anything right, the worst part about the was that a manager was told to do the same thing, to charge our fast brake customers for services never given, meaning car rentals. Mr B refused. Well if you have a fast break account with Budget Rent a Car and use thier airpot base for pickup check your books, you do not know how many times this was done. Beacuse I Brought this situation up I was finaly terminated.

Incident = Many issues. My sister and I went on vacation and had purchased the entire vacation package off Expedia which included car rental. We than got to our budget car rental place and was told we could upgrade our car for $50 for the enitre 3 day rental and $25 for insurance for the enitre 3 days.The girl told us this was a great deal, No problem .

We than turned our car in and we where shooked to be charged $240 . The girl across the counter was not there that day so instead of the manager trying to figure out what a mess she had made he just didnt want to deal with it at all. The contract was first put in my name than some how switched to my sisters name which no one even signed and the girl at the counter had used the wrong credit card which was mine not my sisters . During the car rental time we also got a flat tire just sitting at the LA Zoo for hrs and decided to change it ourselves because the towing company never arrived . They have the very worst customer care service I have ever witnessed. I was so destressed I figured out that i paid for a weeks worth of a rental car and only got 3 days of driving I felt very ripped off and very sad that I even went through them. I will never recommend them to anyone its such a bad place...

Damage Resulting = We where on vacation visitng my son & grandchildren and because of all the issues with the car having a flat tire , not being able to make it on time anywhere. No one showing up to help us with the flat tire and than on top of that being over billed because no one wanted to do there job. It was very emotionally distressing for both my sister and It was honestly a nightmare...

Many issues. My sister and I went on vacation and had purchased the entire vacation package off Expedia which included car rental. We than got to our budget car rental place and was told we could upgrade our car for $50 for the enitre 3 day rental and $25 for insurance for the enitre 3 days.The girl told us this was a great deal, No problem . We than turned our car in and we where shooked to be charged $240 . The girl across the counter was not there that day so instead of the manager trying to figure out what a mess she had made he just didnt want to deal with it at all. The contract was first put in my name than some how switched to my sisters name which no one even signed and the girl at the counter had used the wrong credit card which was mine not my sisters.

During the car rental time we also got a flat tire just sitting at the LA Zoo for hrs and decided to change it ourselves because the towing company never arrived . They have the very worst customer care service I have ever witnessed. I was so destressed I figured out that i paid for a weeks worth of a rental car and only got 3 days of driving I felt very ripped off and very sad that I even went through them. I will never recommend them to anyone its such a bad place.

We where on vacation visitng my son & grandchildren and because of all the issues with the car having a flat tire, mot being able to make it on time anywhere. No one showing up to help us with the flat and than on top of that being over billed because no one wanted to do there job. It was very emotionally distressing for both my sister and I was honestly a nightmare.

When I returned the car the bill was almost $1200.00! Yes, $1200.00! If I would havebeen told the total BEFORE I left with the car I never would have rented it. I took this contract to another car rental and they said they NEVER have anyone sign without the TOTAL known before they sign. I felt this was just a scam to use on a little gray haired lady. He talked so fast and broken but I know he knew exactly what he was doing. I WILL NEVER RENT FROM BUDGET AGAIN!

I was scammed out of $1178.00

He was very good at it. The total was never on the contract I signed. Also, I called Budget customer service. They were rude and told me all I had to do was ask him the total and he would have told me. Like I said, the other car rentals said it is their policy to have the total on the contract before you sign. It is not necessary to ASK. It is on their contract.

I allowed my estranged husband to use my Visa debit card to make a payment on an ongoing car rental. Instead of making a payment Budget set up a new contract in my name, allowed my ex-husband to sign the ccntract and use his license and signature to rent a car. This was done without my knowledge or permission. I have written, e-mailed and spoken to Budget to no avail. They have now turned this account over to a collection agency.

Budget has violated all of their own policies which state that the person renting the car must be present, show their license and sign the agreement. I have a copy of the signed agreement where my name is typed in but the signatures, driver's license and initials are my ex-husbands. The simplest solution, of course, would be to have my ex-husband pay this bill which he has created. I am having as much luck on this end as I am getting this resolved with Budget. I don't know how to resolve this situation.

I am being held responsible for a $1486 debt that is now on my credit report for a car that I did not rent.

I took a rental car from Budget during a trip to Wichita from September 29 to October 2, 2008, which was authorized by my compamy's client based on the daily rental price. As I normally do, I took my personal GPS to get around without having to pay the additional cost of a rental GPS system. When I returned the car, I got to the airport with just enough time to catch my plane and I unfortunately forgot the GPS, which I left in the rental car.

I called Budget's customer service's office in Wichita that night but it was closed so I had to call again the day after. Budget advised me they had not found anything in the car and offered to check with the person who had already rented the car. Ten minutes later I got a call to inform me that my GPS had not been found and that Budget was not responsble for lost items. I am certain that the GPS was left in the car as it would have obviously been noticed in the airport during the security check.

Budget did not make the minimum reasonable effort to provide a solution to find and return the GPS and as a result somebody who found it managed to keep and hold of a nice portable GPS with Budget's acquiescence The next time I will definitely choose a company different from Budget even if it costs a little more but hopefully will provide the service with more responsible and honest staff

Loss of a portable GPS for $300

Used to rent from Budget for decades and never had a problem. Then, my wife and I flew into Phoenix 3 hours late (US Air of course). Budget gave my car away and had no others to rent, even though they had our flight number to check. Went to Avis next door and told them what happened. They gave me a great deal on a rental. Told me they hold their cars for 12 hours.

I filed a complaint with Budget on their web site when we got home. Received a phone call from a lady in their customer relations. She did nothing, so I told her that I will never rent from Budget again. She didn't care. Don't know why she even called in the first place. Avis is a little more expensive but I guess you get what you pay for.

We decided to treat ourselves and hire a Mustang while on holiday in Canada. We went to Budget Car and Truck Rental at 416 West Georgia, Vancouver. They brought the car out to us and asked us to check for any damage which my partner did including pointing out a scuffed rim and tyre. The guy was marking down everything as we said it. My partner was egar to get going and I said no, check the paperwork to make sure he has marked everything down correctly. The gentleman pushed for us to go and made my partner sign the bottom of the form.

When we returned the car at the airport, the inspection team went straight to the wheel with the scuff and pointed it out to us before anything else, which I thought was really strange. We said it had been marked on the form and they said it was not. They did not have the top copy but said they would forward a copy on to us. Now I wonder if the guy actually marked it down on the paperwork? Should have check properly as my instincts told me.

Basically we had a letter from them deducting $397.72 from our credit card. The trouble is when you live in England who can you contact regarding this type of behaviour from a company, especially when the company will not speak to you about it. How can a company like this get away with it??

On September 18, we have rented a Toyota Sienna (162581) through the Vancouver Int. Airport Branch. We needed a car for approximately 25 hours so we inquired with several rental companies for a pick up at the 18th at 1600 and return at the 19th at 17:30. Budget agreed that we would be charged with one full day rental. We have repeated our request several times. Two people out of the group we have travelled with witnessed the agreement. We agreed that we would be charged with one full day rental. However this was not reflected in the agreement, and we learned in the hard way that we cannot trust a budget customer on its word but should thouroghly check the agreement.

Upon return of the vehicle we were charged with two days rental. Our dissatisfaction about the ignorance and arrogance displayed by the branch manager Grant : quote if somebody does not let me finish I give the agreement and say goodbye, goes far beyond the involved dolar amount. The only option [he] accepted is that we (regular renters and travellers) have misunderstood. According to [him], his employees would not make such a mistake.

When I disagreed, he would no longer discuss with me since my wife had signed the agreement. He even put in doubt that she was my wife and commanded me to leave. I have done so, and hope that I have understood his 'orders'correctly: Budget no longer wants me as a customer and therefore will not return as such, nor in Canada, not in the US, nor in the Netherlands where I have rented cars from budget in the last year.

CAD 60 and humiliation

Labor Day weekend 2008 was my first vacation in two years. I decided to treat myself and upgraded to a Mustang Convertible. Beautiful car. Unfortunately, Due to Huricane Hanna, I had to cut my trip short and make an emergency return to Charleston SC where I live on one of the barrier islands where the storm was projected to make land fall. Due to the emergency, I had US Air book the flight as a non-stop from Philly to Charleston SC.

When I arrived in Philly, the attendant outside scanned the car, acknowledged my by name, took the keys, rolled down the windows, and then the car was moved. She told me to go inside to the counter. So I did, but time was running short for my emergency flight. After waiting in line a while, one of the desk jockies told me to go see the guy at the end of the line. So I did. I explained to the gentlemen my situation. He sent me back to te line. I waited a few minutes, told them they could report the car stolen for all I car, but I had to catch my plane. None of the four desk joclies could have cared less.

As of today, 6 days later after the car had been dropped off, I assume the rental has still not been closed, becaused I have yet to have my checking account debited. This is absolutely ridiculous. Where is the compassion for victums in a crisis? Thanks for ruining a great trip as the result of Bugets lack of consideration to their customers. I liked the car so much, I'll probably buy one, but not sure whether I'll ever rent from Budget again. It's a real shame, because Budget's staff in Baltimore at BWI were excellent.

I picked up a car at 5:30 am. Due to the early hour and poor lighting, I didn't realize the interior of the car was filthy - seats, carpet, and console were all badly stained. However, I can deal with that. What I'm complaining about is the fact that the car was infested with fleas! By the time I'd driven 4 hours, I'd been eaten alive.

I located a pet store where I bought flea spray for the car and myself, and a drug store where I got delousing shampoo to rid myself of fleas & their eggs once I reached my hotel that evening.

I spent my only evening in GA washing clothes and cleaning luggage to rid them of fleas ($8 washer/dryer/detergent), flea spray ($6) RID shampoo ($10) and the loss of a night on the town, not to mention the discomfort of having driven for hours being bitten.

On the morning I pickup the van, The girl worked on that morning written up a contract to which I declined the insurance. she asked me to initial the decline which I did. When I returned the van, the jerk name Joel, said I initial that accept the insurance. That another $65.00. Another $68.00 for 1/4 tank of gas. My original contract was $375.00 for three days rental ended up $600.00. This is the last time I use Budget rental. I've told all my friends and families to never use Budget. THIS NOT A GOOD COMPANY TO USE WHEN YOU NEED TO RENT A VEHICLE. PLEASE DO NOT USE BUDGET.

On two separate occasions Budget pulled a bait and switch with their rentals. My husband and I reserved an intermediate car (described as Pontiac G6 or equivalent) for a trip to Canada about 2 months in advance. When we arrived at the location we were told that all they had was a PT Cruiser (which I definately didn't believe was an equivalent vehicle considering MPG) Due to poor experiences with a previous PT Cruiser rental we were definately against that so we requested to downgrade which of course they had no vehicles, so he advised that he could put us in an upgrade for $12 more per day.

What I didn't realize was he went to the Avis counter to get this car (Chevy Impala) so why couldn't he ask for a downgraded car so that we could maintain our quoted price ($89 for 4 days?) instead we were charged ($145) we needed the car as we were due to leave 1st thing in the morning. My husband was upset by the principle of the matter and because we had a similar situation with Enterprise on a prior rental and they upgraded for free.

Couple this with the fact that we were pretty much forced into an upgrade and we had an Entertainment coupon for a free upgrade at home (which they refused to honor because we didn't present it at the time of rental) Explaining to them that we had no idea that it would be necessary was to no avail. I really didn't get upset until I found out when I got back from my trip that my sister had the exact same thing happen to her on a one day rental that I booked for her on budget.com only a week prior to my trip. She ended up paying an additional $25 at the last minute due to her car not being available.

While the dollar amounts are minimal in our case, the feeling of being taken advantage of does not sit well with me and it doesn't surprise me seeing the comments/complaints in this forum. I had alot of nice things to say about Budget until his past weekend. I will definately not be using their services again

My name is Gary and my wife name is Maritza and we have a 6 month old child .Our situation started around early May when my wife decided it was time to buy a new car. After some recent visits on and off with the manager it was awkward because he kept avoiding and prolonging the subject of her interest rate she would be paying. So I took it upon myself to ask his secretary about her interest rate and it was then my wife and I were in total disbelief when she said her interest rate is 26%. She and I was in shock and also speechless. There was no way she could be able to afford that so of course as wise a citizen she asked for her money back.

The manager has the nerve to say "No it was not possible" because he said he waived off 3 potential buyers to hold the car for us and that is why he can't give us our $2,500 dollars back leaving my wife shaking, crying, and panicking. Till this day, the manager hasn't even attempted to give her back the refund. In closing we are a simple average low middle class family barely making it. There are times we sacrifice to feed our child and leave ourselves hungry the whole day. To some people $2,500 is not much to them but to us that's all we have and if you can assist us and any way we will be truly grateful.

The man who answered the phone on 7/30/08 at 1:25pm was rude and snotty. I am typing this after spending almost 2 hours dealing with Budget from their 800 number to their airport location to the location at N.Scottsdale, Shea. I will be in less than one hour dropping this car off to then be picked up by Enterprise and deal with them for the remainder of my duration in Scottsdale. A very upset,unhappy customer whose dealt with Budget for the last time on this face of this earth.

I turned around and went home. I had the young man who picked up the car sign for the mileage and that I had just filled the tank. When I got my bill for my credit card, they had charged me $335.00, for picking up the car, $27.00 for refueling and $147 for airport concession tax - in all $1,654. This is simply outrageous, and I guess they find ways to cheat you any way they can.

My car was stolen and I had to rent a car until I received my insurance check, as Budget told me they do not charge the insurance companies

I had rented a truck from Budget rental on July 11, 2008 and had returned it overnight and dropped off the key at the overnight drop off box. The truck was rented for $21.24 + 59c per mile. I also had insurance for $41 (full coverage). So, altogether for a total of 13 miles, the total had to be 69.91. However, I am faced with a bill of $204.99 + $50 on my credit card. When I had called, the guy explained that they had charged $14 for fuel and $25. There was also a charge of $75 - for cleaning and dumping an Air conditioner that they had found outside the truck the next morning.

I had only moved a bedroom set to my new appartment and I had no Air Conditioner inside the track whatsoever. But the guy at the Budget rental place said that he had caught me on the Surveillance camera. I tried to dispute the charges and denied the accusation. However, the guy at enterprise was very rude and claimed again that he was so certain that it was me and no one else. I tried calling Budget customer service to find a resolution.

However, after consulting with the truck rental place, the Budget customer service rep told me on the phone that he was also sure that I had left an air condition unit behind the truck and said that they wont be able to do anything at all. Instead of a bill of around $75, I am faced with a bill of $254.99 that has been charged on my credit card. I am disputing the false accusations and would like to settle the case legally.

Edited Complaint:

I reserved a car through expedia.com for 7 days total $207. when I picked it up, it was no problem. everything is great.

then when I bring it back when I am done. I am charged over $650 for the rental. I go in to question it and the girl says, so? I paid over $1200 for my last car rental. and she isn't willing to budge even though I am being charged over 3 times the promised rate for a weeks use.

I was charged over $450 more than the original agreement was for.

On May 15, I went over to pick up a van that I had rented through Priceline.Com I thought I could use a debit card but found out they only accepted major credit cards - so I had to cancel the reservation and locate a rental company that accept debit card. At the time I rented through priceline, I did not know that they took out of my account $240 - I was under the impression they were holding the card until I came to pick up the van.

Well, when I received my bank statement it showed that they were still holding by debit card in the amount of $240. I contacted the rental agency three weeks ago and they said that Priceline takes about 4-5 days to release the card - I checked my account on yesterday, which is almost a month and the amount is still outstanding on my account. I would appreciate it very much if Priceline would release the amount and return it back to my bank account.

I rented a car recently from Budget at the Minneapolis, MN airport. when I returned the car I accidently left a $80 jacket on the back seat. When I got to the airport I realized I had left my jacket. I immediately called the Budget desk at the Minneapolis airport. This was 30 minutes after turning in my rental car. I told the man at the desk that I had left my coat on the back seat and would pay to have it shipped to my home. He got my rental agreement number and said he would search for the coat and call me. I never heard back.

A couple weeks later I sent an email to Budget via their web site and explained my situation. It took them a couple weeks to reply. They said they haven't found my coat and if they do they will contact me. My complaint is that a Budget employee had to find my coat when they cleaned out the car and they should have turned it in and then I could have gotten my coat back. Also, if the man I talked to at the desk was trained with any customer service savy he could have made contact with the people who checked in my rental car and found out where my coat was. I wonder if Budget really has a lost and found department or they only have a lost and never found department.

I lost a $80 jacket that I will have to replace at my own expense because of a dishonest Budget employee and a non-caring Budget employee who didn't track down my jacket when I called.

My husband and I went to the Salt Lake City airport budget location to pick up our car at about 10:30 on Sunday evening - May 5, 2008. We were told that they did not have a rental and would not have one for us. We could come back the next day - which would not work for us, as we were immediately driving out of town. The attitude of the workers was horrible.

Never once did anyone apologize for the inconvenience or show any concern for our situation. It was simply a completely uncaring blase whatever attitude. The worst customer experience I have ever had. I will never again book with budget - I have been a loyal customer for many many years, and will never use them again either for business or pleasure. I have also used them for client bookings many times in the past - never again.

In the end we rented a car from Avis for an additional $100 dollars above our quoted cost from Budget.

On June 25, 2007 we rented a car from Budget in Hilo, Hawaii. The next day, after driving approximately 60 miles, we discovered that an oil pan under the car was loose (it made a terrible noise when we drove over 35 mph into a headwind). We IMMEDIATELY contacted Budget and where Phyllis told us to drive the car back to their Hilo office, which we did, driving very slowly and carefully--less than 20 miles back to Hilo. They exchanged the car, apologized for the inconvenience, assured us we were not at fault, and asked us to fill out an incident report,? The car we returned had no damages and was in perfect condition--except for the loose oil pan.

In September of 2007 we received a claim from Budget for $4,518.27 in damages. Photos of the damage showed a different license plate than what was on the car we had rented. Their pictures show license number HGS 721, whereas the car we rented had a license number HGB 628. The date and mileage of the accident was one day and one mile after we returned the car. Budget is ignoring these facts and inconsistencies. The extent of the damage in the photos would not have gone unnoticed if they had been there when we returned it. We contacted Budget to explain our position, had our insurance company contact them, had a lawyer write a letter, had the Hawaii State Consumer Protection Office in Hilo write a letter, all to no avail.

On June 25, 2007 we rented a car from Budget in Hilo, Hawaii. The next day, after driving approximately 60 miles, we discovered that an oil pan under the car was loose. (It made a terrible noise when we drove over 35 mph into a headwind.) We IMMEDIATELY contacted Budget, and Phyllis told us to drive the car back to their Hilo office, which we did, driving very slowly and carefully--less than 20 miles back to Hilo. They exchanged the car, apologized for the inconvenience, assured us we were not at fault, and asked us to fill out an incident report. The car we returned had no damages and was in perfect condition--except for the loose oil pan. In September of 2007, we received a claim from Budget for $4,518.27 in damages. Photos of the damage showed a different license plate than what was on the car we had rented. Their pictures show license number HGS 721, whereas the car we rented had a license number HGB 628. The date and mileage of the accident was one day and one mile after we returned the car. Budget is ignoring these facts and inconsistencies. The extent of the damage in the photos would not have gone unnoticed if they had been there when we returned it.

We contacted Budget to explain our position, had our insurance company contact them, had a lawyer write a letter, had the Hawaii State Consumer Protection Office in Hilo write a letter, all to no avail. We refuse to pay for something that we didn't do. Budget has since turned this matter over to their collection agency, United Collection Corporation, Hayward, CA. They have threatened to damage our credit rating if we do not pay. We can only surmise that one of their employees probably drove the car after we returned it (if, in fact, it is the car we returned) and damaged it by running into a curb or something. We hope the threat of exposure by ConsumerAffairs.com will convince them to drop this claim against us and stop committing this kind of fraud on others. We have heard of a couple others who have been similarly victimized by Budget's fraudulent business practices.

We have been fighting this thing since last September, and we have spent a lot of time and energy for something that is just plain wrong. And now their collection agency is threatening to report us to the three credit reporting agencies. They are about to destroy our excellent credit record because of something we didn't do. Can they legally do this? HELP!

I reserved full-size car almost three months in advance. Upon arrival to pick up car, no cars available. Counter agent said he expected some cars within 20 minutes but failed to tell me that he already had someone waiting over an hour. The counter agent was polite and understandably frazzled, so no complaint about him; but not having cars available and with a long-term reservation that had been confirmed before starting trip--there is NO EXCUSE. After 50 minutes of waiting for a car, I went to Hertz.

I paid a higher cost; I had a special discount rate through insurance company for Budget. The initial wait time turned in to a 1 hour marathon. I am amazed that Hertz provided us a car within 5 minutes, and we were out of the airport in less than 10 minutes after that.

Rental vehicle apparently had electrical issues as I would be driving down road & dome light would suddenly come on. Sometimes it would go back off immediately, sometimes it was on for hours. Same with seat belt alarm & light; door ajar light was on nonstop; cigarette lighter did not always work, therefore I could not recharge cell phone. 24 hour roadside assistance is a BIG JOKE (not funny!). I called this 1-800 # saturday night & sunday night. The only response I received was to return the vehicle, which was hard to do considering the airport was closed! Attendant at airport location was extremely rude, offered no help.

I was traumatized! Considering all malfunctions of rental car, one would think company would have been eager to make accommodations. No such luck!

I rented a car on a Sunday morning for one day only. After returning the car the next day at 6:30 and dropping off the keys in the box, I gave it no other thought, until some girl from Budget called me the next day at work asking me when am I going to return the car. For two whole days had they lost the car I rented. I kept calling to see if they had found the car; the manager kept on telling no problem, we'll keep looking. Next time I rent a car, I'll come in get a confirmation on my return.

I was worried that the car was stolen or that they'd hold me responsible.

I had reserved a 4x4 Expedition with a ski rack in advance for my group of 6 to drive to Whistler. There was no ski rack, therefore we didn't fit. The surprisingly unhelpful, unfriendly staff did nothing to assist, and we asked to try a minivan, which was a lower rate rental online. They charged us an additional $150, and the minivan couldn't drive in the snow. The Budget staff didn't bother to warn us about this or even offer us a map or mere driving directions out of the airport. We had to take shelter in a hotel that night where the van got stuck in the snow, and then buy cables the next day to get it out of the snow and ensure our safety. In addition to a terrible first encounter with the country of Canada, the error on Budget's part nearly ruined our trip, and cost us a tremendous about of time and delays.

Additional costs: $150 upgrade from a superior vehicle to an inferior vehicle, $80 cables, $180 hotel, 1 day's delay in travel arrangements. Total additional cost = $310.

I rented a car from Budget rent a car in Richmond airport, Vancouver, BC, Canada. The bill was CAD82.29 for two days, but it charged me three times of that amount. I tried to call their customer service center and was told this location is run by individuals so they cannot help me out, and the guy had a very bad attitude in the customer service center. His name is Dene Rodenhiser. Now I am outside of North America and the time difference is 16 hours with Vancouver, which means I have to wait till midnight so that I can reach them.

Please be careful what you use your credit card for.

Budget Rent-A-Truck rented me a truck with no fuel line. Nearly four hours into my 20 hour trip, I stopped to put gas into the truck and found that I had to get on my hands and knees and go under the truck to pump the gas directly into to the fuel tank. When I called to complain and request another truck, I was told first that the damage must have happended in my care and second that all of their rental shops were getting ready to close and I could take it to a repair location (which was about an hour opposite the direction I was traveling) and wait for them to fix it. After I was told that it was okay to continue driving it, I continued to press toward my destination.

I ended up stopping every 1 1/2 hours to put in gas (filling the tank up) on a 20 hour plus trip. Because the ride was so rough, we drove slowly and I had to stay at a hotel twice (and I was planning to drive straight through). I flew in someone to help me drive from one location to the next and also to help me move my things in my new place, but because we got into town at a much later date than we planned, he had to take his flight home immediately and I had to pay for movers.

Budget rented me a car that did not have current tags, when the car was towed they informed that they had just not received the license stickers. When the current registration was faxed through to the impound it was stated as the tags paid for that day while we waited several hours. I requested pick up with car with current tags and was refused and told when I expressed my concerns and stress of driving the above stated vehicle that, Well you made it up there.

I asked if I took it to Budget would they trade the car and was told yes, but I would be charged the cost of the car being picked up from an alternative location.

I made my in-terminal car rental reservation about 3 months before the actual traveling date. On that Friday night, we arrived late at the Buffalo airport. Somehow I remembered the wrong auto-rental company and went up to Budget and indicated that I did have a reservation.

The agent checked and said she could not find the reservation but she would look somewhere else, then she did not insist no reservation was find. Then I would assume she found it by other means (may be she could not find it by last name but able to find it through the list for that particular day). We were asked to initialed all over the contract, and the agent did not said a word about the terms of the contract or anything else. We checked out on Sunday evening and headed to California for an international flight on Monday.

Before our international departure, then I read the receipt and had a heart attack at the rate-- a $95.00 per day for a weekend day. The total came up to be $239 for less than 2 day for a little Toyota. If the counter agent insisted that no reservation was found then it would raised the flag and I would check with all the other in-terminal car rentals to find my reservation instead of being trapped by Budget.

I called Budget's customer service, the representative was not helpful either and her attitude was like 'haha we got you. great we have a fulsome profit'; and that was not a ridiculous pricing for careless people. With this type of attitude from the Customer service department, I conclude that the company has a policy or mission to hunt people or not in the goal of conducting honest business.

If it were half of the $95 a day, I won't feel so rip-off. A few months ago I picked up a car without reservation at the Houston Hobby airport. The rate was only around $30 per day. I promised that I would not rent a car from Budget again even it means higher price.

We had a reservation to rent a truck from Utica NY to Napa CA in August, 2007. The truck was larger than we needed so when we got to a relative's house in Ohio, we turned in the truck and rented a smaller truck from U-Haul. Our credit card was charged for over $2,000 in New York. When we turned it in in Ohio, we received a credit of $150 and was told that an adjustment would be computed by Budget and our credit card refunded.

After a month I called Budget customer service to ask about the credit and they told me that I would not get it. They said that I had a contract to drive to California and they had to hustle to get another truck there. They also refused to tell me how much the rental would have been if I originally contracted to go to Ohio.

We rented a car from Budget at the airport counter. We were given the keys and told to go directly to the designated space in the parking lot to get the car. We loaded up and followed the exit out of the car rental parking garage. (there was no check-point to review the cars condition.) Upon leaving the garage in sun light we noticed a small crack in the windshield (approximately 4).

We immediately called information and was connected to Budget Rent A Car. We explained that we just rented the car not more than 10 minutes ago but noticed a crack in the windshield. We were assured that at the Norfolk Airport location that any pre-existing damage would have been noted prior to renting out the vehicle.

We then received a claim from a Claims Management company on behalf of Budget wanting us to pay them $694.86 for a new windshield. We responded with a letter explaining the same information above. With it we also provided copied of our cell phone bill showing the call that was placed within minutes of renting the car. They called back indicating that Budget had rejected our response. Again I reitterated that we would not pay for pre-existing damage when we wnt to the extent to report it and were assured that the damage would have been noted prior to us renting the vehicle.

We have not been sent an escalated amount of $940.35 and threats of ridiculous interest rates and collection agency harrassment as well as credit report implications.

When I dropped the car off they billed me $45 more and not the rate I was supposed to be charged. They refused to verify the correct price and I ahd to sign the bill to catch my flight.

I woud have kept that extra $243.00 and rented from enterprise and rented teh car for $230.00. I have tried to reach someone in the consumer relations department at Budget and have had no luck.

for $10 extra/day to the existing rate. After approximately discussing for 1 hour.

I requested to give me the same car on a original reservation I made. On reaching LGA while
returning a car,they refused as the return location mentioned was niagara falls.
I have requested Budget to provide the actual reservation details, but no response

saying its franchise rental and they cannot do anything.

I am writing to alert you to an alarming incident I had earlier this month while renting a vehicle from Budget.

To begin, I had made an online reservation for a compact car for August 4 through 5. When I arrived at the Budget location on West 49th street in New York, we were told that we were given an SUV instead of the requested compact. When I told the agent that I didnt want an SUV due to increased gas usage, she told me that there were 6 other people waiting for compacts, and that I should just take it, insinuating that I would not get a car at all if I did not accept the SUV.

We were then asked to hurry out of the tight garage to make room for the other waiting guests. We were not given an opportunity to do a physical review of the SUV, check for damages, etc. After being rushed out of the garage, we were finally able to stop, and noticed that in interior of the car had not been cleaned there were crushed cookies, popcorn and pistachio nuts littered throughout the seats and floor. Additionally, the left headlight was not working luckily we were not planning to do any night driving, but as we were rushed through our review of the vehicle and did not have a chance to go over it with a Budget representative, we were not aware of this flaw until we drove through a tunnel.

Aesthetically, the interior of the vehicle was a mess, but that was not the worst part: while searching for more leftover garbage and trash to throw out, we found a 4 switchblade knife underneath the front passenger seat. I can only imagine what could have happened if we had a child in the car with us! Not cleaning a car in between rental guests is lazy, but leaving a dangerous weapon in the vehicle should be criminal. We spent the next 20 minutes searching the SUV for other weapons and nefarious items.

Upon returning the vehicle to the same NYC location, the return attendant seemed bemused that we had found a switchblade in our rental, barely hiding his grin. We then took the blade to the front desk agent who also seemed to find humor in the situation. At that point we were do thoroughly disgusted by the lack of basic customer service that we signed our bill and told the agent she could keep the knife.?

Ive rented from Budget before for other personal trips, but I highly doubt I ever will again. My employer has an existing relationship with Hertz, and I am now fully aware of why. From the very beginning, it was an awful experience, topped off with the discovery of a lethal weapon, origins unknown.

I booked an economy class car online but one week ahead. When i got there i was told that the car size i booked was not available so i was going to get a free up grade. The problem is that i ended up paying 354.99 instead of the 235.28. They told me it was some additional taxes on top of the ones that was already calculated into the fees. Please can somebody tell what kind of tax that it was that i was charged. I have been renting with this company for at least four years every july but this is it, am done with this company.

In June I made an online reservation for a car from 7/11 to 7/14. One of the options available was an infant safety seat which I requested. When I arrived, after flying from the West Coast, the only thing available was a toddler seat that was not useable for a 3 week old baby.

My concern is that the car rentals are claiming that these seats are available when that is not true. I regard this as a major safety issue and feel that the rental companies should be held accountable for their advertising. It was necessary for us to go out the next day and purchase an infant safety seat, so that we could continue our trip knowing that the baby was safe. Hopefully consumers will get the word not to trust car rental companies when they advertise car seat options.

I was charged $30 for the unusable toddler seat and then spent over $70 on an infant safety seat. If we had known that the car rental companies are unreliable we would have carried our own safety seat.

I rented a vehicle at Budget Rent A Car, 1115 East Ogden Avenue, Naperville, IL 60563 on Saturday, May 26th 2007 at 1:06 PM for one day and was suppose to return it back the next day when they close. Before picking up the keys I asked the renting staff if it was okay for me to be 15 - 30 minutes late while returning the vehicle. The renting staff assured me that it was okay, I can drop off the keys in dropbox if they were closed and I am little late. This is because I am their regular customer and it was a long (Memorial Day) weekend anyway.

I recently received a credit card statement with charges for two days instead of one day. They claimed that I returned the car on Monday morning (May 28th) instead of Sunday May 27th at 1:05 or 1:10 PM. They have refused to refund me for the additional day's charges and are playing game with me with the closing time and return time. I initially explained to them that I was 5 or 10 minutes late at maximum and they are confusing me with their Sunday hours by saying they close at 12 noon (the local branch staffer) and at 1 PM (claimed by 1-800 customer service). In turn telling me I am lying.

I still have some future reservations with them but I am discouraged to cancel them and stop using their service.

We (I) obsessed about using up all the gas in order to avoid the consequences of the fast talking counter rep., and practically ran out of gas trying to return it on fumes. It would be MUCH easier, and cheaper, to just fill the car before returning it to Budget as has been the usual proceedure in the past.

My husband picked up a car rental and was very QUICKLY given the walk around the car. The asian owner was so happy to give us his best car on the lot. We had it for 22 days and drove it 6 times. When we returned it the woman inspected the car and then went back inside to start the return process. The man then went out and started to inspect the car came inside and said there was a dent on the front hood where the car hood meets the bumper.

It was 5:30 at night and dark, but there were parking lot lights on. This dent looked like part of the cars aerodynamic style, and it was not appareent to the visble to the eye. The only way to know it was there was to feel the car. Our arguement is that they did not offer us the same level of inspection when we took the car. If they had, that dent would have been detected before we even took the car off the lot. We are honest people and if we did anything to the car we would pay for it, but we truely believe they are trying to pin something on us so that our insurance will have to pay for it and not theirs. They were smiling the whole time we were frustrated with this whole situation. This was an individually asian owned car rental place.

we will probably get stuck paying for something that was not our fault. We believe the dent may have been noticed while they were cleaning the car and wiping it down prior to our taking it, but they could not go after the previous renters because they already passed the car when they returned it. So,rather than report it to their insurance, they would catch the next person who comes along. Dumb on our part for not feeling the car when we rented it, but like I said we are honest non-suspecting people, so we never assumed this would have taken place. Lesson: don't settle for a walk around if you are not familiar with the car point out everything as minor as it may be and have them mark it or let them tell you it is part of the cars design.

In September 2005, I was traveling to Europe. I rented a car from Budget through the airline. When signing the rental agreement in Berlin, I asked the desk agent whether I was signing up for insurance. The rental agreement was in German and I could not make much out of it myself. The desk agent confirmed that the insurance was covered under the agreement. Moreover, she said that since I was planning to travel in the car outside of Germany the insurance was mandatory.

While I was in Poland, the car was hit on a parking lot of a local supermarket by its employee operating a forklift. The police report was filed but I did not actually receive any documentation from the police. I was told that Budget needed to contact them about it. I returned the car to Berlin and gave the rental agent information needed to retrieve the incident report from the police. I haven't heard anything from Budget afterward. This October, over a year after the incident, I received a letter from a law firm in Germany in which it was said that the police in Poland had refused cooperation and I was responsible for all the repair cost which amounted to nearly 2000 euro.

To add an insult to injury, I am also supposed to pay the costs of the lawyer who took the case. I tried to contact the lawyer but to no avail. They do not respond to e-mail and on the phone I got a person speaking German only whom I could not understand. A month after I received the first letter, another came. In this one, the lawyer curtly stated that since I did not respond to their previous correspondence I am to pay the bill by the end of November or they will contact a lawyer in the United States. I called the police in Poland and requested the report to be released to me. They were most obliging and the report is now in the mail to me. When asked, the police said that nobody ever requested the report before me. I called Budget customer service asking to whom should I file a formal complaint and heard that this is not a customer service issue. I think that when a company is disrespectful, negligent, and unprofessional it is very much a customer service problem.