Budget Car Rental Reviews

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About Budget Car Rental

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Budget Rent a Car provides car rentals at more than 3,000 locations worldwide. The company supplies a variety of vehicles, including economy cars, SUVs and vans. Budget offers flexible rental options, making it accessible for budget-conscious customers.

Pros
  • Clean and well-maintained vehicles
  • Affordable pricing options
Cons
  • Poor communication from staff
  • Long wait times during peak hours

Budget Car Rental Reviews

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    Page 12 Reviews 1840 - 2040
    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Jan. 19, 2019

    I'll never rent from Budget again. I booked a 5 day rental for a small Sedan for an estimated $200. When I arrived at the counter to pick up the car, I was told they didn't have the type I had reserved but would upgrade me to a Jeep and waive the additional fee. The agent never went over any itemized costs, just had me sign on the credit card terminal. I was given some paperwork folded up in an envelope, which I now realize I should have gone over right then.

    The car was fine, I returned it at the end of my trip, and headed back to the airport. Once I got home, I checked my credit card statement and realized they had charged me the full price for the different vehicle which ended up being over double my original estimate. I then checked the paperwork I was given which included an itemized invoice that did not have the waived upgrade fee.

    I got in contact with Budget customer service thinking it was a simple mistake with the counter agent and they would refund the extra charges. Instead, I was repeatedly told that it didn't matter what the agent said, since I had accepted the upgraded car and signed an electronic invoice that I never saw before signing, I was responsible for the full charges. They refused to refund the additional charges and told me there was no negotiation on that. I've even tried to dispute the charges with my credit card, but had no luck since I have no proof of what their counter agent told me. So now I'm out $200 for an upgrade I didn't ask for and didn't want.

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    CoveragePrice

    Reviewed Jan. 18, 2019

    Charged over 360 dollars for a car for 2 days. They told me full coverage insurance would only cost $30, but charged me over $120. Ridiculous small fees thrown in. Go with the other companies. These guys are a joke.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Jan. 18, 2019

    I rented out a car from Budget Wichita and I turned in 30 minutes late and was charged a whole additional day for it and on the top of it they contacted me after I left the car saying that there is a small crack on the windshield which I am not aware of. Pathetic service and the employees are very rude. Would never rent from them again.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Jan. 17, 2019

    This is shocking, I received a mail today with a claim number stating I had to pay 3600$, for some damage which I never did, the budget office at Overland Park where I rented out the car from state that a patch on the bumper had been repainted. ARE YOU SERIOUS? I HAVE INSURANCE, WHY WOULD I REPAINT THE BUMPER? COMMON SENSE. I often rent the same model car Ford Mustang from the same location (119th Budget OP, KANSAS, 66210), the guy at the office says he found a small repainted bubble on the bumper? Seriously? How do you expect me to check the car on a cloudy day impeccably?

    I TRUSTED YOU PEOPLE and rented the car. Please escalate this, I am not going to pay for something I did not do. I don't want my insurance company to suffer for something which I did not do. Please escalate this. I am going to make SURE none of the employees from my company (Sprint) or community members rent from this location or from Budget.

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    Contract & TermsPriceStaff

    Reviewed Jan. 15, 2019

    Brazenly overcharged! Triple check your bill and NEVER rent long term from this shop. Price quoted by a very friendly agent turned something very different. Based on the 1st page of rental agreement that I signed in June - monthly rate was $750. How exactly did this amount grew into the following charges on my AmEx Credit Card: July 8th - $1713.93 + a separate charge of $65? August 6th $1713.93. August 25th - $1713.93. Last charge August 25th was adjusted by $444.07 now is $1269.86 for the last 16 days of rental!!! I contacted management asking Budget Car & Truck Rental Administration to investigate the issue of overcharging and issue a credit/refund to me as well as an itemized paperwork explaining the charges. NOTHING. I had to apply to BBB of NH to help to resolve this mess.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Jan. 15, 2019

    Be AWARE of this. I would give them 0 stars but that is not an option so 1 star. I reserved a car 4 months before I had to use it to make sure I have a car and 2 months before the due date I see a decent price decrease online on the Budget website. Called customer service to get a price adjustment and the guys seems really nice and agrees to adjust my price. He even states I will get a refund within 7 days... All great so far until I read their email. It said the new price " I owe them $20 for the car". So I call them again thinking it has to be a mistake.

    The new guy on the phone is saying is nothing he can do that he cannot match the price I talked with the 1st guy. Then I said at least change it to what was originally before they mess with it. He says, "Sorry is nothing I can do. I cannot match your original price even that the price is lower even right now." So I asked for a manager. She says the best she can do is change it back to my original price. I agree with it. I even asked her to ensure there will be no price increase. She confirms again that there will be no extra charges for me... Email comes in. There is still a $7 extra charge... It's getting super frustrating. I don't want to think what other problems will follow. I still have 2 months to get the car.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Jan. 15, 2019

    I'm a displaced victim of the CA Camp Fire where my car was destroyed. After waiting over 3wks for a rental to become available I was forced to drive w/ my special needs child and his service dog, in a friend's car (also totaled), almost 100 miles to get the ONLY car available. Unable to travel at more than 40 mph due to the condition of the car I was driving I knew I would arrive approx 5mins after closing. When I called the office to explain the issue I was meet with open hostility who reminded of the business hours and informed me that the computers automatically shut down at 5pm. There was nothing she counseling do for me!

    I told her I was aware of the business hours and I was hoping an exception might be made to prevent my son and I from sleeping in their parking lot. I said I was sure there was someone there with authority to keep the computers on for a few minutes longer. After sitting on hold for a ridiculously long time, the desk clerk returned stating "we'll give you FIVE minutes!" then hung up on me. After this encounter I called a friend I hadn't spoken with in over 10yrs in hopes that he still worked 20mins away from the agency. He immediately left his job to go there and wait for me. Unfortunately I got lost and was 8 mins late instead of 5 as I'd hoped. As a result, my friend who was directing me over the phone as to how to find them, was literally physically pushed by a clerk who was attempting to lock the door just as I was pulling into the parking lot.

    When I got to the counter I was greeted by the same unpleasant clerk I dealt written on the phone. Still hostile, she asked when I intended to return the vehicle. I was unable to provide a date because I had no idea how long it might take to replace my burned car. I agreed to call and request an extension at by day specified and I made that call to a LOCAL branch two days before the deadline and was relieved to have reached a very pleasant counter agent who informed me their computers had gone down so she had to take my info by hand and enter it when they came back up which I learned when returning the vehicle apparently did not occur.

    Two weeks prior to returning the vehicle, unable to reach anyone online at Budget's corporate office, I had to settle for writing a letter of grievance to the co's customer service dept in hopes the individuals involved might be held accountable. The only response I received was an apologetic form letter the next day. The rental car I had reserved two days before picking it up was dirty. I had to have it jump started by strangers on three separate occasions. In spite of that fact it was returned spotless, with a full tank of gas.

    Because the local agent could find no record of my request for an extension he refused to provide me with a receipt stating if have to take the matter up with the office of origin. I requested to speak to a manager and waited over an hour while he called around trying to find one who promised an immediate call back while I was still there. That call never came but I was finally presented with a receipt. Frustrated, needing to go pick up my son, only later while looking over my invoice did I notice I had been charged a $400 late fee!? When I wrote to question these outrageous charges I was 'gifted' $100 refund!

    After everything I had been forced to endure at the hands of this agency while trying to recover from the loss of everything I own, this feels like outright thievery. What other recourse do I have? I'm filing this complaint as a matter of principle. It has little to do with money me everything to do with finding a little justice. It seems no one is EVER accountable.

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    Punctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Jan. 14, 2019

    I've been using Budget for last 3 years. Took around 10 rental cars across different cities in USA. Only positive experience. Cars are always new and clean. Fastbreak is very convenient feature. The only negative experience is when I left my headphones in a car and wasn't able to get them back through lost & found.

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    Punctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Jan. 13, 2019

    Reserved and pre-paid for a full size vehicle, and upon pick up was informed that I needed a credit card to rent the vehicle, that my debit card would not suffice. Having no option I downgraded to a small vehicle just to be able to drive home as no one else was available on such short notice. To my surprise, Budget will not refund the difference even though it was three times as much. On top of that I was two hours late turning the car in, and they charged me a whole additional day. No attempt to make things right at all, just all about taking your money.

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    Customer ServiceContract & Terms

    Reviewed Jan. 8, 2019

    If I could give this company negative stars, I would. Unacceptable, fraudulent business practices. I rented a car in Nov 2018 from the airport in Knoxville TN for a 2 day span, to be dropped at the airport in Memphis. I agreed to a charge of $190 and thought no more of it. I have always rented from Enterprise through Costco but they had no one way rentals when I needed one.

    Upon checking my credit card account online about 2 weeks later the charge applied to my account by Budget was $860. I called Budget billing and was told the upcharge was because I modified my agreement and dropped the car off in New Orleans!! I assured her I most certainly did not drop the car off in New Orleans - how would I get home to my Memphis suburb? Nothing I said registered with her, she just kept insisting in broken English that she explain the charges to me. I told her I didn't care because it was incorrect.

    After a few more minutes of arguing I told her she had the serial number, corporate number, etc there on the agreement so perform a rental history of the unit and ascertain from where it was next rented. She came back on the line in a few minutes and said with a straight face that it was rented out in Memphis 2 hours after it was returned to New Orleans. Add to that the out/in mileage indicated the 300 miles to Memphis, not 600 miles which would have been on the odometer if I traveled to New Orleans. They are going to 'investigate' the discrepancy.

    I also contacted my CC company who issued me a credit for the overcharge. I contacted Costco Travel who was very upset about the poor customer service and business practices. I submitted all the documentation and a letter of explanation to them and they are going to investigate. They said this does not meet their high standards. Hope they drop Budget as a corporate partner. Regardless, I will never do business with Budget again.

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    Customer ServicePricePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Jan. 7, 2019

    Rented a car from Budget in Las Vegas Nevada. When we came to pick up our reservation, the rep told us that they did not have any cars and told us come back later. When we returned they gave us Kia Soul. While driving from Las Vegas to Kanab (a 3 hour drive on a highway) the gas tank was empty - as if this was not an economy car. The next morning we were unable to start the car - even after trying to give it a boost. We called Budget and waited all day in the middle of nowhere with minus 25 degrees outside.

    Close to 9 pm we received a replacement car (Kia Rio). When returning the car to the Las Vegas airport, we were billed for $2575 "For towing service". When arranging for the replacement car, nobody from Budget (neither customer service nor roadside assistance) told us about any additional charges. This scum business practice - they are giving you a faulty car and then charge you when the car breaks and you have no choice and need a replacement vehicle. DO NOT DEAL WITH BUDGET EVER - I KNOW I WON'T.

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    Reviewed Jan. 5, 2019

    Very unsatisfactory service experience at Budget rental airport location today. I did online transaction to reserve vehicle today, everything went through ok online as I received a reservation # to pick the vehicle up. After arriving to the airport to pick the vehicle up, the Budget directed me down to the Avis counter where she informed me that they keep the keys??? But ok. The rep at the Avis counter informed me that she need to see my driver's license and credit card. I handed her both only to be told that they do accept Visa debit. I informed her that the money had already been devoted to my account. She just informed me that she was sorry about that and I would have to call main office to get a refund or be transferred to different location to pick up the vehicle.

    The main office informed me that it would be an additional 32 dollars to pick up vehicle from the alternate location, but seemed unsure if it was daily or one time fee so I told him to just cancel and refund my money. I was then put on hold for 20-25 minutes only to be told that 1/2 my money would be returned in 48 hours and the other 1/2 would be returned in 3-4 days. Wow, that sucks. He further informed me that I would also receive notice of a cancellation fee, but assured me that I would not be charged for this and receive a full refund. Fingers crossed. Very unsatisfactory experience. Unfortunate.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed Jan. 1, 2019

    I said the price was too expensive and asked if they have any discount or promotions going on and the guy name "Quang" just hanged up on me without saying a word. Terrible customer service and attitude.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Jan. 1, 2019

    Arrived to find 6 employees at stations behind the counter and not a single one took a customer. Two were laughing together. After 7 minutes one helped the person in front of me. After 5 more minutes I asked one woman if she could help me and she very curtly informed me she would let me know when she was ready for me. Finally a man took me. It was awful service. I'll never rent from Budget again.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed Dec. 31, 2018

    My original reservation was for El Paso, Texas. The day of the reservation I had to change to Albuquerque location. The dates of the reservation did not change however I was charged double because they said the locations differ. I have called but your customer service several times and unfortunately their customer service department is outsourced and no one listens or cares about my charges. All they say is there’s nothing they can do. I think it’s asinine that I was charged double the price because of a pick up location change. Despite my several calls and complaints nothing has been done and for this reason I will never rent from Budget again.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Dec. 28, 2018

    I had a pleasant experience with Budget in LA. I had reserved a mid size vehicle for travel while in NOLA but when I got to my car it was a Toyota Corolla, way too small for my 6'6" 300+ pound fiance. So I went back and the clerk named Jerrel was very kind and accommodating and fixed me right up with a standard SUV which was much more accommodating. Also, my phone died while travelling and she got a charger and let me charge my phone so I could have some service til I got to my room. I didn't expect that type of help! I will definitely go back!

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    Customer ServicePricePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Dec. 28, 2018

    Picked up car at DTW (Detroit Metro Airport) Sunday 23 December 2018. Drive about 20 miles, stop to buy some things and noticed that the front tires were bald and a large bubble near the rim on front left tire. Call customer service, they say has to be returned to DTW for exchange and they will issue a voucher for a free car the next time I rent. Dangerous situation but got the car back. Talked to a rep and she says, "Stand over there and we will get to you." Nothing after 15 mins, stand back in line behind 20 others. About an hour later finally get another car. Returned car on Dec 27 full of gas. Got home and noticed another charge for $70. Called customer service again, the charge was for gas. Now I have to send them the gas receipt. Got a voucher for $30 off my next rental. No way never again will I deal with Budget.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 27, 2018

    I rented a car from the Logan International Airport on 12/24/2018 at 5:30 pm and returned it on 12/26/2018 just around 6:30 pm. I called them up to inform them that due to several accidents on the way from New Jersey I will be little late (although I started much earlier but I got delayed). Normally other car rentals let go of little delay but they charged me 122$ for the delay and they wouldn't let go of it. This racist ** guy at the front desk won't even talk to me. Just printed me out an itemized receipt. The customer care was of no help either. Absolutely worst experience. I will never rent a car from them ever.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsSales & MarketingPriceStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 25, 2018

    I reserved a car in Asheville, North Carolina. I had called them the day prior to my arrival to confirm that the SUV that I rented had 4WD. They assured me that it did. When I arrived, I was told that they did not have a 4WD SUV in the “class” of vehicle that I rented, and tried to charge me some exorbitant rate. I stuck to my guns and the gave me an “upgraded” vehicle for the same price. The challenging part of this came when I returned the vehicle. The day I was due to return the vehicle, we had a severe winter storm. All the flights leaving Asheville had been cancelled. When I called, the day before, I was told that the rental car agency never closed and that I needed to return the vehicle that day or I would be charged an additional $330.00. I reserved a second vehicle from them through Hotwire, a 4WD Yukon, for $160.00, the night before, for a one way trip to Tampa, just in case we were snowed in the next day.

    As a result of the prior day's conversation, I was forced to drive through very treacherous conditions to return the car that I had rented. It usually takes 1 1/2 hours to drive from our house to the airport in Asheville. That day it took us 3 1/2 hours, on icy roads, in blinding snow. Asheville had already had 12 inches of snow, and it was continuing to snow. We arrived at the airport only to find that the car that I reserved was not there. I was told that they could close out the prior rental and they would reopen a second rental for the same vehicle. Their computer system was down and I was issued a contract that had nothing written on it.

    As there were no prices or fees on the contract, I asked the sales associate what I would be charged. She informed me that I would be charged $61.00 for the additional day’s rental, per my original contract. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I returned the car to the Tampa Airport location. There was no one at the Budget kiosk so I asked a security guard what the procedure was for a return in this situation. He informed me to just park the car and leave the keys on the dash, which is exactly what I did. Well, that was a huge mistake.

    Budget has apparently lost the car and I received a certified letter from them demanding that I return the car, which I do not have. Budget has charged my credit card all kinds of arbitrary fees. The only thing that they haven’t charged was the agreed upon $61.00. As far as I’m concerned, they are guilty of credit card fraud, bait and switch, and extortion. I fully plan on turning the issue over to the State Attorney General's office for possible prosecution, as well as filing a class action lawsuit.

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    Customer ServicePricePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 23, 2018

    Worst experience of our entire life for rental car. This car company deserves negative stars. Miami cruise port shuttle never came, was in line at cruise port for 1.5 hrs. See pictures below with > 100 people waiting for shuttle. We called customer service 2x and was given a phone # for local office to ask ETA for shuttle. We called local office x3 and they never answered. After 2 hours of waiting for shuttle, we decided to Uber to the local office. After arriving with Uber to local office, we had to wait in line for 4 hrs to get a car. They had 2 office staff only, that at times were yelling at customers in Spanish. Called customer service an additional 3x while in line, I was told to go to another downtown location, which if we choose to do so, will be in our own cost for transportation to get there and there is no guarantee the new location will have a car for us.

    I couldn't believe what I was hearing, recorded the entire calls, will be available on YouTube in few days, since THEY record calls and disclaimer noted "This call may be monitored or recorded for quality assurances purposes." May these calls provide them with some guidance for improvement. Customer representatives were rude and dismissive as you will hear in the call records.

    We received a filthy car with bird dropping stains all over the car, cigarette smell and ashes on both front seats. Dirt all over the carpets. Video on YouTube. We will never use this company again. Will advise everyone to not book with this company. It ruined an entire day of our vacation and the rudeness of the customer service representatives and local office staff were unbelievable. We arrived at cruise terminal shuttle pickup location at 8:30 am, we left car company parking lot at 2:30 pm.

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    CoverageSales & Marketing

    Reviewed Dec. 22, 2018

    My rental car with Budget had a bad battery from the factory. In fact, it died TWICE while renting the car for 5 days for a total of 2 hours lost. Not only did they NOT offer to compensate me for my time, but they actually charged me $60 to have their roadside assistance come out and help. When I explained to the technician that came out to help me, he told me it's a known scam they run in order to get as much out of people as possible. They offer their own roadside insurance, but if you decline it then you get stuck paying. But what they DON'T tell you, is that you're covered FOR FREE through the car's manufacturer warranty.

    The second time when the battery died (as if that weren't bad enough), I called Kia's roadside assistance and it was completely free. Then, when I turned in the car, I willingly opted to pay their re-fueling fee just because I didn't want to stop at a gas station. However, when they gave me my billed they double-taxed me. Not only did I pay the built-in gas tax that everyone that fills their tank gets hit with, but then they taxed me again on top of that because it was an "additional service." Which of course, they don't tell you when you rent it either. I will never ever never rent from Budget again. I'd love to pay more money for a more trustworthy company with better ethics.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 21, 2018

    Absolutely do not rent with Budget. I rented a car for a 3-day weekend in Vermont, after prepaying online more than a month in advance. Upon returning the car (a bit before my "due" time), I handed the keys and paperwork to the employee at the Budget desk in the airport (instead of just dropping the items off in an unlocked box, as I had seen other customers returning their respective items). I asked him if I needed to do anything else and he said "no."

    A few weeks later, I received a $400 bill in the mail stating that I had not returned the car for nearly a week past my reservation time, with over 1,000 miles clocked. (It also stated listed a male employee's name for the person who initially rented the car to me, despite a woman with a different name being at the Budget desk at that time.)

    It took weeks of calling the Budget office to get them to address this error -- constantly being told that management would look into it and call me back. They never called me back. Finally, after weeks of calling, I was told that the case had been closed out and I didn't need to pay anything. (How generous.) However, the employee refused to send me any sort of written confirmation that I did not owe anything. I'm still hesitant to believe them at their word that this matter is truly resolved. Again, do not ever rent with Budget.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 19, 2018

    I received a confirmation for a rental but when I went to pick up the car (at 11:30 pm) the representative told me the email confirmation was a mistake and the said, "If you want the car, it is now four times as much." I ended up going to a competitor and paying full price. Budget thinks they can throw out bogus quotes and you will get stuck. Sorry never again Budget. Consumers beware.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 18, 2018

    I had a last minute trip come up during the holidays. I usually use Enterprise, who I've never had an issue with, but I decided to try Budget and save a few dollars (big mistake). My trip ended up being canceled the same HOUR I made and prepaid for the rental from Budget. I did not need to prepay. I only did it to save time at the counter. So I was not getting a better rate for the prepay. Due to Budget's prepayment policy they charged me a $50 cancellation fee even though the reservation was just made and the reservation was not for another 3 days.

    I called customer service and climbed the phone latter getting the same boilerplate response that they are sorry but that is their company policy. One rep even stated it doesn't matter if it was within 5 mins. They will still charge $50. I will never do business with Budget again nor will I allow my company to ever do business with Budget again. I will gladly pay Enterprise double the Budget price knowing that they actually care about their customer's experience.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsPricePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 17, 2018

    On a recent trip to Chicago in early November, I had prepaid a minivan to transport disabled relatives of mine. The initial counter interaction after arriving at the brand new car rental structure was great. Had my reservation in hand, said the vehicle requested was on floor-row-space. I signed away and left. Found 1 blemish larger than 50c piece, notated at gate and left.

    At 7 am on the day I was to return the van, I called and spoke with a rental agent asking for additional time and associated cost. Here’s where it really takes a strange turn... I gave him my vehicle ID, was then greeted as “Mr **”, how was your rental van in Maryland? I’m not Mr ** nor am I in Maryland. This went on for approx 15min until corrected. I was then granted a drop off at 11pm vs the original 7pm knowing I couldn’t make my original drop off time. No worries, taken care of, no extra charge. Great!

    I made it to the rental car facility at O’Hare by 2302 (11:02), didn’t charge a late fee, even though I fully expected it), but DID charge me extra for every little bell & whistle I didn’t request nor utilize! More than 2.5x’s the original prepaid agreement... which I signed but didn’t notate the additional equipment clause. Bad for me but no way in hell! After 1.5hrs, the shift manager took the extra charges off and I was off to hotel via bus to airport. After waking up the following AM (got to a hotel by 0400), I realized I had left my jacket in the back of the van. Called 800 line and counter at O’Hare. Made a claim for lost item. Unlike most rental return customers, I was still in the area! So I Ubered to O’Hare and went to counter, initially greeted by upper manager (didn’t know at that time) who directed me to the 2nd floor counter. The young lady working counter & lot was understanding and tried to be helpful.

    Long story short, my jacket was found, taken to the “old facility” and with no less than 12 employees... Nobody was able, OR willing, to help retrieve. Excuse, top national management was in town, no way to get over and only 1 person had key to gate and they were too busy. All that management, massive rental prices, not 2 cares on how to retrieve personal property! It has been 1.5 months from that day and I still haven’t had 1 email or returned call!

    I promise for the remainder of my life to never spend another dollar with this company or any affiliated! Downright disgusting and pathetic. Coincidentally I left my glasses at the counter on the return night, was one of 3 people in entire main rental floor and was there for 1hr after fixing transaction. Went unnoticed by counter staff... Lost those too. Cost me more to replace needed items going home. Thanks for the memories Budget @ O’Hare!

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsPriceStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 14, 2018

    After using a Budget car for 5 days, I discovered I was charged a separate fee of $20.75 for a $1.00 toll. I called four different times and each time the rep on the other end could only explain their policy of charging $3.95 per day for using the transponder though:
    a) They automatically start charging a daily fee for the transponder after it has been used once.
    b) There is no alternative to using their transponder, or at least these were never presented as options at any point.

    c) No one could explain what product/service I was getting for the $3.95 per each day that I did not get on a tollway at all.

    They continually punted me over to the company that manages the toll charges for rental cars, who punted me back to the Budget cust service. Their only excuse for this nonsense is that "it's in the contract you signed," which while legally valid is a pathetic point and bad faith gesture since they are banking on no one having the time to read those in full, and it's extra confusing given that they go out of their way to talk about insurance and gas prices, but they never mention the toll fee at all. One of the reps actually tried to brush me off by pointing out that it's only 20.00. Nevermind that it's a 1.00 toll.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Dec. 11, 2018

    I did a reservation from Expedia to rent a car from Budget rental company. On my 3 days before my trip, I was receiving remains emails for my car reservation.

    I got to the destination country and Budget rental company didn't have the car I reserved. I would not recommend this company to anyone. I was stranded on a country without car. It took me less than 10 minute to call someone else for a car which I spent more money. Stay away from Budget and look for a different rental company.

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    Price

    Reviewed Dec. 9, 2018

    I was in Dallas Airport at Budget Rent-A-Car desk. The clerk tried to cheat me in several situations. I had a long trip of 20+ hours from China, and I said I just wanted an economy car for 5 days. He continuously provided me luxury SUV car, with all the fancy (and very expensive) not useful optional. When discovered that he gave me a fraud, I came back to him asking for, again, an economy car like Nissan Versa or similar. He cheated again, at the end he gave me a SUV car or similar with very high price. I just gave back my car the day after, then rent another car with a more honest behavior. Unfortunately, the Budget rental car charged me euro 455 on my credit card just only for 1-day rental. This is a fraud. I’ve been travelling around the world for business purposes for 5 years, and this is the worst situation happened to me in renting a car. A brand like “Budget” should be reliable and help the customer instead of exploit and cheat him.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 8, 2018

    Rented a vehicle from Budget in Birmingham Alabama, December 2018. Booked my reservation through Costco Travel which offered me a second driver for free. Budget Rent-A-Car refused to give the extra free driver, even though the reservation clearly stated it. Overall unacceptable experience. When I contacted Budget Customer Service, they could not help me because the Budget Rent-A-Car in Alabama is privately owned. Avoid Budget!!!

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 7, 2018

    We rented a car in September and was asked if we wished to pay for the tolls upfront, we said no we would pay at the booth. On returning home we received an additional charge for Toll booths. I phone from UK and they said that they could see what had happened but I would have to contact head office for the refund. They gave me a phone number that you could not use from the UK. I then emailed, but no response, I emailed again and finally got a response saying I would need to take it up with the toll booth company - how does that work? Budget made the mistake and left the toll system on and tell me I have to claim the money back from the Toll company. I emailed back again and pointed this all out to them.

    They responded saying it was still down to me to contact each individual Toll company and provide them with receipts or credit card bills to prove we had paid the bills. How stupid are these people, almost every trip was paid for in cash and half was change thrown into the basket. So as well as making sure that don't stitch you up for the fuel you now have to watch out for being stitched up for tolls, I will never use them again, and would recommend to everyone else to avoid them like the plague.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Dec. 2, 2018

    First time using Budget, as the pickup location was close to my hotel while in Dallas. I prepaid for the rental so that I wouldn't have to worry about it when picking up the car... or so you would have thought. When I arrived to pick up the car, I was told that I needed the last 4 digits of the credit card I used to make the reservation (which was never mentioned previously). I didn't have the card on me and they would not rent me the car. I called customer service and they refused to provide me the card info, and would not cancel my reservation without basically paying the full cost of the rental.

    I was finally able to go back through my records and find the last 4 of the card number. Then, the clerk told me that I needed to provide a new card for "incidentals" such as tolls, tickets, etc. However, when I dropped off the car, I noticed that they had charged me the equivalent of my initial rental payment and no one knew or could understand what this charge was for.

    When I arrived home from my trip, I called their national customer service, which clearly is located outside of the US and staffed by very poor English speaking employees, who also could not tell me what this charge was for, but refused to remove the charges. And, their bills are so confusing to a point that they make absolutely no sense...perhaps to ensure that their fraudulent charges can never be disputed. Needless to say... this company is at best unorganized and shady. At worst, they are just outright crooks. Beware!

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 30, 2018

    Absolutely terrible and corrupt business practices. I went to pick up the car and the older lady kept telling me my card was declined even though I had already pre-paid and they had my card on file, she insisted I keep putting it in the chip reader. Turns out she actually doesn't know how to use the machine and kept ripping my card out too early. Then she tells me they require you get gas within 3 miles of the airport- THERE ARE NO GAS STATIONS WITHIN 3 MILES OF THE AIRPORT. I reached out to customer service and they told me that the 3 mile rule was not true. What kind of scam are they running?

    After I returned the car, a week later I get an unauthorized charge on my credit card for tolls. I reached out to customer service and told them I paid all my tolls in cash and they needed to refund the charge. They told me they couldn't do anything about it because the toll company charged me. This is completely false as I can see on my credit card that Budget charged me. I pushed further and then they said "oh well if you have receipts from cash tolls you can submit those for review." Are you kidding me? Tolls don't give you cash receipts in Tampa!

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Nov. 29, 2018

    I booked a car from Dublin Airport from Budget. They charged me with $5700 as "HOLD" and said they would release when I return the car in its original shape. After my trip, I returned the car. And I was told that the car looks fine but hold will be released in a few business days and not right away. It was not released for a few weeks so I called Budget from my home country (USA). The representative said that she needed my bank's fax number to send a release form. I called my bank who that it was odd. So I called Budget again while my bank was waiting on another line. This time Budget tells me that that office of Budget is "privately" owned so they cannot help me and I will have to just wait or call them myself. Stay away from Budget and be safe!

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    Customer ServiceCoverageStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 29, 2018

    Budget Rent-A-Car at the Orlando airport overcharged my credit card because they added insurance after I told them I did not need it because we had full coverage. They also did not have record where I said I wanted the insurance. I will be disputing with my bank but when I called the rep to tell them it was a mistake he responded by saying, "Nothing can be done once it’s charged." I had to pay 275.00 for a 4 day rental due to the fact they added the insurance and charged 5.00 for gas after we returned the car with a full tank. They try to overcharge because you are at a popular site like Orlando. Stay away from Budget and tell your friends to do the same. Go to Enterprise - much better customer service and they do not cheat you out of your money. Be aware if you go to Budget.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Nov. 28, 2018

    ON Aug 17, 2018 rented a Skoda Octavia from Riga LATVIJA airport, Budget Rent a Car location until Sept 3, 2018. I travel extensively around the world and rent cars biweekly. Dropped off car before they opened on Sept 3, documents and keys in dropbox like usual. 3 weeks later noticed a $934 charge on my credit card in addition to the $757. We agreed for the rental. Upon contacting them they claim there were no documents and chipped windshield. Since I placed keys and documents in same envelope, I knew it was a lie and I regularly take photos of cars before I drop them off just for this instance. I provided them with photos of the car with perfectly fine windshield and received no response. I lost $934 and all confidence in Budget Rent a Car. Avoid this location and Budget Rent a Car at all costs.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Nov. 27, 2018

    Please use Enterprise or someone else. If you ever have an issue with Budget they will not respond, they will never put you in touch with a manager, they will not explain your bill. They will just raid your bank account. So I had a car towed (my fault) meter expired and I immediately called them, no help, run around and the tow company would not release the car to me because it was a rental so a $160 tow bill turned into a $1,700 rip off and Budget was part of that. That took the money and have not given me a receipt. I've called numerous times, tried to reach management and have had no luck, they put you in elevator music and in circles you go many, many times.

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    StaffReliability

    Reviewed Nov. 23, 2018

    Rented a car FROM BUDGET for 2 weeks - noticed there was a flashing light on dash. The rep. had no idea what it was. Took the car home (6 miles) and looked the warning up - had something to do with tires. Called Budget to return car but they were closed. Took car back the next morning for them to fix warning but they didn't. Returned defective car - BUT BUDGET STILL CHARGED ME FOR THE 2 WEEK RENTAL (OVER $350.00). Stay away from crooks like this!!

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    Verified purchase
    Customer Service

    Reviewed Nov. 20, 2018

    Today's date, Nov. 20th, 2018, and on Oct. 21th, 2018 I booked a 15-passenger van, which was scheduled for pick up on Nov. 21st, 2018. So being my normal self, I called this location to ensure everything was good to go for a morning pickup or an early pick up. However, to my surprise the first response I get from the location is, "we are sold out!" I informed them I had booked this rental one month in advance to avoid this specific scenario. It's unbelievable they didn't even try to call me or let me know. I still don't understand how a company can do this to a customer. Of course, their only response was to call customer service. ARE YOU KIDDING ME... I have 14-people at my house waiting for our trip upstate in less than 24-hours... I knew I shouldn't have tried this One-Star location!!! Avoid if you can.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsPricePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 20, 2018

    I rented the car through Hotwire for one day @ $49. When I returned it, I was late for about an hour and a half. The rep. went outside to check the car in. She came back and immediately processed everything and printed the receipt without saying a single word to me. I looked at the bill to find out that I was charged about $110 which is more than double the original price! I asked her why?! She referred me to another rep. which she deducted about $17 for whatever she said about the mileages being under 70 miles. Then, I asked why the ~$93?! She said because I was late.

    How about the grace period, I asked? She said it's only 20 mins. Okay! So how much is it for an hour and a half? "No, we've to charge you for the whole day," she said! Alright then, can I have the car back since I'm paying for the whole day just because I WAS LATE FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF?! Nope! can't do that because we've already checked the car in! You see, two things that really pissed me off: First, I have been an Enterprise customer for years and have been late many times. They always charge me a little extra for the extra hour or two, but never for the whole day.

    Second, the first rep. did NOT discuss any extra charges with me to bring this issue to my attention BEFORE she charge my credit card with the extra charges that I'm NOT even aware of during checkout so I can make an informed decision and do not feel that I have been sneakily robbed! This is VERY unprofessional and honestly belittling to customers. Your first goal as a business owner is to make sure that your customers get the best deal and experience and to be honest and transparent in your dealings NOT to make sure that you take every single chance to rob them whenever possible then you pathetically respond with "it was in your contract" **. NEVER EVER Budget again even if the price were to be $1/day. ** this type of business model.

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    Customer ServiceCoverage

    Reviewed Nov. 19, 2018

    On April 6, 2018 we rented a car from Budget at Will Rogers World Airport. That night there was a hard freeze in Oklahoma and the windshield was covered with a thick layer of ice when we awoke. We defrosted the windshield and drove approximately 20 miles to Norman where our son was living. We parked the car and went inside to visit. After several hours, we went back outside to go to lunch, and noticed a large thin crack in the windshield had appeared while we were visiting with our son. We called Budget and reported the crack. They assured us there would be no charge as the crack was weather related.

    Upon returning the car on April 10, 2018, the inspector viewed the window and verified that there was no chip and there would be no charge as the crack was clearly caused by changes in temperature outside of our control. Imagine our surprise to get a letter several months later stating that we were going to be charged for the windshield damage. We called and explained the situation. They told us to put in a dispute giving the details and the assurances we had been given from Budget that we would not be charged. There was no answer to our dispute and a charge of $200 was put on our card. $175 for the windshield and a $25 service fee! We won't be renting from Budget again.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 15, 2018

    Rented a car for 4 days prior to arriving in Savannah at the airport. Approximately 119 x1 week plus taxes etc total 172. Upon arriving at the desk I said to the agent I wanted to keep it likely for the weekly rate which she proceeded to charge me for... Except she did not change the number of days which was from the 29th thru the 2nd. She told me if I was going to keep it for the full week just call that Friday. Meantime the credit card I gave her was breached and my bank closed the card for reasons just stated. Oddly enough the only place the card was used was for the car rental. My husband and I tried all weekend to reach the Budget at Savannah even calling customer service main number who gave us a back number to call and never being able to reach Budget!!! No answer the entire time we tried.

    So we went to the closest Budget at HH and the agent was exceptional! He called Savannah and they said I had to drive all the way there to solve the issue and the agent I rented from said she never said I could keep the car and to just call, she had put late return fees and up charges for not returning, then she said she admitted the weekly rate was the 119 with taxes etc for 172 but she couldn't do anything because it was third party rental, then she changed her story again saying I needed to return the car asap and would charge me only 272 with late fees!!! her story changed 3xs while on the phone. The HH agent admitted to us there had been several issues with Savannah and Charleston Budget and multiple complaints recently regarding charges for cars rented to customers. He suggested I drive to Savannah and resolve the issues directly with the agent I rented from.

    He also agreed after showing him my contract that the charge was for a weekly rental. Not 4 days. When I got to Savannah no attendant was at the hut to return the car and a handwritten sign was on the hut's window. If no attendant was present proceed inside to the counter. After waiting for ten minutes because I was so upset about these events I was greeted by a very nice young man from Budget who asked me to tell him what was wrong. He took me inside to Budget and said to only speak to Ms. Brenda.

    She proceeded to tell me this was out of her hands since the car rental was forwarded to "loss prevention"! Not one person I talked to from Budget from the 2nd thru the day I returned the car said anything about the car rental being handed over to loss prevention!!! She said the rental was closed out and gave me a bill for $495 approximately and said have a good day... Take it up with corporate. I had no recourse. I found it very odd and planned to call Budget corporate headquarters once after arriving home regarding this horrible, upsetting experience. We found it very odd my credit card was breached during this visit. Used three times for online purchases in Savannah for online XBox games and GrubHub delivery.

    My bank closed my credit card account on the 2nd. Immediately notified me of the charges and initiated a dispute regarding these charges which they knew I had not made! I arrived back home and suddenly a charge appears 6 days later in my banking account for $495 from Budget! The agent had handed me a bill and said take it up with corporate! But how odd Budget was able to charge my credit card 5 days later after my bank had closed the card. I certainly will be contacting Budget corporate and my bank regarding this incident and letting all know don't rent from this location.

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    Reviewed Nov. 12, 2018

    I booked a car by Budget 3 weeks ago, it was my first time booking. I paid 102 for two days, and I checked the same date and the same car in other car rental companies and I found much cheaper for 77.55$. I asked for a refund and they refused as the prepaid reservation you have to pay 50$ cancellation fee. Make sure not book by Budget as there are much cheaper companies to book from.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 6, 2018

    I rented a car for one month (which was my second month), but after about two weeks I bought a car and wanted to turn the rented car back. The person in the office said she cannot do anything because the booking was online, and gave the number of the customer service, the customer service person said this is the company policy not to do any refund for the online booking, and he cannot do anything to help?! And the reason for that, some people will use the one month discount then turn the car back. I told him clearly, it is ok not to refund the full amount and remove the discount was applied (still can have more than 150 $, as there are almost 2 weeks left), as I don’t need the car anymore and any refund would be good for me! But still not doing any help.

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    Punctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 5, 2018

    We booked with this company 1 month ago. We had to wait 1h before receiving our car. We get an economic despite we booked and paid a compact. We had to try 2 cars before being able to put our bags in it. They said we had to accept the economic or the booking would be cancelled. We left the car back 2 weeks later. It was clean and the agent told us everything was alright...but we just received a letter saying the car was full of sand and we owe $150. They made a mistake in the return date so it might even be another car of another booker.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 1, 2018

    My girlfriend hit some luggage on the freeway that ended up belonging to a renter from Budget. It took them over two weeks to even get them to do anything, and the person who represents Budget was so rude and condescending. In the end, Budget is refusing to take responsibility for the damages, so now we have to take them to court to get the damages repaired. I hope someone from Budget reads this and corrects Michelle's attitude. I have never been talked to so rudely by a so called professional, and my overall take away from having to deal with this company is that I will NEVER be a customer of theirs. I couldn't even get anyone on the phone to handle this and it took them two weeks to even respond to a voicemail, just to tell me to kick rocks.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 31, 2018

    I rented a vehicle from a Budget in Houston, Texas for a work meeting that I had to attend three hours away. I had rented before from the location twice and had one negative experience prior- but decided to give them another chance, as we all have “bad days” and they were the most affordable. When I picked up the car, it was not cleaned- appeared to have just come from a road trip and had a bad smell. I notified the rep and he advised that he would make a note so that I wouldn’t be charged for any smell damages to the car as he had noticed them too. I wasn’t exactly pleased but I had the car for one day so wasn’t trying to be very picky. I immediately drove the car home and parked it.

    This morning when I woke up to drive to my destination, it was running. When I turned on the windshield wipers they did not work (smearing and screeching on windshield). I turned off the windshield wipers and tried to spray with the windshield fluid to clear off the marks to find out that it did not have any windshield wiper fluid in the car. At this point, I became very frustrated as I was not able to drive the car in the rain. The office was not open yet so I could not call in to where I rented so I called corporate. I explained the issue that I was having with the car and the representative was very rude, stating there was nothing he could do. I asked why would Budget even allow a car that is not fully functional on their lot and explained the scent and how I could not drive the car in the rain.

    Again, he told me there was nothing he could do and when I asked to speak to a manager he simply told me “I am not calling a manager for this to speak to you.” To be frank, I was shocked. Usually with corporate companies, even if the manager gives the same feedback, a rep will call them to the line. I expected to not get refunded as that is the business but I did expect at least a good customer service experience (apology, discount off current rental due to problems). When I went to return the car, since I drove less than 75 miles in the car, there was a charge on my bill because I did not drive the car more than 75 miles away.

    Due to the poor customer service regarding the car and the rude behavior displayed by Budget corporate, I will definitely never rent at another location again. The behavior displayed was very unprofessional and when I notified the corporate rep that I would be posting a negative review about this experience, he simply stated “ok” so that shows the customer experience that they are comfortable providing. This experience has truly taught me that “you get what you pay for” and to utilize other companies in the future for this service.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsCoverageStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 26, 2018

    THEY SHOULD HAVE A ZERO STAR OPTION. I AM SURE I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO AGREES. I went to Fresno to rent a car to SFO in June. They gave me a Mitsubishi Lancer. I was on my way to SFO when the tire blew out on the 120 in Manteca. I called roadside assistance. They told me it would take them 1 hour to get someone to swap out the tires then I'd have to drive back to Modesto to get a different car. So I told them I can swap out the tire myself then go to Modesto Budget. I got to Modesto Budget. They inspected the car, gas, and everything. They cleared me, had me write an incident report, and gave me a Kia Soul. The rest of the trip went smoothly to SFO.

    Two and a half months later, in September, they called me saying I caused 3000 dollar of damages to the Lancer and that I declined their insurance coverage so I will have to pay out of pocket or file claim with my insurance. They sent me an email of the pictures of damages they are accusing me of. I told them I will not pay for something I did not do. They told me to get something in writing from the manager in Modesto stating that I did not do the damages and not responsible for it. So I called Modesto Budget, spoke to Ron. He said just dispute it and that he doesn't deal with claims.

    I called back and Natalie (the lady from claims department), asked me, "Why are you talking to Modesto Budget when it is San Fran Budget manager who is accusing you of these damages to the Lancer?" I told her, "I did not drive the Lancer to SF." She said, "Yes you did." I said. "No I did not. I intended to drive it to SF. But tire blew out, I got the car traded in Modesto. Drove a Kia Soul to SFO." I told her that I will not be paying for the damages because I did not do it. Also the pictures taken by them were dated as of AUGUST 29, TWO months AFTER I rented the car. Natalie threatened me saying that "Well... There will be a case charged against you. It will affect your credit." I said, "Ok. That's fine, because I rather pay money to fight this than to pay for something I did not do." She said, "Ok. I might as well forward this to our attorneys right now then."

    Later that day, I called my insurance. I told them the situation and what was said between me and Budget. I sent my adjuster my rental agreement and the email Budget sent me with their pictures of the "damages." Turns out... Budget's evidence did not align with the allegations that they were trying to pin on me. IN ADDITION TO THAT, THE MILEAGE THAT THEY SAID THE DAMAGES WERE CAUSED WERE AFTER I TURNED IN THE CAR!!! The case is now closed. Never would I ever rent from Budget or associated companies ever again. They tried to ruin my 8 years of clean driving record and trying to frame me. This is the very first time I ever rented a car and it was a total nightmare.

    TO BUDGET: Try other techniques to get money and not frame customers (and ruin their driving record) to try to get money! Also have more knowledgeable and polite customer services rep. If you guys hate your job, find another one. Don't be a **. To potential customers, avoid Budget at all cost. This will not be the last time they treat their customers this way. Do not let them try to suck money out of you. What a sad attempt this was. I am not the type to complain or write bad reviews. But I think this is the most worthy review I would ever write in my lifetime.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsPrice

    Reviewed Oct. 26, 2018

    I have rented a car from Albany NY to JFK Airport and was not told that they will be charging me "one way fee" of $200.00. Rent agreement was for $140, but when I dropped off the vehicle they charged me extra $200 for dropping off. I called customer service and they basically told me that I have signed the agreement and that next time I should read before I sign. Thanks for much Budget. I will never rent a car from you!

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 23, 2018

    This morning I reserved the rental from Budget Rent-A-Car for this weekend and within 30 min I have to cancel my reservation because of the sudden change in my travel plans. I did not modify the reservation because my new dates are unknown, and I know I won’t know my new dates before this weekend (when I am supposed to get my rental).

    Budget charged me $50 cancellation fee. I called their customer service and requested them to refund the fee as I cancelled the reservation within 30 min. The rep was not helpful and told me very rudely that you should have read the T&C before. I mentioned that "I read the T&C which is why I am called and requesting if you can make an exception and not charge me $50" but the rep continue to tell me it’s my fault and I should read the T&C first. I felt that I am treated like stupid and I will not get the refund because I messed up. I did not feel that I had a conversation with anyone or anyone at-least tried to hear me out, listen to my concern or request. I WILL NEVER RESERVE A CAR WITH BUDGET AGAIN. Worst experience with Budget Car Rental.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 19, 2018

    Worst car rental company EVER. Somehow their incompetent attendant who checked me in at the Phoenix airport failed to mark the car as returned, and I was told by their "customer service" that it showed that the car was returned two days later on October 12th. This is impossible as I was on the 6 AM flight out of PHX that day.

    They had the nerve to ask me to provide boarding passes. Are you kidding? I need to prove they are incompetent? NO way. Their check-in attendant in Phoenix also apparently failed to mark the car returned will a full tank, but it was 100% full. I told him I bought gas, and that the tank was 100% full. He checked and agreed. He also scanned the barcodes on the car, and assured me there were no additional charges. He said "you are good to go". I asked for a receipt for this rental, but he said "it will be emailed". It never arrived.

    I had to send my flight itinerary and gas receipts to try and get them to give me proper receipt to submit to my company for reimbursement. It still has not arrived, despite four calls to their "customer service". This company's customer service is a joke. How can they claim the car was turned in two days later when I turned the car in at 4 am, and left on a 6 AM flight? That is incompetent, and dangerous, as it makes it appear that I would turn in the car two days later, which I WOULD NEVER DO.

    It is embarrassing how bad that makes Budget look - and how dangerous that is to me as a renting customer. Imagine if I was charged with a crime (which I understand is the case in Arizona for keeping a rental more than three days beyond the drop off date!) Imagine the legal situation they would be facing if that happened. How can I ever trust that they will properly check the car back in? How can the check in process have failed so miserably on their end?

    Finally, this entire rental process with Budget was terrible, as I had to wait over an hour to get the car at the Tucson airport - and this was at FASTBREAK! There were not enough employees there, and it was disorganized. The car I requested was not available, and I was given a totally battered, joke of a substitute that stunk inside. We asked for something else, and finally one hour later we were able to leave. I have rented from Budget regularly for many years. But this entire experience has made me realize I can never trust Budget again. I have lost all faith in their business. This is absolutely terrible customer service - to a longstanding, regular customer/Fastbreak member. I would go elsewhere at all costs.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsCoveragePriceStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 16, 2018

    I will never rent a car from Budget again, They did not honor my reservation. I recently travel to Quito, Ecuador and I made a reservation with Budget. I included a Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI), and at the counter in Quito, that insurance appeared as medical insurance (which I asked to be removed). Although I present my reservation. The employee denied that I had included an SLI and tried to sell me one. I thought "I" made a mistake and accepted to buy it. I mentioned him "few times" that I needed only the third party protection (liability o SLI) because my American Express covers the rental car in case of a collision (LDW).

    At the end, the employee sold me the basic coverage that covers the vehicle (my Amex had that protection) for $25 Dlls per day, which raised my estimate cost from $319 to $598 Dlls. When I returned from my trip, I found out that I actually did requested an SLI in my original reservation. I also found out that the insurance the employee sold me was not a liability, but the collision that I already had with my AMEX. They also tried to charge me for extra miles when I reserved an unlimited miles car.

    I called Budget's customer support and their response was that I requested that insurance and that I was rude with the employee at the counter. Another concern was that the car was in really bad shape, not only the body, but the transmission which it could be dangerous when you try to enter a freeway a 45 kilometer per hour. I'm a frequent traveler and never encounter such a bad service. I feel I'm been cheated considering that my Spanish was limited to read the whole small, long witting agreement.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 15, 2018

    My sisters and I decided to rent a van we could all ride together to surprise our sister for her birthday. I have never rented a car before so all new to me. I picked van did my walk around like the guys told me to. Left in rain and picked my sisters and nieces up got on the road has we had 11/12 hours to drive. We want to have a day just spend with her. we drove in rain and fog. About 4:30 in morning I hit three raccoons instead of going in ditch. Keep in mind we are 700 from home. We stop to eat them check the damage which we then find the three tires are bald and the driver's back tire had wire showing 90% around the outside. We realize we were lucky we didn’t blow any tires.

    This was about 9:00 in morning I called I rented the van and I got, "I can’t help you." I asked, "Can I trade for a different van." Yep have to find a Budget rental. They couldn’t help me on that. So I called my brother he found one an hour and half to two hours away. I thought I am not driving on these tires and pressing our luck and farther so we knew there was a place 20 miles from where we were staying. The gentlemen there couldn’t believe they let this van leave the lot so that made all of us even more nervous to drive it anymore we Called the place in Fort Collins CO which he was again no help wouldn’t meet us in Cheyenne Wy where we needed to be to surprise our sister.

    Got roadside assistance and thanks to Haley she got it approved from the places I rented from but the gentlemens didn’t have any on hand and we needed to drive on the tires to Cheyenne which I couldn’t get ahold of Fargo to get the authorization information so I called Fort Collins’s Budget and the gentleman was rude asked me why I keep calling him because he can’t help me all I wanted was home to look I. My rental agreement and see if there was an authorized info for me and he blow up and said he wasn’t authorizing nothing. I hung up thought this was all bull...

    Stressed I tried the place I rented from and got through the gentleman and the shop we were at talked got information for me and we went found the place the tires got replaced. I was Kaye to surprise my sister and had to leave in between to pick up van and I thanked the guys who changed them and they also couldn’t believe they let the van on the road for a rental van. To end this rant it’s all about customer service treat your customers with respect. I will never rent from them again nor will my other family members. I even gave them my insurance in case I had to pay. I didn’t fill any accident papers out so we'll see l. Bad first time rental experience the things I learned. Don’t pre pay, check tires and inspect thoroughly and take insurance????

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Oct. 15, 2018

    Budget charged my credit card for a parking ticket associated with the rental car I had even though I have never been in the state. All attempts to get the charge reversed have failed. It is impossible to contact anyone with any authority. This company is an expert at giving the runaround. I provided copies of credit card statements and toll charges with the vehicle's license plates demonstrating that I was in California on the date of the ticket, but they still charged my credit card. I called and emailed about 10 different departments and was given different information each time. Even though supervisors indicated they would research and call me back, no return phone calls were ever received. DON'T RENT FROM Budget unless you enjoy frustration and poor customer service.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Oct. 14, 2018

    Recently I rented a car in the Kansas City Airport. This location doesn't prescribe to the national Budget/Avis 800 number customer service. God forbid you have a situation. I lost my keyless car key! You will not be found by the 800 call center for any customer type service help because this KC airport location is a franchise.

    No one told me to call the local number.

    Unfortunately I was put through HELL by the 800 national customer service number. Robots, script readers, put on hold, transfer, put back on hold, disconnected. I must have spoken to call centers around the world that day Oct 7, 2018. They had no idea what to tell me what to do. It wasn't in their search engine. Being hung up on an eternal hold. Frustrated me to a point I can't ever repeat. How could it not? I can't be the first to lose the car key in KC, Mo. Next time HERTZ in KC. Or Uber... it... $422.19 for New key? They found my credit card in a nanosecond. Renters BEWARE... DONE with Budget/Avis.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Oct. 12, 2018

    I rented a car at Pensacola Florida airport 9/30/18 and had prepaid the full amount. When I picked up the I was told there would be an additional $100.00 hold which would be refunded/released when I return the car on 10/6/18. I looked at my account on 9/30/18 and they had indeed debited my account $100.00. Today is 10/12/18 and I still don't have my $100.00 back. I called two days ago and they said they would expedite the payment. I called again today and they said they never "took" $100.0 that they just put a hold. He offered to start an investigation but I have to give my bank statement to prove they actually took the $100.00. DON'T EVER RENT FROM THIS COMPANY. THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF!!!

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 10, 2018

    If I can rate this location 0 then I would. Mez was nice but wasn't able to help. Told us to call their national line where they can easily make changes but we were sent back and forth by them. The girl that helped us doesn't seem to know anything. Made us pay for the winter tires which was an all season tires with a M+S symbol. Go to other rental places they might be more pricey but worth all the trouble that I have experienced. We had a much better experience with Avis across the street, only tried them cause it was cheaper but not worth it AT ALL. Will not come back especially not this location.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed Oct. 10, 2018

    I rented a car in Las Vegas for 2 days, I paid daily insurance. The battery broke down on the second day. After 5 times car stopped on the road, I called company and asked to replace it. They did. When I gave new car back I went out with a check for $ 147, the same price as at the beginning, at home I found out that $ 543 was removed from my credit card. After 3 weeks of calls and emails with the “Budget” company, they told me that the money was withdrawn for a tow truck, as they did not find a breakdown. How can I prove now that the car was broken? Crappy company - what else to say. Make sure you do not use their service.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Oct. 9, 2018

    I was completely robbed by these crooks. Picked up a car at Orlando Intl. but had to wait in line for over an hour to reach the counter. These guys were the only ones with a line a mile long. Upon looking at the charges it amounted to almost $200 to rent a car to drive to Tampa. I am underage and was expecting the $30 surcharge and also prepaid for gas. However, quoting me forty dollars when booking then asking for two hundred dollars is ridiculous. Not to mention the associate I had to deal with was completely oblivious to how unhappy and fed up I and every single person on line was. I would have rather dealt with a computer. I am never using Budget ever again.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 5, 2018

    There should be a "0 star" category. This company charged an additional $30 after the total car rental payment had been submitted. In addition, they placed a $100 charge as a hold for incidentals!! We are senior citizens and were treated as second class citizens by the customer service lady at the Fort Lauderdale airport.

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    Contract & TermsPrice

    Reviewed Oct. 5, 2018

    I've used several rental car companies may times before, so I am aware of the "extras" that can quickly add up. However, our experience with Budget Rent-A-Car at the Dublin Ireland Airport was "exceptional." I reserved a car using Budget online and received a quote of 292.85 euro. When we arrived at the counter we were presented with a contract that totaled 715.60 euro. Shocked at our new price, we asked the gentleman, James, behind the counter why our quote was so much less. He said he wasn't quite sure, but that if we wanted our car we would have to pay the 715 euro. He circled a few 800 numbers on the contract and suggested we call them for more information. We were told we could dispute the charges later if we wanted, but that the price was the price. As our entire trip relied on this car, we reluctantly paid the 715 euro.

    After, several months of working with Budget to "resolve" this issue (they "didn't receive" and "lost" documents), they decided they would not refund the difference in price. They acknowledged that I had a quote for 292, but decided they would stick with the price of 715, because, why not! I've used Budget to rent cars for years. They will never get another cent of my money.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Oct. 3, 2018

    I was told by customer service when placing a reservation that it was easier to pre-pay. I did and my money was taken immediately only to be told at the rental location that I was unable to get the vehicle because I didn't pass a credit check. A credit check was never mentioned previously. My money was only partially refunded and I have been told that it will take an additional 5-7 business days although it has already been a week. Customer service is incompetent and rude. It also took forever to speak to someone and nothing was resolved. Do not do business with them! I will NEVER refer anyone to them or speak positively about this company.

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    Punctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Oct. 3, 2018

    I have worked very hard to eliminate all debt and thus obtaining a zero credit score. When I was over $200K in consumer debt, I could rent from them. Now, they won't allow it. They took the money online just fine to reserve the vehicle, but then they do a credit check when you get there. A CREDIT CHECK AFTER YOU PAID FOR THE ENTIRE RENTAL! Of course I am not "credit worthy" because I am not trying to borrow money. I paid for it in full ahead of time. That was the whole point. Their competition has logical hoops (prove of employment and residency). I'm fine with that, but a credit check when I'm not using a credit device? Asinine!

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Oct. 2, 2018

    Budget never filed my insurance claim and charged me almost $700 for a windshield. They didn’t not reverse the charges and told me it takes 3-5 days to receive a itemized receipt to submit to my insurance company. This should have been done on their behalf, all insurance information was given on the day of return. They did not contact me regarding making a withdrawal and took my personal money. Customer service is incompetent and rude. It also took forever to speak to someone and nothing was resolved. Do not do business with them!

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    Customer ServiceOnline & AppStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 1, 2018

    My experience was horrible. My sister, her bestfriend and I booked a car online because their website specifically stated they accepted DEBIT cards AND credit cards. I needed a car due to my sister graduating in Florida Sept 22 2018. We get there, she takes my debit card & then says she can't use it because it's obviously not a cc so at that moment I was CONFUSED! I told her your website says u take debit & credit cards and she just looked at me then said, "yeah, if you can pass the credit check." So I was relieved and kindly gave her my ID & debit card again. I watched her SCAN MY DEBIT CARD, NOT MY ID, DIDN'T GIVE HER THE LAST 4 OF MY SOCIAL OR ANY INFORMATION, (ALSO SHE DIDN'T automatically pull it from anywhere because I didn't have to supply my social for booking the car) so she scan my debit card and handed it right back to me saying I didn't pass the credit check.

    I was livid. I'm 25, credit score 625 & didn't pass her "credit check". I had with me a 23 & 24 yr old & she wouldn't let them change it over saying they would have to book their own car, like separate transaction, totally got that part, but here's the killer, SHE WOULD HAVE TO CHECK TO SEE IF ANOTHER CAR WAS AVAILABLE, BECAUSE WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO USE THAT ONE. THEN because they were under 25 they needed a major credit card too. Okay, done deal.

    So as we're sit inside, googling another agency, she rudely tells us that we're loitering and she'll call and have our car towed if it continued to sit in her parking spot because after 15 mins they're legally able to have your car towed & we weren't conducting business. OVERALL A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT, graduate was unable to walk across stage from graduating in Florida and MY CAR WAS TOWED!!! $199 for no reason. I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND BUDGET/ AVIS CAR RENTAL TO ANY ONE!!! ADDRESS FOR THIS LOCATION?? 1803 Church St Nashville tn. Never again!!! Please do not waste your time!!!

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 30, 2018

    I rented a car in St. Petersburg FL the afternoon of August 30, 2018. I returned the car to the Clearwater International Airport at 6 am September 1, 2018. I looked at my bank account on September 25th only to find they took out $250! I called the St. Pete office where I rented it and the man said he couldn’t even find me in his system! I called back and spoke with someone else a few minutes later that found my name/confirmation number and he said they charged me for “dirt”. When I dropped it off at Clearwater nobody was working so the men in charge of all rentals told me to park the car and drop off the keys. I did. I received NO call or nothing in writing explaining why they were taking the money from me. The customer service manager is looking into it and needs proof from them to why they took out my money. I’m sure they have rented that car a few times since I dropped it off Sept 1st. I have filed fraud charges on that company. Renters beware!

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    Punctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Sept. 29, 2018

    I made an online reservation for a week rental two weeks before p/u. Then I got a confirmation # the day before reminding me that my car was reserved for me the next day. When I arrived they told me they didn't have any cars. What a big waste of time they are...

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Sept. 28, 2018

    I rented a car Sept 10th. Returned it sept 15th. They were suppose to refund my deposit of $100.00. It's been 15 days and 3 case number, 5 phone calls and still don't have my money. This company is a thief. People never rent from them. I will be posting and calling Better Business Bureau. I will not stop contacting everyone to make complaints until I get my money. Mad customer.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 28, 2018

    Horrible customer service, I was on the phone today trying to resolve an issue, and from 2 pm to 5 pm, I was disconnected 5 times in the first hour, then from 3 to 5 pm, every single customer service rep I had was rushed, talking too fast to understand, either disconnected me or transferred me to another department or back to the original department that had transferred me to them, and in between, I was disconnected another 3 times.

    Every transfer I was told was not the place I needed. At 5:08 pm PST, the last time I was transferred, the phone message was, "We are closed, but we can help you 24/7 online, fill out a form for customer service." That web page was not working so I went online to file a complaint and took 30 minutes to fill out the form only to get an error message, it didn't like my case number that they gave me. Unless, something changes drastically in this case, I am done forever with Budget and will leave this review at every possible place online I can. There is NO excuse to treat a repeat, long term or any customer like this.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsPrice

    Reviewed Sept. 25, 2018

    I was supposed to pick up a rental car on 9/22/18 at 3pm from San Luis Obispo Regional Airport. The personnel at the counter assigned me a car Nissan Versa and charged me $55.27 for 1 day rental and $200 holding amount to my Visa credit card. Then, she asked me to sign a Rental Agreement which I did. Instead of someone taking me to the car, she just gave me the keys to the car and asked me to go on my own to an unsecured parking lot (opened, no fence) with no attendant. Usually, I understand there would be someone checking the car with me for any dents or damages prior to driving off the car. In this case, no one was accompanying me.

    Even though I was in a hurry to drive off, my instinct told me to walk around the car and check before I board the car. Lo & behold, there is a huge, more the 1 ft. dent on the rear right hand side of the car which you may overlook unless you walk around the car. I didn’t go into the car and back away from the car. I walked back immediately to the sales counter, inside the airport and told her about the damaged. The sales person named Abby told me that she knew about the damaged and it was on my documents. So, I asked her where she mentioned about the existing damaged and she gave me a run around story. It was never mentioned at any place on the agreement. There was no check list, too. That’s when I asked for another car that I can rent and she said there’s none available.

    At that time, I decided to cancel my agreement contract and she said no problem and gave me a ‘No Charge’ agreement. However, Budget has already charged me $250 and Abby said she can’t help me but I need to call Budget Customer Service. Also, she just closed the counter and left. I found I could not rent another rental car because my credit card is on hold. I spent over 1/2 hour calling Budget and my credit card company from the airport. My credit card company can’t do anything unless Budget start the ball rolling. I ended up taking a taxi to my hotel which is about 30 miles away which cost me additional money. I just want to let fellow travelers know about the unethical methods that Budget would do and would like to put an alert for whoever is traveling to San Luis Obispo Regional Airport.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 21, 2018

    I rented a car in April and months later in August a $250 charge popped up on my credit card. When I called Budget to see what the charge was for they said it was a cleaning charge but couldn't give me any other information. The man on the phone was very rude and not helpful at all. I asked for pictures and explanation on what I did in 2 days that required so much cleaning that costed $250. I wanted proof and they couldn't give me any other explanation except for that I signed the contract and told me that I should have vacuumed and cleaned the car before returning it! So, make sure you get your rental detailed before returning it to them. I will NEVER do business with or refer Budget to anyone ever!

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 21, 2018

    I rented a Tahoe in Bellevue Wa drove the vehicle to Phoenix Az. Vacuumed the vehicle out and removed trash etc... Before returning vehicle to Budget. August 5, 2018. Then September 19, 2018 (50 days later) I happened to notice a credit card charge for $75 from Budget Rental Car. When I called to find out what the charge was for I was told mud on the floor. I am the type of person who believes in leaving things better than I get them and take pride in being clean. I usually do business with Enterprise car rental. But this time I was enticed by a rate that was slightly less than Enterprise. I will never do business with Budget again. 1) $75 cleaning fee unjustified. 2) Charge to credit card with no notice. 3) Customer service was horrible at pickup and drop off.

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    PricePunctuality & SpeedOnline & App

    Reviewed Sept. 20, 2018

    So I booked my car through the website airportrentals.com. For some reason this website does not include the age fees into the price they give you, so my total at booking was $255 for 4 days. When I came for a pick up my total was $366 which is a $100 dollar difference, and I asked why and the lady at the counter told me because of the BOND. I told her I called your company a few days ago and asked about it, she told me there is no bond for a credit card. And then she realised that was an age fee. I was shocked, because I had $345 on my credit, and I couldn’t take the car. I was not prepared for that, and the website gave me the wrong total. I was in the middle of nowhere without an opportunity to rent a car.

    People from Budget decided to help me, renting me out the car for three days and then extend it, when I figure out the situation with my credit. So I ended up paying $500 for Toyota Camry for 4 days. Just because I am 23, and no one can tell whose fault this is. They make you book the car for one price and take an advantage of your situation when you get there, and make you pay whatever they want, because you don't have a chance to try other services. (I got there very late night). So when you reserve a car, just double your rate right away, because they are going to find a way to add some random fees on you.

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    Reviewed Sept. 20, 2018

    Do not rent from this company. The website rates go up as soon as you confirm the reservation. Then when you show up the rates go up again 2 1/2 times the ORIGINAL rate for deposit purposes. Then you may not get the car you reserved like we did. We booked it 2 months in advance and still did not get what we reserved. How much more notice do they need?

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Sept. 20, 2018

    Beware!! If dropping off your car in Chicago on the weekend they close their inner city drop offs at noon (no one mentioned this when we picked the car up). Your choice is to bring it back Monday morning and pay over $200 extra. When we called to find an alternate drop off they twice sent us to a non existent location. Worst car rental experience ever! Guess that’s why they’re call Budget???

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 17, 2018

    Worst car rental experience EVER at this particular Budget office. Back to Enterprise we go. The car I was renting came in at 11:50am and the office closed at 12 noon. The Budget/Avis employees at this location were extremely lazy and did not clean the car AT ALL because they wanted to go home for the day. The car smells horribly, and the smell transfers to our clothing every time we use the car. The smell is either cow or horse poop. Not kidding here. We are guessing it was used on or near a farm? We called to secure a replacement vehicle, the 800 number is not helpful, nor are the lazy employees at Budget in Englewood.

    NEVER AGAIN. I would avoid this Budget Rental car location at all costs. I will not use Budget again, ever. Can't make this stuff up. Honestly, I would not have written negative reviews if they would have provided a replacement vehicle, as accidents happen. Unfortunately, their customer service both Corporate 800 number and at the Englewood location itself are no help in fixing the issue.

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    Reviewed Sept. 17, 2018

    I had to rent a car last minute at LAX. I was in a hurry, as I had to get to a meeting two hours away. The desk employee at the front told me the price I would be paying. Keep in mind this is on a Sunday and it's after Labor Day weekend. I also heard others complaining of the same thing. Well, I asked the employee what price I would be paying and he said $567. I checked my bank account this morning and they removed $631. I know it doesn't sound like a large difference, but it's more than what I was quoted. Now, when I return the vehicle I have to take this up with someone and I don't really have the time. Not only does Budget take advantage of you when it's last minute, but then they add on additional expenses without your consent. PLEASE, rent from another car rental company! There are a several out there that will take better care of their customers.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 17, 2018

    They lost cars in a flood apparently and they tried to downgrade us without telling us - and without taking money off. We specifically paid more money for a larger vehicle WEEKS in advance. We would have been totally understanding if they had called to explain ahead of time that they had problems with vehicles due to the recent floods. Nobody ever called or explained anything and just expected us to downgrade for the same price. We complained and got what we paid for/reserved but we had to wait an hour for them to find the vehicle. The employee literally wandered around the parking lot mindlessly for an hour.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 15, 2018

    The lady at the desk that work for Budget at 6721 E independence she is rude to customers and she is not to be trusted. When we rented a car last Saturday she was very rude to us and unprofessional. She was pushing us around like we work for her. She is not to trusted. I told her after she gave us the car that she did not check how much gas in the car. I told her it only had 3/8 in the tank so she said bring the car to her from the parking because she did not want to walk. After that she got in the car she recorded the fuel but she refused to tell me how much she recorded. I kept asking her to show me. I felt that she was very unprofessional. Please see that lady to be replaced by a better person. And on the day of the return she is closed and the website said it’s open. She did not leave any info on where to drop the car prior to our arrival.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsPriceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 15, 2018

    When picking up the car at the Fort Lauderdale airport, the agent asked if wanted the insurance, we declined. It wasn't until we found the receipt days later that we realized the insurance they charged us incorrectly almost tripled the cost of the vehicle (from $138 to $373)!!! When I called customer support to report the problem and ask for a refund, they said there is nothing they can do because we signed the contract. Seriously? As if anyone actually READS the contract!?! I trusted that what we told her was what was being charged. Won't make that mistake again. And won't be renting from Budget again...

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 14, 2018

    I rented and returned a vehicle to the Helena MT location of Budget. Realized when I got home that I had left my camera flash in console or on seat of the vehicle while removing all my luggage to leave. I called the office immediately and spoke to the desk attendant I checked in with (they have no lot attendant). He said he would go look for the flash and call me right back. I waited a day and then called back several more times over the next two days and spoke to two other agents who asked for all the same info about the rental etc. I finally called and connected to the original desk attendant who said he looked in the vehicle and did not see the item. He did not say when he looked. It was definitely left in there because I pulled it out of the vehicle console when gathering my bags to leave and would have put it in my carry on because of the battery.

    All the people I spoke to at Budget said they would call me back and none of them called me back. Someone else obviously had to clean/vacuum the vehicle and would be the person who would have found the camera flash. The people working at this location were not really interested in helping me find this lost item or maybe they just kept the flash. I know it was my mistake for leaving it in the vehicle, but I don’t think any effort was really made to investigate my lost item. It makes me feel ripped off and like I should never use Budget again. I also tried to file a report through the Budget website, filled out a long form and explanation, then it would not show the Helena MT on their location list and would not let me submit the report. Very poor customer service.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Sept. 14, 2018

    My drop-off was today for 2pm in Raleigh by Triangle Town Center Mall. There is a hurricane coming but not wanting to get charged for not fulfilling my obligation in my paperwork, I drove 45 mins from Henderson with the dad following me in the pouring rain and wind to drop it off. It was open online and some places are still open today so I went. There is no drop off box. I run in the rain to the doors because all the lights are on. The doors are locked. I leave the car (as it states in my paperwork, with a full tank) and the keys tucked away inside (as some locations allow you to do so and I know that because I drive their rentals very frequently and have been loyal to this company).

    I called to let them know it was returned and got some corporate office that answers all the random calls. I told the gentleman what happened and what I did and I was 30 mins away heading back to shelter before it hits here. He says I am liable for it and I should've dropped it off at the airport since this was closed. How am I to know that? I did not receive a call. There were several other rentals filling the spaces. I was told by him and his "manager" that I'm fully liable and must drive thru this storm AGAIN to go pick it back up. What if something happens to it under my possession now? I'm not even supposed to have it according to my paperwork. Ridiculous and terrible customer service.

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    Contract & TermsStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 13, 2018

    Waited 2.5 hours for a car in Boston on August 11, which had only a quarter tank despite the rental agreement stating it was full. Tires were bald and driver's seat was not adjustable so the driver had to recline to drive. Traded the car in Portland, Maine, on August 18 and was stopped by a policeman in New Hampshire who said the car's registration had been suspended because of an unpaid toll in Maine (which happened before we rented it) and it was not legal to drive.

    We were three hours from the nearest Budget, so we drove on to Montreal. Traded the second car for a third in Montreal on August 20. Clerk completed paperwork for a different car than she had told us to load our belongings into, so we ended up with a fourth car. Returned the car in Boston on August 26 and were charged for gas despite telling the clerk that we did not receive a full tank when we picked up the car initially. So far Budget has reimbursed us $8 for gas and $40 as a "courtesy."

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    PricePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 13, 2018

    I rented a car in Fort Myers Florida which was prepaid for at $277.83 on August 5, 2018 to be returned on August 11, 2018. The salesman at the counter offered me an upgrade. I asked, "How much?" He said $35.00. I said, "A day?" "Yep," he said. He even wrote down on a little piece of paper the number $35.00. Being late at night and tired from flying I signed the papers and little do I know I initialed $35.00 per day upgrade which now brought my car cost to $525.16. It was like buying a house with all the papers to sign so I stopped reading them, dumb on my part but I trusted him. What a mistake.

    The guy at the counter knew what he was doing and I fell right into it. I wouldn't rent a car from this company if they owned the last car in the entire world. Do yourself a favor, rent from any other car rental company but this one. They also are part of Avis, Payless. They got in financial trouble years ago and if they keep pulling crap like this it won't be long before they will be there again.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 12, 2018

    I was charged for gas for the car that I rented even though the car was returned with a full tank! The charge that they had on my credit card was for more than the rental itself. I didn't even get an email that I requested upon the return of the car for the final cost instead I seen the outrageous charge on my credit card. In order to get the charge taken off I had to send them a receipt of the gas that was put in just minutes before the return of the car. Is this how they screw people these days?!? If I hadn't checked my credit card charges which I am sure most people don't they would have made a killing off of my car rental.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 11, 2018

    For the second summer in a row I rented a car at Budget's Hanover MA store for my 6 week summer stay in Massachusetts and for the second time I was very impressed by the level of customer service I received from Joseph **, Agency Operator. This little store is extremely busy but managed to deal with me and the other customers with efficiency and respect. They gave me an upgrade at no extra cost and when I decided to stay an additional week, Joseph extended my rental at a very competitive price. The staff at this location made me feel they appreciated my business and Budget offered me excellent value.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Sept. 10, 2018

    Despite taking care when I booked the confirmation had the wrong collection time on it. I e-mailed and got no reply. The call took over half an hour for a 20 second conversation telling me it was my problem. They seemed to get perverse pleasure by fobbing me off telling me to call a European office who just bounced me back. They kept the deposit for weeks too.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsPrice

    Reviewed Sept. 8, 2018

    Highway Robbery at O'Hare - Reserved a car using American Airline Miles for a nine day visit. Got there at 1 a.m. after 1 seven hour storm delay in Atlanta. 40 people in line and one guy working. (I had been up for 25 hours at this point, coming from Europe.) Couldn't make my voucher work, promised it would be fixed by time I returned and put his phone number on the contract. Of course it wasn't fixed when I returned, manager took contract from me, did some stuff on a computer. And said it was fixed. Gave me a barely readable receipt. I had to catch my flight. Read paper when I got home, she changed NOTHING.

    They refuse to acknowledge that I shouldn't have even been charged for the rental except for taxes, AND they dinged me an extra $59 for gas--it WAS FULL WHEN RETURNED. Not to mention the Ford Fiesta was a complete piece of crap of a car with parts coming off at 15K miles. American Airlines has returned my miles and says they will complain for me--but reality is I paid $600 to drive a piece of crap for nine days. Would have been cheaper to Uber all during my visit. NEVER again will they be used by me or my family. Husband will never use Avis on business either.

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    Reviewed Sept. 7, 2018

    Car seats were dirty and stained. No other car in its class available. An upgrade vehicle smelled like smoke, combined with the deodorizer placed in it. A premium was not clean either. Rude manager!!!

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    Punctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Sept. 6, 2018

    Waited 45 minutes to get a car at Budget in Jacksonville. Took car out of garage and noticed that the gas gauge was 3/4 full. Took picture of odometer and gas gauge at the time I noticed the problem. Returned car and had to wait 15 minutes to check the car in. Figured for the hour I wasted I would submit a claim for the gas disparity. Budget saw no reason to reimburse me for the gas as their records indicated it was full. I was really going to go through all this trouble to get $14? Never experienced anything like this before; complete indifference about the inordinate wait and fuel issue. There are many other rent-a-car counters at JAX. Pick one, anyone; you'll be much better off.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 5, 2018

    Rented a car in West Yellowstone and asked if I could return it to Bozeman and would there be a charge. I was told there be no charge by three different agents only to have my card charged for $275 one way rental. Called customer service and it was a valid charge - of course it was. Should have read the reviews first - walk before you rent from these people.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Sept. 5, 2018

    August 1, 2018 picked up car at the rental desk at Frankfurt International Airport. They did not have the C class Mercedes I had booked, only an E Class - of course for more money. I agreed because the trip was with my 14 year old nephew (a car fanatic) and wanted something safe on the Autobahn. The process of standing in line took 45 minutes. To get the car itself took close to another 30 minutes. The car was located in the Budget/Avis area among many other black cars in the dark garage. It was packed in with other vehicles where you could only open the driver door, and was pulled in right up against the wall. It is not possible to walk around the car (or any of the cars for that matter) to check for damages. It was difficult to back the car out of the space due to the overcrowded pick up area - less than 20 feet between rows of sedans - and required two people to move the car out of the space.

    Upon return, you will notice the area is very bright, well-lit, and roomy for Budget/Avis employees to walk around the vehicle. As we unloaded the truck, the Budget employee lingered at the front passenger side undercarriage, near the ground effect panel. She pointed out an aged, and dirty rub that was clearly not fresh, barely visible, and noted it on her clipboard. When I challenged her, she said she was just doing her job and that I could take the damage report to the desk inside to dispute it.

    I explained how much care I took with the car - especially since I paid for the upgrade, but she insisted. Of course at an international airport very few people would have an extra hour to stand in the Avis/Budget line again to dispute. I took photos, made a statement on the report that I did not cause the damage and I have sent repeated messages to Budget Avis about the $315 damages charge. To no avail. Buyer beware. Seems like this set up and facility is by design to trap tourists. I am an Avis Preferred and Budget FastBreak member. Never again after this experience.

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    Reviewed Sept. 5, 2018

    I reserved a Crew Cab XLT Ford or similar pick-up truck. I arrived at Beaverton Oregon, location 10385 SW Canyon Rd, and saw a Ford XLT Crew Cab 4x4 on the lot. I was 4th in line, and the couple in front of me had the choice between a Chevy double cab pick-up, or the Ford F-150 XLT Crew Cab. The male employee gave the couple a choice between the two, and they chose the Ford F-150. I assumed they had another crew cab onsite, but wrong. First mistake I made was ordering online with Budget, You just don’t know what you’re going to get.

    I had 5 adults to go 500 miles round trip, and this is why I wanted the Crew Cab or "similar" size. My paperwork shows a Crew Cab model, with a picture of the Crew Cab Ford on it! They told me all 4 door full size trucks are the same with Budget. They said they will charge me for the rental if I don’t take the smaller cab version. I did not take the vehicle they had. I had to make different plans for labor day weekend unfortunately. To those of you who think I am being picky, trust me, try another rental car company. They may be slightly higher, but your blood pressure won’t be. Unhappy customer.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 5, 2018

    The CSR at the 800 number DO NOT know what they are doing. On two separate occasions I called and my mother called to verify no credit check was needed with a debit card as long as proof of flight was shown. BOTH reps advised NO CREDIT CHECK IS DONE! After a hectic flight with a sick 9 year old, a shuttle ride to the rental at Fort Lauderdale airport which is crazy, and a 30 minute wait in line for the car we were told... "I'M SORRY YOU DIDN'T PASS THE CREDIT CHECK," AFTER I ALREADY PAID! When the manager came over to address the situation he said the CSR inform people of the wrong information all the time but there was nothing he could do.

    After a 40 minute battle, my daughter so scared she broke out in hives, we had to get family to email the manager credit card information to put a hold on the car so we could take it. While doing all of this ANOTHER customer had the SAME EXACT ISSUE IN LINE! DO NOT TELL PEOPLE LIES TO GET CARS BOOKED! The manager said it's a daily thing that happens so SOMEONE needs to fix this issue! If we didn't have a relative from Florida to send the credit card information we would have absolutely been STRANDED at the airport. GET IT TOGETHER!

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsPricePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 5, 2018

    I reserved a car through my American Airlines credit card because it looked like a good deal. I arrived at the rental area on August 18 after a three hour flight and was told that since I was 9 minutes early I would have to pay a different rate (higher by about $100). I disagreed with that so the representative told me I would have to go to a different booth to talk to the supervisor on duty. So I went there and stood in line for about an hour. The supervisor told me that it was changed back to the original rate and gave me a car to drive. We returned the car to the airport with a full tank of gas and flew back home. I was looking at my credit card statement and saw that Budget was charging me an extra $50 than the amount I thought I was going to be charged.

    So I called the toll-free number and the representative told me that I was being charged for a tank of gas and would have to prove that I had filled up the tank by faxing copies of my credit card statement showing the gas charges. I faxed the credit card statements today and found that the representative had not given me a correct fax number. So I called the customer service line again and got another representative who gave me a fax number. I also asked him about the extra $28 charge and was told that since I used their EZ Pass for a toll going from Maryland to Virginia I would be charged $19 + 3 + the $6 toll for using their EZ Pass.

    When I asked where that information was in my agreement the representative got very hateful and just kept telling me that I should have read the agreement and basically that I was dumb for not seeing it. I kept telling him that I was not trying to be hateful but just wanted an explanation and he just kept getting more hateful. He then said very sarcastically "Have a nice day and thanks for calling Budget" and I asked him if he was terminating the call and he just said one more time "Thanks for calling Budget."

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    Staff

    Reviewed Sept. 3, 2018

    We rented 2 cars from Istanbul Airport (IST) in the 3rd week of August. We picked up 2 SUVs and one of them was a Peugeot 3008. We had just started our for about 80 kms and the car started giving us signals of overheating. We were stuck in the middle of the highway near Bursa for about 4 hours. The reason - Budget team did not service the car properly and did not fill in "Ad-Blue". The team did not even care to inform us that we need to fill this - although I am sure this should be part of their car service before it has been given to a customer.

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    James increased rating by 3 stars.
    Contract & TermsPrice
    After a positive interaction with Budget Car Rental, James increased their star rating on Sept. 6, 2018.

    Updated review: Sept. 6, 2018

    Budget came through with a credit of $44.90 after I wrote to their customer care. Budget made good on this transaction, but I shouldn't have had to go through this many channels to correct a simple mistake I made. Their telephone service staff needs more latitude in dealing with customers.

    Original Review: Sept. 2, 2018

    I’ve been a customer for at least 40 years. I made a prepaid reservation and neglected to check it thoroughly before I clicked “submit”. Turns out I gave the wrong return location. Sounded like an easy mistake to correct, and it was for nearly $44.90 for a two-day rental - a 50% increase in the original contract price. Thank you, Budget, for showing your true colors. Nothing like treating long-time customers in a spiteful manner.

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    Reviewed Sept. 1, 2018

    We rented a car in Ft Lauderdale Florida from Budget after comparative shopping. One of us is an attorney and the other a college professor so we pay attention to what we are told and read the contract. When our credit card bill came we discovered hidden fees that increased our bill by 30%!! NOT the bargain they publish. Go elsewhere. To Budget- buyers want to know what they are getting. Fool us once and never see us again. Be transparent with us and we'll come back as loyal customers.

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    Reviewed Aug. 31, 2018

    I prepaid for a car online with my Visa check card and it went through fine. When I went to pick up the car, they said that they had to put a $100 hold on my card, but could not take the card that I used for the reservation because it was a check card. Since I had no other card, I asked for a refund, but they withheld a $150 fee. I paid $150 for literally nothing! I never received a car. How is that anything else or other than theft?

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed Aug. 31, 2018

    I booked a rental car online for JFK pickup with Budget and I was charged the whole amount on my debit card. On reaching JFK after traveling whole night, I was shocked to see about 100 people in line at their office. There was a also a notice about using debit card - they needed proof of return journey. When my turn came the rep told me about, checking my credit history - since I didn’t own a credit card. I was not told this when I reserved the car. After standing for 2 hrs I was refused a car. There were many others who were refused because of the same reason. I just went next door and rented a car from National - it took me 10 Minutes to rent the car - the rate was high because I didn’t have advance reservation. But their customer service was excellent - they also gave me an upgrade to an SUV at no extra cost. Budget has lost a client for life. National/Alamo has gained one.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 29, 2018

    BUDGET (Fraud) CAR RENTAL: OMG what can I say. This is really annoying and horrible rental car services. Their customer representative are rude and don't have manner to speak with their customers. They don't have a proper internal communication for proper management and services to their customers. They charged me twice without my concern and they literally stole my money. While calling them stupid customer rep hanging on my face. Moreover, I am budget fast-break customers so they have my credit cards details and they literally charged me for not renting a vehicle. They are acting like a thief and that is not cool as a customer with my money. I think I should pull out my card information from stupid and fraud Budget Rent-A-Car.

    I will never ever ever ever recommend stupid Budget Rent-A-Car for anyone even my enemies. How come they literally charge people for the car rental they never pick up? This is not good for regular customers. One time they charged me for car rental after 3 months and asking for receipt that they charged me at that time. Moreover, they charged me for the gas after 3 months and asking for proof to fill out the gas. They are there in market to rip out people and steal their money. I strongly suggest that if someone wants to rent a car, pay $20 more and go to other rental agencies. I would not give this stupid agency even a start. We work hard to earn money and they just simply play with your cards and finance details and charge you without your consent.

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    PriceStaffProcess

    Reviewed Aug. 29, 2018

    They have competitive pricing, and the process is simple and clear to reserve online. I kept getting an error that my reservation was not processed and that my credit card number was invalid. Double checked my bank and there were no holds. Attempted 4 times to reserve and received the same error. Ended up speaking with a representative online who was able to process the reservation for my with the online price, but 'pay at counter'. I received confirmation, but noticed I had a second confirmation for one of my attempts online.

    I called to cancel and notified that I would be charged a $50 cancellation fee, even after explaining that it was due to an error on their end. The representative was able to work with me, but I am dissatisfied that their reps are not friendly when it comes to an issue that was from their system not working properly. You should never threaten your customer with added fees when it is CLEAR that the error was from the business and not the consumer. Disappointed in the process, it should not have been this difficult. Will use a different service next time.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 28, 2018

    I did a prepaid in Budget's website mind you I’ve been renting from these guys forever. First time I did the whole prepaid thing. Got them to get the car. The RUDE budget rep advise me it was going to be 100 additional to what I paid. I asked when did this start. She advised me smartly for as long as she has been working there. Never paid an additional deposit because I always pay at the counter. Called to get an explanation. Everybody rude. All my thousands of dollars I’ve given Budget I WILL NEVER AGAIN!!!! Lost a wonderful customer today.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 28, 2018

    This is the worst rental car place at this airport. I rented from 7/10/2018 through 8/24/2018. To check out my vehicle that I had reservation for it took 45 minutes. The people at the counter are so unorganized, I am a Fastbreak customer, it was not available either time I went to this location. I returned the car and was not able to get my receipt at that time, I was promised an email receipt. Here it is 5 days later, 2 calls to their customer service, I still do not have my receipt to close my account. The customer service are of no assistance, no one can make any decisions or take any action, and these are supervisors. This is the worst customer service I have experienced from any company. I would not recommend Budget to anyone, and I had used them many times before.

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    Verified purchase
    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 27, 2018

    Horrible customer service. I reserved a Jeep 5 weeks in advance at ORF international. On the reservation it said 2 door or 4 door. I needed the 4 door, so a couple business days after booking online I called the direct number to the counter to request the 4 door. But it transferred me to the Budget national phone line. I went ahead and made my request and they sent me an email to note my request. While I was on the phone with customer service she suggested I call the pickup counter directly to confirm they got my request. So I had her confirm the phone number. Gave them a couple more business days and tried again. And got transferred again. I go through all the bs again to make my request for the 4 door Jeep. Then he tells me he can see where I made the request before but would do it again. Had no answer about why you can't get through to the counter.

    He even put me on hold and tried himself and kept getting transferred. But he assured me they got my requests and everything is set. So I figured everything was good. The day I go to pick it up my flight was delayed about an hour and they didn't have my Jeep ready when I got there. They tell me it's in another lot across town and will take a minute to find. 20 minutes later the manager Derick ** tells me they are still trying to find it and as soon as they do they'll bring it over. I ask how long and he says 20 minutes or so. By this time I'm hungry and aggravated so I go to find some food in the airport while we wait. 25 minutes later we've eaten and are back at the counter. Then Derick tells me they don't even have a Jeep at all and the only thing he has is a Ford Explorer. I'm furious by this and after some debate with Derick apparently it's that or nothing.

    So finally I agree just so I could get to my destination before midnight. So I wait another 30 minutes for them to get it ready. Then make my way down to the parking garage to find it just to find it scratch up dented up and full of cigarette burns. I had the lady who gave me the keys come out to look and make notes of it. So by the time I'm ready to leave they have delayed me at least another hour and a half! And I'm in a ragged out vehicle for a week that's nothing like what I reserved!

    Fast forward to the following week after I'm back home. I call customer service to complain about my experience and inquire about an additional $6.79 that was charged to my card at drop off. They can't find any reason why I was charged and issued a refund. I make my case about my experience and then I'm told that because I pre-paid they can't give me any other compensation for my experience. So never pre-pay for a reservation cause your only going to whatever they have at that time regardless.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed Aug. 27, 2018

    We prepaid for our vehicle and despite that, a car in the class we requested was not available. I had to suggest that the guy call around to find the car in our class because instead he wanted to give us something MUCH larger (we paid for an SUV and he wanted to give us a Ford F150 truck or a small car). We were traveling with luggage and a child in a booster seat so neither were appropriate. We eventually got an SUV brought from another location but it delayed us considerably. When we returned the vehicle, it cost us much less than the prepaid amount but they don't return that to you which I think is horrible. It's made all the worse knowing I prepaid to save the hassle. We were travelling from Seattle, WA to San Francisco, CA.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Aug. 27, 2018

    We rented a car in Klamath Falls Oregon and it had scratches on it. The girl would not come out and document it. She refused then 2 months after we get a bill for over $300.00 for damages. This is terrible when the agency refuses to document that we did not make these scratches. They were on the car before we got it.

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    Reviewed Aug. 26, 2018

    Dear Avis-Budget car rental, you are negligent and abuse of your powers. You are charging me for damages I was not responsible for on your car. You sent me a moot document with no proof of what I am being charged for. When I contacted you to let you know no damages whatsoever occurred during my rental period, indicating that I am filing a complaint at the Better Business Bureau and specifically put in writing that I do not authorize you to charge my card, you went ahead and did just that in less than 24 hours. Who gives you the right to do that? This is abuse, I didn't damage your car. I want my $200 back because I never caused any damage.

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    Reviewed Aug. 24, 2018

    They may cheat you with car rental rewards. Please be sure to add the reservation in your account (Fastbreak) before returning the vehicle otherwise the rewards for your reservation will not be added. I was told that points can be added after reservation is over by one of the rental location associates but when I tried to do the same I was not able to. Customer support said this was my mistake and she didn't help me in adding those rewards for that one week of reservation. I am not sure what Budget is gaining from not adding these points later? I would request budget to add points for the expensive reservation I had with them and also make it possible to add rewards for past rental for other customers.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 22, 2018

    Dear Budget Rent a Car, Please allow me to share my experience with Budget's LAX location regarding my rental from August 09-12, confirmation number for a full size car. I booked this reservation through Costco, where I generally choose Enterprise because of their excellent customer service, but decided to try Budget Rent a Car. I flew in from Sarasota, FL for my mother’s funeral in Riverside, CA, set for Saturday. I had been working a full shift all the way up to leaving that Thursday morning at 3 am to fly to Los Angeles. The flight was very smooth and on time. I had set my reservation for 10 am just in case I was running late from the airport. The drive of the Budget shuttle was outstanding in her customer service skills and helpfulness. That part of the experience was outstanding.

    The trouble started when I stepped off the shuttle with fifteen other customers to see over a hundred people standing outside waiting. Like many other customers, we just thought this was the line for the shuttle to go back to the airport. I get off the bus with no one out there directing what was going on. I finally had to ask one of the attendants what was going on. I was told we had to pull a number and wait in the hot sun until we were called to get our rental car. There was no apology or acknowledgment from the other staff to acknowledge the inconvenience which was a first for me in many years working with other rental companies in our travels. I come from the hospitality industry working for Hilton Worldwide and understand overbooking to fill in cancellations to keep the counts up, but even working for a rental company in Las Vegas had we treated our customers in such a disgraceful manner.

    One hour and a half later my number was called to go the counter. The representative was very nice so when she had asked me if I wanted to take advantage of the manager’s special for an upgrade from full size to luxury I agreed at the final rate of $137 total for the upgrade to add on to my rental bill. The first car she gave me was a Volvo station wagon. I don’t know why she would think that one person with a carry on bag and traveling alone would want such a big car. It was not like I had any kids with me or extra bags to warrant this poor choice. I had to walk to the back of the lot into the D section to inspect the red Volvo family sedan which had a hole in the front the grill. I went back to the counter which was another 15 minutes wait and she apologized which was kind, so I gave her another chance. The representative then assigned me a Cadillac which was parked way back in the E section.

    I am now working on two and half hours of being at your facility very upset about the next thing to happen. I opened the car to find food inside the middle console and back seat. The car was dirty and obviously been sitting back there for a while. At this point I am tired and getting very upset, which it did not help that I was there for my mother’s funeral. There was no water until I had to go back to sit near the front where I guess everyone was to guess that the warm bottles of water was for us. Before this before I left the facility I discussed with the guard at the podium how upset about the car being dirty was. The guard at least offered to help by having the car cleaned, which added another half an hour on this incredible disturbing journey with Budget. This now marks three hours of standing in the hot sun just to get a car that I reserved two weeks prior.

    This wait would have been longer if I did not go look for the car to find if it was cleaned, which the attendant did not bother to alert me he was done. On top of that he parked another car behind me which I had to wait for another attendant to move it so I could at least get to my relative's house to rest. The rental took as long as it took me to fly from my connection in CLT to LAX. The experience with the car was not even as convenient as I thought. Someone set the seat to adjust to a low rider position that only a person maybe weighing 300 pounds and 6’4” would appreciate. I am 5’11, slender build and enjoy driving like an adult and not a cruiser on Whittier Blvd. This made this whole trip more work than expected, because every time I had to readjust the seat I had to reposition the side and rear view windows.

    I was only there in town for four days and this made my trip not worthy of ever recommending this location to anyone of my family members. When my Aunt had taken me back on Sunday because I decided the car needed to go back and I would just have them drop me at the airport on Monday, we pulled in and there was trash overflowing in the parking lot. The check in attendants were running so slow because there were 20 cars and only two of them to handle the check ins. At this point I went to the counter to speak to one of your lead clerks about my experience who seemed not concerned about my inconvenience or my disapproval of the upgrade fee which was $60 more then told previously. The return clerk (Yanira), told me that there was nothing she could do about the upgrade fee and she would credit me $40 for the car not being clean.

    I paid the upgrade fee on my personal charge card instead of our business American Express because to keep the cost separate because of the rate discussion. The upgrade fee ended up being more than the original fee for the rental of the car for a full size for the four days which I took the car back a day earlier. In closing I will say that I will never return to use your Budget location at LAX ever again and I will make sure my family, along with our friends never have to endure what I had to go through. The disregard of the representative at the counter upon the return of the vehicle made an already emotional trip, due to the loss of my mother, more upsetting then I have encountered in over 35 years of travel.

    The check out representative can thank herself for ruining an experience and empathy standard which she obviously has not learned or forgot to do the CBT training video on it, to warrant me to have to take time to write this complaint. If this representative worked for any of our establishments I can assure you she would be doing 40 hours of customer training and resolution training before she ever was allowed to deal with any of our customers. I will be submitting this letter also to our Costco Travel office for their records and to advise our other customers who use our Costco Travel what to expect if they visit the LAX Budget office. Very disappointed consumer.

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    Contract & TermsPunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Aug. 22, 2018

    Last May I went to Italy. I was heading South from Rome, so I rented a car from Avis-Budget at Fiumicino, here in the US, and prepaid the rental, noting a time I thought was close to the time I could be at the rental car desk in the airport. Well, my flight, on United Airlines, was late arriving in Rome, and then our luggage was delayed in arriving. By the time I made it through customs and to the Avis-Budget rental office at Fiumicino, I was 1 hour and 15 minutes later than I had noted on my original reservation. Because I was late, my prepaid reservation was canceled, and Avis-Budget had taken my money, and I had nothing to show for it.

    That kind of predatory business practice is just not right. It only seems right to me that rental car contracts should be written to allow for the fact that airlines often are late in getting to their destinations, and recognizing the fact that late arriving or lost luggage is often a problem. International flights are even more unpredictable. One has no control over how quickly one makes it through customs in a foreign country. I think it is just wrong for a multinational company like Avis-Budget to take a person's money and offer no benefit for the taking. A window of opportunity of 3.5 hours makes sense to me, and that is what should be clearly stated in the terms of Avis-Budget's prepaid rental agreements. Avis-Budget should not be taking advantage of its customers.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 22, 2018

    The Columbus airport operation seemed in disarray when I tried to pick up my rental from the Fast Break counter. The agent was running around trying to find cars for the 10 or so people in line at this supposed premier customer service desk where my car pick-up experience was to be quick and convenient. After about 30 minutes in line, I finally got to the window of the booth and was told that the category of vehicle I had reserved was unavailable and I would have to instead drive a gas-sucking V8 Nissan Titan pickup. Not a great experience at all, Budget!

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsPriceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 21, 2018

    At the counter, a girl ask me if I mind taking a Jeep instead of intermediate 2/4 door car that I had original booked because no vehicle is available. So I ask her if there's a upgrade charge and she actually respond "NO". But in the contract she type in the extra charge for $75 which I didn't see and I signed it. But what is worst is that they now charging me additional $241.00 for a chip on the windshield which it wasn't there when I return. Even the lady who checked the vehicle in say everything was good. This is the first time I rent from Budget and will be the last.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed Aug. 20, 2018

    I made a reservation for a rental car. When I got to the counter, they told me they had no vehicles for me except a specialty vehicle which was a $30/day upgrade. Be careful, they do not stand behind their reservations and they do not try to accommodate you in the scenario I was in. The employee at the counter told me that if I didn't want to pay for the upgrade, I would need to go to a different rental car company. I was at an airport, so there were a bunch together. I went to Hertz and they also did not have a full size rental car, but gave me a free upgrade to a small SUV. Regardless, since Budget put in a bad spot and I was at the counter, of course I got the highest rate which was $50 higher than the cost for my reservation that I had with Budget. I called Budget customer service and they had no solution to help me. Very, very unprofessional way to conduct business.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 16, 2018

    If you ever want to rent a car, stay away from Budget. I made a reservation with the Budget Car Rental office in Ocala Florida 1 WEEK ago, I went to pick up car today as reserved. The agent informed me that there were NO CARS available. This is a car rental business and they have no cars for people who reserved one? The agent told me he was expecting returns some time today and he would call me, SOME TIME TODAY, (10 hours later and still no call)... forget about being on a schedule. I made my reservation on Expedia and the agent said he couldn't call me because Expedia deletes phone numbers. I tried calling them a couple days before reservation date to confirm, but got a recording that "All agents busy helping other customers" and was put on hold for 30 minutes before I hung up.

    My email was visible on the reservation, if they didn't have cars he could have sent an email. They can take reservations, but they can't HOLD reservations, no offer to upgrade, no discount, nothing other than "oh, sorry". My vacation plans are disrupted, other reservations I made have to be postponed a week, friends disappointed. Budget just lost a customer, they have no conception of customer service or just don't care. From now on, when I rent a car, it will be from Enterprise or Hertz, Avis and Budget are affiliated with each other so forget Avis also. I give them a 1 star review, if I could give less I would, no recommendation from me.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Aug. 16, 2018

    Ok we were lied to. He said to, "Get gas from us," and we believed him. On top of the prepaid we were charged 193 so the basic car was 450 for 4 days. The prepaid is bull. They say it's coverage. Never again. Budget/Avis is terrible crooks.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Aug. 16, 2018

    I rented a car from Budget Rent-A-Car on Poydras in New Orleans Louisiana taking a trip to Columbus Ohio. They knew I had a 14hr drive. I was going home for good news and bad news. Nonetheless I'm on my way. I'm driving. I get to Mississippi. I hear a noise that sounds like a seat belt noise but I have my seat belt on so I noticed that a few lights was on when I looked at the dashboard. So I'm still driving though I call my dad. I tell him its lights on the dashboard keep flashing and something is making a seat belt noise. He say pull over. Read him what the dashboard say. I read it and took pictures as well. The lights was PSI driver's side. Read a number and so did the passenger side. So my dad said I need air so I went got air nearest place. Next the light comes on saying change oil soon.

    I kept driving then. By the time I got to Tennessee I needed more air in both front tires. Got more air. I'm back on the road again. I get to Kentucky. I need more air but it's almost too flat to drive so I call roadside assistance. They never came. They left me on side of road for 6 hours. I had to pay out of pocket for someone to come get me with a tow hitch to bring me and car the rest of the way to Ohio next morning. Ok Ohio puts me in another rental car. True indeed but I feel I should be refunded all my money back now. I have pictures and receipts and they don't feel like they should give me a full refund.

    Why not y'all put me in harm's way from the start of my trip. Yes I feel like I shouldn't have to take a loss. That's y'alls responsibility to make sure the maintenance on them cars is up to date before people rent them... All I want is my all my money back. The whole $370.32 in full. Y'all was wrong from the start putting me in a bad car that needed serviced before I got in the car. My whole experience with Budget has been so disappointing, unprofessional, unexplainable, unacceptable, upsetting. If I need to I will take this matter viral public whatever I have to do cause this is wrong!!! And I'm sure I can get millions to agree with me.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 15, 2018

    We rented a luxury car Mercedes Benz SUV. We had to walk to the car a good distance at time of the pick up, once we got to the car it was dirty in and out, missing rear windshield wiper, navi did not work due to missing map memory card message stated on the screen. We were tricked to buy an expensive insurance.

    Customer service agent said to get one in case of someone running a shopping cart and causing a dent. He said: "Be very very careful." No one inspected the car with us upon leaving their parking lot, no papers signed, no walk around the vehicle to identify any dents and believe me there were many. We are extremely disappointed. So much for renting a luxury vehicle. Shame!!!

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    Reviewed Aug. 15, 2018

    I got charged some made up 21.5% "Sales Tax" in Arkansas where the real tax is actually 10 or 11%. The pre-booked car wasn't ready and got charged a hidden $16 fee when handing the car back because they didn't ask to see my fuel receipt despite returning it full. What looked like a $60 car hire became $110 including their made up taxes. Other, better car hire companies are available.

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    PriceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 15, 2018

    I rented two vehicles from Budget for an extended family trip in Colorado. I wish I hadn't. First, the lines at Budget's Denver airport offices were long -- I waited 1.5 hours in line before getting my cars. Then, when I finally got to the Budget employee, it became clear that my initial reservation with Budget bore little resemblance to the deal I would be given. Budget rented me different cars from those I reserved and charged me a higher base rent for one of the cars. They also charged me a 30% higher "concession" fee than Budget had promised when I made my reservation on-line. Budget promised me two child safety seats in one of the cars but there were no seats provided. Budget charged me a $34.99/day "loss damage waiver" which I did not approve, and finally there is Budget's special fuel deal.

    The Budget employee told me that if I paid Budget for a full tank of gas now, then I would not have to fill up with gas when racing to the airport AND I would be reimbursed for any gas that was in the car when I dropped it off. Well, I paid Budget for a full tank of gas in both cars but have now been told that I will receive no reimbursement for gas in the car at drop off. When I complained, I was actually told that I am expected to drop the cars off with no gas in the tank. Now that's a tricky proposition!

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 14, 2018

    Communicating with Budget Car Rental was a nightmare. From the time we began our rental at the airport in St. Louis on June 12, 2018 and were confused by the instruction to take the gray car when it was actually a black one and left our two suitcases in the parking lot, our ability to communicate with Avis by phone or internet were impossible. We arrived at our destination in Nauvoo, ILL, 3 hours away and discovered we had left our luggage in the parking lot in St. Louis. I attempted every form of communication to confirm that our luggage was accounted for and failed. I found no means to talk to anyone. I did file a report to inform Budget of the loss. The next morning, I left Nauvoo at 6:00 a.m. and drove to the airport in St. Louis. The people at the front desk were busy, but another employee was willing to help, found my luggage in the back room, handed it over to me and I returned to Nauvoo by noon.

    I soon began receiving an automated email from Avis indicating they still have not found my luggage. The same email has continued to come to me at least twice a week for 2 months with the following report, "Unfortunately your Lost Item (Tracking Number **) has not been located. We will continue to monitor for your lost item. You can also go to Avis.com and click in the Lost & Found tab to view the latest status of your claim. Sincerely, The Avis Budget Group." I just want to stop receiving these notices. I have my luggage. The email address attached to the email interestingly is "noreply@avisbudget.com". Sad service.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 12, 2018

    Reserved an small economic care (4 door Ford Focus or similar), driving to Wisconsin, wanted great gas economy, but when I went to pick up the vehicle I was giving a Nissan Titan V8 which more than tripled my gas expenses. The person working the rental at the Mississippi location in Aurora CO was not friendly or helpful. When I asked where the car was he just pointed to the door and said maybe 100 yards that way. Didn't even tell me what color the truck was. Upon returning the truck to Milwaukee, after hours, I was charged $1235. I called and Budget stated that Milwaukee had not yet checked in the rental. I dropped the rental off on 8/4/2018 and Milwaukee didn't not check the rental in until 8/12/2018. Also on 8/12/2018 I was finally reimbursed the $1235 that I was unethically charged. Will never recommend this company to a single person not even my worst nightmare.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Aug. 11, 2018

    Rented a car from Budget, Denver Int. Airport and the vehicle had 4 horrible tires. 2 so bad that the threads were coming through. Turned the vehicle in and complained and was told by their employee that she had been hearing this complaint for days from other renters!! We drove 450 miles with 4 bad tires on mountain roads with no guard rails and we could have been killed!! Called Budget and was told no manager was available but they would call me back in 48 hours. CRICKETS. No callback. I am pursuing this further as I don't want to see anyone get injured from these unsafe rental vehicles.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 10, 2018

    I was charged over $60 from the original base rate of $175.20. As a courtesy, I called to modify the pickup and return times to by a couple hours each to be precisely the time instead of the standard 12 pm. After not being able to adjust times on the Budget website, I called and spoke with a Budget representative who gladly changed the times but never mentioned it would change the base rate. Furthermore, there was never any notice of a rate change whatsoever during my failed attempts to adjust the pickup/return times on their website. Lastly, to add insult to injury, the up-charged car I received looked like a wreck literally. It had a very sizeable dent in the passenger door and had severe hail damage over the entire car. Also, the inside of the windshield was so dirty that it was hard to see out of when the sun was low on the horizon.

    I felt the change of the base rate was a deceptive practice because when I learned of it when picking up the car, there was no recourse for me to just cancel my reservation without an absurd cancellation fee. Secondly, the car I paid too much for was embarrassing to drive as it looked like it was not maintained. I came away with my experience at Budget with the feeling of being totally ripped-off. At this point, Budget will not be my first choice when I need to rent a car.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 6, 2018

    Picked up a car, gave me a Ford Ecosport. It had a need service, need oil, light on worse part then sunroof is bad. Does not close right so air and noise all day. We took it right back in. They said, "Oh that means we just serviced light will go away." We also complain it is very small inside, seat belts too short and my 6 foot nephew can't fit in it. I'm 5'5" and touch to roof. They said, "Come back tomorrow. We will change it. Call direct number provided."

    Today I call. It is Avis in Mexico. They can't help me. Then I call again, get someone in Cali. They can't help but try to tell me this is a mid car. So I should be happy I got a bad car but it's mid size. So I ask for a supervisor I get James he tries to tell me I am lucky I got a mid car. So I say give me my compact that has more room than this one and this needs maintenance. Also they did not seem to care so now I guess we'll take it to Budget. They can change it. I ask to make sure they reserve a car so I don't have to get another runaround but he says, "No just go in." They should have something funny. Yesterday I never left the airport and they claim they had nothing. Well we'll come back later and tell you what happens once I get to the airport.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 6, 2018

    I made a car rental reservation with Budget Car Rental at the Omaha NE airport, listing that my flight arrived at 11:45 pm. The counter, offsite location and kiosk all close by 9 pm. No answer at the customer service number. My family and I found ourselves stranded at midnight in a car rental parking lot in the middle of a trip. Why do they take reservations they have no intention of fulfilling? I had to use another car rental agency, pay more, but at least they fulfilled the service of providing a rental car. The agency I switched to said they get complaints and business from disgruntled Budget customers regularly about this issue. If this is how they treat customers, Budget won’t be in business much longer.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 3, 2018

    I rented a car through Costco that went to Budget for 8 days at LAX in May 2018. When I got to the airport to pick up the car, I was asked about extras, specifically towing, Insurance and liability. With each question I verbally said no and the representative then said to initial on the signature pad which I did. I assume that what I was signing was correlation to my verbal no. However, to my surprise when I received my bill when I returned the car, there was an extra $353.45 in charges for these unwanted extras.

    The representative obviously knew what he was doing by charging these fees even though I said no to each question. When I called Budget, they told me they would give me a 25% discount for my troubles. I said no, so they offered 50% discount. They told me no again. When I asked to speak to a supervisor, they hung up on me. Upon calling back again, the supervisor told me I had signed the form and it was legally binding. I turned the problem over to my Visa company who were not able to get any relief for me either. What Budget did was totally dishonest and unethical.

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    Customer ServicePricePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 3, 2018

    Made reservation over 2 weeks ago, when I went to go pick up my truck the truck I reserved wasn't ready. They said they will have to call around to see when they can provide a truck for the reservation. Manager called 2 hours later and didn't have anything to offer. After all his day wasn't messed up at all. By this time I was able to contact U-Haul and get what I needed. Cost about $100 dollars more but U-Haul went over the top to try and help fix the problem. I feel like customer service manager would have done something to help for the inconvenience from their mistake.

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingPriceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 3, 2018

    BEWARE - Budget Car Rental intentional charge extra and afterwards lies about it – even when documented to them – don’t use Budget Car Rental. It’s a scam business on all levels. I prepaid USD 787.16 and Budget Car Rental afterwards charge me USD +111.97 extra and even I got less than what prepaid. Budget Car Rental at the counter plus their customer service have seen my Budget Car Rental prepaid receipt on two child chairs. Budget claims I just prepaid for one chair though documented on their receipt I prepaid for two. The lady at the counter said I should write customer service if any complaints and done so and customer service claims the same even when shown them the prepaid receipt with two chairs prepaid, why they documented charge and steals USD +91 too much.

    In addition Budget Car Rental charge me for an upgrade I never accepted and according to their own webpage I even got a cheaper car class than the one prepaid so actually Budget Car Rental downgraded me and again steals my money via getting a cheaper service than the one prepaid. When customer service is shown the receipt they explains away against what is documented on my receipt and their own webpage and simply just lies about it and neglect the fact. Plus, also first at picking up the car Budget Car Rental tried to give me a too small car like a VW Golf class and I had prepaid a SUV class.

    Luckily, I have used a credit card why I got the bank to repay the money to my account as the bank looks at the facts documented to the bank in contrary to Budget Car Rental that just steal, lies about facts and just choose look the other way. Budget Car Rental is a scam business in all levels in the customer process – don’t ever use them. This can't just be the employees on the floor, this must go to the top when it is all their employees trying to scam you, hence one must believe their managers instruct the employees to steals customer's money.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Aug. 3, 2018

    My daughter and I both, reserved and prepaid for vans for a family trip to Niagara Falls on 7-28-2018 for 8 am. We arrived just a little before 8 am and there was no vehicles. The worker called and they said our vehicles will be there before 9. No problem we waited. 9 goes by then 10 goes by still no vehicles. As we are waiting we watch other people come in for the same thing. They say the same thing we did, "why would you let us reserve a van was there are none available?" Now it's 11 am still no vans. Mind you we had rented a house in Niagara Falls that is NOT REFUNDABLE.

    Finally 11:30 my daughter calls the 800 number and they tell us to go to our bank so they send them a fax to refund our money. We go to the bank and call them and another person tells us there is NO such thing. Finally at 1:00 pm there is nothing we can do, we just ain't getting our vehicles we prepaid for. So much time and money was spent on this weekend. They was like 24 of us going. Some of us took that weekend off from work to enjoy the falls. All they can say is SORRY...WELL SORRY IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. As of right now they still haven't refunded me my money back for the rental. My daughter received her refund on Tuesday July 31.

    They are telling me I will get mine back in 2 installments... The first installment will be between August 3 through the 7th. Then the second instalment will be another 3-6 business days. ARE YOU SERIOUS. You took my money in a quick of the mouse and now I have to wait for 2 weeks for my refund??? I am so pissed off and disappointed. Been trying to contacted them by e-mail since 7-28 2018, still no response. Wasted so much on a trip we never got to take all because BUDGET doesn't do better inventory on their vehicles... So mad and pissed off.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed July 31, 2018

    I am totally disgusted with Budget at this time. I was charged $79.04 for fuel service when we took the time at 4:30 in the morning, before going to the Orlando airport, to fill up the tank. Now, because some incompetent employee did not even check the fuel level and I can't produce a receipt, because my husband paid cash and lost the receipt, I'm penalized. Budget is horrible and I'll make sure to spread the word. I paid $85.00 for my group to get a ride from the pier to the Miami Airport Budget rental place, because Budget didn't provide a pick up. Although, the gentleman who helped me at the pick up counter was accommodating, I waited on a ridiculous line for more than an hour and didn't get the vehicle I reserved way in advance, but ended up with a pick up truck that was a gas guzzler, because that's all they had. Then they had the audacity to call me a liar and say I didn't fill up the tank and charged me $79.04.

    I work hard as a school teacher and have no reason to lie or go through all of this. It's the principle of the whole matter and $79.04 is a lot of money to throw away. In the long run I learned a few lessons, number one never do business with Budget, if I can ever help it. Budget needs to check their procedures and correct somethings, at least at the Budget in Orlando International Airport, like the long wait for pick ups and at the drop off the employee needs to go in the vehicle and check the fuel gauge. You can't just scan a barcode in the front of the car and know if the tank is full or not, that's all I saw him do. I'm racing to catch a flight, I shouldn't have to be concerned with that at that moment. I'm also still waiting for a manager to return my call. I'm glad I didn't hold my breath.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed July 31, 2018

    On 7/26/18 I rented a truck from Budget to move a Summer program out of the school and into storage. I typically rent from U-Haul because I'm usually am doing both summer programs and the U-Haul rental is close to one of the program. Since I was only moving one on July 26, I pick a Budget because it was closer to that program and the Storage unit. When I got to Budget I told them I was tax exempt, the lady said that on truck rentals they did not have an area on the computer to enter the tax exempt number, only on car rental were they able to enter tax exempt. She then told me that all I would have to do is call customer service on Monday, explain that I was tax exempt and they would return my tax to me.

    So I called customer service this morning and spoke with Mike, Crystal and finally Adrian, who claimed to be the highest that I could go. Adrian was extremely nasty and told me "You are not getting your tax back and that is that". I explain that her representative said that there would be no problem in getting my tax back before I signed the rental agreement. Adrian said that she did not care what I was told, that because of new laws they are unable to tell if I'm approved to be tax exempt for buy a burger or renting a truck and since most tax exempt do not include renting a truck, I would not be getting my tax back. I asked her if she could send me a statement that I was misinformed by her representative and she said that she would not. I have not encountered such rude, nasty and unprofessional customer service. We will not be doing business with Budget moving forward!

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed July 31, 2018

    I made a reservation on last Tuesday July 24th and I used the prepay option because it was saving me money by not having to pay at the counter. I get to the counter. Everything was fine until it was time to pay a $100 deposit which I was fine with. I give them a card to do so and because I’m using a debit card instead of a credit card to pay for the deposit they have to do a credit check in order for me to use it. No one told me beforehand swiping my card that there would be a credit check so it got declined but only because I have a freeze on my credit so it has to be unlocked before anyone can pull my credit. If I would of been told about their “policy” I would have made sure everything was in order before they swiped my card.

    On top of I never gave them my Social so I still don’t understand how swiping my debit card gives them access to my credit report and never got a straight answer on that either. They told me I couldn’t rent a vehicle with them because of this denial. After trying to explain to them about the freeze I was told that it wouldn’t matter with me unlocking it and then running it again now because it was already processed and it’s their company policy once they get a denial not to rent a vehicle to that person. I thought this was the craziest thing ever and instead of arguing with the guy I asked how to get my money back so I could try to go elsewhere. He gave me the 1-800 number to call, I called them and was given the information that it would take 24 to 48 hrs to get my money refunded and it had to be broken up into two payments which I didn’t get either but at this point it doesn’t matter. I just wanted to be done with them.

    I waited the 24 hrs for the first payment. It never came so I gave them a callback and was told that I would have to wait 48 hrs to see the first refund and another 24 hrs to see the second refund. So again, I waited the next day and still nothing showing pending on my account so I give them a call back only to be told that it would take 3 to 5 business days before I see anything and that’s after the cancellation date. This was my first time using Budget and I promise my last!! I normally use Hertz but because they were sold out my only option available to me was Budget. I’m asking for the full payment of my rental to be reimbursed to me as soon as possible. I have been more than patient with this company and I’m tired of getting the runaround.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed July 30, 2018

    We rented a car July 26, 2018 @1:40pm to July 31, 2018 @ 12:00pm. We returned the car early on July 30, 2018 @ 10:30 am. We prepaid for our rental. At pick up the car was just brought in clerk. Took less than 10 minutes to clean it, leaving dog hair and dog smell on car. At pick up I asked if we returned early if we would be refunded the $$. Clerk said, "Yes." At time of pick up car was on 3/4 tank of gasoline. We returned car on July 30, 2018 @ 10:30 am. With a full tank of gasoline. Clerk said she would have manager call me when he came in between noon and 2 pm.

    At 5:30 I called them. He said because it was prepaid they don't refund. And they don't refund gasoline either. He said the clerk did not know it was a prepaid reservation. I am sure it says that on the computer screen. After picking up car I got to the Target store traffic light and the change oil light came on. I called the 1-800 # to let them know. Before we hit the highway the washer fluid light came on. I have called the National Budget # and complained, I am waiting on a supervisor to return my call.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed July 30, 2018

    I rented a car to be picked up at El Paso airport. I reserved a Kia Soul or similar vehicle on my reservation. I was told by the desk clerk, a Toyota Yaris was the same size... Uhhhhh no. She would not budge and this is the car I was given. 2 miles from the airport, an airbag malfunction sensor is blinking. I call the desk and tell them this and I am told to call the "breakdown" number.

    Even though this seems ineffective as I am so close to the pickup point, I comply to my instructions and call the breakdown number. No one answers that number and the voice mail is not established to accept messages. I then drive 60 miles to my destination wondering if the airbags will deploy if needed or unexpectedly. I call the maintenance number again next day, am told, "it's probably just a sensor, I am driving and will have to call you back." "You can go back to the airport if you want to." Uh... no... Needless to say, no one ever replaced my vehicle or even looked at it. I will never rent from this company again. I would advise you avoid them as well, obviously they have no concern for your health or well being when driving their vehicles. I expect a response from this company.

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    Reviewed July 30, 2018

    Beginning of rental: waited a long time in line for a pre-reserved pre-paid vehicle. During rental: when I was driving my vehicle an indicator comes on saying that it needs an oil change. This is approx about 72 hours after picking the car up and driving 200-300 miles (Salt Lake City, UT to Jackson, WY). I should not have to see such things on such a short rental term nor be worried about needing any roadside assistance. I spent about 35 min on hold (while driving) to chat with "emergency roadside assistance" about this. During driving the vehicle I pulled over to a campsite to stop at a bathroom and went through a pothole (driving slowly - less than 10 mph). The pothole is by definition lack of road-maintenance at the campsite road - I was not "offroad".

    End of rental: During return the lady complained about mud on the vehicle and about a possible fine from it and that off-roading is not allowed. This is presumably from the pothole. Now, I find a bill for $25 on my credit card from them and haven't found out what it is for, but I suspect mud. I left a few napkins and receipts in the passenger seat, could the $25 fee be from that? Conclusion: bad/negative experience: 1) bad waiting for car, 2) bad experience during driving, 3) bad experience in drop-off. Recommendation: avoid and do not use Budget. Honestly, they should be called "no budget" reflecting their apparent desire to bill you for every little thing.

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    PriceStaff

    Reviewed July 26, 2018

    I rented a car from Budget in Madeira for 29 days and asked about an additional driver for the 5 days my wife would join me. I was given a price, which I considered high, and a form to fill in with her driver's license information if we decided to use this option. I never agreed to this option, nor returned the paper with my wife's info. At the end of the rental period, I returned the car clean and full of gasoline. After inspecting it, the agent said everything was fine and my contract was closed.

    Three days later, I checked my bank account to find that 116 euros had been charged for additional services and when I phoned to ask them about it, they claimed it was for an additional driver and Roadside Assistance, which they claimed I had asked for and accepted. That is simply not true. Despite my complaints, including going to the ECRCS (European Car Rental Conciliation Service), they refuse to refund these charges for additional services which I never asked for nor accepted. I have disputed the charge with my credit card company as well and it remains to be seen if I fare better with them. I will not use Budget nor Avis again, but they will most likely get their 116 euros, at the cost of one customer. I have had problems when hiring rental cars in Madeira in the past; the place is beautiful, but the car renters are shameless.

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    PriceStaff

    Reviewed July 25, 2018

    Saturday, July 21 at noon was my first experience renting from Budget. Confirmation **. Someone needs to make it right on my credit card. Why did I and 25 others have to stand in line (for me it was 2 FULL HOURS) to get our PRE-RESERVED cars? Did a supervisor not see the volume of business coming? Obviously not and did not staff appropriately. What a way to treat customers. No explanation. No apology. No discount. The other rental agencies were getting a good laugh. From what I could gather, This seems to happen a lot at Budget/Avis. Some people bailed and paid more just to get out of there. Those of us who booked because we needed the lower price paid more by paying with our time and inconvenience. I will post again something positive if there is a credit issued to me. Stay tuned.

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    PricePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed July 25, 2018

    Really disappointed in Budget car rentals... They offered me a 30% off coupon. However when it was applied the base rental price jumped from 192 up to 251. Some discount plan they have. If I hadn’t been in a rush I would have went with another company. Will however be the last time I rent from Budget Car rental... To add to I ended up having to change my pick up time by a couple of hours later in the day. They charged me 26.00 to do so. Claiming their prices change minute by minute. NEVER AGAIN will I use Budget Car Rental. The only reason they get 1 star is I have no option for 0.

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    Contract & Terms

    Reviewed July 25, 2018

    I rented a truck from Budget in Warwick RI and was never told that an EZ pass was in the truck or how to turn it on or off. I subsequently paid all of the tolls in cash and did not get receipts because I did not need them for my records. However, Budget charged me $56.50 for tolls that I already paid and would not reimbursed me since I had paid them in cash and had no proof. I was told it was in the agreement, I should have read it!!! I believe that the associate at the location should have told me about the ez pass and also showed me how to turn it off and on. I would never recommend this company to anyone.

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    Staff

    Reviewed July 23, 2018

    I am writing this in regards to my experience with Budget rentals. My daughter rented a 2018 Ford Flex from Budget, as she was driving back through Kansas City, the window pillar on the driver's side blew off. It was not from any damage on her part, just a faulty window pillar. She was honest with them and explained that it had blew off while she was driving. So now they have sent her a bill of 240 dollars for this window pillar. I called Ford and they said this was common on some Ford products. Also if the windshield had been replaced, someone may have not attached it correctly. I have rented numerous cars from Budget, this is nothing more than having a consumer pay for their parts for their rentals that could not have been prevented.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed July 22, 2018

    Seems as if no one cares about what I had to go through. I reserved a car online and was able to make and pay for a reservation. Went to Budget where there was a really long line with only 2 workers. I stood in line for almost 2 hours just for the rep Curtis to tell me they were sold out and I wouldn't have transportation! How unprofessional and why was I able to book online without them having no cars??? Also calling customer service wasn't better! They just transfer and don't offer any type of compensation. How would you like it if you were left stranded??? Then I have to wait 7 days for a refund? Wow! This was my first time using Budget and will be my last!

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    Staff

    Reviewed July 21, 2018

    Needed a FULL SIZE pick up to move my son home from college. Reserved a FULL SIZE truck from Budget - they advertised an F150 XLT Crew Cab or COMPARABLE. I realized maybe I would not get an F150 - but at least a FULL SIZE truck - Chevy - GMC - Nisson Titan - Toyota Tundra - didn't matter. Made the reservation weeks in advance. Confirmed the reservation. Tried calling the rental location at least 10 times on the day of the reservation to confirm they had the truck but was only given a recorded message that my reservation was ready to go.

    So I drive to the location to pick up the FULL SIZE truck I reserved and the lady behind the counter proceeds to hand me the keys to a Nissan Frontier. I almost busted an artery. She said they were comparable. I asked her in what world was an F150 XLT Crew Cab the same as a Nissan Frontier? Needless to say she probably does not know the difference and could only repeat Budget line that they were the same. Pointless. Dropped the keys on the counter and left. What a joke. NEVER AGAIN.

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    Customer ServiceCoverageStaff

    Reviewed July 21, 2018

    A prepaid rental reservation number ** was canceled because it was paid (2 months in advance) with Debit card and a minimum score of 700 was not attained. The U.S. average is 687, according to Equifax. I understand this is policy. But it does exclude around 75% of population from renting a car with you with their debit card. The issue is that, multiple calls to Budget national number to go over this policy was never explained to me, on two occasions I was told that a $100.00 hold and license documents were all that was needed. As a person with a slightly lower than 700 score because of a disability and not employed I certainly would not have booked the rental and paid in full two months in advance if I knew and I purposely called to verify the requirements for this reason.

    For the record the Wilkes-Barre PA, Kidder street employee could not have been nicer or more professional, he was excellent. The issue was with calling into the national reservation line, ** was polite but seemed disinterested in helping us so I escalated to a supervisor, it was very hard to hear him, said all he was "willing" to give me was a refund with no surcharge. Seeing that was my only option I asked for an expedited refund as we needed to rent from a competitor as we were leaving for vacation Saturday. I asked for his supervisor in which I was replied to with "I do not have a boss." He said he could only offer a refund to be processed in 3 to 5 business days.

    Stating again the unacceptable timing and that agents misinformed us, he stated very clearly that customer care could issue an expedited refund within 24 hours and transferred me to them, the customer care employee stated this was not the case and refunds will be issued in 3 to 5 business days. Again I asked for a supervisor, ** came on the line. She reiterated policy and the refund time period of 3 to 5 business days. When I told her that I had experience as a customer service manager for a major home products chain that absolutely Visa Card services could expedite refunds at the merchant's request she tersely said "yeah, but you never done it for Budget," (very condescending) and whatever the prior supervisor from reservations said about expedited refunds was inaccurate.

    Explaining again my family's situation and was in jeopardy of not reaching our destination and possibly losing $2000 house rental and the fact I received multiple inaccurate policy statements, if Budget was willing to try to accelerate our refund as it is possible with a request to Visa card services. She repeated as if reading a script over and over how she understood my frustration. I asked ** for a manager, she professed multiple times there was "absolutely no one" available. I asked if she was sure several times because I would be calling corporate about her statements, she put me on hold and magically ** who said she was a manager, Badge ** came on the line after repeatedly saying there was no supervisor on duty.

    ** listened to now the fourth telling of the situation and affirmed multiple times Budget has never and will never issue an expedited refund, I asked if it was a case of policy even if was not customer error? She said yes and gave me a case number and gave us another statement that the refund in fact was to be issued in 5 to 7 business days, even though I was told 3 to 5 days multiple times. She could not explain why the others said that because she was sure it was 5 to 7 days. I told her this is terrible customer relations and would be talking to corporate on Monday as our vacation is now could be ruined as we cannot get there with our current transportation.

    Upon getting my cancellation email it turns out ** statements were also highly inaccurate as it clearly states 3 to 10 business days. ** obviously does not know company policy as did three other customer service "professionals" I had spoken with in the nearly 1 hour conversation with this company, three of which were supervision. I intend to bring my experience to the executive level as clearly there is serious skills and training deficits in the departments I had to deal with today.

    I also intend to bring suit in small claims court to recoup lost reservation of nearly $2000.00 vacation lodging costs If indeed we cannot find a way to get there. I am also forwarding this to the Better Business Bureau complaint email box and intend to share this experience on social media. The facts are what they are our value as good faithfully paid in advanced customers was ignored and untrue statements said to us to get us off the phone were hurtful and insulting. Our dignity and patronage was not worth Budget's consideration.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsCoverageStaff

    Reviewed July 19, 2018

    When I rent a car I ALWAYS get COMPLETE FULL coverage for it. When I went to get the rental, I stated clearly that I wanted full coverage. Yet, one morning I noticed a crack in the car's windshield. The Budget employee that received the car was very kind, he checked my reservation agreement, and assured me that it was not a problem considering my coverage. YET 2 MONTHS LATER I SEE A CHARGE FOR $215. I called them and they said I didn't have that kind of damage in my rental insurance. NEVER AGAIN WILL RENT AT BUDGET.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed July 19, 2018

    I have never had such a bad experience with any car rental company. I researched and paid for a "Rav4 or comparable" known as the intermediate SUV class. I was given a Toyota C-HR, which compares far better to a Corolla than a Rav4, literally every measurement is closer to the corolla. I crammed my family of 5, four backpacks, one deployment bag (USMC veteran) which is a little larger than typical luggage, and a stroller into this compact car and we went on our way.

    In hindsight, I should have refused it from the get go but it was 11pm in Las Vegas (2 am Eastern Standard Time). We were exhausted and I didn't feel like dragging our luggage and children back to the counter. If you've ever been on a road trip for 700 miles with 3 children (one car seat) sitting side by side by side, you can imagine the amount of arguments, yelling, screaming, threats (by me) of pulling the car over, and the feeble attempts to spank a child while driving. Upon returning the vehicle, every budget employee stated that the C-HR was a compact car and that they have had a great deal of problems with people complaining about the classification of the CAR, not SUV.

    I was told that I needed to speak with the daytime managers for Budget at the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport. I called the next morning and left a message, surprise I didn't get a call back. I called again the next day and hit every button until I finally spoke with a human being. I spoke to two different employees, one claiming to be the manager (name wasn't given). They both said that I prepaid for the intermediate SUV class, which the C-HR was considered by Budget, not any rational human being or person with the gift of eyesight, and that there wasn't anything that they were able or willing to do for me. Moral of the story, don't prepay for your rental car, don't be a nice guy, complain loud and often, and you'll get treated better.

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    Reviewed July 19, 2018

    I made a reservation to rent from Budget and had to cancel more than 6 days out due to an injury to a family member. I remember reading a statement about a $50 fee which I confirmed from my email stating "If you need to cancel 24 hours prior to the scheduled pick-up time..." But I am almost 7 days out! I can respect inside of 48 hours or day of... but a week out? So basically Budget just hustled me for $50 bucks and lost a customer forever... Real good business model.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed July 19, 2018

    Transparency and honesty must be the foundation in any and all reputable business transactions. This was our first and it will be our last time doing business with Budget Rent-A-Car. We were mislead by a "pre pay" charge and later bombarded by a series of extra charges. We should have walked away, just like the couple next to us did, however, we were informed that since we had already made the "pre payment," it would still be charged on our credit card. We felt pressured, uncomfortable, blindsided and taken advantage of. The Budget representative, at the San Jose, Costa Rica airport, Mr. **, seemed bothered by our queries and was condescending. Certainly, not the qualities required in a professional customer service setting. The whole experience was very disappointing, to say the least. And, as if the whole ordeal was not bad enough, our credit card was overcharged. This is unacceptable!

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed July 18, 2018

    I have never had a worse customer experience in my life than I've had with Budget rental today. I set up this rental car for my boss (Confirmation **). The location (4555 N Keystone Ave, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States-(ID3)) was completely unresponsive and did not answer their phone over 20 times. We requested a pickup, and they never showed up. My boss was finally able to get through to them, and they were rude, then put him on a hold which disconnected after 10 minutes. After multiple call-backs and multiple disconnections, they refused to serve him. Meanwhile, I could not get through to the location and was continually transferred to the corporate customer service line. The corporate service line over and over told me I needed to call the location - an impossible task, as I could not get through to the location.

    No one on the customer service line could offer any solution. I was continually transferred. After being transferred finally to a manager, the manager (**, employee number **) was incredibly rude and unwilling to listen to a word I said. This obviously escalated the situation. I definitely raised my voice; He continually was speaking over me not listening to a word I was saying. He kept accusing me of not knowing what was going on, when I kept telling him I just explained what was going on. His rudeness was completely unacceptable. He refused to transfer me to anyone else and refused to help me. Long story short, and over two hours of aggravation later, my boss was left with NO solution, and Budget did not even try to provide one or make the situation right. I will never use Budget again if I can help it.

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    Price

    Reviewed July 18, 2018

    Rented a car in Brindisi. Refused all extra costs. After 2 weeks holiday brought the car back. 1 week later received an invoice for additional costs. Though I refused everything, the extra page was now signed with something that looked like my signature but wasn't. Extra costs 288 EUR on a rental price of 133 EUR. Pure criminals there. Do not rent your car here.

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    Sales & MarketingPriceStaff

    Reviewed July 17, 2018

    Rented car in Denver. Checked it in when I was done. Budget employee looked at car. Signed off on car. No damage. 1 month later they send me letter. It has damage. Looked at estimate and pictures. Holy cow. It needs bumper and fender. There's no way I did this or the Budget employee missed it. What an scam. Steer clear of this outfit. What a rip off. On top of that I booked car 3 months in advance. Got there and I was told that car was not here but I got this car for $10.00 extra. When I took car back they charged me a extra $10.45 a day. RUN RUN RUN.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed July 15, 2018

    Car rental was fine, but upon return to Hungary we received a mail by post, that three times administration cost will be deducted from my credit card within 14 days for traffic rules violations, unless I cannot prove that the claims have no ground. I requested details five times in order to check what could happen. I received twice an automated Dutch mail; the other three times nothing. After 126 Euros was taken from my card, on the Budget website an invoice became available. (Not sent by mail!) From this the only thing I could see that I was fined three times within 15 minutes, but nothing about why and by exactly whom. (Only a limited characters of the authority’s name is displayed on the invoice, not enough to identify)

    I think this is unacceptable - even if at the end it turns out that the fines and the admin fee was justified - that a company charges money without any evidence presented to the customers and giving the chance to check justification and even after the money deduction, the customer has to look for an invoice, stored on the supplier's server as this is not sent to the known address or e-mail box. That is also unacceptable that a customer service does not respond to a customer inquiry five times in a row over for weeks. I kept chasing the Hungarian local office, only an automatic mail so far after a week. Sorry Budget/Avis you lost a so far loyal customer. Thanks for your non-existing customer service.

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    Price

    Reviewed July 14, 2018

    Be aware when searching a rental car in Canada that you're not re-routed to a US website!! I got a great price but it was US dollars. Plus calling the 1-800 Nanaimo, BC number after hours gets re-routed to the US, so you think you're calling Canada. Very misleading!

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed July 12, 2018

    Long story short. We confirmed and paid over 4 months in advance for an SUV Elite for 11 days as we were traveling with friends to SC and back. We postponed our trip to the latest we could because the rental facility did not have our rental in and only had a smaller size SUV which would mean less space for luggage (space). We ended up picking up the smaller SUV at 5:45 pm because ours never came in and was told if we wanted the one we reserved, we would have to travel to Bradley Airport to pick it up. At this point we did not have time to go to another facility to pick up the larger vehicle and our friends had to find alternative transportation. I asked for a refund in the difference of the vehicle and was told that I would have to wait until the transaction was complete and we returned the car.

    Upon return, we missed the window of return by 5 minutes (Manchester facility closes early), due to an accident on the highway we were unable to return it to the Manchester facility by 3 pm. We immediately called the number and was told by the representative that we could drive the vehicle to the Bradley Airport facility and drop it off as we still had until 5:45 pm to return it without having to pay for another 24 hours. We thought nothing of it since we were told we could pick it up from there. Before we left "We share vehicle inventory" is what we were told. The representative failed to say that there would be a processing fee of over $950.00 for dropping it off at Bradley (due to the fact it was a different location from which we picked it up). I thought to my self... hmmm could I have charged Budget over $950.00 for the inconvenience of not having our rental and being told we would have to travel to that same facility to pick up the one we confirmed???

    So to our surprise, we get to the Bradley location to return the rental and are told we have to pay a fee of over $950.00 to return it to a different location. So we yet again get on the phone to customer service to ask them to waive it and they say "yes we told you to bring it to Bradley but we never said there would not be a charge." "The charge stands." Really!?!? So we get back into the rental car, drive it home and return it the next day and unfortunately had to pay $140.00 for another day that we did not need. To date, I still have not received the credit for the lesser vehicle.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed July 11, 2018

    My husband and I have used Budget Rental for as long as I can remember. Recommend them to our family and friends. I gave 48 hours notice to cancel due to me having to get hospitalized for a chronic lung disease and I’m not able to go this weekend with my girlfriends. I was going to be in the hospital to get IV antibiotics. They said I have to have my paperwork for my cancellation. I am suppose to pick the rental up on Thursday but not going into the hospital until Friday morning. The gentleman on the phone said that if he does not have the paperwork by Thursday night they are charging me $150 for last minute cancellation notice.

    The car for the rental is only $84. He said if I cancel now they’re only going to charge me a $50 cancellation fee. Is it just me or does this not make sense? This is out of my control and I can’t control when I get sick and need IV antibiotics. My husband, family and I will never give Budget any more business. We spend over $3,000 a year in car services here. I am disgusted and feel like I’m being taken advantage of. I am very thankful my brother in law is a discrimination attorney because that’s exactly how I feel. Discriminated and taken advantage of.

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    Customer ServicePricePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed July 11, 2018

    I rented a car on internet for 24 hours from Michigan to Chicago, the car was Ford or similar and the cost 138$. When I picked up the car in Waterford and the man said, "I have better car with same price (on the phone he said to other people no more cars for rent) and I accepted his offer. The address to drop off at the Chicago airport was incorrect (I have confirmed that address by email). For 30 minutes late (time to change the location with the traffic at O'Hare Airport) they charge one day more. Finally total cost for rent was 392$. After 2 hours at phone our final bill was 328$, this price for 24 hours and 30 minutes. It was unacceptable but there was nothing I could do. It was a BIG mistake to rent a car from Budget. Never again!!! They are thieves and unprofessional.

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    Staff

    Reviewed July 9, 2018

    I was rented a car at 7/8 tank of gas, took a photo of the level, and returned at the same. Then got charged for not returning on full but I returned how it was given to me which is how it works. They also rented me a smokey car which caused me to get a sinus infection. The employee blew me off and told me where the exit was instead of handling the situation. Disgusted with these scammers, and demand a full refund for my awful experience!

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    Customer ServicePricePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed July 8, 2018

    We had a terrible time with Budget in Deer Lake Newfoundland. We had pre-paid a two week rental months in advance of our trip. Our flight from Montreal was canceled, causing us to arrive a day later. We tried to call Budget in Deer Lake and there was no answer. There was no response to our voicemail. We called a main number for Budget and were told that if we pick up our PRE-PAID rental one day late we are breaking the contract. Our only choice was to cancel the reservation. This makes no business sense whatsoever. It was already paid for. We were able to get a car with Hertz, and it turned out to be cheaper than Budget. Budget did nothing for us but add stress to an already stressful travel day with their nonsensical policies. Never again. We had used Budget for years, but no more. Hertz was outstanding in taking care of us.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed July 5, 2018

    I am writing in regard to our experience with Budget this past week. We had a reservation that we had made online prior to our arrival in FLL on 7/1/18. We normally use Alamo at that location, but Budget had a great deal on Costco, plus a coupon for our car size (intermediate SUV), which was hard to pass up, so we thought we would give Budget a try. I mean, how bad could it be, right? That was our first mistake. Upon arriving to the car rental facility, we noticed already a huge line at the Budget counter (no other lines at any other counter, other than maybe a couple of people here and there). We waited and waited and waited.

    At one point, every single customer agent was outside, looking for cars, while people stood at the counter waiting for cars they had reserved previously. They kept telling people that didn't have cars, or if they did, they were not the type of car they had reserved. After 45 minutes, we finally made it up to the counter. Of course, Budget was "out" of the car type we reserved. The agent went outside and called and waited...another 15 minutes. So at this point, we were already there for 1 hour (we should have been at our hotel by that point, not still waiting on a car that we had reserved).

    This was a quick 2 day trip, so every minute wasted here was a precious one. We were told they had a Jeep Renegade, one of our favorites to rent. Fabulous! Wait...oh no, that car has some issues. Wait some more...ok, now we have a brand new Ford Escape for you. Fine, we'll take it. We were instructed to head outside and turn left to the Budget booth to find someone to direct us to our vehicle. We finally get outside...no booth the left, no employees to be found. We finally were able to find the Budget booth (it was straight out from the doors, but there were no signs to indicate this, and because of cars parked there, we could not see it). So we head over there. Still, no employees to be found. I literally shouted in the garage to see if any Budget employees existed. Nope.

    After about 5 minutes, we found someone, who directed us to our vehicle. We got inside, got everything packed in and adjusted, got our GPS all set up, and FINALLY headed towards the exit. Once we got there, the security guard laughed at us, as he told he was had the WRONG VEHICLE!!! At this point, I could no longer keep my cool. It had been well over an hour, it was hot, I was missing some of my vacation, and dealing with incompetent workers. And NOW, I had to back up and try to find another Budget employee (good luck!) to find our car??? I was furious. We pulled back to the garage and after we found another employee (again, not an easy task), she showed us another car. An older Ford Escape, with two cigarette burns in the front seats. I couldn't find the keys, I asked her, and she mumbled something I could not understand.

    I finally found them way in the corner of the windshield on the dashboard. I moved all of our luggage to the new vehicle and started the car, only to find that it reeked of cigarette smoke. At that point, we were DONE with this place. Just completely ridiculous and unacceptable!!! We went back inside and found a manager. He took us back outside and told us again, that there were no cars. After telling him that was not an acceptable answer, and demanding to find us a car, he somehow managed to locate a Jeep Compass for us. FINALLY! Where this car had been sitting this entire time is beyond me. After 1 AND A HALF HOURS, we finally got our car and were on our way.

    I am extremely upset that a business operates in this manner. I have since read other reviews that all share various versions of my experience. How can you run a business this way? What other business takes reservations that they do not have inventory for? If I go to a hotel and reserve an oceanfront room, they don't tell me they are "out" of this room type when I arrive. If I make a reservation at a restaurant, they don't tell me they don't have any tables once I get there. I mean, I just cannot understand what your objective here in making customers angry and giving poor service. Everything is computerized. You know how many people are coming for what car types on what day and what time. You even know our flight numbers. How can you not have the correct inventory available on that date and time?

    I would understand if I was just a walk up customer, but I had a reservation, as did the rest of the people stuck wasting their day in line at your counter. Why can't you get this correct? I really hope you can address this issue and what happened here. I will make a note and say that the agent that helped us was nice, and I know the situation was not his fault, as he was only at the mercy of the poor business model that is Budget, and the overbooking of reservations that were coming at him. The manager that ultimately helped us was also nice and very calm. The gentleman working when we returned the vehicle was also very kind. Everyone else working there that we encountered was incompetent and uncaring.

    I will NEVER EVER EVER use Budget again. I don't care if it's $100 less than Alamo, I cannot put myself through another ordeal like this. I would have been in and out with Alamo's self-serve kiosks. They have never "run out" of cars in all of the times I've rented from them at that airport, which is quite often. What I saved in $, I lost about an hour and 20 minutes of my vacation, which, when you only have a short time especially, all adds up. The rest of my vacation was great, but the one HUGE negative and damper on the whole trip was dealing with Budget. Never again.

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    Contract & TermsPunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed July 5, 2018

    Ottawa Airport Location - I returned the vehicle on time, with a full tank of gas and reasonably clean. Despite the fact that there's nothing in the rental agreement prohibiting pets they have withheld the security deposit on the basis that there was a little dog hair in the car (this is a car with a leather interior and my dogs had been in the back seat for less than an hour). One would presume that they vacuum the cars between customers so it's a pretty safe bet they incurred no out-of-pocket incremental expenses... If I have to I'll take this to court, maybe if there are enough of us a class action lawsuit would be in order.

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    Staff

    Reviewed July 4, 2018

    We were told that we should use their toll responder in the car and we would be billed for the days we used it and it would top out at $19.95. We were billed $34.00 because we also had to pay for the tolls. The people at the counter lied because we said we would just pay the tolls ourselves and they assured us that using the car responder would be cheaper. They did not tell us we would also be responsible for the tolls. Employees are misleading people.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed July 4, 2018

    I rented a car at 220 East 9th St., New York, NY, 10003, Budget car rental branch office, during the period: 15 March – 20 March 2018. On the contract I signed it was specified “Please return the vehicle with the same fuel level as you received it”. I got the car with fuel tank almost empty. When I realized, I contacted telephonically the Budget Customer Service about, and was replied that releasing a car with empty fuel tank is now a normal procedure. I returned the car anyway with more fuel quantity than received. Notwithstanding it, I was charged of 48,45 Euro for the fuel. This is incomprehensible and illegal.

    I got a GPS Navigator which did not work properly. According to its indications I was driving for more than 3 hrs in Manhattan (!) trying to head north. Even on highways at each exit the GPS advised to leave the highway. Finally I switched it off definitively. I contacted again the Budget Customer Service and have been offered first a 25% off the total GPS price, then a 30% off (as evidently they admitted the malfunction). Of course I refused and demanded the total refund of what paid (79,75 Euro). In total I demanded Budget the refund of 48,45+79,75 Euro. I received several automatic messages asking me always to wait “72 hours”. My complaints were never replied.

    My above protest is not due to the matter of money at all, but to the AVIS/Budget very poor commercial ethics and honesty towards customers. I travel in US since 80’ for business, and this is the first time I am cheated. Here in Italy/Europe we can refer to the Consumer Authority and the Magistracy which really assist unsatisfied/cheated customers, but my mishap occurred unfortunately in US. My mistake consisted of not having believed to so many negative reviews on AVIS/Budget available on WEB. Of course I will ever more use AVIS/Budget neither in US nor all over the world, but I wish also to warn possible future customers, attracted by their low price policy, as Budget acts incorrectly even for small sums, and do not answer complaints.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed July 3, 2018

    Returning a POS, my wife who was visibly hurting from a backache from the POS car seat, arrived just before 0900 and representative (Rosario) opened door and my wife asked if she was open and she responded very rude "No" and left to get her breakfast a few doors down. She returned, closed the door and waited until a few minutes after 9 am and opened the door then asked "are you ready" very sarcastic and my wife replied if she was. She was rude & making faces the whole time she did the paperwork, even answering the phone to chit-chat while we waited.

    No concern for customers, not even a Please come in and sit while I get ready or anything. More concerned she get her food and let the customer ache standing outside. Even after telling her the car was in bad shape (dirty, even with cigarette lighters under the seat etc.) she was unconcerned, mentioned we got it at another location, didn't even say sorry for the bad experience. Very unprofessional, no manners whatsoever.

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    Sales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed July 2, 2018

    Budget Rent-A-Car is deliberately putting fraudulent EZ Passes in their cars to deliberately bill consumers out of millions. Check your credit card. After a warning I reviewed mine and noticed repeated tolls even one single toll for 18.00 being charged to my card. It was a huge fight to get receipts from their toll department, I had to even get a supervisor on the line but when I did I had proof and demanded a credit (let's see if I get it). The biggest joke is, I paid top $ for an average car. Over $600 for just 6 days and they even charged me an extra 19.75 on top of that for an EZ pass that didn't even work. Several times I was even stopped at toll booths and demanded payment because the pass was not properly registered to the car. One toll guard even warned me about Budget and their latest scam. Sorry I wasn't watching my card but 2 months later they are still slamming my card for fraudulent tolls.

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    Reviewed July 2, 2018

    My Story is like so many others for this company. I have never dealt with a more incompetent organization before. Requested a truck. They canceled my truck. They ignored me until I went away. That is basically how it went down. This place is a dumpster fire and had I done the smallest amount of research I would have known it. Do not rent from them.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed July 1, 2018

    Was told I’d have a rental car at this location. Had a confirmation number and everything. Get here, the representative greeted customers with an attitude because HE left the door open. Showed piss poor customer service. Didn’t even acknowledge me or look up my case, but proceded to help the ** patrons. The representative stated that although I have a reservation and confirmation number, he can’t help us and didn’t offer any solution. I’m from out of town, no car, it’s 95 degrees outside, and I’m carrying lots of luggage. No remorse whatsoever. Yet, he allowed the ** patrons to rent cars and leave.

    I am insulted and have no other option for a rental since it’s Sunday. Budget should be ashamed for telling customers that they can accommodate them when that’s a lie. The entire company showed no concern other than “I’m sorry” and “I hope you figure something out”. What kind of establishment is this? If I could escalate this more, I would. I have never been so dismayed by how I was treated at a customer service establishment.

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    Customer ServiceCoveragePriceStaff

    Reviewed July 1, 2018

    I had rented a SUV online. It was a great price for a week for 531.00. If we prepay, there was a difference of almost 200.00 to pay at the counter. I was going on a business trip and decided to take the family on a fourth of July week vacation where I was going. I had spoken to Customer Service right after I made the reservation because I needed to change the time of pickup and return and they were great and modified it at no charge. I drove an hour to pickup the card at the airport which I have done before just for them to tell me I couldn't pickup the SUV because I used a debit card (I don't own a credit card), they said the only way for me to get the SUV on a debit card was if I had flight information. I asked the counter lady calmly what my options were and she said there was a place 10 min away that accept debit card and that I would have to call Customer Service to move the reservation.

    I spoke to Customer service and they said if I move my reservation it would be a CANCELLATION/MODIFICATION and the SUV for the week would now cost me a whopping $10,000.00 to rent (Who rents automobiles for 10,000.00). They said this was policy and I am all for policy/rules but never once was I explained when I rented the SUV online or spoke to a representative that I could not use the debit card and here is the kicker Budget already took the money out of my account!!!

    I had made multiple calls to Customer Service and spoke to a supervisor and they were able to refund my card without penalties but of course the funds won't be there for at least 5-10 business days. I got the cancellation notice and lo and behold it said refund granted with a -150.00 cancellation fee, at this point I was livid and spent another hour speaking to multiple customer service explaining situation before they said a second refund is on the way for 150.00. I work for a very large company one of the largest in the world and I will speak with our travel department about my problems with BUDGET. I don't understand the debit card issue but I would think if you already took my money that everything would have been OK. This is not the way to do business and my sole opinion is I think this was a way for Budget to get more money from someone else because of the low rate I got. $10,000 for a week rental that is ABSURD!!!

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed June 29, 2018

    On June 20,2018. I rented a U-Haul from Budget. They gave me the wrong size U-Haul and I had to bring back the U-Haul to get the right size I originally asked for. On June 21, 2018 I got the U-Haul that I was suppose to get. Later that night the truck cut off in the middle of driving. About 4 hours later it started back up. On June 23 I called Budget to have a roadside come out. No one showed. I called again and again. Now it is June 24 and I call again for roadside to come. Still no one shows. Finally it's June 25, 2018 and roadside service finally comes to jump start the truck. The providers tell me that the battery is no good. That have me a truck that doesn't work. I call customer service. I am hung up and pass from representative to representative. I ask to speak to a supervisor at 600 pm and I was on hold until 745 pm.

    I call back and put on hold again. Then a representative comes on the line and says that all she refund me is 30.00 after they charged me 467.00 for a late return fee because their equipment is faulty. Budget is ripping people off. They knew their equipment was not working properly but they still rented to me. Now they charging me and shouldn't be. If I would have got in a accident for the equipment cutting off and not cutting it would have been on them. They are trying everything not to refund me my money. The customer service is unexpected. The fact that no one wants to fix this issue is unprofessional.

    I will never rent again and I will make sure no one else rent from here. This company does not need to be in business if they are not going to keep up the maintenance with their product. They need to be fine for this issues. I wasted my hard earn money on a company that does not care enough about their customers to make sure they are in a reliable rental. Something needs to be done about this matter and stop pushing it away.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed June 28, 2018

    It was automatic transmission Fiat 500L, but the automatic did not work. I had to use it in manual mode, most of the time. Once the transmission failed at an intersection and did not engaged, until I turned the engine off completely and started again. Several minor defects (failed tire pressure sensor, door lock not working, light not working...). The phone for the customer service never answered. The claim I sent for the refund was acknowledged but not answered. It spoiled my vacation in Europe.

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    Reviewed June 26, 2018

    Rented a car and Budget overcharged me $213. They said that I had the car for an extra day. I have a bank statement for a fuel purchase at the airport for the day I returned the car. They would not reverse the charges. My total was $399 for a seven hour rental.

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    Reviewed June 25, 2018

    We agreed to rent a Ford Focus or similar but got an old and dirty Nissan Versa instead. If a Nissan, it should have been a Sentra. The car was equipped with crank-up windows and a CD drive and had no up-to-date features like central locking.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed June 25, 2018

    ​I had a horrible experience renting a car with Budget. Initially I booked a car online which was a compact car, and was said Ford focus or similar. I had booked it for 4 days and total amount was around $450. When I went to pick my car, the lady said I have booked a car for a size of Cooper and she upgraded it and gave a bill for $512. But the fun part is when I dropped off my car, the total bill was $580. After charging such a huge amount, let me tell you the car was in bad condition. The seats were dirty and ceiling of car was also greased. If I was paying this much, then I could have easily gone with other company which offered better price or for same $580 I could have rented a luxury car instead of dirty car with other rental company. I called the customer service people and tried to explain my situation. He was very rude and disconnected my call. I am never going back with Budget again.

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    Punctuality & Speed

    Reviewed June 22, 2018

    I didn't ask for any additional service, and I would have declined any offered to me. However, they must have defaulted the form to roadside assistance as desired, because I was charged for a service I didn't know I had. Moreover, it was a bit deceptive and that there was nothing due at the time, so I saw a $0 balance and figured I was fine. Instead, I was billed a week later, so they hid the charge at the time of renting.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed June 22, 2018

    I prepaid for my car rental. They accidentally charged me twice but refused to take the charge off of my card. They were rude on the phone, wouldn’t admit their mistake, and were unhelpful. I will never use Budget again. My credit card company will take the charge off but Budget should have. Extremely rude!

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed June 21, 2018

    The staff was unprofessional. She was in a hurry to get off work so when the young got there he walk me around the truck but he was rushing me. I sign the paper he walk off the truck. Was running. So got in the push start truck and drove off then I got down the street and realize I didn't have any key so turn around. When back they was gone. I called Budget. They told me to take the truck home. Someone would pick it up. So I waited for 2 hours for the tow truck to come get the truck.

    Meanwhile my family mad because we was going to leave that night. It was last so the tow truck brought the other truck to my home fine. So we leave that morning. We loaded the truck then got on the road 2 hours from my home. This radio cut off the Routine maintenance required light came on. I called Budget again, told so, they Tell me to go to the closest Budget near me. So stop at the local one, check the car out. They stated it was problem switch truck. I'm under a different Budget. That didn't make sense so I drove it. Vacation was great. No more problems out of the truck but was worried if the truck will mess up again. When I got back I call Budget about that issue and they told me it wasn't anything they could do. I have to go to the location and talk to they so I rent from Budget a lot but now I think I'm going to look for a new one.

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    Coverage

    Reviewed June 19, 2018

    We had major hail damage. Enterprise was booked. Budget wasn't and they said they would bill our insurance several times. Insurance was fine with that. Insurance never got a bill, Budget put it all on our card and said they do not bill insurance now!!! They said it was a new guy named Anthony... not our problem! We will be returning the car early and going to Enterprise.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed June 16, 2018

    BEWARE IF YOU RENT FROM BUDGET! 1) They charged me for an upgrade when clearly I didn’t have one or agree to an upgrade. When I called about it they agreed, but said they had to charge me anyway and then I had to wait for reimbursement! 2) You must return the car within 29 minutes of your scheduled time or be charged an additional day! 3) I left my garage door opener on visor. I filled out a lost and found report but they didn’t find it, so they obviously threw it away instead of turning it in. Customer Service just said he couldn’t deny that. NOT RENTING FROM BUDGET AGAIN. I WILL SPREAD THE WORD!!!

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    Contract & TermsStaff

    Reviewed June 10, 2018

    Do NOT rent a car from this company! If I could give them a zero rating, I would. Upon return of our rental car, we forgot to take our GoPro camera out of the backseat. I understand every customer signs a rental agreement that doesn’t hold Budget responsible for lost items, but they need to hold their employees accountable when something like this is reported and brought to their attention. The rental agreement isn’t a free pass for them to steal! We contacted Budget almost immediately after we returned our car. Getting in contact with someone is a nightmare, but after hours of calling we got ahold of someone.

    The lost and found manager, Maneca, assured us the car had not been touched yet or cleaned. She “couldn’t find the car to go look inside” so she told us she put a hold on the car that wouldn’t allow it to be rented out. Then the last contact we had with her, she said the car was rented out because the hold was removed. So one of their employees stole our camera! There is no reason why this couldn’t have been returned to us when we gave them our exact car number and many opportunities to go and retrieve it. This camera had footage from my husband and I traveling to Breckinridge for our first anniversary and it’s gone now! Yes it was our mistake for not grabbing it from the backseat, but Budget has dishonest employees and thieves who handled our car. Someone from this company has our camera!

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    Sales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed June 10, 2018

    Booked a car online to be picked up at the West Valley, Utah location, and I paid in full for the rental online. I go to the location at noon and they tell me they have no cars. They say I have to go to the airport. So I go to the airport and stand in line for over an hour only to find out they also have no cars available. I asked the attendant to credit my credit card back and she said I'd have to call Budget and get them to do it. Well, the rental was $159 and change, however, they have a cancellation fee of $150!! What a frickin scam that is. I had no car and they are still charging me 95% of the rental rate. Anyway, I went back to the location in West Valley, Utah as there was an Enterprise Car Rental right across the street from Budget. The gist of the story is I was in and out of Enterprise in 15 minutes and on my way in their rental car... and they gave me a free upgrade to a mid size car. Never ever rent anything from Budget car rental!

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsPriceStaff

    Reviewed June 9, 2018

    Budget Rent-A-Car has the WORST customer service that I have ever experienced! Especially if you rent from the LAX location - you will spend at least 1-2 hours waiting in a line (outside in the sun and heat with all your kids and luggage) just to get to the counter. Then they will say they don’t have the vehicle that you reserved over 2 MONTHS AGO (No sorry or anything!)! So you will either need to take another number and wait another 1-2 hours to see if MAYBE someone happens to return that type of vehicle OR you can rent another type of vehicle at an additional cost per day. They will not admit that is their fault for not having the vehicle that you reserved 2 MONTHS AGO! So, your hands are tied and they have you backed against a wall.

    You have to endure the multiple hour waiting game again or accept their terms and EXTRA CHARGES. And the worst part is they don’t care AT ALL! They just act like it’s your fault and you can take it or leave it. Then you call customer service later to explain the situation and they are even worse than the people at the counter. They say “Well you signed the contract accepting the additional charges so you have to pay that amount”. Again, no apologies or adjustments or anything! What’s the use of even having a reservation if that’s the game they play?!? And it wasn’t just my family that this was happening to - I overheard several other customers getting tricked into same stuff. STAY AWAY from Budget!

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    Contract & TermsPrice

    Reviewed June 7, 2018

    Budget SUCKS. I was signed up for their FastBreak program - wasn't told I needed to worry about $10/gallon for returning a vehicle 3/4 of the way full...Guess how much they charged me when I returned my rental? $113! Apparently the vehicle needed 10 gallons to be considered "full" AND they charge a RIDICULOUS amount of money per gallon. Is the fuel MADE OF GOLD??? Here was a direct quote when I attempted to contact the company via their complaint department: "Our records indicate the vehicle was showing returned with 10.00 gallons under a full tank. A fuel service fee of $9.99 per gallon was applied in accordance with the notification on your signed rental agreement."

    Great - so apparently it's my fault for not reading the agreement. Sure. I'll pay the $100 because I DIDN'T READ. But, guess what, Budget??? I'm going to warn everyone else about your OUTRAGEOUS fees so that they don't use you for rentals! Because I know for a fact that I could have used other rental places and they would have charged me the "Local Price" for gas...$3.50/gallon. Readers: PLEASE USE SOMEONE ELSE so that you aren't outrageously charged for fuel!! Was it my fault for not reading the SMALL, GRAY FINE PRINT? Yes. It was. So maybe read what you're signing, even if that means you don't get a "FastBreak" when you're picking up your vehicle.

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    PriceStaff

    Reviewed June 7, 2018

    I was renting a car from them for 6 whole months because I'm a traveling nurse and needed a reliable car in a hurry without being dedicated to a long term loan. I always prepaid online, as it is much easier. I'm also part of their fastbreak program and long term loyalty program where you earn free days, which I never ever got. Anyways, they came and took the vehicle from me stating that I did not pay for a whole month. How is this POSSIBLE? It is on my account showing it is paid for up front. Are they blind? The recovery agent said that there is nothing he can do, so he took it.

    It has been 3 weeks and I just got charged $2000 with no explanation of what it is for or a receipt. I don't understand how they could do this, but they have messed with the wrong person, as I have proof and I'm going straight to the top. I'm going to contact their CFO. I urge you not to do business with these people. They are crooks and don't care about their customers. They can charge your card for whatever they want without a reason. Beware!!!

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    CoveragePriceStaff

    Reviewed June 7, 2018

    I believe I was tricked into purchasing car insurance at the Budget car rental at Denver International Airport. I had prepaid for my rental months in advance and had declined all insurance and add-ons. When I went to pick up the car, I told the employee that I did not want the extra insurance. I never rented a car before, so I took in good faith what their employee told me to do. The screen that I was told to sign was very small and hard to read. I was told to sign the screen in order to rent the car, I left confused and felt like I had been totally taken advantage of. But I didn’t want to cause a scene and was in a hurry to get on my way. After I realized what had happened, I called Budget. They said I had agreed to the extra insurance by signing and that is should have read the fine print. I ended up being charged $259 for something I did not want. I think it is deplorable how this company takes advance of its unsuspecting customers.

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    Customer ServicePricePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed May 31, 2018

    Using my Costco membership, I rented a car online for pickup at rental agency on Gillespie Street in Las Vegas. I had requested a Toyota Avalon, a very nice vehicle. When I finally reached the front of the line the reservation clerk told me they had run out of Avalons. Why did they not reserve it for me as requested? The gal was quite pushy and seemed very hurried. She said she had another vehicle that she wanted me to rent, a Nissan Rogue, and as she wrote it up she stated that it was an upgrade to the Avalon. Give me a break! Looking up the value of these 2 vehicles I found the Avalon sells for around $37000 and the Rogue $26000. I was very disappointed in this transaction after having time later to review it.

    Huge quality difference between these 2 vehicles. She termed this an upgrade, but only in cost, not quality. The Rogue ended up costing more than $100 more for my 10 day rental. When I rent a vehicle I always expect fairness, seemed to me the only interested here was in charging and upgrading me to put more money in their till. And, she was very rude. I will never rent from Budget again after this experience and talking to others and noting much unhappiness from other reviews I have read. I will go back to Enterprise next time, they seem honest and ethical. I could add more to this but don't want to take more of my valuable time.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsCoverageStaff

    Reviewed May 29, 2018

    It was the Memorial Day weekend and I had already booked a car using my Costco membership. I didn't take my confirmation because I know people can look up my information using my ID. The lady at the front desk (San Jose Airport) told me that my rental was for one day, when I had clearly booked it for 3 days. I don't know what she was hoping for, but once I told that I booked it through Costco, she was able to magically find the rental. Then she asked if I would like insurance, because collision + liability comes to less than $100 but wouldn't give me a real value.

    When I asked for what the real value was, she said it was $99.36. I asked how much if I only took collision. She said $80. Given that it didn't make much difference, I took both. When I saw the final agreement, collision came to a total of $51 and liability was around $45. It would have made a massive difference, but she totally lied to me to sell me both. I am not sure why with such lousy customer service, they believe people would come back to them. I am just going to rent from Enterprise going forward. They have always been ethical.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsCoverageStaff

    Reviewed May 27, 2018

    DON'T RENT FROM BUDGET/AVIS BUT IF YOU MUST... READ YOUR CONTRACT BEFORE YOU SIGN!!! Look for Loss Damage Waiver fees. Watch this video - it is a great example of what you are in for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSk7mm9cmZ8. I rented and prepaid for a rental car with Budget via their website in February 2018. When I picked up the car, the agent (Zach @ PHX airport) asked me if I wanted additional coverage. I said no. I was charged for the additional coverage. I called customer service 800 214 6094 and spoke to Aydee **. I explained that I never wanted the additional coverage. She said I signed for it on the contract. I said the agent (Zach) asked me and I said no. I signed what I was told to sign. Why would he have me sign for coverage when I said no. Aydee said she believed me but I signed it so I must pay it. Aydee did refund 50% of the insurance cost. This is poor customer service at best and trickery at worst.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed May 26, 2018

    First off the rental agent was totally customer-unfriendly, WITH attitude. When I picked up my minivan and got home to pack, I found that lowering the seats revealed tons of dirt on the bed of the minivan. It took me 20 minutes to vacuum, but I didn't phone to complain to the unfriendly sod, which, in hindsight, I should have. On returning the vehicle the same staff member took one glance inside the van and complained that he could see dog hair (my dog hardly sheds, so there was very little). He gave me the option to take it away to be cleaned (which I wasn't going to do at 17:30 and pay an extra hour's rental after having driven 300 miles). So he charged me $75.00 PLUS attitude. Amazing they never complained about the bird crap on the outside.

    If you are renting for use it is to be expected that there is wear and tear and cleaning is needed on return prior to re-rent... They already charge more than enough to pay for vehicle service. It's just an excuse to increase their margin, they had two guys sitting there scratching their ** that could have vacuumed for 15 minutes besides the wash they have to do. Never again Budget... It wasn't so much the $75, it was the delight with which he stuck it in.

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    PriceStaff

    Reviewed May 25, 2018

    September of 2017, I took grandkids and two of their friends and my daughter on a cruise for the grands graduation and birthday celebration. I have also been dealing with lots of medical issues including cancer. Because I don't fly, I made reservations for a van to travel to and from Florida for transportation purposes and I also thought it would be good to see other places together. We picked up the van from Maryland, drove to Florida and I was able to see my family and their friends enjoy their first cruise experience and with me! After the cruise, we were taken back to Budget via their driver from the cruise port and was told that we couldn't rent their van that I had already reserved. They said my credit did not go through. That blew my mind because there it was Sunday, every vehicle at other places were booked and we had to be back in Maryland by Tuesday.

    I gave them the confirmation number and everything but because of "their policy" they refused to rent it. I was furious because if I was approved without a problem in Maryland a week prior and nothing has changed in my credit, then why can't I rent what I have already reserved? Here it was hot in Miami and now stuck. We had to take Amtrak from Miami to Washington DC which took 2 days, borrow $1,000.00 for the train tickets, pay nearly $200.00 for a hotel for the one night and paid for transportation from hotel to Amtrak. The food on Amtrak was outrageous in cost so we couldn't afford much to eat and it was microwavable foods. Thank God I was smart enough to pack extra meds for myself. Needless to say how uncomfortable the ride was because we could stretch out to sleep.

    Anyway, once we returned I contacted Budget about this and all they were willing to do was offer me $50.00 credit voucher towards my next rental that I had to use by January (4 months). I never used it because I'm still trying to recover the loss of over the thousand I had to borrow and extra money for hotel and the body pain I endured through this experience. The reason for this review is to make people aware that if you rent with Budget from one state to go to another don't assume you can rent from the other state to return. You would be better off renting "roundtrip" without having to drop off or change vehicles. Just keep the one you are approved with, park it and return it where you first got it. I would rate budget a fat 0 if they gave the option. Here I'm approved from the location of our nation's Capitol, but not in Florida (go figure). That's absurd to say the least!

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed May 25, 2018

    I rented two 15 passenger vans from Budget Rent-A-Car in Union Station in Washington DC. When I got there they had gave away one of my vans. I had to sit and wait an hour and half before I got my rental. Then fully understanding that I would return the Vans after they closed they didn't have any instructions. I returned the vans kept the keys because I wasn't sure if someone would steal the vans if I left keys in the van. I returned the keys and then to only find out the Budget had charged my credit card over 500 even though I prepaid for the vans a month before I picked them up.

    The manager said since I had all these issues they would not charge me the additional fee for insurance that I added couple of days before I picked them up. Well that was a lie. Not only did they charge me for the insurance they overcharged me. I called customer service only to have two different reps be very rude and nasty to me. I have been with Budget as a fast break member over 15 years. None of that mattered. This is ridiculous. Almost a week later I still don't have my money back.

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    Customer ServiceContract & TermsPriceStaff

    Reviewed May 23, 2018

    If I could give a negative amount of stars, I totally would... Rented a car in Charlotte, NC at the airport which was only location open, when my transmission went out in my car and drove it back home to Spartanburg to return it. Was told the charge for returning to different location was an extra $70 (plus the $40 daily charge x 2). When I returned it to this Spartanburg, SC location, Kendall was checking me in, however something was wrong in their computer system and he was unable to do so. He said it was telling him "rate not available" and had to call customer service. I looked around the office while I waited and realized how "janky" this office looked completely empty, dirty and unkept so I had a feeling a bad experience was on the way...

    While he was on the phone with his customer service, he received another call on his personal cell phone, and I believe it was his coworker or manager. He then HUNG UP ON his customer service agent while they were trying to tell him what to do, and unsuccessfully tried to figure it out with whoever was on his cell. It was very near their closing time and my ride from ENTERPRISE had showed up to take me to get a better and cheaper rental to use for the week. He still had not been able to check the car in. I asked him to call me, once he figured it out, BEFORE charging my card, to confirm it matched what I was told. That was Monday at 5:45 pm. It is now Wednesday morning at 9 am and I just called their office to inquire as to why I had not heard from them.

    Davonte answered the phone and informed me that they got it figured out and checked it in yesterday (which was Tuesday). I told him I had asked to be informed of charges before it was processed and he said he was not told that and put me on hold to find out for me. He came back on the line only to tell me I had been charged $255!!! I was livid!!! He then tried to tell me it was because I returned it to a different location I was charged over $110 a day plus taxes which was not what I was told (only had the car from 5:30 pm Saturday to 5 pm Monday-2 days). I was told total of 40.95 a day (x2-taxes included which is what was on my contract) and extra $70 to return elsewhere so $150 total.

    I immediately told him I wanted the number to corporate. I called corporate and he apparently charged me for the car an extra day at a higher rate (they couldn't close it out until Tuesday even though I turned it in on Monday) because of their own computer issue. So I was charged for keeping the car 3 days even though I only had it 2 and he just blatantly lied to me. The rep I spoke with said they will have to send the info to another dept to review and will take 3-5 business days to do so. I will NEVER rent from Budget again. This is complete BS and should NEVER happen especially when I requested to be called before they charged my card when they were having some kind of computer issue which was definitely not my fault. I am an Enterprise plus member and have only rented from them ever in life and I will ALWAYS do so from now on.

    Updated on 05/29/2018: Following up on my review from 5/23/18, after a week back and forth on the phone with BUDGET and being lied to several times, the $255 I was charged remains. My credit card company tells me that Budget tried to charge an additional $172 as well but they declined the charge. BUDGET claims they did not try to charge the $172, but why would my CC company lie? They wouldn't. They never have. So after being charged $255 for 2 days in a BS Chevy Equinox (I was told the final charge would be $150 for 2 days at $40.95 a day-which was on my contract-and an extra $70 to return in a different city) they have only credited me $25. So I basically have paid $130 a day for a car that rents for $30 plus tax a day. Complete crap.

    I was lied to by the rep where I rented the car and also by the rep I called and asked to confirm before I returned the car in a different city. They were supposed to call me AND email me an invoice for approval before charging anything! And the customer service rep who I dealt with to try to resolve this also told me they would email me an invoice with the corrected charges. I HAVE YET TO RECEIVE ANYTHING BY EMAIL!!! No proof of the charges they supposedly are upholding. I may just dispute with my credit card company because this is fraud at its finest. And apparently I am not alone in getting screwed over by them. Going to rate on BBB now.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed May 22, 2018

    My family and I were on vacation and rented from Budget. We used our air miles thinking we would only have to pay for gas. We ended up paying way more than expected and when we started talking to other people, they paid less for their rental from Budget! Then on our 2nd last day of the trip, our rental car broke down and we spent 5 hours trying to get a replacement car. When I was on the phone with their emergency roadside assistant they informed me they do not bring the replacement car to us. We would have to get it towed to a dealership then go to Budget and arrange for another car. Explained that we were on holidays, we did not have time to go through all of the proceedings that they were telling us. She informed me that this was their policy and there was nothing that they could do.

    After being on the phone for over an hour with the company I asked to be transferred to a manager. After talking to the manager for about a half an hour, she told me what they were telling me in the previous phone call was not correct and that they would send a tow truck to our location to take us to the nearest budget which was 30 minutes away and give us a new rental car. They would not even take into account that this was our family vacation and they were costing us vacation time and money. After 5 hours of our vacation time lost we finally were able to get another rental and all they gave us was approx $75 USD refund. And this was after we paid hundreds to rent a "free" car from air miles. The whole experience left a bad impression and I will never deal with Budget again.

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    Reviewed May 20, 2018

    I have been renting from Budget every week this year for business purposes and each time I rent I enter in my reward number. Apparently all my rentals have been cleared from their system except one of the most recent. I have emailed this company many times and each time I get they are sorry and cannot help me. I feel this is ridiculous because I have rewards through an airline and they were able to update my past flights as long as I provided the ticket number. I will continue to fly with that company but won't continue to rent from Budget due to the fact they are not even willing to assist me with my situation. I travel every week and each time I need a car, my business will be going elsewhere!

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    Contract & Terms

    Reviewed May 19, 2018

    I placed an on-line reservation for a Budget rental car at the Dublin Airport. Was never asked my age. When I arrived at the airport Budget told me I was too old to rent or drive a Budget car. Age limit was arbitrarily set at 75 (I am a Marathon runner and a healthy 83). Was told that this exception was explained under "full terms and conditions," linked but not printed on the reservation confirmation.

    I was stuck in another country without a car or transportation--with my vacation and many travel plans and expenses in jeopardized--holding a worthless reservation confirmation from Budget Car Rental. This kind of negligence and age discrimination by Budget Car Rental would never be tolerated in the United States, and is unacceptable anywhere.

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    Customer ServicePricePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed May 18, 2018

    Set up an appt. a week in advance on a moving truck. I got an excellent price for a two day rental. They sent me a confirmation number along with the reservation. They called us hours before our pickup time and said they did not have a truck available. Customer service said they were sorry and would try to locate us another truck and would call us back in two hours. They never did. I had to call them back two times and each time said they would call us back. Never did! Don’t trust them when you move cause they will cancel on you and they don’t care. I will never recommend them to anyone. Go to U-Haul. They cost a little more but will keep their appt.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed May 17, 2018

    I rent a car 2-3 times a month for business trips and would rather ride a big wheel across the country, before I'd ever consider renting a car from Budget again. I was in a crunch for time and had no choice but to go to the closest rental car place... Budget. Aside from the fact that they rented us a car that didn't run... The "service" as they call it, was hands down the worst I've ever experienced. Let me save you all from an extremely lengthy story... We rented a car, car died, we got stranded (in a different state). After being transferred between roadside assistance, multiple local Budget hubs, and customer service, Budget did NOTHING to help and refused to figure out a way to help us swap for a car that ran... Ultimately, we were left stranded in another state and had to pay nearly $1000 for 2, last minute, 1-way tickets home. DO NOT, under any circumstance, rent a car Budget. THE WORST!

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed May 16, 2018

    Milwaukee Airport - Stolen property - After an overnight drive with my belongings from Nashville to move-in with my boyfriend, we cleared out the rental and cleaned the car and turned it in the same day I got there. I was exhausted having had little sleep and completely forgot that I left some very (expensive) property in a semi-hidden storage compartment in the back of the SUV I rented.

    My boyfriend and I both contacted the company, as well as the "Lost and Found" manager multiple times. She did not get back to us until days later initially, stating the car was already being rented out again and she would contact us when it came back. We received no word or updates, even after trying to call her every day. Her contact number went to voicemail 100% of the time and did not return calls like she said she would. I finally received a call from her over a week later to inform me that my belongings were not in the vehicle. Of course, they will not give info about who's handled the car or who has rented it after me so anything further requires police involvement (who could also care less about the situation).

    Sure, I understand shouldn't have left my stuff in the vehicle, but her incompetence probably made the theft possible, assuming she didn't steal it herself. Now I will have to replace over a grand worth of belongings thanks to Budget's awful lost and found policy, which basically protects their employees from any legal repercussions for stealing. I will never rent from them (or Avis) again. Neither will anyone I know.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed May 15, 2018

    For ANY renters that have limited dollars available on your credit card, you very well may get screwed? Did you know that when you use your credit card to “Pay Now” for a Budget car, you are in for a surprise? If some reason Budget declines your transaction yet you provided your correct credit card number, you won’t get a Rental Confirmation ie... you don’t get your car rental, YET Budget posts the payment with your bank and the purchase comes off your available credit? They’ve done this to me a number of times where for example, I may only have $1000 of available credit on my card and I go to rent a car using the Pay Now feature. If the Pay Now price is $750 and I enter my CC information, Budget gives a message that CC transaction was declined. Yet I immediately checked my bank online and Budget has pulled the $750 from my CC leaving me only $250 available on there. Yet I don’t have a rental confirmation ie... NO Car.

    I learned that Budget checks your CC info and If the address or zip or phone # doesn’t match exactly, If they have enough to post your payment to the bank, they do it immediately YET THEY CHOOSE TO DENY YOU the rental vehicle. When this happens, you are left with your bank & CC showing a pending payment for Budget yet Budget doesn’t give you the car AND Now you don’t have enough available credit on your card to run the transaction again after correcting whatever info was incorrect. How messed up is this? If Budget wants to decline your transaction because all of your information doesn’t match up with the bank such as your billing zip code, that would be just fine. But DO NOT DECLINE MY RENTAL YET PULL YOUR PAYMENT OFF OF MY CREDIT CARD. It is totally unethical, unfair, and an unreasonable business practice.

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    Verified purchase
    Customer ServicePricePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed May 15, 2018

    I'm a single mother of 6 children who chose budget to relocate my family to California. We were extremely so excited about this trip but because we were given a truck they was not inspected and actually, didn't even have a full tank of gas. The employee that gave it to us at the Avis/Budget truck rental location in Austin, Texas on Research Boulevard gave us $40 and told us to go fill it up, that should have been a better flag! I was so excited for our trip that I didn't give it much thought. Well it was giving us problems and I was broke down after losing power a few hours later putting our lives in danger as the check engine light and other lights it broke down on Highway 10. It turned out to be a disaster, nightmare and traumatic event in our lives.

    We called Budget roadside service which took hours for them to arrive. It was daytime about 2 p.m. We were there broke down to 2:30 am. It was extremely cold and dark. We were so disappointed and so frustrated it was scary and it was terrible situation to be in! We had to wait the that night waiting for them to tow our truck to a hotel that cost me out of my own pocket 2 days of hotel cost for two rooms each day and food cost etc. We have to wait for Budget to provide us a new truck then they had to repack our belongings. We had to wait for all that to occur so they put everything backwards everything that we had in the front that we needed was put in the back which causes even further disappointments and inconvenience. The whole thing was an inconvenience!!

    The company has not reimbursed me for one penny. They passed me from person to person. I've been trying hard I put so many hours and so much of my time trying to get them to reimburse me for what I had to pay out of my pocket and they have not extended any kindness they have been so rude so mean so insensitive every single person that I have talked to!! We rented the truck for 7 days. We had to keep the truck one extra day when we finally made it to our destination. On top of everything they charged me for an extra day!! I have more to say and if anybody wants to know just call me and I will tell you. Do not get Budget because they break your budget and they just don't care one bit. But if it was their family and it happened to them it would be different. They would expect immediate resolution!! The second truck they gave us the lights are turning onto. We barely made it. We barely made it. Thanks to God!

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    Verified purchase
    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed May 11, 2018

    We prepaid for a rental for our vacation, to be picked up in the city that we LIVE in. The ONLY Budget location within 50 miles is at the airport. Our bank was immediately debited $400 and we were sent the debit card policy. We met every part of the policy (over 25, good credit, etc) but did not have a “return flight ticket” because we live, work, and own a house in Roanoke - where the vehicle is located. We get there and the CSR refused to run our card as a credit card - although every other business does so. He gave us a “Customer Service” number that would put us on hold and then sound like an agent was picking up. The phone would then disconnect. We tried for over an hour to get an actual CSR on the phone. Dude at the airport wouldn’t call his direct manager.

    We finally said we wanted to make a reservation and, lo and behold, someone comes to the phone. Nice guy. Connected us to his supervisor as requested. Not so nice a guy. Didn’t want to give us to his supervisor but wanted me to call back the following day. Mind you, we are STILL waiting because we are supposed to leave for vacation in the morning. Supervisor admits that their “return ticket” requirement is so that people don’t steal their cars. I explained, again, that we live, work, and own a house here. He says “I can’t change the policy just for you”. I asked, “So, if someone flies in from Timbuktu and has a debit card and another plane ticket out of the city, they can rent a car, but if I am based in this city and have a debit card, I can’t?” “Correct”.

    We tried for almost 2 hours to resolve the issue. They wouldn’t let my brother use his credit card to rent because he would have to pay extra for me to drive the car, and he would have to drive in to pick it up. They offered to rent to us from Avis (at the same counter), “but the rate will go up quite a bit”. Of course it will. We ended up leaving without a rental... and a 3-5 business day wait for a refund. Not quite sure how we are traveling for vacation at this point. They sure didn’t have a problem taking my $400 on a DEBIT CARD with the initial reservation. But unless I’m not from Roanoke, I’m SOL when it comes to getting a rental with them. Rude CSRs. Dismissive. Not helpful.

    Oh - and the 2nd person behind the desk said to his cohort (after an hour and a half) “I talked with Joe and he said NO.” (Don’t rent to them). Yet I heard him specifically say to another man “I’m going to do something I’m not supposed to do” and he sent the man’s rental right on through. Completely disgusted with this company. Will NEVER use them. And will advise our large network of contacts against it as well.

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    Verified purchase
    Customer ServiceContract & Terms

    Reviewed May 11, 2018

    Rented a car for a week from Budget at Akron-Canton Airport. When I picked up I was asked if I wanted the ‘total protection package’ with no further explanation. When I saw it TRIPLED my bill, I DID NOT sign the agreement, I asked her to take it off. I signed a contract for $305, but she went ahead and held $900 anyway. Money I needed for my vacation 1200 miles away. 1-800# customer service and email contact service was absolutely no help AT ALL. They just tell me to turn the car in where I rented it. Hard to do in Ohio from Florida. Of course the counter at CAK Airport doesn’t answer their phone. Wonder why?! I’m thinking all they get is complaints. Screwed my whole vacation up. Extremely unhappy. Do not ever rent from here!!!

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    Staff

    Reviewed May 11, 2018

    We paid for a van a month in advance. We went to pick it up and was told it isn't there yet. Rick told us that it was in Kentucky about 30 miles away. We asked if we could go pick it up? He said yes. We got to Kentucky and then was told that Rick lied to us. There was no van. They gave us 2 vehicles instead of the 12 passenger van we paid for. The trip took longer. Worst vacation ever thanks to Budget. I will NEVER rent from them again and I would advise everyone not too.

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    Budget Car Rental Company Information

    Company Name:
    Budget Car Rental
    Year Founded:
    1958
    Address:
    6 Sylvan Way
    City:
    Parsippany
    State/Province:
    NJ
    Postal Code:
    07054
    Country:
    United States
    Website:
    www.budget.com