Budget Car Rental Reviews

None of the negative experiences on this page even compare to what I have been through and am still going through with Budget Rent a Car. 4 days ago I went outside to get into my rental car and it was dead. I could not get into the car. Since I am a corporate member who has used Budget nearly every week for the past 2 years I was not concerned. Surely they would take care of me. WRONG. The nightmare began; and I am not exaggerating. I have never been treated so badly in my life. After calling Budget probably 30 times, transferred around, hung up on, two auto service people showing up who could not take care of the car for one reason another, the car was finally retrieved by Budget on Friday night. I called again today (Sunday) because I have not received an email that the rental had been closed out.

I rented a Car in Fort Lauderdale on 11/27/16 for the amount of $228.00 but my CC was Charged $454. When I called to ask why it was over the quoted amount they said it was for the additional insurance that I declined and then they said I kept the car for an extra day which I did not. The Customer service people were rude and would not help me. I have to fight this by disputing it with AMEX. Budget Rental Car is a total SCAM and would not recommend them to anyone.

I booked a car online for pickup 10/30 at Tampa Airport. The charges for 6 days were $356.35. When my husband picked up the car he said they charged him $413.68 and then I noticed there was an additional $409 charged to my credit card. I called Budget and they said he accepted the liability insurance and roadside assistance, which he DECLINED to LAKESHIA at Tampa Airport pickup. It seems that she charged him anyway and he signed believing that he would not be charged even though she snuck it in there. We were told he had to go back to the airport (2 hours away) to have a new contract drawn up. He explained he was 2 hours away and the gentleman he spoke to told him he would make a note in the file and at drop off to dispute the charges and it would be taken care of. It was not. I was told "he signed the contract" so I asked them to pull the tape. They told me to call back in 10 days.

I reserved my car and prepaid for it in July 2016 (over $1300 USD). When I arrived to pick up my car (in November 2016) I was told that there were none available, at all, of the type I'd reserved and paid for. I felt put on the spot to upgrade to another, more expensive, larger car or...nothing. I needed to get to my destination and so chose the larger car. I resent being put on the spot to pay for a more expensive car that cost me more to drive than the more economical car that I'd paid for initially several months in advance. (What is the purpose of paying for a rental car and having my credit card debited months in advance and then not get what I've paid for?) So far I have received minimal satisfaction in talking to Customer Service about this (oh, they dropped $104 USD from my additional bill of over $500 but, in my mind, I was given a choice of no car or take an Overcharge to a rental I didn't want and had not reserved).

We rented a car on 10/17/2016. We did not need it until 11/05/2016. They took the money out of my account the very next day. While booking they asked about insurance. I checked no. When we arrived to pick it up, they talked my wife into getting insurance, $257.00. We didn't notice it until a few days later. We promptly called, and they told us it would be put back in, in 3-5 business days. They totally mislead us and gave us the worst car in the fleet. Think twice about using Budget, it is not worth the headaches!!!

I went through the AARP discount site in renting from BUDGET. This was a pre-paid reservation. Prior to using the rental I called for a price adjustment 2x as the rate of use had decreased. When I did not see the credit on my Visa statement I called BUDGET and was told that my credit would be applied when the rental was returned. Image my surprise when, one week after returning the car I had not received a credit. Was first told there was no record of my receipt that a credit was due (but that I could email documentation to dispute bc they had no such documentation). In speaking with a supervisor I was told that my $60+ credit was actually just $11 because I had agreed to an upgrade at the airport (mind you I received an economy car and was never asked if I wanted an upgrade).

Just avoid Budget. I rented so many cars in the past from different car rental companies, and never had any issue. It was my first time with Budget and I had all kind of issues. People on the counter are not nice. The price is different than what I booked online. I asked for the manager to explain the issues and the lady on the counter told me he is not here. I insisted to talk to him, then he came out from his office. He was not nice with me. I wish I booked with a different company.

I needed to rent a rental car for Thanksgiving trip home to see elderly parents in GA and was told when I called Budget's 1-800 number, that as long as I prepaid for the rental online with my debit card there would only be an additional $100 debit card hold at time of rental pickup. Additionally I was told when I picked up the rental a credit check would be run but the outcome of the credit check would not affect my ability to rent the car.

I rented a car for a few days from the Budget rental and I have to say it was the most horrible experience. I have rented cars in the past numerous times for travel and never had this type of experience. The second day I had the car the battery died and the car wouldn't start. My fiancé had to stand outside in the car for a neighbor to give us with a jump. On the last day of having the car I had the same trouble where the car wouldn't turn on. I called customer service because when I called the pick up counter at JFK airport I was hung up on and the phone continued to ring. I called the 1800 number and the customer service rep was giving me unhelpful information while my fiancé stood outside in the cold. They wanted us to pay for roadside assistance. This is unacceptable! The car was a piece of junk and we shouldn't have to pay for anything that isn't our fault.

My father reserved a car as he does 2-3 times every year for the past ten+ years. He phoned a day before (as usual) to reserve a car giving a credit card number (as usual) then gave a different credit card upon collecting the car (as usual) for payment (as this collects travel rewards). The clerk processed the card - As Usual. This has occurred every single occasion he rented in the past. Nothing appeared to be any different this time until the credit card statement showed Budget took the money upfront without telling my father.

Rented a Jimny in Suva, Fiji and the service was very poor and the vehicle was older than 5 years old, with mechanical issues. When braking the whole front end would shake violently. We could not return the vehicle since we were on our way across the island and it was after 5 PM. The rear door rattled so much that I stopped & checked twice to make sure it would not open. Budget representatives have stated the following: "When you rent a vehicle outside of the US & Canada, you can EXPECT to rent an OLDER vehicle and that more than likely has been REPAIRED! As long as it got you from point A to B, you're good!" Now that's a statement worthy of a company motto! They have compensated to the tune of $30 USD! OH BOY!!!

Due to snow in Denver, my 5:35 PM departure did not leave until 7. So I arrived at Dulles at midnight rather than 11 PM eastern. When I got to the Budget counter the woman said "you were supposed to pick up your car yesterday." I replied "if you mean 30 minutes ago", I said "you are correct." I explained my flight ran late - full stop for a rhetorical question - how often does that happen?

Very disappointed. I placed a hold on a Ford Taurus for Thanksgiving week, six weeks in advance. Budget sold all the Ford Tauruses without contacting me - even though it says "contact customer if anything changes." I contacted them one week before I was supposed to pick up the car and they told me they sold all of them. It was very stressful, it put me and my family in such a horrible situation.

Booked online at the Plymouth rd., Livonia MI location. Went to pick up car same day after work. Was told I could not rent when I got there b/c I had bad credit? NEVER had a problem anywhere else. Was told my money would be refunded, yet here I wait, 10 DAYS LATER! Customer service gives you the runaround, got nowhere with them after going through many hoops. Had to take my complaint a lot higher. Just to get a $182 refund on a car I never touched! This place is a joke. Cost me a trip and days taken off work for nothing b/c it was too late in the day to rent elsewhere near me. Enterprise every time from now on.

I rented a truck from Budget, received my confirmation via email, checked my credit card, and saw a charge. More than 24 hours later I happened to look at my email to find that they sent an email informing me that the truck was not available. I checked online again and was saw there were still trucks showing on lots in Raleigh. After several phone calls and waiting for the inventory manager to call, we were told there were no trucks. I could still go online and order trucks. The manager did not seem concerned that this was a breach of a contract and that the company was falsifying information online by showing there were still trucks available. Apparently they have no trucks for rent so just don't even try.

I was about to have a wonderful vacation with my family when I came upon a huge line at the Budget Car rental in Orlando Florida. I was waiting patiently with my kids who were tired and wanted to go to bed. I was waiting for about an hour before I got to the counter for what I taught would have been get your keys and go deal. I was surprised at how fast everything changed. Apparently they had no car for the rate that we had booked and tried to sell us an upgrade with insurance which we declined. After waiting for almost 2 hours in total we finally go to get the car. We were given wrong directions and went up and down the elevator three times. I headed out to the car and was on our dream vacation when 24 hours later we had a flat tire and we changed it to the spare and went to the hotel. We proceeded to call the Budget at the airport and was told to call the roadside assistance which we did.

Avoid Budget, save yourself the headache and go with a different company. I was overcharged $340 and have yet to get my money back. Horrible customer service, horrible rental experience. They have no problem stealing from people!

I will never rent a car from Budget again. My family and I went on vacation to Orlando Florida. I booked and prepaid the rental car a month in advance ($229 for 6 days). From the moment we arrived at the counter to get the car there were problems. First we waited at least 45 minutes to be waited on. Granted, there were other customers, but with at least 8-9 windows open, it should not have taken that long to be taken care of. When we FINALLY get to the desk we are greeted by a woman who could barely speak or understand English well. Everything she said needed to be repeated numerous times, and vice versa. I gave her all my paperwork from the booking site I had used. I advised her I wanted BARE MINIMUM insurance. Liability was $15/day, and personal injury was I believe $9/day.

I forgot I received two pay-by-mail tolls on a recent trip to Florida and later got a bill with a $40 penalty. I didn't pay it right away and just received a notice from Budget that they use a service to handle these tolls. The penalty was removed and my credit card was charged for just the toll fees. Thanks, Budget! I have used them for years and they are usually the cheapest rentals while always providing great service with no cancellation or change fees. (They are consistently cheaper even against a company discounted rate that my husband receives from National.)

After having problems with the Budget rental app I went to the counter to do the rental. The counter person offered me a walking "special" that included free road assistance and a cheaper insurance fee for the time of rental and that I could return the car earlier if I needed to. When all was set and done I notice that all those fees were added to the bill. (The bill was way high of I was expecting). I went back to questions her about it and she said that it was free but clearly it wasn't. When I decided to cancel she called the manager and said that I chose the road assistance (clearly a lie).

We rented a van online from Budget through a package deal with park tickets at MCO Orlando airport. We paid for the van in advance and declined additional insurance. The day after we returned the van we were billed 177.45 for insurance and 49.52 for prepaid gas. We did not authorize any of this! While trying to sort it out with Budget we were hung up on 3 times and told there is no manager that could help. Terrible customer service and basically a scam.

Budget messed up my car rental and have taken £800 from my credit card. I am yet to get this money back even though this was back in September. They are an unethical company and I would not trust them. If you want a company you can trust and won't steal money from you, do not use Budget car rental.

I have rented one way rental Midway (Chicago) to Little Rock Airport (LIT) on 29 Oct. Pickup at 7.15 PM and return on Oct 30, 7.15PM. I opted prepay during the rental and paid 161$ prior to renting the vehicle pickup. On Oct 29th I went to the counter at Midway airport around 7PM. Customer care handed out the paperwork and told to take the elevator and car location. I waited for 15 - 20 minutes for wife as she went to rest room and went to the car to pick up the vehicle. I was travelling with 4 bags (50 lbs) and 4 carry-on bags. Around 8PM I picked up the vehicle.

I rented a car in Milan, Galleria delle Carrozze, for a time period of 4 days. When arrived to take the car, this latter has been given to me in a very ruined body situation (many signs of previous accidents) and it was parked (with hazard lights on) in the middle of a 3-lanes road in front of the railway station, during the very peak on Fridays after work traffic in Milan. Despite such situation, the agent forced me in making the car check in the very position where the car was, without light and with cars driving fast close to me, endangering even my personal safety.

VERY SHADY! When renting a car, I expect the agents to try and upsell me but not lie. Wish I would have checked these reviews before picking up my car. I ended up getting additional charges on my bill just like others. Verbally I advised the agent that I didn't want additional coverage. We then moved to an electronic agreement that she provided little detail on and started advising me on how to answer the questions. There was a long line of people waiting so I went along not wanting to delay other travelers & assuming the agent was moving forward with what we discussed. There were 2 screens for what I now know where the optional additional coverages she stated one was optional so decline and one was required so accept. Conveniently the “required” coverage included 2 items both adding around $10/day.

I never do reviews but my family had a bad experience with Budget. We went with Budget because we got a really great deal. We flew into Orlando, Florida and went to the car rental desk. We arrived late, at 11:30 pm and were extremely tired. We were grateful that Budget had promised our car to be at the correct terminal when we arrived. We ended up waiting about 45 minutes to get up to the counter and we were the next in line. When we got up to the counter, we encountered an extremely rude woman. She told us that they didn't have our van at this terminal but we would have to walk to the other terminal. The woman was asking questions, and I was answering the questions because I usually get these things all taken care of. (The reservations were in my husband's name).

In N. Ireland the driving conditions are horrid. The signs are confusing, you drive on the left side of the road, the streets narrow, and to top it off there are roundabouts at every corner to put an extra layer of frustration. We rented a stick shift from Budget. They didn't have an automatic available. We had the car for an hour and then scuffed the tire so brought it back thinking us driving over there was not safe. They charged us for the next day's rental and repair for the tire.

On a recent trip to Pierre SD I reserved and prepaid for a rental car from Budget. I generally use National Car Rental and never have a problem. But a recent "deal" that my company secured with Budget enticed me to use them on this trip. I prepaid to save a few $$$ and was given a confirmation. Thanks to United Airlines I did not arrive in Pierre until 24 hours later. I called the budget location in Pierre to confirm that the car would still be available and at the same price. I was assured that was case.

A short time ago, I have used Hertz and Enterprise. No problems. Had to use Budget three days ago. Their gas policy is a ripoff. I selected the option of returning the car with any amount of gas in car. The car was given to me with 3/4 tank of gas. Upon returning the car, it had 1/2 tank of gas. They charged me $42.27 for gas. The car was a small Ford Fusion! It cost me about $23.00 to fill the tank! Upon complaining and calling Budget, they were not only rude but also said that is their policy. Do not use Budget.

I've been renting from this particular center for the past 6+ years (60 Thornton Rd, Lithia Springs, GA 30122). Things have happened on occasion that I never took into consideration but it's too much now. In the past, there have been times that they've "claimed" I didn't fill the car back up when returning so they charged my card... again. I KNOW for a fact I filled the car up each and every time because there's a gas station right across the street that I stop at in order to do so. Even if there was a time that they felt it was COMPLETELY full (past F), it still doesn't take $30 to fill up a tank from F to over F. I ALWAYS make a reservation, ALWAYS. But I've gone to pick up cars and they tell me they don't have any. They say that that budget.com overbooks them. But I don't understand this because don't they know their own inventory???!!!

In Oct 2016 I booked a Group B Budget Rent-A-Car online for a 3-day period from Norfolk, VA airport. I was quoted $35/day "due at rental counter", which included an upgrade. When I picked up the car, the counter clerk took 40 mins to process my transaction (due to some card issue). At the end of this very protracted process, she pushed the screen towards me and asked me to just sign "here" and "here" assuring me that this was just "all the standard stuff". I was only offered one "extra" (a fuel purchase option) which I agreed to.

We were picking up the car at Tampa Airport, there were long lines and we just wanted to get our car and be on our way to meet our daughter. We were quoted for $184 and it wasn't until we got home that I realized we were charged $351. They had asked us if we wanted additional damage insurance and we declined, but because they were so charming and distracting, we didn't read the fine print and just initialed the contract (not thinking that we were being cheated).

I rented a car last September with Budget. I booked it on rentalacars.com like I Always do. This year the clerk told me that there will be a amount 123.04 shown on my receipt because I booked with a third party. At first I didn't want to sign my ticket cause I don't want to pay extra. The manager came and confirmed the guys story and said "there will be no extra charge".They both were lying. When I came home about 2 weeks later the amount was charged off my credit card. I contacted customer service and the amount charged was for a personal accident Insurance. What the heck?! The clerk and the manager are both lying right to my face and ripping me of just for their petty sales fee. Shame on them and shame on Budget! This was at Orlando international airport.

I been renting at Budget rent a car at BWI airport since may, 2015 & to this present time, mostly on the weekend, as a fastbreak & AARP member. Recently at the budget bwi counter, I had a complaint about my car rental from the same female rental agent at the counter. After I made my reservation on the phone a day early with my confirmation info, that was email to me, again the same female rental agent giving me a hard time at the counter, & caught an attitude, cause I wouldn't accept the vehicle she offered me, also she refused to honor & accept my coupon for my free double upgrade to a small suv, as she knew that I was entitled to. Then she had intentionally cancelled my reservation without my consent. My 2 days weekend rental balance was only $44.20 for a free double upgrade, at budget. I had to go to avis & spend $107.00 for a 2 days weekend.

Took over 30 minutes to get car – and I was next in line with only other customer being already being helped when we arrived. Outside of car dirty, not a big deal, BUT the inside was horrible! Stains on every seat, with what looked like large blood stain in middle of back seat, and floor mats were nasty. Took car home first before trip to try and clean stains off and wipe down everything with Chlorox disinfecting wipes. Low tire pressure light on. Had to find air and pressure gauge to fill ALL the tires. This took time off my trip. After all the above inconveniences, and time it took, budget had the audacity to charge me a full day for being 1 hour late. Actually was $5 less than full day but they added a $5 CFC?/day charge for the 1 hour. WARNING! Stay away from this business at all costs. They are NOT professional.

184,68 USD and daily rate was 26,39 USD, all in all 306,18 USD with taxes etc. Plus I paid Damage coverage as 99 USD. When I got to Budget desk in Norfolk International Airport, VA, they couldn't see any car reservation payment in their system, just my name and request. They didn't want to recognize insurance I paid for to Priceline and got me pay the extra insurance - 15,50 per day. I've asked for GPS, and lady at desk said "It's for 65 USD." After which she rushed me through agreement and I signed it without reading it. Guess what? Total bill in invoice was 630USD!!! I then got back to Priceline asking questions about overcharging me to which they said they can't do anything till I return car. So they won time for themselves and Budget.

Our experience at RDU was on time to and from terminals, but upon return of the car for departure we had to load all four large luggage bags onto the bus. We are seniors and it was very difficult to lift them up the steps of the bus and into the racks while the driver sat in his seat, not good.

I purchased a car online before going to the location and the guy Bipin said he couldn't take my card. I need a bank card and an additional $100. Being that I was in need but this was a surprise to me I decided not to get the rental. Bipin then instructed customer service since I did it online. I was highly irritated but did just that. When I called customer service and explained the first girl I talked to put me on hold and I assume transferred me to another rep. The new rep got on the phone and asked me how can he help me. At this point I am irate I have to give all my information and repeat myself to someone else.

Our flight into Orlando was changed to Tampa due to Hurricane Matthew. I needed to adjust the car rental reservation. Originally it was $240 for 7 days. We couldn't fly out of Tampa and dropped the car off in Orlando. We were charged $1353.21 for 4 days. Terrible customer service. State of emergency conditions in Florida!

My grandmother has spent five months calling Budget over and over again to get them to put her last payment on her credit card. She also did this the day we returned the mini van we rented. Needless to say, they kept telling her that they would bill her credit card, and yet she received a COLLECTION NOTICE in the mail from them!! Her credit card company had no record of them ever even attempting to bill it on her card and it took a nasty phone call from her for them to FINALLY do their job. This was our major issue, but the employees each gave us different info upon renting our car even different amounts we were supposed to pay!! Enterprise ONLY for us from now on!! I have never had such horrible service in my life. DO NOT USE BUDGET ALCOA TN!!!

After reading reviews of Budget Avis customers I have the impression that it is this company's practice to take advantage of the pre-authorization on credit cards to serve themselves as they please from customers accounts. My husband and I had rented a car for two weeks at the Bilbao Spain airport through an online travel agency, and were charged 50% more than the initial price for those two weeks when we returned the car one day early!

We were in Vegas from Oct 4th to Oct 7th and got a good deal via Expedia on a 2016 Hyundai Elantra from Budget Rent a Car at the Airport. At first, we were pressed by the Budget Counter to get the extra insurance even though we have already bought it via Expedia. All our luggage was stolen on the day of departure (Oct 7th between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM) from a locked trunk with no external damage whatsoever.

I picked up my reserved vehicle at the Budget Rent-A-Car counter at the Phoenix, AZ airport. As can be expected, the attendant at the counter inquired if I needed any of the various "add ons" that Budget had to offer. These included insurance policies. I said no to all. I had to assume he knew that I did not want or need any additional policies or add ons when I said "no". As paperwork is put in front of me, I am assuming that it is what I have agreed to. In other words, I did not need any of the additional money making items he was offering me. I get back home and see that I have been tagged with an additional $163.69 charge AFTER I returned the vehicle. Discussing my objections with the Budget Customer dis-Service, they are saying I signed a document requesting additional insurance.

1st time renting with Budget and will be the last time.The roadside assistance people told me to unlock the door was free. Budget went into my bank account without notice for this charge and took $60.00 out my account without notifying me. The only way I found out is because my bank said "well they also went into your account on another day after I called about another charge they accessed." Budget also charged me $87.00 for a fix a flat plug in the tire. You can buy a new tire for about that amount. I could have bought fix a flat for $10.00. Putting fix a flat in the tire would make the warranty non and void since there are sensors in the tire. I wonder if they let the warranty people know that they are doing these types of repairs to their cars. I think I will keep renting my car from ENTERPRISE.

I rented a car for 2 days. The car was smelly, full of flies, dirty, and out of washer fluid. I had to drive the car both days in the rain with the windows down because there were so many flies in the car. I called customer service while I had the car to complain. I got told to take the car back. But the time I was free to take the car back was later than the close time. So I was not able to get another car. I was also in a hurry when I picked the car up. After several calls to customer service I gave up. When I dropped the car back off I was asked how it was and I told them that there was flies in the car, it was dirty, smelled, and out of washer fluid. I was told "thanks, if you don't need a receipt you are all set". Again I call customer service and get NOWHERE.

If possible I would give Budget Rental Car a negative star rating. I contacted Car Rental 8 online weeks prior to the rental date - Labor Day Weekend. Car Rental 8 indicated that the rental would go through Budget and provided me with a booking and reservation number. My credit card was charged and I was then provided a voucher to bring to the Budget Rental Counter upon arrival. I called to confirm the reservation for the convertible the day prior to picking up the car. I live in the southern part of Ohio and was traveling in a group of four other vehicles to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

I called the reservation center on September 21, 2016 and rented a van for September 29, 2016 through October 3, 2016. I am a Fastbreak customer so I received a 5% discount. I also received a 10% discount as I gave your agent my AARP number. I was advised I would receive an additional driver free of charge. When I went to pick up the van at the Capital Commons Shopping Center on Louisburg Road, Raleigh, NC I was advised they did not have any vans. I was given a Nissan Pathfinder. The Pathfinder is very high and the back seat is a joke. You cannot sit facing the front. I had two senior citizens with me. They had problems getting in and out of the vehicle. There were six of us traveling and we could not get 6 suitcases in the storage space. My sister had to drive my personal vehicle so we could take all our luggage which was an extra expense for gas for two vehicles.

I would give this pathetic franchise location a ZERO if that were an option or even a negative quadrillion. THE ABSOLUTE WORST!! I'll get into the details: I'm in town acting as best man in my best friends wedding, and we are picking up the van we rented to shuttle our guests to and fro. We arrived at the time of the reservation - the van was to be ready at one or after - however, the business was just closing and they would not assist us to obtain the rental; for which, I might add, we had already paid in full. We could literally see the van we rented sitting on the lot.

The silver lining in having a vacation cut short by a hurricane is that you learn what companies you should and should not do business with in the future. We picked up our vehicle at BWI and intended to drop it at MYR 8 days later, as per our rental agreement. However due to an evacuation of coastal South Carolina... While I understand the explanation given to me about why One-Way Fees are assessed, and the Myrtle Beach location "needing cars" this situation was beyond our control and should be factored in by Budget as a cost of doing business. We had to change our flight twice and were assessed 0 fees by the airline. The hotel which we had a non-refundable rate reserved for the last 3 days of our vacation assessed us 0 fees.

After making reservations over a week prior to the date, the vehicle we reserved was unavailable & the male without an apology or smile, gave us a quote for another & went even further by saying it's a brand new jeep, which turned out to be very dirty. We were going on our vacation, whatever price was quote initially was what we budget in for a car. We end up paying more than twice for the price we initially received at time of reservation because we got this (supposedly) brand new (dirty) suv (Ford escape), insurance. We've had experiences with car rental places before where, if the vehicle we reserved wasn't available we were given a similar vehicle at the same rate or a discounted rate & the insurance was included. Budget was a big disappointment. I pray I don't have to use them again.

Web login doesn't work and randomly requires activation again. Support number goes to Jamaica where they hang up on you over and over, and then ask for a credit card number to find your account? Then transfer to US support where reservations says web support is closed? Does anyone in this organization have a clue about what they're doing?

Called to Cancel and request $50 dollar cancellation fee waived. Made a reservation and needed to cancel 10 mins later due to someone in my travel group already making a reservation. I understand there should be better communication. Regardless, I call Budget to request the fee waived since it has been 10 mins. The lady on the phone says she cannot. I politely ask to speak to the manager. She says that he is busy with another customer and puts me on hold for 20 mins. When someone picks up it is their collision support team. From there they've told me I have reached AVIS. 45 mins of my time wasted. I pulled the number from the Budget website. I would say worst customer service I've experienced but it seems that all call centers are this bad.

These people as is if they BENDING OVER BACKWARDS by hooking us all up with this AMAZING too good to be true out of this world deal when all the while they are really just distracting you from. Reading the fine print while sweet talking you, assuring you they are going above and beyond while all the while sticking it to us good. First of all, we declined the insurance offered by them because we have our own at home and had proof with us. Not only did she tack that onto the bill as well she continued to go on and on about what a hero she was to us that day.

I recently travelled with my wife to Phoenix and rented via Budget. We made reservations at least one month in advance. Upon arrival we noticed a fairly lengthy line. We got to the counter and I started my stopwatch on my cell phone and politely set it on the counter. You see, my only other experience with Budget was over a year ago in Florida where we waited two hours for a reserved car. In Phoenix it was explained to me that they had to locate my car... they didn't have it. The person behind the counter was short, we had to wait 45 minutes, the car was dirty... I had a sinking feeling when we walked up to the Budget counter and noticed they had a very nice waiting area. Why does a rental car company have a nice waiting area? None of the others do! I rent from Avis (Who owns Budget) for my regular business travel and NEVER wait. I guess we know what happens if they don't try harder, you get Budget Rental.

I will never rent from Budget again. Not only did they not disclose a "toll" charge to me, but I paid all tolls on my trip in cash and then three weeks later received a charge on my credit card for flat toll fee per day. Most ridiculous rip off. I called and customer service was completely ignorant and not very helpful. I thought they would credit my account but she refused. Don't bother with this company. They don't care about your business and operate fraudulently.

We booked our rental 2 days before our arrival to the Orlando Airport, but chose to pay at the counter when we picked up the car... the total at this time was $168.24. On September 3, 2016, there was a HUGE line we stood in for over 40 minutes until we got to the counter. Once at the counter (where there were only 2 representatives helping customers), the young lady was texting as we walked up to the counter. We actually stood at the counter until she finished her text and said "how may I help you". We proceed with rental agreement, as she told us about booking a trip to Jamaica with her husband, but then found out she was pregnant and now can't go and how upset and bummed out she was.

I reserved a 12 passenger Ford Transit Van a month BEFORE my trip. The night before my trip, I got a phone call from Muhammad at the rental car place saying they wouldn't have my van at 8 am (the scheduled time) but they would have it at 3 pm. **The van was reserved for a four day cross country trip from North Bergen, NJ to Oregon. We had a very tight schedule--depart NJ with van at 8 am on Thursday and arrive in OR at 12 pm on Sunday. **

Booked compact car via Air Miles. We get to Budget in Vegas to have the agent as if we were fine with a Ford Fiesta hatchback. We answer no that is not what we booked, we booked a compact car, Ford Focus or similar and a Fiesta is not similar. Dude tells us "Oh Air Miles does that, they use the same picture for every rental agency and a Fiesta is what you ordered. We don't have a Ford Focus but I can upgrade it." But of course cause wth wants a hatchback with luggage and shopping bags? So end up paying another $35 for a 'deal'. We get back. I check Budget's website... Lo and behold they have a Compact section with a Ford Focus listed and Economy with Chevy Sprint or equivalent (Fiesta fits that) under that rating! I write to Budget explaining what happened and get this ridiculous response clearly indicating they didn't even read what we wrote.

Beware and do not rent from this company. These sleazebags are trying to charge me $272 for a bald tire that blew out. Roadside service said this and one other tire was disintegrating and unsafe to drive on. Budget is actually holding me responsible for this wear and tear item caused by their irresponsible maintenance of the vehicle. They expect me to pay for an existing item that occurred over thousands of miles which I did not cause. My bank is reversing the charges and said Budget has no right to charge me. Budget states they will continue to aggressively pursue collection on it. It is interesting to note that Budget Rent A Car has an F rating with the BBB, and this rating is reflective of worldwide corporate owned rental locations.

Returned car full – they automatically add a fuel service fee as if it was only 7/8. Employees say this is well-known. The only option was to get in the (:30) line and have the counter folks rectify. I called and supervisor would only reverse the theft charge, not the rental. BTW, this whole operation stinks. Car was new but dirty, long lines to check-in, infrequent terminal shuttle.

Was charged nearly $200 for renting a subcompact car for less than one day, three times as much as I expected to be charged based on quoted rate. Was LIED to by representative who told me that the insurance on the car would be useless in case there was any damage to the car (whether that damage is due to my fault or any 'acts of God'), and that I needed to buy extra insurance. SHOULD LYING NOT BE ILLEGAL? What kind of country is the U.S. that it allows companies like this to stay in business?

Flew in from Atlanta GA to Denver today for a nice relaxing vacation. Got to Budget Rental Car location from airport and there are three rental agents and more than 100 people in line to pick up the car they have reserved. It has taken us longer to get our car than the flight took from Atlanta to Denver. 3 hours of standing in line. HORRIBLE customer service. Budget does not seem to care about its customers. Never never use Budget Rental Car.

This review could save your family's life. My son and I want to visit family in Co. We were told the best car to rent was a jeep (a upcharge). The jeep we got had 32,000 miles on it. When we drove out of the lot it was night. We were in around Grand Junction. A lot of the roads are gravel. We had a flat tire about 14 miles out of town. We then looked at the tires and there was very little tread on the tires. The spare was new. When we turned in the jeep I asked about the tires and was told that they were the originals. What bothered me most was that this company sent me and my son out with tires like these. The roads in Co. have a lot of steep dropoffs. We were lucky not to blow a tire and go over a 800 ft cliff. I took picture of the tire holding a dime in the grooves. The date was still showing. I filed a claim with them. They said not their problem. If you use this company 1. Use American Express. 2. Take pictures. Thanks for your time.

I am a U.S. Army veteran, and my car was recently put in the shop, so I had to get a rental car to get around in. I picked Budget Rent A Car and everything was ok the first week, but the second week I rented the car they said the price had went up $20.00. I agreed to pay the new amount and signed the contract, but when I checked my bank account they had charged me $200.00 more. I called them and was shuffled from one contact to another until finally I talked to one who said they charge a $200.00 holding fees that they will refund in 2 to 5 business days after I return the car. Nowhere on my contract does it mention this fee and they did not charge me the fee the first time I rented the car.

We rented a car online at Hilton Head Island in August 2016. The online price for the week and verified at the pick up counter was $143.20. We denied all the extra insurance coverage. This is verified on our invoice and verified again when we dropped off the car at Budget office. Budget charged us $265.34 on our credit card. When we contacted Budget customer service were told the $122.14 difference was for insurance we had not accepted and declined in writing. We were told the difference would be refunded when we provided copies of the invoice which we did. We then received a reply from them saying we still owed the insurance. No explanation or documentation was given us to prove that despite multiple requests. Our emails have been unanswered.

I reserved my rental car for Budget through rentalcars.com. I paid in full for my reservation which was to include Primary Liability Insurance, which is required in Costa Rica. Upon arrival to pick up the vehicle, Camilo, the CS rep asked for our passports. He then asked if we wanted additional insurance. We declined and he confirmed that we understood any damages would go on our credit card. We said we understood and still declined. He then returned our passports and asked for a credit card for the deposit. We signed the agreement and thought we were signing for $513 for our deposit. Upon returning the car and returning home and checking my credit card statement I discovered that we were charged for additional insurance (which was declined), an additional driver and roadside assistance, neither of which I was asked if I wanted!

I made an online reservation for a car, a $34 car. I am a 'Fast Break' member, which means my pick up process is supposed to be streamlined. When I got to the pick up counter for Budget, the agent claimed he couldn't find my Fast Break info. He did find my reservation but ignored that while trying to get me to upgrade to an $80 car. I had to ask at least 5 times to get the car I reserved. I had been traveling through airports and layovers for over 30 hours and I was exhausted and I feel the agents at this location take advantage of weary travelers and try and stick them with crappy deals even if they have a confirmed reservation. My $34 car which was supposed to be about $53 with taxes/fees became a $102 rental. I only rent a car to go one way home from the airport, about 50 miles. I felt like I was held hostage by this agent who would not take 'no' for an answer and ignored my requests for my online booked reservation car.

I booked our car rental in March of 2016 for a full size car for 5 days for a total of $112.00 to be picked up at LAX via online. Once we arrived at LAX the shuttle picked us up on the curb and the driver helped us with our bags (very friendly). Once arriving at the Budget we were helped right away. The employee asked us which type of insurance coverage we wanted on the car...she did not explain this was optional. Therefore I went with the cheapest, she then had me sign a couple agreements, and stated the car would be charged for additional charges. We were given a Toyota Camry which was clean and ready to go when we completed the paperwork. After a couple hours I started to question the additional charges, as I had declined the insurance online originally.

We booked our rental via Costco. I handed the paperwork to the agent at Budget at the Phoenix airport. He immediately told me he could get me a 'better deal' with their end-of-summer special. He quoted me a $200 price increase. I told him I wanted my original booking, and he acted as if he had no idea what I was talking about. I asked him at least twice for my paperwork to be returned. He finally fished it out of his trash can after I produced a copy on my smart phone. He still increased the price by over $30, and said, "The price you had was only an estimate."

The Budget Avis car rental in Glen Burnie MD offers the best ever. I'm a very frequent visitor to renting cars and Every Time it's the best. Recently, I rented from a different one in the airport and regretted not going to my favorite, Budget in Glen Burnie MD.

When I rented a car through Budget I was told that if I did not open the transponder box I would not be charged for the use of the transponder. During that time I did not open the transponder. The day before returning the rental car I went over a bridge that did not have a toll booth, but did have a sign that the license plate would be charged if there was no transponder. The charge was $5. About a month later I saw a $24.75 charge on my credit card from Budget. After calling them I was told that they had been charged $5 for the toll and that the rest was administrative fee, including the $3.95/day fee for transponder use which I specifically did not want. They even told me that the transponder had not been activated, but I was charged anyway. They would not take off any of the charge and insisted that was what I had to pay. I will no longer rent a car through Budget.

I searched to find the best rate for my visit to Albuquerque/Santa Fe. My quote was just over $200 for the week. My flight was a late one and I was half asleep when I got to the car rental counter, a very charming and friendly agent asked me a bunch of rapid fire questions that I just nodded an answer to and I was on my way. I was late, tired and just wanted to get going. I put the paperwork in the glove compartment and didn't take it out till I returned the car. At the return I was greeted with a big surprise.

Had a horrible experience with Budget Truck Rental! I thought I was being charged twice by accident to find that they charged me for dropping off the truck past the 24 hour time frame. First of all, when I picked the drop off time as I made an online reservation, it did not state anywhere that I was going to be charged for dropping it off past the expected time online. No one explained to me in person that I was going to be charged $200 for an extra few hours! Probably because I am deaf and they took advantage of that! I called customer service and their excuse was: well you signed the contract. Really? Have you seen the contract? It's lengthy and no one has the time to READ it especially on moving day! That was unjust and discrimination. I only got reimbursed half of what I had to pay! I won't be using their company anymore from here on out.

I hate to sound like a broken record on this website, but I will NEVER rent from Budget again. I reserved a mid-sized car online on July 27 to pick up at Orlando airport. I declined all extra coverage/insurance. My quote came to $192. I picked up the car on Aug 11 and used it for a week. I returned the car on Aug 18. When I got home, about a week later we received a letter from Budget stating that the seats were stained and we would be billed a $75 cleaning charge. Only after calling them about it, they emailed us pictures of the stains, which were obviously older stains from normal use. We never ate in the car, so it's impossible that we created those stains. It's interesting how many other reviewers on this site also mention $75 cleaning charges for stains the renter didn't create. Nevertheless, receiving this letter prompted me to go view my credit card statement.

I reserved a car online and prepaid, but when I went to pick up the car, they still wanted to charge me $100 on my credit card which I didn't have because I'm currently paying charges to fix my own car, which is why I wanted to rent one. So, the lady gave me a number for customer service to "refund my money" but they charged me $150 to refund my money so I ended up with a refund of $49 when I paid $200. Now I have no rental car, no money, and still trying to figure out how I'll be able to get my child to daycare at 7:30 am when I have to be at work at 6 a.m. for the rest of this week. Thanks for ruining my life for the week Budget. I really appreciate it.

Please remember to read your contract at the counter. They didn't have the car that I reserved online when I arrived so they upgraded me without me knowing that they were charging me for the upgrade. Also, when I returned the car, it was early in the morning and NO gas stations were open and couldn't fill up. I only used a 1/4 of the full tank but they charged me $70. I called to discuss with corporate. They would not refund the difference between my original cost to the upgraded cost and only refund me half of the gas. I will never rent from them again.

I wish I would've read these reviews before I used Budget. This is going to be a repeat of other reviews. After booking online and paying advance, I get to the counter and try to get upsold on everything, which I understand is their job. After agreeing to only supplemental liability insurance, I was told to "check this box, this box, and sign here." 7 days later upon returning the car, filled with gas (though I didn't show a receipt, which scares me from an earlier review), I was charged almost another $500. After speaking with the manager who "couldn't do anything for me" I asked for the customer service number.

I was cheated two times for a rent by staffs in LAX Budget. I placed an order on Budget in one week’s advance. When I fetched it, I wanted to add GPS into my rent. A Budget representative told me that daily rate of GPS was $31. She pushed me to change it into another car by saying that a new car was being promoted (actually, that price is so high!). I was in a hurry, and accepted her suggestion, driving that car to leave at once. When I drove on road, this car smelled stinky! Additionally, there were many stains on interior roof. I almost vomited because of that stinky smell. I had to open windows although it was very hot outside. After I stopped at home and watched the exterior of car, it was another surprise that there were a lot of scratches on both sides. I really felt I was cheated by this female representative.

I was told by TrueCar.com that I had two days to a test drive a Budget/Avis sale car. Two hours is what's evidently what is usually allowed but it was not stated when I picked the car up at the Budget office in Fry's on 92nd Street and Shea in Scottsdale, AZ. First I was given the wrong car to drive and then charged over $110 ($60 for a call to roadside assistance that was cancelled an hour later and $55 for day's rental) when car was late being brought back because it broke down at the gas station on the way back to the rental office. The $60 is said to be reversed, but $55 rental was refused. Many inquiries for help from executives at TrueCar and Budget were answered with rudeness and excuses. NEVER, NEVER trust these disorganized people.

I called the agent. She place a car for rent a week prior. When I went to pick up the car I was told my rental was declined. I ask why. He handed me an Equifax card and said they will tell me. I have worked at the airport for 16 years. I see these people almost every day and have rented from them for several years with no problems. When I called Equifax they said there was nothing on my report that would decline the rental and to ask budget manager with credit report in hand why they declined the rental. I never saw any paperwork. I went to the manager (Rick) he gave me several maybes they could have raised the credit score. He also stated they have had several cars stolen and no money would be there for the car.

This business will scam you. Do not use them! I rented a car and returned it within 10 minutes of the scheduled time. They said that I was a full hour late and billed me charges that doubled my bill. The dumb idiots there also tried to bill me for gas even though I had paid for the tank. Then she yelled at me for asking for an explanation. Maybe these morons don't understand the strict consumer protection in Texas! The state is very strict about businesses that advertise false prices and rip people off. Anyway, if you are at Hobby Airport go to Thrifty where you will not get ripped off or subjected to bait and switch garbage. Budget sucks!

I had decided to give Budget another chance and it was a horrendous experience once again. In Iceland the brakes malfunctioned putting my son and I at risk. We were told that there was nothing they could do because we were far away from a centre. After my travel agent fought with head office they then helped. It was a high risk situation for my son and I. I think they are an atrocious company!!!

I rented a vehicle from the 49th Street Budget location in Manhattan through a prepaid reservation. I arrived ten minutes early, and then waited 55 minutes. In that time, the manager and one employee managed to work with two parties total. When it was my turn to be helped, the employee at the desk was unable to complete my rental because she hadn't been properly trained. We had to wait for the manager (who had simply disappeared from the counter despite a line that reached all the way out the door of the office by this point). It took a further fifteen minutes for them to find a car that was actually available for me to use.

Ready to enjoy our trip to Disney, we gathered our luggage and proceeded to pick up our Budget Rental Car. We proceeded to the desk only to find a VERY long line with 3-4 employees working. After an hour, we finally made it to the desk. Once at the desk, the rep requested the last 4 of the Visa we used to book the car. I provided this info and he stated that was not correct. He then stated that I had one more chance to provide the last 4 of another Visa card I used or my reservation would be cancelled. I provided the only other Visa card I had and he said no, your reservation was cancelled and they would charge me a $150 cancellation fee. What? I didn't cancel it, you did. Either way, I pulled up my credit card statement to prove that the last 4 digits I originally provided were correct and they stated that I'd have to call corporate to get a new reservation and have them waive the fee. After another hour, I finally had my car.

We found that the make up mirror inside the passenger visor was already broken. When we noticed it sometime between August 1st and 5th, we reported this to the attendant. When we turned the car in, now we are getting charged $108 to repair it. We have told them three times we did not break it.

We rented car in Budget Czech republic based in airport last year/2015. We paid 800 euro /20.000 CZK. Car was with a little damage on bumper which we were told and was written on our contract. We gave them car back and deposit was given back few days later, because car was given back in same conditions. 3 weeks later they take 200 euro from my boyfriend account without any authorization saying, that they take money because the little scratch on bumper/which we didn't even did, because our deposit was given back...

I called Budget to rent a car because my car was in the body Shop. I was told on the phone I only needed my driver's licence and debit card. Well needless to say I believed them. I had a reservation for noon the next day. I called before I went to pick up the car. The customer service rep told me the same thing. I go to pick up the car and I'm told my credit score was not high enough to rent the car with my debit card. I was told this in front of other people. I was so embarrassed! They could have told me this when I called to rent the car! I could have went to Enterprise to rent my car with a deposit! I would never recommend Budget to anyone. I get the policy, but tell people on the phone before hand! Bad customer service!!!

These people really don't know what they are doing... They invoice incorrectly for amounts not quoted on their "booking confirmation". They seem unable to do simple arithmetic, charge incorrectly, take inordinate time to give refunds back and still do not refund correctly. The first car provided gave trouble... The replacement was OK but they attempted to charge more for it even though they had no replacement car in the same category... Keep away from BUDGET/AVIS in Cape Town...

My family and I have rented three vehicles from Budget and they have nice vehicles. All vehicles I rented were a 2012 Chevy Impala, a 2013 Dodge Durango, and a 2014 Ford Explorer. All vehicles were fully loaded to the max. Especially the Explorer. I like when rental companies do this because it makes a 7 hour ride feel like a dream. With rear heated seats, rear vents, and ambient lighting, my kids feel more comfortable and they're not always kicking my seat or asking Google, "Okay Google. How long will it take to get to blah, blah, blah?" They don't even need to put a movie in! When they do, they say it's more comfortable than the theaters! Sweet! They finally like a vehicle! Now, I would purchase a vehicle like this, but I'm not constantly hauling kids around, or going on long trips. Which is why I rent! And I only rent from Budget!

I had a horrible experience with this company. I checked in at the Santa Ana/Orange County customer service window and definitely was not impressed with the customer service representative. I went below to pick up the car, and that whole interaction was no more than 15 seconds. The gentleman said "Here, sign this. Here's your keys." I walked out to the car and left, no inspection, nothing. When I returned the car I was not even parked when the attendant came out and pointed to the right front bumper, and kept saying over and over, "Damage." There were scratches in the paint.

I will NEVER rent from Budget again. The vehicle they gave me was really nice and I rented it at a much lower price than other major rental agencies were offering a similar vehicle for. I should've know then that it was too good to be true. I returned the vehicle HOURS earlier than I was supposed to with a full tank of gas (which was verified by the employee who checked me back in). Two weeks later, I noticed Budget had charged me over $100 additional. I call them and was told that the vehicle I'd rented had to be refueled, and that I returned the vehicle a day later than I was supposed to! The slick SOBs referred to my rental agreement which states in fine print that if the vehicle was refueled, then a receipt verifying that should be provided. In other words, I have to show them a receipt of gas purchase as proof of refueling instead of their paid employees checking that gas level upon check in. It's a total scam!

I rented a car with Budget and when I received the car showed one of the tires need it air. I was there at the site still and told them about this situation. The gentlemen told me do not worry they are going to check the air in all four tires. When they took about 30 minutes to check the car. Then I drove about 200 miles and the red light turn on again for the same flat tire and a signal " maintenance required". When I returned the rental car I told them that the car had a flat tire since I got it and they knew without telling me the truth.

When I picked up my rental car at the Columbus OH airport, the gentleman was very nice. He asked if I needed insurance and I said no. When he handed me my rental agreement, I saw only that it was for the rate that I had been quoted, $183 for 4 days. What I didn't notice, and what wasn't pointed out was that he had indeed charged me for an extra $50/day in insurance that I had specifically not authorized. Unfortunately, I had initialed the contract per his instruction (you know, sign here, initial here, etc.) and did not catch the mistake.

Worst rental experience ever. Car covered in bird **. Vehicle inside was not clear. Returned vehicle and the idiots held my $100 security deposit for a week. The clerk said I had to call the 1-800 number to get my money back. The 1-800 rep said call the Sears location. The Sears location clerk said call this number... It was the home number of a nasty mean female store manager who when I told her I would never rent from Budget again, she said great and started screaming that we call her cell phone. WHAT A PISS POOR COMPANY!!!

For me budget located in 80 bloor st toronto was Worst experience ever. First time user, and Budget/Avis overcharged me for my reservation due to a mix up. When I called in to inquire about this, the representative was not attentive to what I was saying. Exasperated, when I finally got transferred to a "manager" he was very impatient, asking me irrelevant questions and even laughed at me at one point. That guy was an **. Didn't get anything solved, not a single apology or a hint of sympathy; what a waste of time and my money. Never again, and will spread word about this horrid service. Good luck growing in a highly competitive car rental market with crappy service like this.

Walked in and all I did was show my driver's license...he swiped my debit card and I checked my bank account and it showed the $215.84 that was charged by Budget. This was suppose to be a long term rental and they were to charge me every Thursday for the car. However...after keeping the car for a month...Budget tells me I owe over $1,000 for the rental. I asked what happened to the money they had charged me for the past month? The reply was they had put it back into my account. So...I had to cough this up all at one time. I know what you are thinking....why did I spend the money? I honestly didn't know they had put it back into my account each and every week. I can promise this...I will NEVER USE BUDGET AGAIN!

This rental car company is very devious with hidden fees and upgrades. I booked a compact car for business travel and when I arrived they were fast at getting me on the road, so fast that I did not see my rental agreement had an 8.00 a day upgrade for a compact hybrid. I did not initial that upgrade and was not informed it was an upgrade but I signed the rental agreement and that was proof enough for them I was fine for an upgrade. I did not notice the extra fees until I went back to my office a week later and was submitting my travel voucher that I was charged 50.00 extra for the week. my company does not allow upgrades to rentals and I may have to pay out of my pocket.

I left my wallet in the car by mistake a hundred percent sure by mistake and I went back to them to get it. They said it's not there and when I rented the car the guy added $25 every day because he said it's extra seat in the SUV and I found out both cars take the same amount of passengers. The two cars are the same... Lies. I will never ever rent from Budget Rental cars again.

Their website didn't explain that using a debit car would require a credit check. And when I arrived at the counter I was told a lie about running a credit check & was denied my rental. So when I went to request a refund I was informed that I would not get one because of the $150.00 fee. So I wrote customer service and told them that I thought it was unfair that I will not get my $90 refund because I did not cancel and was not a no-show. They told me that they would refund my money but it would take 7 business days. 11 days later and I'm still waiting. Sent them a follow up message asking about the refund and haven't gotten a reply back.

I have rented from Budget twice and twice it was a complete nightmare. The first time I rented was in April 2016 of which I rented one of their economy cars from NY to VA so there were tolls. I travel regularly between the two states so I already have my personal E-ZPass transponder and it clearly says on their cars to NOT remove their transponder box or you'll get charged a $25 fee and to just leave it closed if I don't want to be charged by Budget for tolls.

I was charged $266.14 for the car from July 30 at 1PM through August 3 at 9:47AM. For three days the total was $116.97 and for the "fourth day" it was $106.64. The average per day comes to $66.54 per day - outrageous when I look at competition. I just joined Fast Track and that was great, but not the cost! I am done with your company. People on your "customer care," were just rote in saying too bad.

I rented from the Budget in Merrillville and there was a very long wait, as their systems were down. When I finally got my car, it was dirty. The manager, Julie was very rude and nasty. She was unapologetic and she definitely should not be working around the public directly.

I reserved a minivan on 3/15/2016 for pick-up at MCO on 7/30/16. When my family arrived, we waited for almost an hour while the customer service people fussed on the phone, ignored us, fretted with each other, and finally told us we could not have the minivan I reserved. This was not acceptable as we had 5 people and nine bags. It was late. We were all tired from a long flight and waiting for our Budget rental. We had to take the only option, which was a Kia SUV that was very uncomfortable and not large enough for us. Our luggage did not fit and we had quite a difficult, cramped drive to the beach.

I rented a car from Budget at Pittsburgh Intl Airport, when visiting for 4th of July weekend. When I went to pick up my pre-ordered car, there were none available, and I had to wait in line with others who also didn't have a car on time. When my car finally arrived, no one went over it with me, basically handed the keys and disappeared. I had an early flight out, so I returned the car between 4:30-5 am. I found an attendant, but he couldn't take the time to check me out. "Just leave your car in the lineup and put your keys in the box."

I rented car from Budget for 8 days. It took me 2 hours to wait in the line to get a car. When I returned the car They charged me Additional $110.00 U.S. dollars for Insurance which I wasn't agree because I already told them that I can use my own insurance from the beginning. But they still charged me for that... Total rip-Off... really bad experience!!

During our summer holiday in Canada I rented a car through Budget at Vancouver Airport YVR. At the desk I met a person, who was more interested in selling additional products, rather than to be of any service regarding the prepaid voucher. He immediately proposed to upgrade the car we had ordered in advance, due to the number of travellers, suitcases etc, as if we had not taken this in consideration, when ordering the vehicle. Do no accept the upgrade, or be very careful to check the upgrade price, before signing the contract - otherwise you will pay gold.

I booked online with Easycar in the UK a rental vehicle in Nice France for eleven days. I prepaid three months in advance with a credit card. Upon arrival we had to wait over 1 1/2 hours for the vehicle to arrive. It was not at the pickup point but at Nice airport and had to be picked up refueled and cleaned at another depot prior to coming to the pickup point. So not a great start as we had to pick up family at Nice airport and then had a lunch booked.

I recently rented a car from Budget online. The cost was to be 151.00 for a week plus taxes and fees. For a total of 209.93. Plus I filled the tank before I brought it back. They charged a pre-charge of 170.38. When I got to the counter to pick up the car the one I rented online they rented before I got there. So they gave me another and said there would be no additional charges. When I returned the car the total charges were 380.31. so they kept my prepayment of 170.38 plus charged me the additional 209.93. When I called customer service they refused to return the additional 170.38. I did not agree to a 380.31 for a weekly rental. They slammed me for the additional charges. I will never use them again. Nor do I recommend anyone else.

Budget did not adequately examine the 16-foot box truck they rented me. It had a very serious obvious axial alignment issue, leading to a breakdown and near serious accident experience. After baking in the Sun for five hours and turning my quick 6-hour move into a 12-hour event, they offered to reimburse me $45 for my troubles. Apparently when renting a vehicle to get you from Budget does not mean you are guaranteed a safe vehicle. I have used Enterprise for many years with no issues. Budget is a low tier company with bad vehicles and customer relations. I Would never use budget again as they turned my move into a nightmare in which I was lucky to leave without hurting myself or others.

On a recent vacation to Oregon, I picked up a Budget rental car right near the Portland Airport. I traveled to my hometown, Newport Oregon that afternoon to stay with family. The next morning, the car would not start. I spent all morning and a good part of the afternoon attempting to get the car to run. Finally I called Budget roadside assistance and was told I'd have to wait for a flat-bed tow truck and ride the 120 miles back to Portland to get a replacement car. I finally arrive to Portland airport Budget facility near dark, waited in line and got another car. By this time, I was exhausted from the ordeal and I thought it best not to make the three hour drive back to the coast in the dark. I got a hotel room next to the airport and drove to my original destination the next morning.

I never imagined that Budget's customer service would be so horrible! I have had the worst experience ever tonight. I will never ever use them again. I thought Enterprise was bad but being over talked, talked back to & hung up on is unacceptable. I called the customer service department to speak to a supervisor and was told that they would have to create a case for a callback. I was explaining to the rep what took but I guess she did not care to hear it. After she rudely interrupted me I advised her that she was never better than the reservation rep. She told me to have a nice a day and hung up!

We specifically turned down additional insurance coverage and we were ASSURED that we would not get billed for any additional services if the car was not damaged and returned with a full tank of fuel. The car was returned undamaged and returned with more fuel in the tank than when we took it but we were dinged for $152.00 of incidental charges that we were told we would not get hit with. We initialed the Insurance coverage waiver boxes when we checked out because I verified that we had the appropriate coverage with our insurance agent before we left home for this very reason but here we are having a dispute over Loss Damage waiver damage that we specifically declined and $37.50 of "Facility Charges" that should have been taken care of with the purchase of the Priceline Rental Car package.

I reserved a rental car for the dates of Aug 24th thru Aug 30th. I have to cancel this reservation due to health reasons. This rental was done online and prepaid in the amount $196.04. It states if you cancel within 24 hours of reservation you will be charged a processing fee of $ 50.00. I want to cancel this reservation on 7/30/2016. I was informed by Manny representative of Budget that yes I would be charged the $50.00 even though my reservation is not for 25 days. I can not travel due to health reasons but Budget does not care, they want to keep the $50.00 charged to my credit card. Had I not of prepaid for this car there would be no charge at all. This is a rip off and scam to any potential customer. Ready to start a class action lawsuit for all customers who have been fraudulently charged for a prepaid cancellation weeks in advance.

I had a terrible experience with Budget at the Augusta (AGS) location. Our plane was first delayed on the Tarmac (and then the flight was cancelled) due to lightning. Seeing that we would need to re-book our flight, while on the Tarmac, I used my phone to first call my airline, then my hotel in Seattle (which had a fresh room and a snack waiting due to our flight snafu), and then Budget (both the general number and the Seattle number). I advised them that I would be delayed in picking up the car and then booked a car at the AGS airport to travel to the Greenville Spartanburg Airport (GSP) to board my new flight (all flights out of AGS were cancelled or already full). No one was helpful. Despite 4 separate calls, I could not re-book/change my Seattle car reservation--the call center had no clue how to do this and kept telling me to call the Seattle airport directly, which either flipped my call back to the general number and/or an answering machine.

I am very dissatisfied with Budget Car Rental at YVR. They had pre-checked the vehicle and told me to look for any marks or scratches larger than what was on the card. I did a look around and didn't notice anything. Upon return they found a chip the size of a pinhead in the bottom corner of the windshield. The chip would have been easily overlooked by anyone. If they are going to be this particular upon return they need to be this particular before it goes out. Rotten way to end an otherwise great holiday. I will not be using Budget again.

It's as if this company is forcing the public to dislike them with their disdainful and disrespectful treatment of its customers. I'm just amazed that they are still in business actually. Poor customer service, sneaky fees, abominable rental cars in disrepair and having bald tires. Then the insult to injury of - 'you did not upgrade - well here is the poor treatment that you get' attitude. $20 fee to be charged $7 worth of toll fees. A vehicles with stained upholstery, cigarette stench, bald tires and a beat up body, presumably because we did not upgrade, as asked to a Volvo.

ridiculous and I could not justify that expense. He then offered me the Ford at $249.00/day. When I again declined and started looking online, he offered me the Ford at $199.00/day. I had already pulled up Hertz but they didn't have anything available so my hands were tied.

I reserved a rental car with Budget rental car through their reservation line on the 15th of July for the 26th of July. When I arrived at the Jackson-Medgar Evers airport the young lady stated that my reservation had been canceled!!! I said "I didn't cancel my reservation" and she said, "Yes you did at 9:44 on the 25th of July." I stated I could not have. I was in court at that time handling some business. Well she continued to and I felt call me a liar to my face!!! So my next question was "What can you all do to accommodate me because my kids are really looking forward to this trip?" She stated, "We are all out of cars but I might have a mini van." But it's 690 dollars vs me reserving my car for 358.67. Wow a big difference.

We booked a car for 7 adults to be collected at Faro airport last week. We were given the keys and upon opening the Car realized that we could all fit in but our luggage would not. We were then offered a bigger car but still 7 suitcases would not fit. In the end we had to hire a 9-seater and pay an extra 180 euro just to fit us and 7 suitcases in. When booking beware...a 7-seater is just that! It does not include your suitcases.

I made an online reservation on 7/22 for a full size vehicle. On my way to Baltimore from Columbus to pick up my sister at the Baltimore airport, the car shut off 3 times, called their roadside assistance and was told the nearest location is 100 miles away, that they will contact them to have a car ready for exchange. Upon my arrival after an hour detour, I waited at the desk 20 minutes before anyone showed up. They said they're not aware of anything and gave me a lengthy form to fill out. They then proceed to tell me the broken down vehicle only has a quarter of tank left but not to worry about it and "sorry for the inconvenience and the delay". Fast forward 3 days when I returned the vehicle, surprise!! 140 dollars fuel surcharge at a whopping 9 dollars a gallon! What the hell?? Manager wouldn't even talk to me saying it has nothing to do with him. I will dispute the charge with Amex and file a complaint with BBB.

I want to share with you about my Budget car rental experience that should only happen in a nightmare dream. It started with my wife driving me to the Budget/Avis Sear's location for me to pick up my "Prepaid" reservation for a Ford Explorer Elite at 9:00am on 7/22/16. When I approached the counter (I'm a Rapidez customer) the customer service lady told me my car wasn't available. In fact, only a compact was available. My response was "You have got to be kidding!" Was this a joke? I told her I had talk to her the previous day to confirm (request) a Ford Explorer because I had to pick up my son, daughter-in-law & 8-month old grandson at the airport and needed the extra room. There was a long silence before I ask her if she could locate an SUV at another rental location. She said it would be better if I called customer service. I asked for her manager but she said he was on vacation. She gave me a 1-800 number.

Very unhappy with my second Budget Fastbreak experience. I booked a car at Union Station for 10 days. When I arrived there were no cars. After a wait of some 45 minutes, they put me in an Avis car - at a 25% higher per day rate. Concerned about this happening again, I cancelled two other reservations I had prepaid for. The cancellation cost me $100. What really bothers me is that there is no one at Budget you can talk to. Customer Care does not answer the phone - they had me on the phone for 10 minutes and then disconnected.

Made an on-line reservation and pre-paid with a credit card. Our plans had changed, so I went on-line three days before the pick-up date to cancel. Found a "$50 Cancellation Fee" would be automatically deducted from my refund. I called the customer service number, was on hold for 30-plus minutes. Talked to a representative briefly who was not helpful, so I asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor also just repeated the "$50 Cancellation Fee Policy" mantra and asked why my plans had changed. Why in the world should that matter? I pointed out that by pre-paying, Budget had had my money for more than 3 weeks by that point. I was calling three days prior to the pick-up date. The supervisor actually laughed. I told her the policy was ridiculous and insulting and that I will never use Budget again.

The service man at counter of Budget Rental Kingston Pike next to west town. He called the manager a woman. They did not mention names. I tried to pay. They refused the payment because I refuse to pay extra for today. I left van at lot yesterday. He said he was aware of that but because he did not know where keys were I would be charged anyway. Even though van on their lot.

I recently rented a truck from Budget Rent a Car. Was told my total charge would be 479 when returned. After I returned vehicle, I noticed that I was charged 666.21 and previous time before I rented the car with a malfunctioning E-Z Pass. I paid all tolls with cash and was still charged for the E-Z Pass. Trying to contact customer service about this matter was a nightmare, still have not resolved it. Budget Rent-A-Car misrepresents their charges. Once they have your credit card they will charge you anytime they want.

I was planning and reserving rooms, train tickets, and car rentals for an upcoming trip that was four months away. We pre-paid for a car rental and only had it reserved for 24 hours when my boss came to me and explained that even though I had the days I need off he really need me to stay and work which was fine. I was able to cancel everything I had already prepaid for with no cancellation fees EXCEPT Budget Rental Car. Mind you I only had the car rented for 24 hours and the rental was four months away. They charge me a $50 cancellation fee which is stupid. What were they really out. I could see if I was cancelling a week before but I am cancelling four months in advance. Just beware. They are out to get every penny they can from you and give you nothing in return.

I rented a car from Budget at Clearwater Airport in May 2016. I added a second driver to the contract. We were offered the option of extra insurance, and, even though we both have our own personal auto insurance, decided to purchase extra insurance to make sure we were covered for anything that might happen. We paid $28.00 per day extra and were told that this insurance would cover everything in the event of either of us getting into an accident, that we would just walk away. The second driver got in an accident and Sedgwick, the insurance administrators have been calling asking for our personal insurance and telling us we only purchased stop-loss but no liability. I would never have purchased extra insurance with no liability. I have personal insurance to cover the car I'm in. I have been lied to and don't really know what to do about going up against a big business.

Rented a vehicle online through Costco for $213.16. Picked up my vehicle and signed for my car (I thought) that I had reserved online. I was asked about gas as well as an upgrade which I declined. I noticed through my bank that a charge of $476 was on my account. I though it was for the additional hold which I didn't dispute. I returned the vehicle full of gas and cleaned.

My daughter booked a rental car to be picked up at the Calgary airport several months ago using her air miles account. When we arrived at the Budget counter we were told that we couldn't use her air miles combined with my credit card. I have never encountered this problem before but I fully accept that it is Budget's right to have rules. What I will not accept is the nasty, rude treatment we received at the hands of the Budget employee whose name tag read Simer. She did not greet us when we arrived, she refused to make eye contact and said in a flat monotone that we could either pay for a car rental or go down the row and rent from the next company.

I am so sick and disgusted with Budget. They are huge scammers. Read the reviews and DO NOT RENT from them. Horrible nightmare. My rental car experience started off fine. It wasn't until I returned the car and the next day got a charge for 121.60. Budget said it was for fuel charges. I brought the car back on full and my receipt says full. Budget tried to modify my receipt and say that I brought it back 1/8 full. Right now I'm playing this game where they want me produce a receipt for my fuel. Tell me who keeps receipt from fuel. Luckily it was put on card. Customer service is rude, disrespectful and nasty. They don't deserve one star.

Terrible, terrible, rude customer service who are clearly trained to discourage people to dispute any fees on the bill. This company will do anything to add charges to the bill fraudulently unless you take your time to notice what they have done.

Rented from budget at Miami Airport. During my trip I had a last-minute change in my return flight, instead of leaving from Miami, I had to leave from Fort Lauderdale, approximately 25 minutes away. I contacted Budget to ask if I can return my car to Fort Lauderdale airport instead of Miami. They said of course, no problem, will be a $10 change of reservation fee. Awesome, perfectly reasonable. Then I was told there is a fee of $300 to change drop off location!!! Am I the first person who ever had to change plans? Did they think I would be the first person to pay $300 to drop the car off 25 minutes away??? They would not waive the fee. Ok, maybe I should have read the fine print, I can accept that, but $300 is loan sharking. I purchased the car insurance policy, it would have cost $0 if the car was totaled or stolen. It would cost $300 to return the car in perfect condition. Hmmmmm...

I flew in New York on Friday, reserved a rental with Budget at (LGA) airport for pickup Saturday morning... I planned a day with my aunt who is disabled and in a wheelchair. We took Access-a-Ride there. Once at the counter I presented my I.D., round trip itinerary and debit card. The employee swiped my card and told me I was denied because of credit. I called the 800 number for further details and was told that was Budget's policy. I explained we didn't have wheelchair accessible transportation back to the airport. I was told we were on our own providing a way back to the airport. It's 2016 and Budget's airport shuttle cannot accommodate disabled passengers. After an hour the shuttle driver helped me lift her onto the bus and into a seat. That took us another 30 minutes to due to the bus not being able to dump its air bags to lower the vehicle curbside height...

Made reservations with budget/avis for a ford focus and when we arrived were told they no longer had that car so we were put in a nissan versa. Note - very small uncomfortable car. As we were planning to attend a funeral out of state the time for arguing was not an option. The credit was precharged 291.00. Upon returning was told that we would be charged for vehicle cleaning was told that we had smoked in the car having my 8 yr old grandson in the car. This was not done therefore we were charged 165.00 for that plus another 291.00 making the rental charge being billed for twice and an unauthorized charge on a closed account. Have never been treated so poorly and had money stolen from us in this fashion. I would never recommend even to my worst enemy to do business with budget avis as they feel they can take money from you without your permission and customer service was zero at best.

JEROLD - at SAN FRANCISCO INTL APO. I entered USA on February 20, 2016 at SF International Airport. I had reserved and fully prepaid a rental car thru ArgusCarHire/CarTrawler. At the Budget counter I met the nicest employee who gave me the rental car in an efficient way and even without trying to sell any extras or options. He, Jerold, just told me; "seems it is all prepaid for, and you are good to go". I only had to use my credit card, as is usual, for their warranty and eventual fines or whatever that could occur during rental. I signed electronically on a pad.

I rented a car for 16 days from Tucson Airport location. We were scheduled to pick our car up at 3:00 and were not in our car until 4:30. The wait was unreal and there was only 1 representative helping customers. REALLY!!! By the time I had gotten up to the counter I was a little on the frustrated side. The clerk was friendly but was also dealing with another upset customer, therefore, was not paying close attention to our needs. In the midst, I had refused any and all extra insurance but she had accepted one that has cost me 450.00. My agreement was not read to me or explained, just told to initial and sign, which I did. However, due to my irritated state I just signed the agreement assuming she had done our agreement correctly. She did not.

I am writing as someone who completely 100% regrets renting a car from Budget and who feels, rightfully so, that I have been not only robbed of my time but also my money. I elected to rent a from Budget and booked through Costco for 2 drivers. I selected to pick the car up at noon on a Sunday and return it at noon the following Sunday. I arranged for a ride to take me to pick up the rental car, where after waiting in line for more than a half hour was informed that if I were to pick up the car without the second driver, that the second driver could not be added later.

So in the last week I have eventually been reimbursed for ~£476 through my car rental excess insurance for a scratch the car got now over 6 months ago. I have no beef with the insurers though that could have been more efficient. My beef is with Budget-Avis. And my frustration is a consequence of three different issues: when is a scratch not wear-and-tear, why was I forced to take a much larger car than I had booked, and was my car known to be defective. I ran out of oil 40 min short of Exeter Airport.

I booked the car online - the estimated price was 311. I paid closer to 550.00 for the car - for 4 days! THE car was ok, clean. What they don't tell you is about the taxes, fees. Pay close attention to what the rental man says - they must work on commission because he took us for all he could. Not the kind of person you would want as a friend. No morale. I do not know how these people sleep at night.

WORST CAR RENTAL EXPERIENCE EVER!!! Night 1, I called beforehand to make sure my PREMIUM BUICK VERANO would still be there because my flight was delayed and they told me I had 12 hours that my car was secured. I had left eastern CT at noon, driven to JFK airport where I sat from 4 pm - 10 pm then sat on a 5.5 hour flight across country getting in at 12:15 am instead of 9 pm. I was EXHAUSTED and had missed 1 night of my 2 day vacation already. The last thing I needed was a rude clerk giving me a DIFFERENT AND DENTED VERY DAMAGED TOYOTA CAMRY with a broken mirror for my premium rental!!!

I reserved a full size car online. When I got there none were available. The car I was given was obviously not cleaned as well as should of been. I did not complain about it (turns out I should have) because when we brought it back they charged us a 250.00 cleaning fee. They said there was pet hair on the floor even though we had no pet in the car. Lesson learned, unless you plan on doing their job of maintaining their vehicles I wouldn't be renting from this company!

I ask this as a brief question to ALL... Do you feel that big companies that are getting BIGGER are becoming more and more detached from assisting you when YOU (Lord forbid) CALL them and ASK for assistance. They redirect you, call/try again later, and/or they push you in the direction of their emotionally detached "website," where you MUST PROVE that you're not a ROBOT, but when you call them they answer your call with a robot.

DO NOT RESERVE A TRUCK FROM BUDGET. IT DOESN'T MEAN A THING TO HAVE A CONFIRMATION NUMBER. You should know that Budget takes reservations for you to rent a truck to move, but does not feel obligated in any way when they cannot meet their obligation to you. I rented a truck and had people coming from 50 miles to help us move. Budget felt no obligation when they could not meet the reservation that I made with them. I talked to 4 different people and was told the same story. They were sorry, but there was nothing they could do.

Every time I rent from Budget, no matter what I try, they always charge me twenty dollars or so in tolls. They have the worst customer service than any other business. I guess I am going to start taping construction paper over the SunPass. I hate them **.

Needed an SUV over Memorial weekend. Decided to go online and book well in advance to make sure I had a reservation for such a busy holiday. Paid $814.34 by credit card and got a confirmation email with a confirmation number. Breathed a sigh of relief because I had to be in Chicago on a certain day. Went to the airport to pick up the car only to be told they had no cars. NO CARS. I said they had to because I had paid in advance. "Sorry ma'am, no cars. What would you like us to do?" To which I replied "Find me a car." They explained that the online reservation department gets a commission for reserving a car and that they will take your reservation knowing full well that there may or may not be a car there when you arrive. They advised me to call them and try to get my money back.

I rented a car from Budget in Vancouver (BC) airport (YVR). When returning the keyless entry car, I forgot to return the keys. I found the keys in my pocket an hour later when sitting in the plane before lift off. I gave the keys to the airline desk to return and she did it but a couple of days later. Now they charged me $325 for late key return. Absolutely unfair.

Deceptive practices. Charged for Insurance that we weren't even asked about. Billed an additional $13.99 for driving 0 - 74 miles (what??), billed 11% fee for allowing them to fill our tank. Initial estimate to rent for 4 days was $195, we were charge $445!! After reading the below reviews I am contacting a lawyer to set up a class action suit as we obviously were not the only ones this happened to. I used to trust Budget Rental... they are now crooks!

Simple. I was attempting to rent a car on their web, budget.com. When at the payment page, I put all my debit card info. Error. Redo. I did this 3 times. All of which, failed. But, Budget took the money from my debit card. I never completed the rental request. I have made 9 phone calls to billing. I am lied to to every time I call. My bank is not helpful either. It took 90 seconds to take $300.00. I'm at 4 days, and cannot get a " Release Hold". Pitiful. I thought Lizzy Warren fixed these things from happening to us. Another disappointment.

Horrible, horrible, horrible! My reservation for a small SUV was made online. When I arrived for pick up, a small SUV was not available. They said they could upgrade me to a mid-size SUV at no extra cost. I was charged $193.69 for the upgrade!! Over 100 calls made, many of which I was disconnected, given a different # and name of person to contact or told they would get back to me. Not one call was returned. As a single mom every dollar counts and customer service at Budget could care less. My last call, I spoke with supervisor Kimberly who left me on hold for 15 minutes. She was rude and dismissive. She said they had discounted the original cost of an upgrade (what happened to upgrade at no charge?) and that they would have to uphold the extra charge of $193.69. I will not be a returning customer to Budget.

I prepaid for a car hire reservation between 16th-19th June 2016 for pick up at BUDGET Car Rental at Marseille Airport. When I arrived I had to wait nearly an hour in line to get to the reservation counter. They asked for my prepaid rental voucher, which I produced. Which was to prepaid IN FULL cover the rental IN FULL. Rental Location: Marseille, Marseille Provence Airport. I was asked if I wanted any additional insurance or cover upgrade, to which I said NO. I was charged a HELD deposit of € 323.12 Euros. Which I was categorically told in no uncertain terms that the amount of € 323.12 Euros was just being pre-authorized AND would be refunded in FULL upon return of the car.