Budget Car Rental Reviews

I informed the Vancouver location of the issue and the assured me that there would only be a $25 drop off fee. I called back the day after to keep them updated on the situation and wasn't able to get through to anyone and left a message (that seems to be an issue with this location). Thankfully, the Tran Canada highway re-opened three days after I was originally going to leave but it was only to go east, with the closest location being Calgary. Keep in mind that going west from Canmore is still closed to this day (6/25/13), which is six days after the car was scheduled to be dropped off.

The day after I returned home, I noticed that there were these incremental charges on my credit card that totaled $2,000 which was 4 times more than the original quoted price. After being on hold for longer than I wanted, I spoke with someone who informed me that I was charged $300 to drop off the car in Calgary. I was also charged $15 a day x 16 (which includes the extra two days I was stranded in Canmore) because I visited the Alberta area and left British Columbia. I never crossed the border, just a different providence which is mere hours away from British Columbia. Apparently, they have a tracking device that documents every place that the car travels so please be aware of this! Apparently, this is in the fine print but was never verbally discussed. Personally, I've never heard of something like this and would compare it to going from Michigan to Ohio and being charged to cross-state borders.

Long story long, this particular location has no sympathy on the situation that I was put in and they're being incredibly uncooperative. Also, I feel very uncomfortable with being randomly charged even though I never received a final receipt and never received a phone call to discuss the matter. It's almost as if this location sets their prices lower and recoups the difference on the back end. There isn't coincidence that everyone else here has had other issues. Maybe not as dramatic as mine but I would think that any other car rental, even a small car rental, would be much more understanding of the situation that I had absolutely no control over. Please stay away from this car rental location!

So, I was looking for another car rental company online for the next 10 minutes when she called me over again to tell me they had an Elantra, and it would be the same price. I angrily agreed since I had 4 kids with me who just wanted to get home. At the end of the trip, I brought back the car, and they see 2 cigarette butts on the floor. I had stopped to smoke, but used my thumb and forefinger to push out the remaining filter, got back in the car to leave thinking I could just dispose of the butts when I got to the airport so I didn't just throw the butt on the ground.

The lady said, "It's a $250 fee for smoking in the car." I was trying to explain, but she refused to listen. I go to fill out paperwork, and she tells me to write "I smoked in the car". I told her, "I'm not saying that because it's not true." Each time I refused, she told me, "If you don't write it, they'll fill this out and they can say anything. You'll be charged the full $250." She said, "I'll tell them the car didn't smell bad so they won't charge the whole amount." Basically, she said that if I didn't write, I would get charged the full $250 fine. I finally wrote it so I had time to catch my flight. Big mistake. They called today and said they're charging the FULL $250. I got angry, started yelling and cursing, and she LAUGHED at me so I hung up. This is the last time I will use Budget. Now, I'm $250 deeper in debt because they're liars.

After I got home, I went online to Budget and requested a SUV (Escape) and the offer is $437.74 for the same add ons, without the upgrade. Why was there such a difference? I complained online and got a quick response requesting the rental agreement and receipt be sent to them via email which I did with a letter asking for an explanation of the difference. All I received back was a terse thanks for the business, but sorry you signed the agreement, too bad. No explanation. To me, this is a bait and switch rip-off. They pressure you into upgrades, scare you to buy insurance (which you do not require if your own car insurance covers, as well as credit card insurance), and it works to their advantage if there is a few people waiting in line.

I was waiting and I was first in line with only one sales person at the desk. I am sure they wait until there are at least three people in line before they bring on another sales rep. Now everyone is impatient and the pressure is on to hurry. Classic! I will never rent a vehicle from Budget again and will tell everyone I cannot to as well. I wish I had read this forum before using Budget.

When I returned on time, no damage and a tank full of gas, I was told my card would be charged $78 ($20 per day) for an upgrade. I was furious. We never discussed an upgrade or anything. The manager was unapologetic and said I had signed it (which I did). I was thinking these amounts were part of the original hold. That was bad business, corrupt and dishonest.

When I returned it after 2 days, they charged me the full $365. They explained that I had returned the car after 2 days and 1 hour, so they had to charge me for 3 days, and the daily rate for 3 days would be higher than the rate for the full week. I complained about the smell and they gave me a coupon for $50 off my next rental from Budget. (Nice!)

When I got home, I called to complain. The rep was very nice and told me that they could adjust the rate and save me some money. The next day I received an adjusted receipt for $365. They had lowered the rate $20 for the week and added $20 in new charges for tolls. In short, I had an emergency and needed a car. They took advantage of the situation and made as much money as they could.

After that, the agent asked how much luggage we had. When we showed him, he said the vehicle that was reserved for us was too small to hold our 4 bags, plus fit my frame. I am 6'3 and have driven vehicles as small as a Honda Fit. He suggested we upgrade to a larger car for an additional $10/day. Getting tired of his constant up-sells, we agreed to upgrade to a Dodge Avenger. We now have learned that our free rental car is going to cost us almost $90. The rental fee that is covered by my airline miles does not cover taxes or other charges.

Now 2 weeks after the rental car was returned, I receive a letter from Budget stating that when the vehicle was processed, they discovered a stain on the seats of the car. They informed me that my credit card would be charged $75 for the cleaning service. I am thinking that this is quite the racket this company has regarding upgrades to a larger car. And if you don't take the insurance coverage, then they find something wrong with the car upon your return. I plan to dispute the charges with my credit card company as my wife and I could not possibly left a stain in this vehicle.

The representative then informed me that if I did not purchase supplemental liability insurance, they would charge a $2,000 deposit to my card. And if I had an accident, I wouldn't be able to leave the country. I didn't know if he was telling the truth, but it was late and seemed risky to assume otherwise so I bought it. I informed him definitively that we would not be needing personal effects insurance as we had been warned and knew not to leave anything in the car ever in Costa Rica. The representative then gave me the rental car contract to initial and sign in several places, which I did.

When we returned our car a week later, I saw that the personal effects insurance had indeed been added to the bill in spite of the fact that I had declined it. When I mentioned this, the representative said that since I had already paid for the rental, he had no way of returning the money and I should call Budget customer service upon my return to the US. When I returned to the US, I did exactly as told. After a week, following is the email I received:

Thank you for your inquiry regarding the charges applied to your rental with Budget Costa Rica. The customer service department in Costa Rica advised as follow: Attached documents proving that the client accepted and signed SLI insurance without being forced. We have received a copy of your signed rental contract, which indicates your acceptance of the optional coverage(s). In light of this documentation, we find the charges are correctly rendered. We are enclosing a copy of the signed contract for your records. Thank you for allowing us to be of assistance to you.

Upon receiving this email, I called Budget and asked the representative if I could speak to whoever had the authority to reverse these charges. She said that no one did. I said, "No one in the entire company has the authority to reverse these charges?" To which she said no and I should contact my credit card company to dispute the charges. I then called my credit card company to dispute the charges. They said that since there was a signed contract, they would be unable to dispute the charges, but that they (the credit card company) would refund me the disputed amount anyway as a gesture of goodwill. The representative also said that she believed me because the same thing had happened to her, and they got these calls all the time from customers. I told her it seemed unfair that the credit card company had to pay for Budget's fraudulent behavior, but I certainly appreciated the sentiment (and payment).

In summary, Budget Costa Rica defrauded me into paying for insurance coverage I had specifically declined. And when I mentioned it, they said I needed to call Budget in the US. When I called Budget in the US, they said they could do nothing because Budget Costa Rica said I had approved it and no one at any level of the company had any authority to rectify this situation. This behavior is appalling and I wish someone could do something about it. I'm guessing that Budget provides financial incentives for its representatives to sell extra insurance coverage. This leads to fraud on the customer. Someone should file a class action lawsuit, if they haven't already.

Because I'm not used to either driving on the left side of the road or driving a car with a manual transmission, I felt having a car with an automatic transmission (which I reserved) was mandatory. Those were getting to be in short supply even when I was making my reservation weeks earlier, and were likely sold out by the time I arrived, so I reluctantly agreed under duress to buy the insurance. I was standing there with two suit cases in hand. My friend that I was meeting there had taken two weeks of vacation to spend time with me. I had made numerous non-refundable reservations, etc. I pretty much didn't have any options at that point.

I contacted Argus a day or two later at their website and they opened a ticket, but said the issue could not be investigated until I returned the car. Now, why on earth would that be the case? I'll tell you why: it's so that I would be more likely to hang on to the car, rather than shopping around for a better deal and returning the car early, thus minimizing the amount of insurance money they could extort from me. I called Argus a few days later and someone assured me (and I questioned it and clarified) that this $796.36 insurance charge was a deposit, not a premium, and that it would not be billed to my card so long as I didn't damage the car, which I didn't.

I returned home on April 2 and on April 4, they had attempted to bill me for the entire $796.36. They only got $671.33 because that's about all I had in my checking account. They got a little more than what I had due to the overdraft protection, and of course I incurred overdraft fees. I emailed Budget and they beat me over the head with the fact that I had signed their contract, and basically told me to go to hell. Argus is expressing a little more sympathy, but I have yet to get a refund. The guy said he would pull the audio tape of the conversation I had with the Argus customer support woman, and if indeed I was assured that it was a deposit rather than a premium, I would receive a refund. That was stated on April 8.

Today is the 12th, and I have not been given any updates, and I couldn't get the guy on the phone who was assigned this case, and he hasn't responded to my emails requesting updates. I think Argus and Budget are co-conspirators in this. If Argus had given me correct information, I would have shopped around for a new rental car, and returned the old one, thus, at least minimizing the carnage. But I was misled. I was put off until it was too late to do anything about it, and now, I'm out an extra $671.33. This is highway robbery.

To summarize, I agreed in good faith to pay the stated amount of $490.97 and I did indeed pay this amount at the time I made the reservation. They ended up charging a total of $1297.33 for the rental car. That's 2.62 times what was originally agreed upon. A rental company is well within its rights to charge insurance, but they should state their requirements upfront and in advance! They shouldn't spring this one at someone at the airport! Even their own contract lists these charges as optional services, but they refused to rent the car to me without me agreeing to pay these fees.

This is worse than bait and switch. Bait and switch at least gives the person the option to walk away. I had flown from California to Scotland, and I needed a rental car, and had reserved one, and had paid the agreed upon price for it. Then, after they had me over a barrel, they extorted another $796.36 out of me. I will never rent from Budget/Avis ever again. I suggest you do likewise.

I'd like to say I called Budget for a refund and it was quick and easy, but it wasn't. First off, the number to call goes to Avis (a sister company which has no ability to make or check reservations or do any other business for Budget). And when I finally got the right number, they told me to call Orbitz, to which Orbitz then had me hold while they contacted Budget for the refund. Can you say huh? In the end, I got half the car rental money back. However, the rep for the company was really good at making sure I knew that a major credit card is different than a prepaid Visa card. How about a couple of vouchers and what not for the stranded employee? Jerks.

I went to the local gas station to get change for the tolls and returned back to Orlando Airport. Before I did, I reviewed my reservation and found out that because I arrived an hour early, they want to charge me an additional $34. No one told me this, or I would have simply sat there to avoid a 10% increase on my rental. When I got back, they told me that the new cars don't need it because it’s on the license plate. I asked why it doesn't show up anywhere. They state it’s automatic. What happens if I didn't want to use theirs? What happens if I used my own? What happened to informing the customer? At the very least, there should have been a mirror hangar to inform me of the new configuration. So, two hours of hassle later and all you have is an upset repeat customer. What do you want to do to correct it?

Apparently, it is Budget's policy that the customer cannot pick up the vehicle if it were towed. Every customer service person I asked (most of them just kept transferring me to the wrong person) could tell me that this was the policy, but no one could tell me where this policy was located or how I could get a copy. I finally found someone who could help me. He called the manager of the PDX airport Budget, and I am granted special permission to go pick up the vehicle from the towing company. I got back home and the vehicle I rented from Priceline for $179 is now costing me $1,000! My debit account that I used as the security card when picking up the vehicle has been charge $350, the full cost of the rental. I also just received a bill in the mail for $211 from Budget.

Let me break this down. I completely take responsibility for the fact that I parked in front of someone's driveway. I paid $202 for the impound and I have the $90 parking citation to pay. Forget all of the illegal parking fees and I will have paid $476 directly to Budget. (This does not include the Priceline rental fee I already paid.) Upon calling Budget customer service again to discuss this issue, I am told that the $350 that I was charged was for the towing fee and that I needed to prove that I paid the fee directly to the towing company. But $350 was the exact amount for a full price (non-Priceline) rental of the vehicle. I am convinced that no one knows what they are talking about.

To top it off, the bill I received for the parking ticket states that the violation amount was $181.50. I have the ticket in front of me and it was for $90 and is not past due. Then they have a line item for $30 handling fee. Where did the other $91.50 come from? This company does not have their act together and they are taking it out on the consumer. Not only was I two days without a car I rented, but they are charging me $476 in fees that they appear to have just made up. I am writing reviews everywhere I can and making a complaint to the BBB. I have never experienced such bad service in all my life.

Two days later, I was charged an additional $15.00 which made my total bill $69.00 for 8 hours late. I called the manager who was clueless, so I called the main office. I spent over 90 minutes between both calls to receive a $10 credit, as if they were doing me a favor. I have no issue paying a late fee or even a day rate, but $69.00 with no explanation is piss poor customer service. The sad thing is that as a district manager with my job, I am obligated to use Enterprise. I chose Budget and paid out of my pocket because I personally dislike Enterprise's check out times. Needless to say, I have learned my lesson. Save your money and time; Budget is not the company they used to be! They will never see my face again and not because they wouldn't refund the astronomical charge, but because they never returned my emails or calls. I pass three car rental places to get to Budget. I won't anymore.

At this time, the man helping us said that my sister would be the only driver allowed to drive during our trip even though the car was booked in my name. We asked how much it would be to add a second driver and we were told it would be $13.00. We agreed that $13.00 was reasonable and proceeded to add myself as a second driver. We were told at that time that the $13.00 would not be charged to my sister’s card until we returned the next day. My sister was asked to sign the pin pad reader to authorize me as the second driver and to acknowledge that she was giving her credit card information to be placed on file in the event of an emergency or damage charges. At no time did any additional fees come on the pin pad reader for her review. She simply signed the box that was on the screen with no additional information provided.

Also at the time of arrival, the man checking us involuntarily offered an upgrade stating that my sister looked too tall to fit in the economy model I had reserved. We both said that we would be fine, we were on a budget and it was just the two of us, and we did not want an upgrade. The man behind the counter assured us that he would take care of us as a courtesy. Again, we specifically stated that we did not want to incur any additional fees and we were fine. He continued to push the upgrade on us reassuring us multiple times that he would take care of us and not to worry about any additional fees.

Imagine our surprise when we returned the next day and were presented with a bill for $70.57. I immediately disputed the receipt with the man on the parking lot and told him there must have been an error as I had prepaid for my services at the time of booking. I was told to go inside and dispute the charges at the counter. I immediately went into the location and asked for clarification. The original man who waited on us the day before refused to even look me in the eye or acknowledge my presence. He knew what he had done, and he knew I was upset and not once did he come over while I was talking to the man at the counter and try to correct the situation. I waited for several minutes to try and get his attention and he refused to even glance my way.

The man who did wait on me on Saturday was no better. He simply typed in my reservation number, hit the print key and gave me a receipt showing that my sister had signed to authorize the charges of $70.57 and that they had done nothing wrong. I very loudly stated that the man to his left had waited on us the day before and assured us that we would not be charged an upgrade fee and that the additional driver fee would be $13.00, not $13.00 a day, totaling $26.00. The man said there was nothing he could do because my sister signed for the charges, when in fact my sister signed a blank authorization box on a credit card machine after being told she was signing to authorize her card to be added to the rental.

I asked for a manager and was told there was not one available. I was told I could call customer service, but that he did not know the number to call. I find that very hard to believe. The Budget Rental employee didn’t know the number for me to file a complaint - how convenient! I inquired again at the gate as we were leaving for an 800# to customer service and was told by the lady that she only knew the number for the branch location and we would have to look up the main 800#. As my sister was driving, I immediately did just that. I looked up the number on my phone and spoke with a gentleman who apologized for the misunderstanding and offered to refund $44.57 in upgrade and additional bogus charges of vehicle license recoup fees, and energy recovery fees, but that he still had to charge the additional driver fee of $26.00 because it was legitimately $13.00 a day and we should have known that the $13.00 quoted to us only covered one day of our 2-day rental.

I then asked for his supervisor. His initial response was to say he could request a supervisor for me, but I should know if I continue to dispute the matter, it is possible that I will not receive a refund of any charges. Seriously! So what you are saying is that if I continue to pursue a fair and valid claim of misrepresentation and fraud, I will be possibly penalized further? Amazing! I proceeded to ask to speak with a supervisor and was given a woman by the name of Jessica **, # **. Ms. ** was the most arrogant person I have ever spoken to on the phone in my life. That is saying a lot because I worked in a customer service call center for 10 years, the last 4 of which were in an escalated supervisory role where I was tasked with resolving customer complaints. Ms. ** was not only arrogant but was also unhelpful, condescending and rude!

Her answer to every statement I made was that it was my responsibility as the customer to know what I was signing for and that she as a representative had no responsibility to rectify the situation and the original man at the Budget location had no responsibility to be truthful to the customers he served. She further stated that not only was the issue 100% my fault, but that she was overriding the previous operators statement that my sister would receive even a partial refund on her card for the $44.57.

I then asked for her manager and was told there was not one available, but that she would put a request in for a Mr. Nicholas ** to call me back within 48 hours. At this point I was very skeptical that she was being honest and I pressed for a return phone number to call back when Mr. ** failed to call me back. She refused to give me a call back number several times, then claimed to not hear me, then very rudely provided me with a different 800# of 800-352-7960. I asked her to repeat the number several times and even read it back to her once.

While I was speaking with Jessica, we had arrived back at my home and my sister proceeded to call her credit card company to check on disputing the charges through their channels. Imagine her surprise when she was told there were pending authorization charges totaling $470.57! She was told by her credit card company at that time that these were just pending charges and my sister would have to wait until Monday to see what actually charged to her card before she could dispute anything.

It is now Monday, 3/11, at 10:13 pm CST. I never got a call from Mr. ** and my sister’s credit card has been charged the full $470.57. I even called on 3-way with her to her credit card company to verify these were no longer pending authorizations and actual charges and they are. I tried to call the 800# provided to me by Jessica and it never even rings, just tries to connect then immediately disconnects. My sister has now cancelled her credit card and will be disputing all charges with your company. I am writing this letter to ask you to do the right thing and credit the full $470.57 back to her card immediately.

The customer service and lack thereof that I have received with your company is horrendous. At this point, I will never use your company again and am posting this on my Facebook page as well to warn others against using your services. In the event that your company chooses to rectify the situation and do the right thing, I will post that on Facebook as well.

Dustin very rudely asked me, "Do you really want this car for a month because I'm not going to rent it to you if you don't." I informed him I would need it for that length of time because my transmission had gone out on my truck and I needed transportation to and from work. Vickey then got on the phone and began talking about me once again to someone on the phone because I was asking for it for a month. I informed her I was a regular here at Budget and that this was not the first time I had ever rented a car for that length of time. She rudely replied, "I know. I have seen your face before." I just kept my mouth shut and raised my eyebrows.

I have always been charged for the deposit on my credit card and then paid for the amount of the rental in cash when I returned it. I was told that they were not going to allow that to happen. I told them I've done it before, I don't see why now was any different. I was denied the rental because I didn't pay for the entire amount upfront on a card. I told them I didn't have $1,100 on a cc, but I could pay that amount in cash. I told them modify the rental to a week (which I have also done before as well) and they told me no. I stated that, "You are hell bent on not giving me a rental because I went home and made a reservation and that rubbed you wrong." She just shrugged her shoulders at me.

I went into the tunnel leading to the car garage and called corporate. I spoke with an assistant supervisor named Carl, who claimed he called up at the front desk several times. I told him that I was standing at the tunnel and there was not a single person at the desk, so they were deliberately not answering the phone. I have always rented from Budget but never again. I will not deal with you people. I have now taken my business to Enterprise because they do not treat their customers like this. I cannot believe what I dealt with from your employees when I have spent thousands with Budgets. I will make sure I tell it on a mountain to stay far from you people and your nasty, ignorant employee. Do not deal with Budget/Avis.

Then finally we checked on the last one and that worked for us. This is a horrible experience and I won't go back with you again. We rented a car from other companies and had no problem at all - new cars, no dents/scratches and you can choose from one area to another, and of course good customer service. I'm doing customer service myself and if my guest/customer is not happy, why not upgrade them right (if that will make them happy)? One more thing, it says they open @ 4:30 am. We almost missed our flight because they opened 5 min. late then another 5 minutes to check on the car. Very disappointed and I won't recommend this company. I was quoted $51.31 (including taxes) and they charged my credit card $71.47.

The following evening, when I took a closer look at the rate charged vs. what was booked on Travelocity, I noticed that there was a significant price difference. I called your customer service number and spoke with Terry (sp?). She was polite but told me that I needed to speak to billing in regards to the issue about the rate/class I booked and the rate/class I was being charged. The billing department was already closed. She gave me the number for billing and requested that I call back the next morning. When I called the next morning (January 12), I spoke with Leah and then when she was not willing to resolve the issue; I asked to speak to her supervisor. I was then transferred to Nicole **, her supervisor. I am very disappointed with the bait-and-switch tactic used at the rental counter (by Zane) as well as the lack of desire to resolve the problem by both the customer service rep, Leah, and her supervisor, Nicole **.

Per the price guarantee on Budget's site and the posted marketing lines that they want to provide clients with good service, I do not see the action from any of the Budget employees in this experience reflecting any commitment or interest in providing customer service and a positive experience. As a result of the rep and the supervisor unwilling to correct the issue of the desk agent's unapproved and unethical upgrade, my only option was to terminate my current booking and have Travelocity book me a competitive rate with a competing car rental agency. I was very disappointed in the deceptive practices by your desk agent, Zane, and the lack of desire to resolve my problem (by the phone rep or her supervisor). In my extensive travels I have not experienced such treatment by other car rental agencies within the US and only have received such poor service from Soviet-style Russian companies on my frequent travels to Russia.

I have terminated my rental with Budget (since I was offered no other choice), filed a complaint with Travelocity and will be sure to share my experience on Twitter, Yelp and other sites. Based upon this negative experience, I will avoid Budget in the future and warn my colleagues, friends and acquaintances of the tactics of Budget desk agents such as Zane.

I left my meeting and called Mr. ** back and left him a message saying I would bring the car back after work at 5:30. He called me back. He told me that I was not the one driving the car and we both knew it. I told him that is not true - I had the car. He called me a liar. He then said, "See what happens to you if you don't bring the car back by one [a clear threat]." He hung up on me and would not take my calls. I called customer service, and they read the notes to me and told me that Ricky ** wrote that I said I was not the one driving the car. I never said that. I asked to speak to whom he reports to so I could find out what was going on, and I kept on getting transferred to him.

Finally, I got in contact with the head of customer service who listened to what I had to say, but no apology. Tomorrow I will find out who Mr. ** reports to. I don't like threats, especially when I don't know why I'm being threatened. The car was returned and paid for, and a half of a day of work was missed for me. I will dispute the charge on my credit card until I get an explanation of what the issue was.

I asked for the manager’s name and she, **, acted like she didn't want to give me that. She wouldn't in fact until I insisted. She seemed much more concerned about my coarse language than the way our military was being treated. Like I said, I'm retired Marine Corp and I'm sorry if I said "hell," but when people who are sitting at home being protected by our military have the gall to "not have the time" to assist a member of our military when they are having troubles, it makes me mad. I am a member of every Veterans group you can think of. I go to national conventions of the VFW, and I will never hesitate to tell everyone I can about the unpatriotic way a member of our armed forces was treated today by your business in Reno Nevada.

There were two other women behind me with the same exact issue. They were also advised no deposit. The lady behind the counter was very rude, unprofessional and just downright mean about it all. I wish I had taken a picture of her face when she made these dirty looks to us all to prove to everyone what I am saying here. When I got in the car in the garage and drove out, there was no one at at the shack or little office there to get their little clipboard and walk around the car to check for scratches, damages or things not working in or out of the car before driving off - which all places should do this.

After getting on down the road, I had to pull over to get the phone charger out of the car because the phone had died and I was going to charge in the car. Well, the lighter/phone charger car plug-in did not work. I noticed a huge scratch on the back bumper. I immediately contacted the customer service and informed them of this to note it on their records because I was not paying for that. They were nice and polite about it all. I also informed them of the nasty and rudeness of the desk clerk there. I have their names (hers and her manager's but will withhold here. But I have given it to the customer service and upper management).

When I returned the car this morning, I asked for a manager. At that time, I got the manager's info. So I called her at that point. She of course took the side of her clerk and backed her. She offered some coupons to send to me for the trouble of all this. She can keep them. I will never give Budget Rent-A-Car another dime as long as I live! Coupons? Really?! How about a simple apology from both of those women?! Nope. Instead, I get coupons thrown out? No thanks. I have also reported them to the Better Business Bureau and upper management. That is right. I went above the manager's head and spoke to someone else this morning and yesterday too on the matter.

The customer service and their cars are not good. It is poor, pathetic and very unprofessional. Budget Rent-A-Car will screw you.

I tried a lot of times to call them for a complaint and on the website or Contact Us system but I couldn't contact them anyway! I'm very upset, my credit card adm can't cancel the charge done because I have to talk to them first, oh my god! I will have to take a flight to Dallas to solve the problem with that guy in person, but sure, sue the company and make a lot of bad comments and protect all my friends who rent cars all over the world! I talked to my friend who works for TV for a special attention for companies like that! I don't have other way to solve this problem if I don't take the flight back to USA and in DFW to talk to the same guy who charged me and is still using my credit card!

The truck finally at 4:00PM was ready. En route home, the truck slowed driving. It broke down again. It is raining, sleeting, snow and we were driving on the turnpike 20mph with trucks and cars flying by us. No close exit. I called the highway patrol for assistance to get off the highway. We made it to as Breezewood and had it checked again. Finally, we drove with the hazard lights on and made it home in twice the time it took going. I have inconvenienced people that took off work to watch my grandchildren and lost now two days of work. I am so so disappointed with the numerous times I was placed on hold. The truck was packed when towed and I had several boxes overturned and damaged belongings. This was the worst experience in my life.

I contacted them as required and was told that in fact it should be Budget at Tampa Airport that should give me the contract. So obviously, my choice is to spend a few more hundred dollars and contact my attorney as this is really a scam. My sympathy goes out to those who don't have the fight in them or are too old to attempt to slap the hands of such business practices or are too uneducated to understand their rights. Or do we have rights? Consumer vs. big business? Luckily, I come from a family of lawyers. So my advice is don't transport anything without body bags with provided air ducts and a hand vacuum and have the poor employee who has to meet his quota sign off in front of you that all is clean.

I informed the Dept. Supervisor that this was a breach of contract on their part. As a result of this, there were several other dates that I attempted to rent and was declined and was not informed for the reasons for the declination. As a result, I was also declined rentals from Avis and ascertained later that Avis is the parent company since they must share the same database. The company should be held responsible for this abuse and their licenses to operate should be forfeited and fined due to their actions and breach of contract.

We returned the vehicle at the agreed upon time and date of 9/30/123 at 2pm. All was well until I reviewed my credit card statement three weeks later. There was a charge of $656 from Budget Rent-A-Car. This was far in excess of $425 and more than twice the original reservation price of $268. I called Budget Rent-A-Car and learned that I was charged for rental of the vehicle until October 3, 2012, three days extra for Budget Rent-A-Car. I guess I'm supposed to feel fortunate that they found the vehicle on October 3 and not November 3 or December 3. We had left the vehicle in the drop-off line where every other car return was dropped. We had received the same "You're good" that everyone else in the return line appeared to be receiving. Ordinarily, I would not have been checking my credit card statement so closely. I generally trust merchants with whom I do business. I think of it as a relationship. On two separate occasions, we had opportunities to trust this merchant, Budget Rent-A-Car.

We are suspicious that Budget has used those occasions as opportunities to fatten their bottom line, add on $175 for a better vehicle. Add another $225 for three days rental that is unwarranted. Of course, we are pursuing a correction of these charges with Budget. Regardless of the outcome, we have lost trust in this vendor. It has been approximately three weeks since filing our objection to this charge. We've heard nothing. Budget could resolve this rather simply in a number of ways starting with a phone call to us. Trust is on the line. Currently, I would never do business with Budget again and would discourage all my family and friends from the same. Thankfully, there's more than one company to rent a car from. I'd like to find one that wants to have a relationship.

We submitted the repair receipt when we returned to Denver and were told we would not be reimbursed the money as we did not have the additional insurance. We told them that was fine and the car was inspected with no concerns. We later received a bill in excess of $1500. The bill stated it was an estimate of the damage that "could have" been done to the tire and rim. It wasn't even for actual damage! The tire never went flat and was repaired. We have been calling and writing letters to Budget with no response. I am afraid that with no one responding, the account may be sent to collections. Besides escalating our complaint, I don't see another venue for resolution.

I did not have a chance to review the bill before I was charged, but when it was printed out, I saw the $59.95 bill and he would not do anything but sent me to the office. The office manager would not do anything. McAllen's phone rang significant number of times then disconnect. Later looking at my receipt in McAllen, I noticed the charge was on there. If others received this treatment, I might see if there is a class action in this type of intentional fraud.

I filled the tank to full and verified it was full by turning on the vehicle and checking to make sure the little blue bar was all the way to F on the gauge. I even topped off the tank to a round dollar amount after verifying it was full on the gauge. So this thing was full! The station that I used was around a 1/2 mile from the Budget location so I could not have used what the location said it took to fill the vehicle - 3 gallons!

After speaking with the location at length, they could not adjust this amount off of my credit card; otherwise, he would have to pay for the gas out of his pocket. I called Budget customer service and they said they could adjust the amount off my credit card. Customer service also said the gentleman I spoke to at the location problem just didn't know how to process this matter. So we will see in 3-5 days if the $21.62 is adjusted from my bill. I want to be a satisfied customer and told the gentleman at the location this but he just couldn't help. I need to rent another vehicle next month for five days but I'm not sure who to rent from now. Just watch out for gas-gremlins at this Budget location! They are gobbling gas out of rentals returned after-hours!

In August, after the funeral, we attempted to restructure the same Michigan to Florida and back truck/Ford Edge reservation, but we're told that it would be much more expensive. We ended up renting, again from Budget, a 24' moving truck (**) with a car hauler to tow our personal vehicle. The car hauler was not available, so we chose to rent the truck, which I drove, and follow with our personal vehicle, which my wife drove from Michigan to Florida. The truck (#**) was in horrible condition as referenced by the damage description #** from dispatching dealer **. It was the only available truck and we were mandated to make the trip at that time. The trip was awful! The tires had huge chunks missing, the driver's side door arm support was broken way beyond repair and was actually dangerous for anyone expecting it to support their weight when entering or exiting the vehicle. The interior had a water leak in the front right corner covered in the inside by duct tape.

When we encountered rain, our belongings inside the truck became water soaked. The exhaust pipe was visibly broken and rusted through and any time we encountered stop-and-go traffic, diesel fumes permeated the cabin making me sick to my stomach. The ride was very rough and bouncy beyond typical large truck expectations. We were very relieved and surprised that the truck made the trip. We will need to rent another truck for the final load to our new home in Florida in late November, but will not consider renting from Budget unless Budget is willing to make significant compensation adjustments far beyond the customary 20% reduction that anyone can get from the post office. There are many other choices out there. Thank God, we made it and the truck is no longer in our possession.

I returned the car early because the engine light had come on after less than a hundred miles (which made me wonder about their maintenance policies). The attendant said there was a dent I had not noted in my inspection. It was in an area that I had inspected very carefully because I had seen and reported a tiny paint chip nearby. The "dent" was invisible to me even when the attendant pointed it out, and I filed a statement to that effect. Assuming the damage did exist, it was exceedingly small, so small that I missed it on my close inspection. If it wasn't preexisting, it might have been a ding that occurred when I left the car in a parking lot. I've pointed out bigger damage to other companies when being assigned a car and have always been told that this was normal wear and tear that should not be reported.

A few days after I got home, I received a bill for about $335. The actual repair was about $225, with the extra $100 listed as "loss of rental income" and an "administrative fee." The bill said that a collection agency would be involved in less than a month. I paid. I e-mailed the company about my concern with the inspection policy and the charges and received a restatement of their policies. I followed up with a clarification e-mail and was told to bring up any concerns with the Las Vegas office. I consider the Las Vegas office to be the problem, unless all their offices are alike. If nothing else, their enforcement of policy is inconsistent. The young man who spotted the "dent" practically examined the car with a magnifying glass. The woman who checked in my replacement car simply walked around it and looked it over in a way that would have spotted significant damage. Of course, I had already practically inspected the second car with a magnifying glass before accepting it.

I wonder if this is Budget's way of making a profit from people who decline their insurance option. All they need to do is claim a tiny bit of damage and come up with a repair estimate beneath most people's deductibles. Assuming that the repair was actually completed, the extra charges would be mostly profit, and they wouldn't have to deal with an insurance company. Needless to say, I will never rent from Budget again, and have warned all my friends.

They offered no other solutions except to drive out of our way to get a third vehicle. We took the car carefully back to the airport where we had started out. They had no knowledge that the original car had been exchanged. So instead of the normal agreement, we paid almost double of what the original agreement was. We will dispute the extra charges and quite possibly the whole amount. What an ordeal! They need to service their cars and remember customer service! We will never ever rent from them again.

It took us 40 minutes to go through the intentionally-stalling automated call routing to speak to a person. It was a nightmare. Instead of sending someone out with a new tire, they sent a tow truck 3 hours later, that could not get in the parking structure. They drove the car on its rim all the way down the 5 floors and towed it away and gave us a different car. We lost the entire morning and some of the afternoon dealing with this. We always use Enterprise, but this one time we thought we would try the Costco flyer and try Budget. Never again. Oh yeah, we also had to pay an extra parking fee to take the old car out and put the new car in. They need new customer training.

Since the car was not there and I had to leave, I told him that I wanted to cancel. He was very rude and advised me that the car would be there in 30 seconds and that it would cost me $50 to cancel. Since they did not have the car there for me and my rental agreement stated, why should I have to pay? He again and repeatedly said it would be there in 30 seconds. I told him that I would not use them again, and he let me know that he "hated that" but everyone was the same. I went to my car. About a minute later, they drove a car out of the carwash bay and gave it to me. This was a car that was already there that for some reason they were not giving to me, and I still had not seen the car I was to have drive up. It's very bad business, and I will not use Budget again and will make sure I let everyone know of my bad treatment.

When I hired this car, I asked your agent as to what would be the daily charge for the waiver of the Euro 1200 excess. She informed me that it would be Euros 21 per day. However, when I received the contract, I discovered that the EXW was Euros 13 and not Euros 21. She had added an additional Euros 8 as Personal Accident Insurance (PAI), something I did not want. At no point, did your agent explain that the Euros 21 included the charge for PAI. Had she done so, I would have declined the PAI. By rushing through the contract, your agent has cheated me of Euros 104, the PAI for the total rental period, and perhaps, she earned her commission. I expect a refund and action taken against your agent.

The attendant did not ask me whether I filled up the gas tank nor did he ask for receipt as proof of purchase. I did provide receipt and complained to the manager. He said that it is in fine print in their contract and that it is their policy to charge for gas with respect to rentals that have been driven 75 miles or less and they do not ask for receipts. People, beware of this attempt to cheat you out of additional charges from Budget. What a joke and blatant/bogus policy of ripping customers off for gas charges! I will never rent from Budget again as I do not like people who are dubious and trying to steal money from customers.

I said I would like to use my own, so we called my insurance agent to find out which policy I had and the collision deductible. That was another problem. My deductible was too high so I needed to use their insurance, which was an extra $25 a day. So the final quote I was looking at was $794. That is $500 more than what I was originally quoted. In order for me to not have to use their insurance, I had to pay with a major credit card instead of my debit card. After 2 hours trying to figure all of this out, I rented the car and my final bill was $493. Beware of the extra fees that Budget does not tell you about in the initial quote!

I can fully understand if you are charged this fee each occurrence you use a toll road. But even if you only use the toll road once, this charge is automatic since you have tripped the sensor. I was told this is in the rental agreement. However, all other potential fees were discussed but not this hidden gem. Budget should be upfront and tell people about this charge because we all know when you get to the rental car place, all they tell you is that if you use the tollway, they will bill you for charges. Nothing was mentioned about this ridiculous convenience fee. If Budget can't afford to keep toll trackers in their car, it's not the fault of consumers.

They refused to refund my money and I was told by the operations manager that this was a Christmas gift because they tried to take the entire $254 charge. I have requested pictures but anything can be doctored to support their claims. If I would take the time to fill up the vehicle and bring it back early, why would I leave it dirty? I still had two hours to clean and air the vehicle out. This car was returned at the Budget Rental Car, Middletown Airport, Harrisburg, PA.

The receipt that I have says, “Time and miles 111.70; 13.95/day, SLI $27.90, $7.49/gal gas; $0.00, 1.92dy, TaxRcvy $3.84; Enrgy $.70/Dy, Surchg 10%, $11.69.” All of which gave a contract total of $156.53. I was there with the agent when she checked the car, so I know when she did my receipt I owed nothing extra. However, on the 18th of May, a charge for $183.49 was added to my bank card. I called the company and spoke to Mr. **, the operations manager, and he informed me that the car was missing 4 gallons of gasoline and they took that from my account. I told him that I had my bill and that his agent had checked the car out before I left. He said he was not there and couldn't verify what his employee did. I was told that he was not going to refund any funds because he had the car checked by his maintenance department and they wrote that it was 4 gallons short.

I am thinking one of his employees filled up their personal cars with the extra money. So now I am disputing the transaction with my bank and refusing to pay this because I know I filled the car up. Mr. ** refused to give me his boss’s number or their corporate headquarters’ number. To everyone, please don't use this company. They are the worst company you can rent from. This was my first and last time renting from them. I will be renting from Enterprise from now on.

We tried to survive in Florida because we had nowhere to go. We lived without electricity and water for a couple months and the landlord did not want us living in his house after my husband hit me because he was afraid my husband might return and damage his house. During March 2012, I talked with a friend in Alabama and she offered to help myself and my son move back to Alabama. She also said she had a basement in her home in Shelby, AL that she was trying to convert to living space and that we could rent that space to live in.

So, on April 3, 2012, (when my Social Security Disability Benefits were automatically deposited on my Direct Express debit card that was issued to me for direct deposit of my Social Security Disability Benefits because Social Security would no longer be mailing out paper checks. There have never been any other funds from anyone deposited on the card), I went to a facility in Lynn Haven, FL and rented a Budget Truck to move back to Alabama. I rented the truck for three days for what the fee I was told would be in the area of $300 (I cannot remember the exact amount). I was told by the representative at the facility that this price included unlimited mileage. I gave them my debit card to pay the fees and took the truck to the home in Youngstown, FL and we began loading the truck to move to Alabama.

I was told by the representative at the truck rental facility in Lynn Haven, FL that the drop-off destination in Alabaster, AL (Rafiki Mini Storage 201 9th Ave. SE Alabaster, AL/Phone# 205-620-6748) would not be open on the return date of April 6, 2012 due to the fact that this date was Good Friday. However, they said that I could return the truck to the Alabaster, AL location by putting the keys to the truck in a wooden drop box. They told me they could not put that drop off location in their computer because it would not let them, due to the fact that the date was Good Friday and the facility would be closed, but the representative in Lynn Haven, FL told me they had documented manually that the truck would be taken to the facility in Alabaster, AL. So, my son and I loaded our belongings in the truck which was very difficult to do by ourselves due to our disabilities. My friend in Alabama had something she had to do and could not come to Florida to help and we had a neighbor in Florida who had said he would help us, but then he had some unplanned thing come up so he could not help.

Loading the truck was a slow process with just myself and my son doing it, but we got it loaded and headed to Alabama on the evening of April 5, 2012 and arrived in Alabama around 2:00 a.m. on the morning of April 6, 2012. We just went to my friend's home and left our stuff in the Budget Truck, got some rest and then rented a storage unit in Columbiana, AL to unload most of our belongings into it because my friend did not want her home to be cluttered with boxes of our belongings. After unloading the truck, we headed toward Alabaster, AL to return the truck. I did as I was instructed to do by the representative at the rental location in Lynn Haven, FL and we parked the truck so it would not be in front of any openings at that storage rental facility and put the keys and a copy of the paperwork in the drop box.

After moving expenses, I had very little money left. I have a cell phone which ran out of minutes a few days after we moved into my friend's basement and I could not afford to purchase additional minutes. My friend has no landline in her home. So, I thought my nightmare of living in Florida where my son and I were barely surviving was finished. I stretched what little money was left after the move to help buy groceries and purchase medications for myself and my son. On April 29, 2012, my friend loaned me $25 so I could purchase some minutes for my cell phone.

Two days after April 29, 2012, I listened to a voice message on my cell phone telling me that the moving truck had not been returned and that there was a warrant for my arrest for theft of the truck. I called the phone number which was for the customer service representative with Budget Truck Rental and had to leave a voice message in which I explained where the truck was taken on April 6, 2012 and in that message, I also explained that my cell phone had been inoperable since April 10, 2012. Later that day, I got another message stating that my paperwork indicated that the truck was supposed to be returned to a Birmingham, AL facility and not to Alabaster, AL and that they had not located the truck and that messages had been left earlier in April, 2012 that I had not responded to. The representative seemed to not understand that I could not respond to messages I never received since my cell phone was not functioning during that time.

I did not get any other calls from Budget Truck Rental until May 2, 2012. On that date, I had to take my son to the doctor and when I checked my phone after his doctor's appointment, I received another message from the representative stating that the truck had not been located and that if they did not get a return call from me by the end of that day, there would be an arrest warrant filed. Again, the representative stated that the Birmingham, AL facility had not received the truck even though I had told them in my previous message that it had been returned in Alabaster, AL. I returned the call and left another message stating I had returned the truck in Alabaster, AL and that they needed to contact the rental facility in Lynn Haven, FL and confirm the fact that I had been told that I could return the truck to the Alabaster, AL location even though that location was not open on April 6, 2012.

I never got to talk to a person. All I could do was respond by leaving a voice message because when you called, a live person never answered, the phone call just went to voice mail. I did not receive any other phone calls from them after May 2, 2012. My Social Security Disability Benefits are direct deposited on the Direct Express debit card on the 3rd of every month. On May 3, 2012, I went to withdraw money off my card to pay my friend rent for living in the basement area of her home and to purchase a few items my son and I needed. On Saturday, May 5, 2012, I went to a local grocery store. When I got to the cash register and tried to pay for my items, I was told by the cashier that her cash register screen said there were insufficient funds on my card and I could not purchase the items.

I left the grocery store and called the Direct Express help line to find out what happened to my money. I was told that my card was overdrawn in the amount of $2100.39 and that Budget Truck Rental had forced a charge on my card on May 4, 2012 and that they were the cause of my having no money and for my card showing this huge negative balance. I called Budget Truck Rental only to find out that their office was closed but would be open at 8:00 a.m.. on Sunday, May 6, 2012. I have been extremely upset and have cried ever since this happened in the grocery store.

My friend did not agree to support me and my son when we moved here and after crawling through the month of April, 2012 with no money and borrowing money from her, I know she expects my son and myself to be able to pay rent, part of the utilities and purchase our food and necessities without being a financial burden on her. I guess everyone in the world knows that friends become ex-friends if they think you are trying to take advantage of them. I called Budget Truck Rental again on Sunday morning, May 6, 2012 and actually got to talk to a representative. The representative told me they had charged all this money to my debit card because: (1.) When they finally found the truck, it was in Gardendale, AL, (2 ) when they located the truck, the gas tank was not full, (3) they were charging for usage of the truck for 20 (twenty) days and (4) the truck smelled like dog.

I have no explanation of how the truck was in Gardendale when they found it. We dropped it off in Alabaster, AL. They did not tell me if someone had the truck when they found it or any other details about it being found. We had also put fuel in the truck before we returned it in Alabaster, AL. I had no need, whatsoever, to keep a Budget Truck for twenty days. I also have no explanation of why it smelled like dog. When I told the representative that the facility in Lynn Haven, FL had told me it would be okay to drop off the truck in Alabaster, AL, she said my contract stated I was supposed to drop it off at a location on Crestwood Boulevard in Birmingham, AL and that she would have to contact the facility in Lynn Haven, FL and talk with them concerning the fact that I was stating they said I could return it to Alabaster, AL.

She stated that the facility in Lynn Haven, FL was closed on Sunday and that she could issue no refund of my money until she talked to them. I had told them previously on two occasions what the facility in Lynn Haven, FL had told me about dropping off the truck. Instead of investigating on these previous occasions, they obviously never contacted the facility in Lynn Haven, FL and just charged this enormous amount to my debit card taking away every dime I had to provide housing, utilities, food and medicine for myself and my son until the next deposit of my Social Security Benefits on June 3, 2012. And not only that, but I have this huge negative balance on my debit card of $2100.39.

I am desperate. I have no family that can help me financially and my friend cannot afford to support me and my son. I left messages for the representative at Budget Truck Rental several times trying to tell them where the truck was dropped off and the details about what I was told by the facility in Lynn Haven, FL. Obviously, it was easier to just wipe me out financially than to call the facility in Lynn Haven, FL. I am not healthy and neither is my son. Stress makes the symptoms of his Crohn's Disease worse and I feel like I am going to have a heart attack. I thought that when we got back to Alabama that we might actually be able to make it through a month without having to worry about being homeless, living with no utilities and having no money for food and our medications. I desperately need someone to help me get this matter resolved as soon as possible. I do not know what will happen to me and my son if it cannot be resolved. My husband abandoned us in Florida, to live or die, and never looked back and as of today, has not offered one time to help us financially.

P.S. Today, Monday, May 7, 2012, I contacted Budget Truck Rental again. Still, no one had contacted the rental facility in Lynn Haven, FL to confirm what I had been told by their representative concerning the fact that it was okay to drop off the moving truck in Alabaster, AL even though that location would be closed on April 6, 2012. I went through the same information I had given them on multiple previous occasions to only be told by the customer service representative that the charges forced onto my Social Security Disability debit card were legitimate and that there was nothing they could do and would not be returning my money. She even told me that the drop off location in Alabaster, AL did not exist.

I asked to speak to someone at a higher level in the company and the customer service representative was reluctant in forwarding my call and again stated there was nothing she could do. Finally, after the third time in telling her I needed to speak with someone else, she transferred me. I do not know if I was transferred to someone at a higher level in the company or not. I had to go through the whole story again. I told her that I had gotten advice from a lawyer who my sister knew and that he said it was illegal for them to force these charges onto my Social Security Disability debit card.

She asked me if I had told the representative in Lynn Haven, FL that the card I was using to pay for the truck was a card used only for the deposit of my disability benefits since the Social Security Department of the United States no longer issues paper checks. I told her I had not told the representative that information. The representative asked me how I wanted to pay for the truck rental and I gave him my Direct Express debit card since my Social Security Disability benefits had just been deposited onto that card on that date, April 3, 2012. He did not ask me about any details concerning my card and I did not even think about saying anything about my card. I knew the $300 was on my card to pay for the truck. I could not move from Florida until April 3, 2012 because I had no money until that date to rent a moving truck and I never even imagined I would be sitting here in this situation.

I have no credit cards and do not even have a checking account because paying fees for a checking account would be an expense every month that I cannot afford and I really do not have enough money that I need a checking account. When I get my disability benefits and pay rent, utilities, buy medicine, pay for doctor visits and buy food, I am basically broke and many times have no money during the last week of the month. She said I was supposed to call the place where I returned the truck to verify that they had the truck. I was not told to do that by the representative in Lynn Haven, FL.

At this point, I do not know what to do. All I know is that I crawled through three weeks in April, 2012 with very little money due to moving expenses thinking there would be light at the end of tunnel when I received my disability benefits on May 3, 2012 and then end up standing at the cash register in the grocery store on May 5, 2012 and find out that all the money on my debit card was gone and I could not even purchase groceries. This is not just about fees for a moving truck. It is about the survival of myself and my son until June 3, 2012. Obviously, the customer service representatives do not document the phone calls when you call them because I have to start at the beginning every time I call them. I am sick, my son is having a flare in his Crohn's Disease because of this and I do not feel like sitting on the telephone and having the same conversation over and over again. The last representative I spoke with at Budget Truck Rental today said she would research my situation "as a courtesy to me". So, it does not seem like my situation is of concern to them.

Update: I have been calling Budget Truck Rental since 8:00 a.m. today (May 7, 2012). I just called them again at 1:20 p.m. They said someone would be returning my call later today and they could not talk to me right now because there were busy with other incoming calls.

The online website did not allow us to make that change, and when we called the 800 number, we were placed on hold and were never able to actually talk to anyone who could help us. If he can't change anything, then I understand. But then, get us in touch with someone who can. My husband had to get back in a taxi to our resort to get his credit card to be able to get our rental. Not only that, when we returned, he didn't even have the courtesy to let us back in front of the line. He made us wait all over again! He apologized to my husband, but it was neither genuine nor could he even care! I will never use Budget again. I used to use them every time I rented cars, but I will never waste our time and energy on them again.

Next day, I received a bill for $250.00 smoking charge (I never did) and an added day rent. I called an agent at that Medford Branch, **. He said sorry and took off the charge. Next day, I called the card, charge back on, spoke to ** again. He said let me send you a picture, he sent it with ash on the seat. But those were grey seats and not black, like the car I rented. I sent ** an email with no charge listed, but was only told by corporate office that they will not remove the charge. So let it be known, Budget will take credit card info and without some person to check the car, you will be charged whatever and you will pay. Stay away from Budget.

I don't know whether I will get my money back, but I wanted others not to put down their initials without reading the rental contract, no matter how tired. I had left my house at 9:30 am and got to the airport in the early hours of US Eastern time, with my children. I wanted the car and get to my accommodation. Future Budget customers, please beware as many commission based pick pockets, which speak very polite and seem to be working for Budget Rent-A-Car Orlando airport.

One of the men at the counter had been standing there earlier while we were trying to get this situation sorted out and he did not want to wait on us. He said he would go get the manager. The manager made us stand and wait for her to come speak to us for 20 minutes. I informed her of what I had available on my credit card. She said, "Well, we have to have something for a deposit," that their cars are like $20,000 cars. I told her I had $100 on my credit card available that was all I had. She said she would use that to help us out. I was infuriated. She was not helping us out in our eyes. The Budget.com site did not say anything about needing a deposit for the vehicle. I expressed this to the manager and her response was that was just how it was. This was the first time we rented through this company and I can guarantee it was also the last. This is not how you do business especially when people have traveled a long distance and pre-paid for everything just to be told they have to pay more.

This is totally incorrect. I was the only driver of the car, and I did not, at any stage, hit the wheel against anything. My nephew who is a Garda, had another car rented out, and we both dropped our cars back at the same time, and we checked the cars for any scratches or marks, and we also checked the wheels of both cars, and there was absolutely no marks on them. I must emphasize that there was no one from Budget Car Rental on site to check the car in our presence, and when we arrived at the check-in, we were just told to leave the keys on the desk by a member of your staff, who was dealing with another customer, and we were told our deposit would be refunded.

Also, on booking the car from Carhire 3000, there was a charge of $29.75, which I opted for, and this was for excess damage. This is confirmed by the details on the booking voucher below. There is no way the money should be deducted from the petrol money. I totally disagree that there was any damage to the wheel of the car, and I request a clear detailed photo of the damage allegedly done to the wheel. I am extremely unhappy with the charge, and being left short urgently needed money, and the inconvenience caused by your company.

Meaning, I drove 67 mile on my three-day rental and ended up paying for $44.80 worth of gas for a Chevy Impala. I guess my next letter should go to GM for manufacturing vehicles with horrible gas mileage according to budget. It's not that I can't afford to pay for this and I don't even want to be reimbursed for the fuel. It's just that for a town/city which is so big on customer service and runs mostly on the hospitality industry, this was just a horrible experience to an otherwise great weekend in this great city.

I don't know about you, but most Americans can't pass an Equifax credit report for the score that Budget is looking for. I did not give written authorization and I did not sign my name to give authorization for this report to be run. I was never told about all these hoops I had to jump through when I made the reservation. I feel that their business practices are wrong in the way their customers are being treated. I have been put way behind in my schedule because of these so-called rental policies which include running credit reports for car rentals. I will never use Budget Rent A Car again.

After explaining that was not acceptable and would not happen, the agent on the phone at the 33 Avenue and 26 Street NE locations in Calgary reluctantly said he would find a vehicle and call me back. After 30 minutes, he called back with a vehicle on the other end of the city and I agreed to go get it myself. Once in this second vehicle, a white Ford Fusion, and on the road, I was getting a grinding noise from the steering wheel with even the slightest movement and a burning smell from the driver’s front wheel. It was later told to me that the vehicle blew a power steering hose and not that recently either.

After calling and complaining for the second time in one day, a blue Ford Fusion was delivered to me. This vehicle, by the grace of God himself, was safe to drive. When I needed to extend my vehicle, Budget as a whole meaning from the management at the location to their call center in Florida, to their local management team had no interest in doing anything to adjust the bill or be assisting in nature with my extension.

They're sole concern was getting my credit card info so they could increase my pre-authorized amount. They even went so far as to tell me they have no record of me having any trouble with any of my vehicles. I escalated this through many levels of their management and all to the same "zero" result. They have no qualms giving out unsafe, unreliable death traps as long as your credit card info is ready to be charged. They have no consideration for the fact these are men's and women's and children's lives they're showing disregard for, all for the all mighty dollar.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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