Budget Car Rental Reviews

Awful customer service and the worst rental company I have ever used. They keep stealing money from my credit card for my past rental. Charged me because their car stopped working in the middle of my trip because of mechanical problem even after confirmed that it's not my fault. And that's In addition to being late to my flight and having to pay an extra $500 for a new flight because of their car that probably never went through proper check and maintenance. They also don't let you use your AAA service and then later charge you enormous bill for their towing without confirming anything with you. Get ready to be robbed off if you use them…

NEVER RENT FROM THIS AGENCY. TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! I never will use Budget again! Hire new employees that know the definition of professionalism! I will make sure everyone I know and every social media outlet I have is used to put the word out to go elsewhere.

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with my recent experiences at both the Merced (**) and Fresno (**), CA locations of Budget Car Rental. On two separate occasions, these locations did not have the vehicle I had reserved, nor a similar one. At both locations, I was initially offered vehicles that were not even close to the type I had reserved. Despite explaining twice that the offered vehicles were not what I had reserved, I was still given no satisfactory option. Both vehicles offered had 8-cylinder engines, which defeated the purpose of my choosing a 4-cylinder vehicle for better fuel economy.

I rented a car in Laredo, Texas. I don’t know what happened with the system, but it showed that I would return it to Laredo, even though I had selected a one-way rental to drop it off at Dallas airport. They didn’t register that correctly, and now they’re charging me a $300 fee. In other companies, it’s only $30–$40. They’ve lost me as a customer.

I go to pick up the truck and it’s not available yay. No call or text or email.. Then they charged me 150 out of the 240 because it was cancelled.. Never use them again and neither will anyone in my family. Hopefully this helps everyone out by not using them

Made a reservation to ensure I had a vehicle that would fit a wheelchair. I get there first off, the company name is Budget which could be further from the truth. I rented the vehicle for 1 week which cost me a total of $1k for a dodge hornet, nothing special. Within that cost was $250 for insurance coverage which is highway robbery, are you kidding me?? Don't you WANT people to purchase insurance?

After many attempts on phone and waiting in line at office for service, I was told that my ebill would be the price that I signed in original agreement and not the higher price. Only to find out nothing was done. When returning car, Budget was closed. I was told to throw the keys over fence. I left a note on car seat about overcharge. When arriving home ebill was still overcharged from original agreement signed. I called in (waited 30 on hold) to be told I had to file a claim through email. After claim submitted, the higher price went through my credit card. Will never go there again.

We rented a Budget car and prepaid for the rental. We returned the car full as per our contract. There was no one on site to verify fuel status upon return. We got a fuel charge for 49.50 on an invoice. Unfair Business practices, Beware.

Rented the car for 2 days. The cost was $225.00 with $200 deposit and I never got my deposit back. Called customer service and they gave me excuses why it wasn't returned. I was told by the agent that my $200 would be returned in 5-7 days. They ripped me off and I will NEVER rent from them and will spread the word of the shady dealings.

I used to have a great experience with Budget, but the last 2 rentals, they charged me an extra $20. Turns out, their new policy is that if you don't drive 75 miles, they charge you about $17.00 or $18.00 plus tax. They say this is for gas, but I filled both rentals up before returning them. Turns out you now have to call them after the rental is turned in and tell them you filled the car up. You can't tell the person who checked you in either. THIS IS STUPID!!!

We returned a rental car full of gas to the Detroit Metro Airport location at 3 pm December 31st 2024. No one was available to physically check it in, so we checked in at the counter, the agent told us to leave the keys in the car and they will email us a receipt. We received the emailed receipt a couple of hours later and there was a $148 fuel service fee! Ridiculous! We spoke with customer service, they said send them a copy of the bank statement to show gas station charges, we did that, we received an email again that said that wasn't good enough and the charges stay! Terrible customer service! Will never rent with them or Avis again. I want this refund already!

What a horrible experience! Three different cars in a less than five-day rental. They gave me an electric car and when I inquired where to charge it, they lied and misled me. They told me a charger was near my arrival location; came to find out there were zero in my area. I had to leave it at a hotel to charge for 10 hours one day of my trip and Uber around. They had sent me out of the rental lot with a 50% charge and that is why it died so soon. Once I had enough charge to move again the following day, I went to find a charger; the car did not have any adapter to use the only TESLA charging station in the area. I could not use the car again.

2 weeks ago these criminals took 101 dollars off my card and said nothing was taken off. I never even rented a car from these idiots. They don't tell the truth. Trying to get in touch with customer service is only being put on hold until you give up an hour and a half later. They are a scam.

This was the absolute WORST rental car experience we have ever had. We waited in line at the MCO airport for about 2.5 hours to get our rental car on Christmas Eve and once we were given a vehicle, we realized once we got to the car to load it up with our bags that we were given an Electric Vehicle (without being told - and an EV was certainly not requested). The EV was not anywhere near fully charged and we did not have enough charge in the vehicle to reach our destination for the night. This resulted in us needing to search for a place to charge the vehicle at 10PM on Christmas Eve. We then realized it would take over an hour and a half to fully charge the vehicle.

We have rented from Budget for years without any issues. This past ski vacation, we rented out of the Denver airport and got a Tesla. We inspected and recorded the outside of the vehicle which showed quite a bit of damage but never bothered to inspect the tires. The tires were balding and pieces of rubber were missing from some of the tires. Icy conditions on the roads proved to be very dangerous for my family. We filed a report with budget citing concerns. The audacity of this company to charge us an additional $150 for being 2 hours late with drop off knowing we had to go very slowly down the mountain is unbelievable. Never again will I rent with budget.

I rented 8 seat car at LAX. Took me line up 2 hours. There was no enough agents. Went to pick up the car no 8 seat car was available. It took another hour waiting for a car to show up..finally got one. The car was not cleaned yet and noticed tire pressure low..the agent took and inflated tire and told me, "All good. The tire is brand new." Unfortunately after I drove it for around 100 miles pressure drop again. Called customer service. They did not want to act on it but he said supervisor will contact me in a couple of hour. Never called and I had to fix the tire on my own. It cost me 50 dollars to fixing it as there was a nail in the tire that was missed by their agent. I have case file number but nobody ever contact me though it was not my mistake. This not right respectable way to deal with honest client. I'm still waiting for email to get my money back and apology for ruining 2 days of my vacation in Los Angeles.

I rented a car from Budget at Tampa airport on 7/20/24. I arrived to pick up the car via wheelchair. I returned the car to Tampa airport on 7/22/24 with no damage. The attendant notified me that there were no wheelchairs to transport me from the car drop off to the airport. Therefore, the attendant offered to drive my mother and me to the airport. There was no damage sustained to the car while the attendant transported us to the airport.

So rented a car in Warwick Rhode Island on Christmas Day and returned it on the 30th. I forgot my Oakley sunglasses on the driver side door panel when I drop the car off. I returned no more than 10 minutes after and my glasses were gone. There were only two people that had contact with that car after I parked it and neither one of them would admit to taking my glasses. I have filed a complaint with Budget lost and found, and have not received any type of response from Budget car rental at all. These were three and all the glasses and I am refusing to pay for the car rental until I receive compensation or my glasses back.

2020 12-passenger Chevrolet Van (less than 89k miles) - Body damage all over the vehicle, hail damage on the hood, windows and mirrors had to be cleaned when I got home. Seats were all stained and driver's seat was wet, had to use a towel to sit on. Glove box door was missing, lens cover to dash instruments was cracked, only a couple of small cup holders in back, no charging ports in the back. With each start I would get a message on the dash stating "change oil soon". Had to place steering wheel left of center in order to drive straight down the road. It wasn't the wind because I had to put the steering wheel in the same location no matter the direction. Steering wheel shakes, could probably use an alignment.

We starting lining up at MCO Budget counters at 3:00 pm and only able get a car thru AVIS counters at 4:40 pm! 30 parties lined up, 3 Budget staffs working on Dec 30th. At one time, no staff at the counter. Thanks God 2 angels from Avis had started helping out at 4:15pm after we waited more than 1 hour in line. In fact they claimed they are basically the same company! BTW, hardly anyone line up at the Avis side in the Orlando airport. I wish they can be more flexible in that case to avoid long waiting time. I had been using different car rental companies in MCO, this was the worst experience so far! By the way, some older staffs at AVIS also keep insisting only serve AVIS guests while there was no one there! I guess they don’t like team work?!

Never rent in this company! The service staff does not explain it well and you accept terms in a misleading contract and when you deliver the vehicle they charge you more than $300 on the card. You call customer service and they hide behind a contract that you signed under deception!

My husband went back to Ohio 2 days before Christmas for a family medical emergency. I prepaid his car rental with Budget so he wouldn’t have any issues. They refused to give him a car because his DL was “warn”. They didn’t offer him a refund or anything or any alternative. He went to another rental company and they had no problem with his DL and rented him a car. Budget is a rip off. They recharge you and then deny you a car. That’s fraud!! I’m not uploading my receipt because I’m not giving people my personal information.

Nightmare. Never again. Customer service is nowhere to be found. Specific vehicle reserved 2 months in advance is not available. We have spent over an hour on phone just to be hung up on twice. Family had to come 1 hour ro Cleveland to get some of our luggage. Reserved a mini van for a reason.

I made a reservation with Budget Rent a Car for my return trip for my vacation. I had to get an Uber to the rental place which costs me $20. After I arrived I was greeted by a not-so-nice representative that was kind of rude. He informed me that would be a soft credit check in order to rent with a debit card. I knew nothing of this policy and when I went to check for the policy I did not find one thing mentioned about it. This company doesn’t give the most accuracy info on their website or their app. Not only was I denied a vehicle for having a credit score of 680! I was told by the rude attendant that I could always rent a U-Haul and drive it home for cheaper! NOT A GOOD THING TO SAY! Extremely rude and extremely unprofessional!! Avoid Avis / Budget like the plague!!

We went through Costco for a good price on a rental in Tampa Florida. There were about 20 stations and one person available for a huge line to check out and get the car. A new person finally showed up after an hour in line and overcharged us by about 155.00 (compared to the Costco quote). We were so stressed from the huge line and building line behind us (those poor people had at least a 2 hour wait) that we just paid it, got the car and left. My husband is aggravated by it and just spent another 1.45 hours on the phone trying to recoup the overspent money. Time is money as they say so I would just go thru a rental company other than Budget and save yourself the aggravation!

Budget canceled our reservation 6 hours before we were due to pick up the vehicle. This has left us stranded during the holiday period without the vehicle we needed for our travel plans. Totally unconscionable! “I’m sorry” doesn’t even begin to touch it…

Very poor customer service. It is nearly impossible to get a refund from them. I have been waiting 24 days, they should be paying me interest to hold my money. I had cancelled my prepaid reservation prior to pick up due to unforeseen circumstances. The roundabout I've been getting from several agents every time I call customer service has been unreal. I have rented from Budget several times at various airport locations and have never received this type of service. They lost a loyal customer.

I give them -0 for a review! Rental date 11/26-12/03/24. The girl at the counter was not trained and she admitted it, a line continued to grow and the other lady at the counter was busy, after a long time another employee came out. There was 1/2 tank of gas, I returned it with a full tank and damage to the car, there was nobody to report this, I went back and she told me, when they were aware of it. Two weeks later I get a charge for cleaning $450 because of smoke -I DON'T SMOKE!!! The women I spoke to was Ruth and she said it was because of miles, I put on less than 30 miles. Miles? How do you charge someone for cleaning damage and then say it was for miles?

They gave me an electric car. I didn’t think anything of it and so I continued. When I got home it was unable to charge. I had 30 miles left on the car. I had to rush to a station. At that point, I needed to wait for over an hour for the charge and still pay 30 dollars…. That is insane… then it stopped charging half way and said it was unable to charge. When I called customer service they said the nearest store had plenty of vehicles. That was a lie. They only had one electric. I am now waiting for over an hour because they can’t find the charger for it. I want my money back but they say they can’t do that. I want it back so I can get another car. But that’s just not available to do in their system.

My car was in the shop for major repairs on December 20th. The work was not expected to start until the 23rd. Due to out of town holiday plans, I reserved and paid for six day car rental. Less than two hours prior to picking up the rental I received a call from the pick up destination stating that there were no cars. The agent went on to say that this happens often and he could do nothing about it. After calling at least four rental car locations I found that no cars were available. It's bad enough that all my Christmas holiday plans were canceled but no one at Budget seemed to care. I will never use this rental car company again.

THEY STOLE MY MONEY and refuse to issue a refund. It has been over a month now. I finally requested to speak to a supervisor who finally told me they issued a refund of $0.00 accidentally instead of what they actually owe me. And they owe me money due to their mistake, not mine. I prepaid for a car they did not have available. So not only did I have to rent from a different company, but I also am not able to get my money back they have been stating has been refunded for over a month now. Now they want to see my bank statements but cannot show me proof they issued my refund (because they didn’t). If anyone is thinking about renting from them, PLEASE CONTACT ME FIRST so I can show you the ridiculous emails from them.

I had a terrible experience with this car rental company. First, the price they quoted initially was changed at the last minute, which felt dishonest and unprofessional. To make matters worse, the vehicle they provided was unsafe. It had bad tires, non-working windshield wipers, and a broken visor, making it hazardous to drive.

Terrible company. They accept too many bookings so it takes over an hour to pick up a car in major airports. In addition, I was billed for tire damage over four months after a rental. On pickup one tire was soft. I put air in it and told the desk get to check the tire so the next renter didn't have a problem. I didn't do anything to deserve a $87.67 charge for the repair! In addition, the car was filthy! I will never rent from them again.

I ran out of the car in Fort Wayne. Was supposed to be 268. They charged me extra day. Gave me a different car and when I got my bill is $890 and they told me it's because the car was messy and that they said I smoked and I never did. This company is awful. Do not rent from them.

I had a reservation 11/26/24 to pick up 7 passenger car. The car had change oil soon engine. I told the customer service person and her reply was we wouldn't give you the car if the oil needed changed. My concern was how soon will it need to be changed because I was going out of state, her reply was it is fine. Anyway I pick the car day ahead so my family and I can pack the car early the next day. My son in law put the baby carseat in the car and the seatbelt didn't work, it was broken. So now I have to drive all the back to the airport, which is very inconvenient.

First off, when I picked up and dropped off the car the staff acted like they did not care. They also stole from me $18.81 because I BROUGHT THE CAR BACK 1 HOUR EARLY. When I call their customer service center they just kept putting me on hold until they said, "Since you brought back the car early we cannot refund the money to you." I WILL NEVER USE BUDGET AGAIN.

This was the worst experience we have ever had with a rental car company. We will never rent with Budget again. We will tell all our friends and family to never rent with Budget. The line to get our car was over two hour wait! The check out process was horribly slow! We pre registered but it still took forever for the clerk to reinsert our information. There was only 3 clerks on a Thanksgiving week. The clerks moved slower than sloths. We were given an electric vehicle with no instructions. We did not ask for a EV. The vehicle was very uncomfortable and VERY expensive to charge. EV chargers were very difficult to find and took forever to charge and did I mention it was VERY EXPENSIVE!! Budget misrepresented their ad online. We will never rent from budget again!

Horrible. They said my reservation was canceled when arrived. I didn't cancel it. We have to settle for a mini van. About three weeks after the rental, they told us they were charging us $125 for excessive dirt-sand. Ridiculous. A few leaves (no sand) that could easily been removed with a vacuum. They are running a big scam.

Budget failed to tell the truth when asked if we could bring our dog, never told no. Charged us unauthorized extra $220 for vacuuming AFTER car returned, claiming "excessive pet hair". Tried to resolve-company said we should have read the fine print in contract when picking up car. We used blankets and vacuumed the car out lightly before return, in good faith.

On November 26th, 2024 at 10 am. I made a reservation for a car rental. I caught an Uber all the way to Budget at the Macon Georgia Airport. When I got to the counter, the staff woman informed me of a soft credit check on my visa debit card! Which is not mentioned on the reservation. After not making the soft credit check, no other options were given other than a major credit card which I did not have. Very inconvenient for me. I was willing to pay a higher deposit but it was not an option. I rent cars all the time and this was the first time I ever heard of such with no other options or trying to meet the customer halfways. The staff woman then proceeded to tell me that's what they do at "her" counter. Very disappointing and a waste of my time!

Review of Budget Rental Car. I recently rented a car from Budget and was disappointed with my experience. When I picked up the car, the gas tank was barely over half full. Because the car was parked far from the rental desk, I decided not to walk back to report it, thinking I could address it later. Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of the issues. Shortly after leaving, I realized the tires were underinflated, forcing me to stop and fill them with air—something I shouldn't have had to do in a professionally maintained rental car.

We rented a Budget car through our airline. We were told we'd be only be charged for tolls if we used EZ Pass which we did. The total came to $131.48. They charged us $60 for gas even though we brought the car back full. $9 in tolls ended being charged $51.96. Be careful if you use them. We definitely won't be anymore.

Be aware of renting a car from the Budget Rent a car. I rented a car on Oct 19, 2024 and dropped it off on Oct 21, 2024. The estimated total was $492.70. I returned the car as exactly the car was given to me. One of the ladies came and checked the car, she said everything is fine. I will get the final bill. When I got the final bill it was $558.49. I called the Budget and asked the person why they added additional $65.79? I was told, I agreed to that price. I asked, when did I agree to that price, I was not given that price when I made the reservation. I was told nothing can be done.

Budget ruined my one vacation for the year. This is my first time renting a car and I didn’t understand the rules/ guidelines, I guess. I landed in Atlanta and had a very hard time understanding the customer service rep and what she was saying. After we finally got through that, we made our way to the car. As I am under 25 and this is my first rental car, I was very stressed out already. By the time we got to the rental car I just wanted to get out of the airport. Because I couldn’t understand the first women I talked to (I have 4 people who can vouch for me. She was wearing a mask and I had to have her repeat every sentence at least 3 times. I could not understand her) I did not realize that because I was the one with my name on the agreement, I had to drive.

My fiance and I rented a car from Budget Rental in Austin last weekend. We only had the car for one night and drove approximately 30 miles total. The car was beat up with 70,000 miles. The cloth seats had stains all over them. We returned the vehicle. When we did we cleaned all the trash out of it. 3 days later I received a bill for $450 because they said we left trash in the car and smoked in it. The funny thing is we don't smoke! I was blown away that they were going to charge my card. I called them and pleaded my case. They canceled the charge but if I didn't pay attention to my email I would have been billed. I am never using Budget again.

Absolutely horrible service. Took 90 minutes for the group at the counter to work through 7... yes 7 people. We should have received a refund and were told by the lady at the counter that I would have to call customer service. When I called customer service they said I had to handle things are the counter. Your helpful team at the counter told us there was nothing they could do at the counter with a prepaid reservation and that we would need to contact customer service via email or the phone.

I rented a car 1 way from Savannah GA to Miami Florida. I informed them that this was a one way trip. NOT ONE PERSON that I spoke to EVER told me that there would be a 300.00 Charge for a one way trip. I will no longer be doing business with these people and encourage others not to either. It's real simple. EXPLAIN TO YOUR CUSTOMER EVERYTHING INVOLVED IN A ONE WAY TRIP. It's not rocket science.

Total time to rent a car: 1 hour and 33 minutes! Tonight (Nov. 18. 2024), I stood in line at the Richmond, Virginia Budget/Avis counter. There were 14 people ahead of me. Photo below. I have never seen anything like it, and I travel a lot. I waited for 50 minutes (I timed it). When I finally got to the counter and did the paperwork, I was then directed to the rental car garage, where I stood in line again for half an hour. Not because it was a long line. There were only about five of us. But nobody was helping any of us. They just ignored us behind a closed window. I had to finally flag somebody down to get my car. I missed having dinner at the restaurant I wanted to go to. People were outraged. I heard comments like, "they should go bankrupt." and "I'll never rent a car from them again." Nor will I. The Enterprise counter was staffed and had no customers. Next time, Enterprise!

I flew to Dulles airport on 10/18/2024 renting a car from Budget at @ 1:45 PM, I had waited in line for 90 minutes before getting the rental. I was frustrated, the car had push button start, the fob was in the console, I started the car and left without touching the fob or looking for damage on the car. When I arrived at my son's home I found the fob was broken with no buttons to allow me to lock or unlock the car. That section of the fob was covered in scotch tape. The car was also filthy and had scrape damage on the passenger side.

Atlanta international airport. This man was rude and disrespectful. This is the worst experience I have ever had renting vehicles. This person who did not want to be identified, offered me the worst treatment that can be given to a client, apart from the fact that he left me standing and started serving other people, a colleague of his finished the process and charged me, when I was getting ready to leave with the vehicle, this man approached me with a very bad attitude and told me that I did not qualify to rent a vehicle with them, after having charged me and delivered the vehicle, BE CAREFUL WITH THIS MAN HE IS DANGEROUS AND AGGRESSIVE, unfortunately they lost a client and I will make sure that many people know about this.

I messed up. I used to the wrong card. I called customer service the next day to fix it because it really put me in a Bind financially. As I am a disabled veteran and on a fixed income, this was fairly important to me. I had flown down to Orlando from my dad's end-of-life to get all of that squared away and now, in the middle of it, I have to worry about my rental car because I messed up. I called customer service to get the card changed to a card that would hold the amount that was charged since I was charged more than I expected to be for this operation. I was told $300 for the car rental and I looked down at my bank statement. And it was over $900. The card I had put it on, would not carry that. So I tried to fix it and they refused. They were rude and dismissive. And I called several different people trying to get this sorted out.

Budget car rental did not return my $480.00 refund amount after I canceled due to date errors…buyer beware!…after 3 calls to their very difficult to find customer service phone number and emails and complaints…after 3 months, I had to go through Master Card to get my almost $500 refund…Shame on you, Budget!

Poor customer service. Agent was rude and condescending. Was disputing a charge on my card, which I did with American Express as well. Refused to transfer me to a supervisor, said he would not and would not give me a name. Never using Budget again. Also, when picking up car, late at night in the airport, was told to go to spot, could not open car, keys not inside had to go back inside again and wait online again to get another rental car.

Just wanted to tell you that this experience was the worst ever. First, I got to my rental location and was directed to a certain area where my car was not parked, I went to the counter to be told that I had to just go and pick one out of the area that I was directed to. When I went to the area to find a vehicle, I took a picture of the plate number just as instructed only to find that someone else had swiped the keys so nobody else could get it. When I went to the counter because I already started the rental on that vehicle, they told me it happens all the time and that I needed to get a different one. When I went back out, there was nothing upgraded in the area. I went to the counter again and a gentleman that was at the counter got offended that I was asking for help. He proceeded to go and pick out a car for me and picked out a downgraded vehicle. I was supposed to get an upgrade and did not. He told me there was nothing else available and had to deal with it.

Was charged $125 for a "cleaning" fee for vacuuming the floor mats. Suggest not use Budget Rental. NOT so BUDGET after all. Found this after about one week. This was from San Francisco Airport. Perhaps other sites are more reasonable.

We used Budget in August in Washington DC and they are not at the airport. Off property with no clean cars. You have to wait for one out of the car wash and no other cleaning, not windows or vacuumed. After 2 cars we took the 3 Rd one and couldn't see out the windows. Went the next day to Dulles and got a clean one. Got home and in October 25 they said I used express lanes and now got charged for tolls we didn't use and not near where we were staying. Along with fighting with them about we returned the car filled with gas. They tried to charge us $9.70 for gas. Don't use them, nickel and dime you for made up things. No navigation in the car. You travel to get a car and it can't get you anywhere.

I recently rented a car from Budget at Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL) on November 2, 2024. My experience was highly frustrating and disappointing. Upon arriving around midnight, I was informed that the car I had reserved was unavailable. The only option they provided was an electric Hyundai, which I didn’t want, but I was pressured into taking it. After using it to drive from the airport to my hotel, I found that the battery was nearly depleted the following morning.

This was the WORST experience from start to finish. First, they tried to upsell me because the vehicle I rented "was not on the lot". Next, they sent me out to the garage to find a car seat I reserved. There was no budget representative in the area and I was forced to search through a garbage bin full of car seats and then install it myself with no guidance on whether it was even the correct seat I had reserved. The car seat fell over and became detached from the seat while on a major highway, with my baby inside.

I rented a car from Budget at the Palm Springs Ca. airport for 10 days. At day seven I received a call from Miami Fl that the vehicle I rented was turned in at the Florida office. I told them I’m still in the car and am in California. I was told to return to the airport and get another contract. I did and now I’m being charged twice. Way too many scams with this company.

Worst experience ever! Not only did I have to wait almost 2 hours in line to get to the counter to pick up the car I ordered online; a representative walked away for 30 minutes while there were still dozens of people in line. We get the car and it creaks at every turn, stop, go, bump and so on. Then after spending over $1600 to rent the car, they send me a bill for $450 for cleaning. Their reasoning, "excessive dirt and trash." I was expecting a minor cleaning fee due to 4 kids in a car for 2 weeks, but we picked up our trash, missed a few bottles of water, and a little bit of sand from the national park we visited, and a few leaves. But $450 is what they said would be the cleaning fee if we smoked in it, no other notations. There were a few times the creaking was so bad we were sure that it was going to break down on us.

I am disappointed with Budget's treatment of my rental in Toronto, Ontario. We rented a Tesla model 3 and I was given a car with a single key card that was left in the car. No need to mention that it was tricky to figure out how to start it, there is no start button, or how to lock it when I parked at the end of the drive and tried to walk away. The problem is that the car was set to require the key card to be taken out and placed under console to start up and drive. Once I parked in a garage, I walked out to the trunk, picked up luggage and saw the car power down and lock up... while the key was still inside of the car.

I picked a mini van at Midway in Chicago as only way a discounts was available (35% - ok as lived within 20 mins). But the address is wrong for the pick up is actually is on Laramie street - one block of west of provided provided address. There are no signs that all rentals can be accessed via a black steel gate located next to an Authorized vehicle sign on the gate and gate can only be seen once you’re nearly on it - see pictures. The guard at the address tried to explain but the picture/explanation wasn’t so clear. Not Budget's fault as ALL rentals were centralized by airport and their signs within the structure are confusing and the three people I stopped to get information said the same thing. Better Budget website and email instructions would super help pickup. The actual pickup was great as I had a reservation but wait was a little long at 10am on Friday.

I rented a car online from Budget in August for my travels to Bari, Italy in September. In short, the contract was not honored, and I was charged extra money at the counter. I didn’t mind that as much as the fact that our car had a strong odor of cat urine. We rented the car because my husband is handicap and cannot walk easily through the town. I tried to return the call, but I was told that I would have to go all the way back to the airport as there was no budget facility where we were. We drove the car only we needed with the windows open – needless to say it was disgusting and unbearable!

Late night arrival with reservations - said I could have an electric car - did not reserve electric or want one…. They would not give me a gas car unless I elected insurance coverage that I had already refused…. Tank was not completely full…

I had an extremely disappointing experience with Budget rental car company and their customer service. I've always been aware that some rental companies have a reputation for questionable practices, but I never thought I’d be a victim of it myself—until Budget made it happen. As a loyal customer of Enterprise, I’ve consistently had positive experiences. However, due to flight timing and distance constraints, I was forced to rent from Budget, and it turned out to be a huge mistake.

Epic Failure! We reserved a premium SUV at the St. Louis Airport, STL (offsite), and included our flight information. We arrived at the rental desk; it took over 90 minutes to check in, then waited outside in the direct sunlight in over 90-degree weather for over an hour waiting for our rental to be ready. I had my 87 year old mother-in-law, 92 and 80-year-old aunts, 9-year-old, and my wife with me. There was limited shade and no water for hydration while we waited. When the SUV finally arrived, we did a quick walk around and did not note any significant damage. We could not see the long crack in the windshield in the direct sunlight. We noticed the crack about 300 feet out of the rental lot.

I would give ZERO stars if I could. Waited over TWO HOURS for a car at OKC airport after being pulled out of line since I was a preferred member. Was told to go to inside booth and then told they couldn't help me and to get back at end of line. After the experience and being told to contact customer service for a refund, their online customer service credited another renter's account, sent me their receipt, breached their security and still sent lie after lie thru email... After a month and wasting way too much time I gave up on any sort of refund. Absolutely ZERO customer service or organization--crazy a company of this size.

The line to get the car was atrocious. With not enough staff. I have two babies and it was ridiculous to wait in a line for over an hour. Then after being told I do not need to refill the car and would be charged 3.08 a gallon (I have the proof). I get a bill after dropping the car off for $121. For 1/4 tank on a Malibu.

Waited in line for 3 hours and 20 minutes for a car at Denver airport location. Car was returned full tank but still got charged of $13.97 due to miles in 1.3 gallon less than miles out. Tires were worn out and leaked. Repaired but did not get the refunded.

I would give a zero if possible. I reserved two 12 passenger vans 5 months in advance (for a group outing) from the Tucson airport location. 2 days before, I cancelled one since our numbers dropped. So we drove to the airport to pick up the other one, and I was told it was unavailable. The agent said Kamala was coming to town and politicians get priority. So I asked for a manager. He said that the van was damaged and unrentable. 2 different stories!!! What about the other van that was reserved??? "We can offer you a 4 passenger sedan." REALLY? Don't ever rely on them to rent you a car. Unprofessional and unreliable for sure!

When returning a rental to the facility. Make sure you get a paper receipt and proof that you're returned the car. This facility has a tendency to not close your contract out for days and up to a week while your credit card is still being built on a daily basis. It has happened to be twice in one week and happened to me twice before over the years. I'm a fast break member with Budget and have been for over thirty years and this is the only airport facility budget at Islip airport that I've had problems with. Also if you have a night reservation good luck with that. Sometimes the employees leave earth early. And you get stranded.

I rented a car from Budget Car Rental at Boston Logan Airport. We ask for no add on's including insurance. After returning the car we got an email bill it included $256.58 for insurance. I called Budget Customer Service the agent told me I should have read the contract that they never provided me. She said they could only refund 50% of the rental. I ask to speak with a Manager, she Refused. It looks to me like a scam. I guess buyer beware. They should given back entire rental. They only refunded $128.29. I rented a car from Budget at Portland Maine Airport seven weeks before. They provided me great service. I Would give The Portland Office Five Stars.

We flew to Charlotte from Minneapolis and prepaid for a Budget car weeks in advance. We had to wait 1 hour and 45 minutes to get a vehicle. We were assigned an EV which needed recharging before returning. It took us more than 3 hours to find a charging station and then we had to add an app to our phone to use it. It took an additional 90 minutes to charge the car. All this for a one day rental. We are in our 70’s and knew nothing about EVs or how or where to charge one. I complained to the counter when I returned the car and was told I would receive a refund. That was two weeks ago and it never happened.

We came into town for our son's hockey tournament. Our flight got in at roughly 10:30, the desks were closed at the airport, which we only knew because of other people trying to get their rentals, not because of any communication from Budget. We took the shuttle to the Budget rental place and arrived at 10:35. We stood in line until after midnight which at that point by the time we got to the desk we were told there were no longer any gas vehicles available and our only option was electric. No one advised us that we should probably charge up when we could because there are not many charging stations around. We advised we wanted to keep all the same options we had on our pre-check minus the gas obviously since it was electric. We were told to stick our card into the card reader and asked, "Do you want insurance?" We said "No" and were told "okay click agree."

The service was horrible. Reserved the car days in advance. Had to wait over an hour to actually get the car. The one I did not reserve. They kept saying they have staffing problems. That was not my problem. It was paid for and reserved in advance. It should have been waiting on me ready to go when I got there. I wouldn't recommend Budget Rent A Car to no one. They didn't even have the truck I reserved. I'm so disgusted and disappointed in budget.

Updated on 01/06/2025: Near the end of Sept, 2024, my wife and I showed up at the Budget office at JFK airport to pick up a car we’d reserved months before, They had no cars and no sense of when they would have any, including well into the next day. They said they could put us on a waitlist, and our number would be #20. We were heading home after a transatlantic flight, and home was 5 hours away. We had to get a hotel for the night, take a train into the city, eat dinner and breakfast in the city, and get a bus home from Manhattan the next day. It cost us many hundreds of dollars, when the car would have been about $90. It was a frustrating and angering pain in the **.

I am a business owner that sent two employees on two different training trips. First was to Dayton OH 9/30/24. They refused the vehicle because my employee didn't have my credit card on them. When I spoke to the clerk at the desk he wouldn't allow me to verify anything about the card or reservation and expected my employee to wander the Dayton airport asking different rental car agencies if they had available vehicles. He ended up at Hertz and rented a vehicle.

We were given an EV because it was "all that was left" and were told by the guy behind the counter that it only takes 15 minutes to charge and can go for 300 miles. It took us 12 hours to get 3.5 hours up the road and we had to stop at sketchy places to charge all throughout the night. Then the 1st full day of our trip we were out of a vehicle because it has to charge for over 8 hours. We had to walk across highways and down roads to find food. Finally after talking to 5+ people we were brought another vehicle and the ev picked up. Now Budget is saying we have to pay a 1,200 dollar tow bill plus full price for rental. Absolutely outrageous. We will never use them again and would tell everyone not to also.

The car wasn't ready, I wait more than 1 hour, they told me they will give a day off, but they didn't, returning I was a bit late because the hurricane Milton hit us that day, they charge me 50 dollars for it when It was less than 30 minutes delay, (29 minutes of grace period). The line to return was full and I have to wait for the only employee was available so now I was supposedly 48 minutes late, wich is not true, I am pretty sure they do this to take some money extra. Other rentals car have a 2 hour grace period, Even lower end like DOLLAR but Budget doesn't?...Unbelievable!!!

On September 20th, 2024, I rented a car from Budget for a week, they charged me $458.30 and added a $200 deposit that would be returned to me after the car was returned. My bank statement showed $658.30. I returned the car on September 27th 2024 in perfect condition and with a full tank of gas, and I have been fighting to get my deposit back ever since. They asked me for the Fax number to my bank and I gave it to them, they told me that it would take 24 to 48 hours to process. It is now October 11, 2024 and I still do not have my deposit returned to my bank. I am literally on hold for customer service as I am writing this review. Unfortunately for them, I am relentless when it comes to pursuing justice.

I feel entirely taken advantage of. I did my due diligence and I read the fine print. It did not matter. I prepaid what was said to be the "total price" up front, but then was charged more than DOUBLE that after all was said and done and it was too late. I am a very financially responsible person and I NEVER EVER EVER EVER would have booked a car with them had I known what they were actually going to charge me. DO NOT book with Budget unless you are prepared to pay more than 2x what they say you will me.

In early October of this year I arranged a car rental with Budget, and was told the price would be $436.78. My credit card was actually billed $748.39. These people are thieves. Unrequested add ons were applied, and at the time of pick up I didn't scrutinize the bill. I could not hear everything the clerk was saying while finalizing the paperwork at pickup, so I suppose he was rambling through these "options" without my having any idea this was going on.

We had an absolutely terrible experience with Budget on our recent vacation. We picked up our rental car (Full sized SUV #1) on the first day of our 9-day vacation from the Denver airport location. After driving ~1.5h across Denver we realized the sun roof was stuck open. After connecting our phones to the car, the car's system alerted us that that it had an active safety recall about potential faulty brake lines (see photo below). Since our vacation itinerary involved driving over the Rocky Mountains with our 2 young children in the car, it was unacceptable to us to drive a car that potentially had an issue with its brakes. Not to mention the fact that the perpetually open sunroof became uncomfortable for our kids.

After prepaying for a 7-passenger suv 3 weeks in advance, I arrived after pick-up time and was told there was a 2 hr wait on vehicles. I went back to desk an hour and 45 minutes later to be told that there were no 7 passenger SUV’s or any upgrades available. The available vehicle was 2 size categories lower. I cancelled my reservation and had my wife pick me up. It’s 10:45 at night, we have no rental and should be leaving in the morning. Budget has ruined our trip.

Our HIGH MILEAGE rental was driven fewer than 250 miles before it failed and could not be repaired easily - Leaving us a hour from the airport, unable to shop or tour, etc. A struggle, requiring multiple calls, to get any sort of meaningful response from Budget. Many hours have been wasted so far - Time that should have been spent with family. It appears that Budget rents junk - In spite of their claims.

We rented a vehicle and 3 hours after having it all power was lost on the vehicle. We were driving on the grapevine and lost power. We coasted off the freeway and called roadside assistance. We were told we could receive an Uber voucher to get a ride to a new vehicle but would have to wait until the following day to get a car. The roadside assistance recommended a hotel to stay at within a mile and said we would be reimbursed. No Ubers would come to the grapevine so we had to pay somebody to come pick us up and drive us to the rental car replacement 2 hours away. We are seeking rental reimbursement, hotel, and ride reimbursement. Budget declined any reimbursement but $50. It was very traumatizing losing power at 5k feet in the fast lane on m a pass. Customer service has definitely been disappointing on this experience. Budget does not care about their customers and their safety.

The key fob on the car I rented from Budget broke (& no valet key), they gave me the option of getting it fixed at my expense or have the car towed. I opted to have it towed. Customer Service told me the contract was closed and I would get a refund in 3-5 days. Several days later I had a $1051 charge on my credit card. That customer service person did not say anything about the car being missing and that she would close the contract, a supervisor would call me & I would get a refund in 3-5 days. (No call from a supervisor). 5 days later I got an email saying the car was missing. The number on the email for loss prevention was not answered, the other number just went to customer service.

I reserved a moving truck for pickup 6 miles from my house, a week in advance for a local move. They called the next day and moved the pickup 50 miles away because the truck I wanted was not available locally. The cost alone would be over $250 additional in mileage and fuel let alone the time in Seattle traffic. No supervisor or manager returned my call and none were available.

My experience with this unreliable company could not have been worse. We rented a car on August 29th at Orlando airport, where we were quoted $417.82 USD. After they forced a bunch of "add-ons" on us, the final bill ended up at $874.83. We couldn’t understand the charges, but the unpleasant lady at the counter said, "We will return $200 to your credit card when you return the car. This is to cover in case there is an issue with the rental." We asked for a receipt and confirmation, but she said it would be sent electronically, which never happened. On the day we returned the car, we asked the agent again if the refund would be processed, and they assured us it would. However, after returning home to Canada, 10 days passed, and we received neither the refund nor the electronic invoice. I managed to open a customer care case, and after eight emails back and forth, they finally confirmed the following:

I rented a vehicle at Boston's Logan Airport. When I was traveling on the toll road, it was raining. I hydroplaned and came close to being killed in an accident. Later, I inspected the rear tires and found no tread on them. I wrote Budget on the issue and even sent them a picture of the tire. There has been no response. I would recommend that you check out their vehicles carefully prior to rental. For me, I will never rent from Budget again due to almost losing my life.

If I had the option to give zero stars or even negative stars, I would. I had made an on-line reservation for a full-size truck for our family road trip to the Grand Canyon more than a month ago. We needed to fit our bikes and we needed a truck. We even visited the site and spoke to Noor last week and he promised us that the truck will be available and there will be more than one truck to choose from. When we went to pick up our truck today as per our reservation, this same person Noor tells us that the person who was supposed to return his truck decided to keep it for another week and they have only sedans and small vans available for us.

I chose Budget through the Costco car rental site and prepaid for a 4 day rental. Since I would be driving a great distance, I chose the gas service option at the time of pickup so that I would not have to refill the tank prior to turning the car in. When I returned the car, the gas service option cost was 50% higher than quoted due to other taxes and fees, which weren’t explained at the time of rental. I called the Budget customer service representative who did nothing about the extra charges. Be careful and clearly understand any changes that you make to the contract because there may be significantly greater expenses than anticipated.

I reserved a rental car online and it asked for my credit card until I gave it. We ended up not needing the car for the full. I reserved and I asked if I could turn it in early. I was told sure that there was no refund. After I turned in the car a day early, contacted customer support and they confirmed no refunds. Be cautious when giving your credit card

Bad customer service.. Don't use Budget.. I have waited 10 days for my refund, and they keep passing me to someone else and saying I have to wait another 5- 7 business days. They are so quick taking your money out, but who knows if I will receive my refund. They don't seem like they care about fixing this.

Prepaid for a reservation back in the Spring of 2024 for a trip to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks in September of 2024. Cost for Midsize SUV was $1500. Cost for a Full size SUV was $2000. I was shocked at the prices. I have been traveling for over 30 years throughout the United States using Avis/Budget for most of my rental car needs on these trips. Never have I ever paid more than $800 for a weeks rental. I consider this price gouging at it's finest. The cost of the vehicle rental was more than 2 round trip airfare tickets from the East Coast. Now that is crazy! When I picked up the vehicle it was filthy and during the trip maintenance lights would come on then go off. This indicated to me that vehicle had not been properly maintained. I'm very disappointed in Avis/Budget.

Honestly if you could choose no stars, I would have. I have been on the phone continuously today, visited with 6 different Budget representatives and have still have no resolution. Not only are these representatives unhelpful all but one of them were rude and unkind. I will NEVER rent with Avis/Budget again and would not recommend you do either. The car is beat up, old, not what I reserved and the help to get what you want is non existent. Enterprise for the win!

Rented a car from Budget in Southfield, MI Car reeked of smoke and had 2 tires that would not hold air. Budget sent me to a location to trade in the car 1.5 hours away. Got there and they had no cars. Called the next day to roadside assistance. They sent me to a location 2 hours away. I got the car exchanged but they charged me 79.44 for gas. I told them the car was full yesterday and I was not filling it again until I return the car when I am finished.

I guess one gets what ones pays for. I like this company because of their affordability, but my goodness they seem to be under staffed in every location (I visited various) and their cars always reeked of smoke. This last time it smelled so much of weed and cigarettes it was terrible, not even Febreze helped. Sadly, we had to take it because they did not have anything else available for us. Just be aware that if you decide to rent with them, you may end up with a smelly car and the service is less than desirable.

I had an incident in Oregon. The driver-side tire developed a golf ball size bulge. I called roadside assist. They said because I did not purchase their program I would be charged. Or I could drive 40 miles to Redmond and swap the car. I pointed out that this was a safety issue. They said they would not proceed unless I consented to the charge. I said I need to know if the car is driveable. They put me in touch with a local tire company that never came out to help. So for a 3-minute totally useless call, they charged me $162, simply for making a call. Total fraud. Avoid Budget at all costs. I wish I could go lower than 1 star.

I rented my car at the Santa Barbara Airport. I made reservations well in advance. I did make one error on my reservation. I made changes on my flight and got an earlier flight than the original. I called the support center and asked if I could change my reservation time from 3:00PM to 12:30PM. I was told that I would have to cancel my reservation and make another. I told them that the charges will be considerable higher because I was calling the week of my travel. I was asked what my flight number was and that I could pick up my car 2 hours prior to reservation time via Budget policy.

My 8-day rental started with a filthy car, inside and out. But that is not the worst part of my experience. I received a parking ticket, although I paid for parking. After my trip, I was able to make one call and match the $5.25 on my credit card for that parking and the $50 ticket was waived. About a month later, I received a $30 fee from Budget for any ticket on the car during my rental. I explained thru email that I paid for the parking and there was not a "real" ticket placed on the car and that it had been waived. Budget support indicated they could over me a 50% discount on the fee.

I recently rented a car at Logan Airport in Boston. When the rental agent asked if I wanted the fuel purchase option, I asked what rate did they charge per gallon. Gas in Boston is selling for about $3 per gallon. I was charged $9 per gallon. Deception #1. When she asked if I wanted insurance, I said my car insurance covers me. She asked, "so you want the minimum" and I said yes, assuming we were on the same page. I ended up being charged $175 for insurance that I apparently accepted. Add to this, the 11% concession recovery fee, the customer facility charge, and the extension fee, and what I thought was a $450 rental became $900 when I returned the car.

I made a reservation in El Salvador, at Colonia Escalon in San Salvador for a truck 4x4, for 2 day, we we got to the location. The staff was a bit rude, made us wait for about 10 min, there were like 5 people working but only one was with a customer, then someone finally got to help us, to the surprise that the they were forcing us to buy 3 insurances for the truck, which they were not optional, they were mandatory, they kept insisting that it was the policy of the company, which is not true.

I reserved a minivan at Anaheim. Due to travel delays I was diverted to a nearby airport and my daughter picked up the car. They not only didn't have the car I reserved, the only car they had to fit six people was an SUV with 3rd row seat. They also said it had a bashed in door but for the trouble they would buy the gas and we could bring it back empty. When she got out of the dark parking garage she saw it had a cracked windshield. As soon as she got to the hotel she took pictures of the windshield but since they told her about the door she didn’t take a picture of it. When I called the next day they to get a different car and report the damage I was told there were no notes to any damages or that we could bring the car back without gas. I wrote a complaint to the president of the company and got a blow-off letter back from an underlying.

On September 1, 2024, I went to the Budget car rental at Denver Airport to rent a car for 5 days. The attendant asked me if I wanted full coverage insurance, and I said yes. I thought that obviously meant full coverage collision coverage. When I got the bill, it was $760 and they charged me for PAE, SLI, RSN, toll and even full service which I declined. Budget is taking advantage on its customers. Full coverage only applies to collision insurance and not the other foolish things they sell.

DON'T. DON'T RENT from this location. You better run to somewhere else. I'm telling you you will be disappointed. If you have somewhere for sure to be don't go this route. BUDGET IN BOWIE MD. They are not liable. They will call you the morning of your travel and tell you they don't have the car you PRE-PAID for. And if you get TIFFANY walk away. She is not someone you want to work with. She is SUPER nasty without any help. She act as if someone made her work at Budget but she choose to work at Budget not me. Horrible customer service is what she offer.. I don't do reviews but I wanted to help someone else before they allow this company to make them look for another rental the day of your travel. Trust me.

My complaint is not being given a receipt for my rental car. The flat rate of $500 for 3 days felt excessive, but due to many flights being cancelled that day on August 6th, many were also looking for a car. At the mercy of Budget we had little alternative but to go along with that rate. I requested for a receipt and were told that one would be provided via email, but none was ever received. This left me thinking that something was dubious.

Yeah, two agents to check in 100 customers wanting a car. The weight was over two hours. They only had two agents for all these customers. I have a meeting. I’m gonna be late because I didn’t plan on it. Taking two hours to rent a car.

Biggest scam company!! When we dropped the car off at the Calgary Airport with a FULL tank of gas, we were rushed through the line of cars coming in. We asked if they would please walk around the vehicle to check for damages and check the gas to make sure we weren't billed for extra, but they waved us right through saying it was O.K. That raised a 'red flag' but we left since they weren't going to do it. Someone has always checked our vehicle in all the previous car rental returns. Well, we got home and got a charge for $137.92 stating they had to put 38 liters of gas in it! We called customer service and they said we had signed a contract stating a refueling service charge was added since we returned it empty. It was our word over theirs even though we had a receipt.

I retuned my rental with a full tank of gas and Budget still went ahead and charged my credit card the fuel purchase option without any explanation. My efforts to recover this unfair charge through my credit card company was unsuccessful. I feel cheated and have never experienced anything like this before. Is this how they roll?

Budget has been hit or miss in the past. Some of the best rental service I’ve had has been provided by Budget. The review today is for how difficult is it is to get ahold of a real person, let alone for an inventory question. The only way to answer my question is to drive to the airport location and speak to the agent at the counter. Maybe this is all rental companies - I'm not sure and that’s on me - but it shouldn’t take the level of effort it did to speak with a real person. After realizing you could just push a number (on the phone) that wasn’t on the automated catalog 5 times and it brings you to a live agent, it was not so bad.

Absolutely worst car rental customer service. Made a reservation online and received confirmation that vehicle was available, caught an Uber to location and was informed that the vehicle was not there and wouldn't be available till possibly late afternoon... The customer service did Absolutely nothing to remedy this other than try to GOUGE me for more money on an upgraded vehicle... Total scam....

I needed to rent a mini-van for one day. I went to the Budget/Avis Silverlake location in Pearland, Texas to pick up the rental vehicle. The vehicle they gave me already had damage (dents/scrapes) on both sides, a cracked and chipped windshield, as well as a dirty interior. A visual walk-around was completed with the Budget/Avis representative, and all damage was noted on their form. I returned the vehicle the next day. The store manager checked me out. I spoke to her as to the condition of the vehicles being rented, with the damages to them. She indicated they were in short supply, and that the mini-vans had also just been recalled. She made no indication that I had added additional damage to the rental vehicle I returned.

My entire experience with budget was horrible! Started off waiting 1.5hrs to get to counter, mind you there was about 6 people ahead of me. I ordered and paid for an eco car hybrid or electric, they started off by giving me a dodge ram and told me I would have to pay $20 dollar more a day if I wanted something else. Then went to get car and it wasn’t there so they put me in a Jeep Wrangler. Again I reminded them I paid for an eco car and they honestly did not care. The Jeep was unwashed and I had to go and pick up my granddaughter so I had zero time to argue, because of how long the whole process took. I have myself and extra 2 hrs to get to her and I literally pulled up as she was getting out of school. Worst experience I have ever had renting a car.

I had reserved a car since they had the best rates. I then paid Uber to get me to the rental location only to have my rental declined by credit check on my debit card - which I assure you had more than enough to pay even an extended rental, the deposit, and then some. They said this in the fine print, that they do this. Then they asked, ironically, if I had a credit card to pay for it instead - which is laughable since they just declared this to be unacceptable according to this Equifax check. The agent told me that this happens all the time to people to which I replied, "If so, then you should create something in the process to prevent wasting the customer's time and money." I said that I did not bring another card since I had no intention of charging this and so they said, "Thank you but no car for you," I paid Uber to return home, all in 30 dollars for the displeasure and still no car.

I booked my reservation through Expedia. I arrived to pick up the vehicle at Budget and was told they don’t have the class of vehicle that I reserved. I made this reservation 4 months ago but the person at the counter said that they didn’t have the vehicle because I made the reservation less than 24 hours in advance. They offered me a smaller vehicle with no price concession, and then I waited almost an hour while they were supposedly cleaning the vehicle.

Rental date was 8/1-8/6. I rented a Ford Transit van for a multi family vacation in Boston. The van was picked up on 8/1 from Logan airport. When the van keys were handed over I found it extremely dirty. There were stains on the seats, floor, wall, ceiling and luggage area. There was a very strong smell of urine throughout the va. One of the A/C vents was missing, and one of the seats had a seat belt strap but no seat belt receiver to attach. I pointed this out to the attendant who gave me the keys and he says there is nothing he can do and that was the only van available and it wasn't his job to help me get a different vehicle.

I made a booking online for a GAS rental from them for the weekend of my son's birthday. This is how that went. Upon picking the car up I was told they COULD NOT give me a GAS vehicle and that they only had electric ones. I stated that I felt uncomfortable in my ability to drive such a car. The person assured me it was exactly like driving a normal car, plus cheaper to operate. He then switched my booking to the electric vehicle.

Since my reservation was related to "Standard Elite Electric", when I picked up a rental car at JFK and it's not electric. It was 100% gas. There are no electric cars that Budget should hold electric car for me. I am very disappointed with that tricky selling rental online. Not effective.

I was given the price of renting a car of $77.07 per day in Long Island Huntington Station with tax and everything on 8/21/24. And the sales guy didn’t explain to me that if I am late for one hour, there will be a total different prorate of $95.58 per day nor it stated in my rental agreement! My rental agreement stated $70.99 prorate per day. And I was 40 minutes late on 8/22/24 because of the traffic in the morning.

My family and I flew to South Carolina to visit family. We had already reserved a car for when we got to the airport. Budget told us that the car wasn’t available and the only one available was a full size SUV, which was $200 more to rent for the week. The car I already reserved was for $670. I was traveling with three kids and my mother and needed a vehicle and they gave me no other option, and said I would get a refund. After I got back from vacation, I called budget to ask about the refund and when I would be getting it, and they said I wasn’t getting it because I signed for the car and they proceeded to tell me that I upgraded it. I’m extremely disappointed with the customer service here. Instead of sticking by their word and refunding me, they lied and apparently thought earning the extra buck was more important than helping their customers. I will never use budget rental car again.

I recently stood in line at the Atlanta Budget rental counter waiting for an agent to become available. While I was waiting I booked a reservation online and received a confirmation. I walked out to garage because I am Fastbreak and they said it had to be reserved 48 hours in advance which was fine. Walked back in and finally got to counter. The girl there said I would have to come back in 45 minutes before it came through their system. I asked if they could cancel my reservation and start a new one so I didn't have to come back. She said no just stand over there and I will call you in 45 minutes. Just walked down to Hertz and rented a car from them. Atlanta should upgrade their staff.

We are trying to rent a car at Seatac airport. There are over 50 people in line and only one agent to serve them. The lady at the front of the line reports that she's been in line for over 2 1/2 hours. By comparison, Thrifty, Hertz, Alamo, Enterprise, and National have almost no waits. Consider your time when you even think about renting from Budget!

Budget has agreed to refund me the extra amount they charged. I am satisfied with the resolution.

They accidently charged me $7,064.71 instead of $950 for a rental due to a mixup with my car, return date and return location, then managed to put the wrong day rate when correcting the error. Budget's customer services seem to relish the fact that they will not return the full amount I am owed, claiming they can only return $200 out of the $400 outstanding balance I am owed. Make sure you have a $10,000 credit limit on your card in case you accidently get overcharged the same!

I rented a car from Budget in Virginia to drive to NJ. I picked up the car at 4:30 pm on Tuesday so that I could get up early on Wednesday to head to NJ. The car stayed in the hotel parking lot. I drove to NJ on Wednesday and dropped off the car at 5:00 that evening. I received a bill from Budget for tolls on the PA turnpike on Tuesday night (my car was in the hotel parking lot). I used my transponder for all the tolls to NJ and was not charged for them. I was also charged for extra time as they have me dropping off the car on Thursday at 8:15 am (car was returned the day before). I was not going to dispute the car drop off, but when I received a bill for tolls where I wasn’t at, I decided to dispute. I contacted Budget but still have not received a response from them. Car had over 100K miles on it. Will not rent from them again

I decided to rent a car when I was stranded at the airport due to a cancelation because of hurricane Debby. I figured that I would have a car out of the airport than back in. When I requested it, the request was for four days. The CS had to have someone else take my request because she didn't know how to do it. So I had to wait till someone was free. Then that CS rep was told repeatedly by me the request was for 4 days. She kept saying 5 days. I thought she fixed that she did not. Then when I got to the car. It didn't start. The steering column was locked.

If I had wanted a minivan I would have rented one. I did not rent a minivan. I rented a car. I am a single woman, not a married woman with a trillion children who wants a minivan. I will never rent from Budget again. I'm over you. I should have rented from Avis rental car agency. They give you exactly what you want. Not budget. Do not rent from them. They might wait for you to arrive but then they give you a minivan. Not what you wanted. I have never wanted a mini van in my entire life,.

Rented a car out of Knoxville airport, seemed fine, drove okay, next day had a low tire warning, went filled it up, next day was back at 18 psi, and everyday after had to fill the tire up. The frustrating issue was the customer service, we called and let them know of the issue. When we got someone we could understand they told us to take it to any Budget rental spot and they would swap it for us, we went to a different budget, their lot was full of cars and they didn't have any available to swap though the exact cars were parked there. We called the customer service and they kept telling us to take it back out of our way to the airport which is a hassle. The Knoxville in town budget was less than helpful, he said that's what the roadside insurance is for.

Do not prepay for a rental! I contacted customer service the day before my flight asking if my flight was delayed would I get charged they stated,”No you will be only charged for the days you use the car.” My flight was delayed. I couldn't pick my car up until the next morning. I went to get car and was told since I prepaid I would not get a refund for the unused day. I contacted customer care, they stated I would get a refund of $123 as soon as the car was returned. I received my invoice and it didn't have the refund so I called the customer care line and was told we do not give refunds for prepay!! I would advise not to rent a car from them unless you like to get jerked around!!!

We rented a car in Chicago and got stranded because of a hurricane and when we called we were told it would be $178 to extend the rental and $100 to drop it off at another airport. When we dropped it off we were charged over $600!! Their customer service won't do anything and apparently, their phone calls aren't actually recorded.

It was complete chaos in Buffalo to return the key, we were packed in so tight when told where to park that you could barely get out the door and we were being rushed to get our stuff out. My daughter (Our driver) forgot to return the key, we had flight delays at no fault of our own and got back to our home airport a whole day later. Was supposed to be home Sunday night and got to our home airport about 4 pm Monday. She got to Fedex at 5:30 Monday and paid 60$ to overnight the key which did not arrive till 9:30 am Wednesday. Not sure why I was charged an extra 422.63 for a key that was returned asap and delayed through no fault of our own.

If you choose to rent from Budget, make sure you get some type of receipt when returning the vehicle. I returned a rented van on July 1 and on July 5 I received an email and a certified letter stating that vehicle had not been returned! I immediately called them up and they said they did not have the van and I would get a final bill. I originally paid $1,200 for the rental and honored the contract to the "t". I received final bill and it was for $3,800 AND they had already gone out and hit my credit card for the $2,600 balance! After nearly a month of arguing with them that van was returned on time, they told me that their records indicated van was finally returned on July 9! I kept track of our mileage while we had the van and Budget's records were showing an additional 1,500 miles on the vehicle. I told them obviously they had rented the van to someone else after July 1 and THEY returned it on July 9. I am not paying for someone else's rental!

We rented a vehicle from Budget Rent-A-Car in Kalispell, MT for about a week. Within a few hours of returning the vehicle, I received the final invoice and was shocked to see that charged us $450 for something called “miscellaneous” charges. I see other reviews here from others who have gone through the same thing. I called them and was informed this was a smoking fee, which is ridiculous and laughable. Not only did we not smoke in the car, but we washed it and vacuumed it out and even sprayed a new car smell in it. When we disputed the charges, they said it smelled like cigarette smoke and sent us their so-called proof consisting of photos of what looked like ashes on the console and the cup holders.

What a dissatisfying, pathetic experience, we rented a mini in February, show up end of July to start our family vacation and guess what no van, we booked a van to travel as a family, offers compact suv because it has 7 seats so does a van but they are not the same. First car seat belts not working, second car on empty didn’t see it until I left. He wanted to charge me 50.00 more a day to put us in a larger SUV. What a crock. I will never again rent from them, I will never again deal with that. It would be one thing if we booked a week before our trip, but 6 months should have been enough time to plan and coordinate.

Do better Budget! In Louisville airport. Arrive Friday morning with ONE EMPLOYEE. Over ten people in line! The Wait is ridiculous! Never again! Hire more people or let us do online. Been standing in line forever!

Do NOT rent from Budget!!! NEVER! Over a month ago I reserved a box truck with a pickup and drop off location to move our daughter to college. I received a confirmation email from them as well as a reminder 2 days before. Today I went to pick it up and they had no trucks. The worker just said, "Sorry. We have no trucks." My reply was, "No, I have a reservation," he said, "Oh that doesn’t matter. We oversell the amount of trucks we have every day. Sorry." The worker acted like it was no big deal that we were stuck with no truck at all. Do not rent from Budget! Terrible customer service.

I’d like to start with booking my reservation online, as I thought it went smoothly, I kept checking my email (all emails) for a confirmation. Never got one. So I call them to see if they could where I spoke with someone that couldn’t even understand what I was saying. They said it’s booked, just tell them your name. Not very reassuring. Then I pick up my car, wanting to swap credit cards, I was unavailable to do that as well. Upon returning the car I filled up the gas etc.. drop keys off in drop box. Later I see that I’ve been charged extra. So I call them the next day and try to find out why I’m charged and not only am I transferred to 3 different departments they couldn’t tell me why I was charged. I would have to wait 5-7 business days. I asked for a supervisor and there wasn’t one in the office located in MEXICO CITY. I’m in Pennsylvania. As I could no longer handle this stand off I hung up and still waiting for why I’m charged.

DO NOT RENT FROM BUDGET, what a complete nightmare. We were promised one car and received lesser value and cheaper car. Was promised a discount of $200.00 which we were not given. Also promised a free tank of gas to bring it back empty and was charged $108.00 after we left for the gas. NO ONE at budget will help us. They keep saying we have to call the Orlando Airport location where we rented it but we cannot get through as it keeps sending us to the call center where they tell us we have to call the location. Seriously considering a lawsuit.

We arrived on July 23, 2024 to pick up the vehicle (same day, just a few hours late bc of flight delay). As we were providing my license and debit card authorization, the man at the counter told me that I needed an additional credit card for incidentals. I did not have an additional card. No representative told me I’d have to have this for check-in. This put us in a major bind with our itinerary and made us miss an important dinner reservation. A friend of mine offered his credit card for the incidentals, but the MIA Budget worker would not accept his “because it was not the same number on the license or debit card originally charged for the reservation.”

I rented from this company to go on a family trip to Charlevoix, Michigan. Returned the vehicle CLEAN! My husband and I had to vacuum some sand that got in the car. The years I have rented I’ve always returned the car clean. I get an email about a week later saying I will be charged $450 for the smell of smoke! I have called and spoke with 3 different representative explaining none of my family smoke! My 81-yr-old mother was traveling with us, I have a husband and a son who are asthmatics, I have a high schooler who is in sports, and a daughter who dances - we don’t smoke!

Pre-paid for car rental for rental at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Arrived at the Budget location. Line of people waiting with 4 people behind the counter. Which they would switch off so the counter help was basically 3. Ridiculous! Having to wait forever on a pre-paid rental. Then 2 of the counter people decided to chit-chat with a customer about their flight. If I had not pre-paid I would have gone to another agency. Service and process needs to be improved/updated.

Budget charged us for optional insurance damage when we clearly said "NO, we don't need it" since our credit cards cover rental car damage already. However, we got a charge at the end of our trip for a total amount of $175. When we called customer service to inquire about the charge, they reported that we agreed to the optional insurance damage. We tried to dispute it- there were 3 of us at the check-in counter when we checked out the car and all 3 of us clearly said, "NO. We do not need the optional insurance damage!!!" I don't know how this charge came up. We disputed with the customer service representative for 20 minutes until she finally refunded us as part of a "one time courtesy" even though it was not our fault. We will never use this car company again. That same trip, my family member rented with Dollar Rentals and everything was a breeze for him.

Every aspect of renting a car from Budget was substandard. The agent in the Orlando airport was rude and nasty with no attempt at civility. The manager's behavior was curt and dismissive, no apology. The agent who processed my rental had to leave his window for a few minutes and then handed the key fob to me that I later realized was broken. The car was parked the furthest away in a dark area. It was a filthy disgrace with windows caked with dried on dirt. Leaving the airport there was a deluge of rain that smeared them making it difficult to see. When we arrived home we discovered a small dent in the lower passenger side that was marked off with white x's indicating it's size and shape. The damage was obscured by the dirty car. It didn't end there as I received an email that I owed tolls. The agent "forgot" to activate the sunpass forcing us to go to a local airport because it couldn't be done on-line.

Reserved van. Paid in full 3 months in advance. Went to get my van and it was not available for family of 7 (2 infants). Couldn’t get money back for 3-5 business days and it was 115 degrees. No options. No other rental places had a van and Budget had a hold on my money. We had to borrow money to try and find a vehicle. We were suppose to be there the 17th-21st. Needless to say this was the vacation from hell with no help from budget to get us a van. They basically said they had no vehicle for us and we’d have to go to other rental places to try and find one. Do not rent from them because they do not guarantee they have your rental on pickup date even when they continue to send confirmation.

If I could give zero stars I would. I rented a car at the Myrtle Beach airport one week ago from today (Tuesday). I booked a rental through Costco Travel a month ago. Arrived at Myrtle Beach and walked over to pick up the car. The lines were so long and slow (but this is not what the review is about). I was asked for the payment I stated I had a digital card (in my Apple wallet) in which I use to book rentals. The associate Marvin stated that I could not use it. I was confused because this information is not in the contract. (I read policies for work and it’s not there). I even asked what if I show them my card and give my numbers. They stated they had no way to type it in.

Worst rental experience of my life. Car smelled like cigarette smoke and it was obvious they tried to cover up the smell. There was even a cigarette ash burn in the driver's seat. I tried to tell myself it was OK. But after a few days I couldn't take it anymore. My family and I were on vacation to Glacier National Park. After enjoying beautiful hikes in the fresh air, we had to get back into the ashtray to return to our lodging. So I put in a ticket and arranged and exchange at a different Budget location. Of course I was charged a "one-way" service fee, I was charged for fuel service. Now I'm on the phone waiting to try and get this all sorted out. Wish I had just paid a little more to rent from Hertz or Enterprise.

I would simply like to warn anyone looking to rent from Budget of the fees they charge if you cancel and if you want to make changes like pick up and drop off to a different location. I originally wanted to pick up and drop off a vehicle from a different Budget location because the other location closed at a later time. Well, they wanted $125 to make that change, so I didn't change my reservation. Well today I canceled my reservation today because our plans changed. It's 1 week prior to when I should've picked up the vehicle, they charged me $50 to cancel, well in advance. I don't know what happened to Budget but I will never use them again.

Just want to put this out there for anyone thinking of renting from Budget - just don’t. Last week we rented from Budget because they had the availability of a 12 passenger van. I had reserved the vehicle, already uploaded a credit card and driver info, and yet still the process was 2 hours once we were at their counter. After the wait, once we finally got our vehicle it was dented, had spilled paint, and only 3/4 tank of gas. We reported it and were told to take pictures and make sure to show them when we returned the vehicle, so we did.

Beware!!! Budget will try to sell you more insurance even though you already have some! This is a very underhanded tactic. If I already have insurance, why allow them to sell more on top? This is a sham and Budget should be penalized for doing this. I’m fully disappointed in their customer service, and the way they handle the lies when you use their business.