BudgetReviews 155

Don't bother pre-paying for "express pickup" because you will still wait for 2+ hours in the same line as the people who don't have reservations at all. That should've been the first red flag, and it only got worse from there. When we dropped off the vehicle, we wanted to take some pictures to prove that the vehicle was given back in perfect condition. The attendants ushered us out and assured as that it was fine. Budget filed a claim TWO MONTHS after our rental, saying that we owed $2,000 for damage to the bumper. After hours on hold (during which they intentionally dropped our call twice), we finally got them to look up the damage report, which was filed 800 miles after when we dropped it off. There is no way they did this by accident; they deliberately tried to get us to pay for damage that another renter (or one of their staff) caused.

For anyone thinking Budget Rent-a-Car is a good idea. Take a few minutes to screen shot their advertisement and then look at what they charge your credit card. They will hold you to the amount on your credit card as I was told by a few customer service employees and supervisors "you agreed to the amount that shows on you credit card".

Also take video of every square inch of the inside and outside of the vehicle, reach into every crevice of the seats and everywhere else. Turn on the car, turn on A/C and heat, smell the vents and state for the video what you smell. Let the video record the sound of the engine. Ensure the video includes the Budget Rent-a-Car employee as a documented witness.

The advertised amount is what they are permitted to charge by law and not a penny more.

My rating- Big fat 0

Lying scam company. This was my first (and last) rental ever with Budget. After pre paying for my reservation through Costco, I paid an additional $227 for their useless insurance. I didn't even use 1 first day of the rental due to flight delays. I called the customer service and let them know. They didn't extended the reservation (as I wanted) but they said not to worry and I wouldn't be charged extra. Then, I returned the car with a full tank and in the same condition it was rented. After I turned my car in I get a text that my total due was $227. Okay, fine. Once I returned home I was charged an additional $250 that I did not authorize. Also, I never got a receipt to show what that fraudulent charge was even for. When I called the customer service to discuss it there were no notes on the account and the guy I talked to was very rude. I will NEVER EVER use Budget rent a car ever again. I'm so frustrated that I got a car through Budget. I will tell everyone I know how bad this experience was and that they should avoid Budget no matter what. I WANT MY $250 BACK SCAM ARTISTS!

The first car was dead. The battery light was on, and we were still in the garage when the battery gave out entirely. We walked all the way back to the office, to wait in a long line. We were given a second car, but they didn't write the number on the form. So we walked and walked beeping the fob. When we got to the second car, it smelled like urine. We rolled the windows down and left them down all the driving and while in parking lots. The pizz smell was less by Monday when we returned the car. Then I got my bill, and was charged an additional $94.48. I did the "pay in advance". And while I did not return the car with the full tank, I did return it with half a tank. At $4.50/gallon, even in California, there is no way that half a tank of gas is costing $94.48. No where on the bill does it explain why on earth I am being charged SO MUCH in addition to the original rental expenses I paid in advance. I was so upset to be given two poor quality cars to start off with. To be charged additional unexplained cost is really too much for me to give anything but a low rating one would think. But then I tried to call the number to speak to you about this. I was given the automated runaround before being hung up on. I would only recommend Budget to a frined if they wanted to risk being stranded because the car's battery is about to die or they love the smell of pee, and they want to later be charged more than the agreed price.

When we reserved the 12 passenger van for October 8,2021 the price showed 908 plus tax and fees and when we get an email confirmation it shows $1350. 00 including 74 tax and then a 230.00 surcharge fee. I called customer service and complained and they said the surcharge fee was part of the rental and if I wanted to cancel it would cost me $50.00 cancellation fee even though I called as soon as I saw the bill. Renters beware. I have never used Budget before and never will again.

SCAMMERS. COMPLETELY RIPPED ME OFF. FORCED ME TO ADD INSURANCE AND PRE PAY GAS. I WAS TOLD I DENIED THIS I WOULD STILL BE CHARGED. TOLD ME I WAS HAVING 250 added on as a deposit. I was not asked to sign I was told to put a line through the signature area. After that was done and printed I questioned why my fee was 890 and confirmed the 250 would be removed. I was then told no that I was charged more tax because of a convention in town that I had no idea about. I booked Thai rental weeks in advance and tax was Included. What's even worse is when my card was charged not only was I was charged 890 instead of 569.19 I was charged 1012 instead. The company ignored my messages. What's even worse then that is the car was disgusting. Smelled like cat piss and had finger nails in it when we got it. Not cleaned at all

$ 75 dollars in hidden fees BS
Returned my car with a full tank of gas and was charged $20 for fuel service i called and complained was told just a simple mistake YA RIGHT RIP OFF

This is the worst rental company I have ever seen. My brother rented a truck in Arizona to take his car to Missouri. The truck broke down a few miles from the Oklahoma border. He called budget, and was put on hold for over 30 minutes. He called me and I called budget, I explained his situation and requested help. The person kept asking me for information, I didn't have. I told them 4 times that I was not at the location. So they gave me an event number and they would contact him in 90 min. After they reviewed.? After 2 hours someone showed up and tried to start the truck. They couldn't fix anything and did not offer to exchange the truck. 6 hours later he is still sitting in 97° temp. Trying to get budget to speak to him. He gets put on hold for the next available. I called budget and also got the run around, I finally called and asked to speak to a supervisor, and was told there was a waiting list. All I got was BS. When I again asked to speak to a supervisor, I was told this was my second warning. I just hung up on them as wasting my time. I suggested that my brother leave the truck and contact a different company.

We picked up a vehicle from Brisbane airport - staff their were very friendly and fine to deal with. Drove 400km away for our holiday & rear suspension of vehicle was making terrible noises so tried calling their customer service line to see if there was a simular vehicle nearby that we could swap to. I tried calling 3 times and all 3 times was told I would be put on hold while they searched for vehicles in the area. All 3 times a was cut off instead of being put on hold.
Then we return the vehicle and get an invoice which has an extra $300 added onto it. I have tried calling 3 times and this is still not resolved as I got bundled from one department to the next and finally end up with someone who says to call customer service again cos they can't put me thru to the correct department!
Clearly all the customer service employees are trained to do is pick up the phone and put it back down - absolutely no training for anything in between!

DO NOT RENT FROM BUDGET RENT-A-CAR. We rented from them in Miami Florida, and returned the car full of gas and trash free, however it had some sand in it from the beach. They charged me a $250 cleaning fee, ive rented from other companies before but never been charged that much if at all. After all its a rental! DO NOT RENT FROM THEM

HORRIBLE! I arrived to LVS with a prepaid rental agreement. I don't see how this was useful or expedited my experience in any way. Budget was the ONLY car company at the airport pick up area with a line that extended to the entrance of the building (and no, this was not because people were social distancing). It took me over an hour to get to the front of the line where I was then told that the car I had paid for and reserved was not available. I was moved to a sedan, without plates. I ended up missing my obligation because the time it took to retrieve the rental was excessive. I was prepared to shake it off and make the best of it but then I was met with the same experience on the day I returned. Only this time, the crowd and back up ultimately led me to missing my flight home. There were so many cars in the return garage that it was physically impossible to drive the car into the return drop off spot. The cars were lined up and down the ramp into the garage. I tried to call and let customer service know but I was only rerouted, put on hold, told to wait. When I can up with what I thought was a reasonable alternative (drop the car where there was visible room at the neighboring Avis company) the rep told me I'd be charged with a drop fee if I did that. And so, I no option but to wait and once things did seem to be moving, I had to wait more - for an agent to print a receipt and have me move on. That also took an unreasonable amount of time. And so, my daughter and I ended up missing our flight and had to spend six hours stuck in the airport where amenities are limited due to pandemic and the only option we could do to get us home was to take two flights, change planes, travel long hours, etc. Simple tip: If Budget anticipates that it will be busy, at the very least give a courtesy warning to your customers. I would have gladly allowed more time had I known it was needed. I held up my end of the contract by filling my rental car with gas, keeping it respectfully clean and returned on time. Budget, however did not hold up its end of the contract. Wrong car, no one to receive the car, overworked and mismanaged staff. Overall such a horrible experience that I will avoid using the company in the future. I requested a refund after reporting this experience and they DECLINED. And so, I will now share this honest review everywhere that I can.

Reserved a 16 foot truck two weeks in advance, they called me the day before I was to pick up the truck and said they didn't have a truck. Told me they wouldn't charge me for a cancellation, l would hope not, they cancelled not me. Made for a stressful situation for me since I needed to be out of my house. They run a bad business, word of mouth says a lot and I will be letting everyone know how I was treated. Horrible way to run a business

Never. Ever. Will I rent from this place again. I've never gone out of my way to write a bad review in my life that's how bad my experience has been. When we first got our car we had to wait 4.5 to get our car - only to have it wreak of smoke and found a pack of cigarettes under the seat. Please tell me if how if they are taking "extra cleaning precautions due to covid" they missed a whole pack of cigarettes that my son found...

After an emergency we had to move the drop off location to 3 hours away from our original spot ( not a different state... just a different city... and they charged us $1700. $1700! Not total- Just to transfer our drop-off spot
After being on the phone for 3 hours with customer service we were hung up on 3 different times.

Do NOT rent from this company. The price may look good up front - and they'll get you in the end. We're now sitting here boggled wondering what the heck were supposed to do. Its 4 times more than what the whole week for renting the car was! I feel literally sick to my stomach. This is a TERRIBLE company.

This has been the worst car rental experience I have ever had. I very often go to Detroit Michigan with my wife and get a rental every time I go. But this time with Budget Car Rentals it has been the worst. I received the car extremely dirty and the smell of throw up all inside it. On the way to my hotel from the airport the car stopped on me and my wife twice. I was extremely worried so I called customer service and they gave me a location to go pick another one up. I went there the next day and the clerk there was very rude shouting at me "we don't have a car here for you go to a different location" multiple times. I called customer service again and they did not care about what happened, they just sent to another location. I went there and they too said the same thing. So, I called customer service again for the third time and they finally told me that they don't have anything available for me. My entire trip was ruined because I had to use Uber nearly the entire time I am in Detroit. Extremely disappointed at what happened and I do not recommend anyone to rent a car from Budget. They are careless and very very rude people.

Budget car rental as a cooperation has been around too long not to have better customer service on cooperate level. It is very difficult to reach the correct individuals when there is an issue that can not be handled by agents in field.

The front desk lady was extremely rude and unpleasant. When I checked in (I loaned the money to my younger sister, not realizing that if it was under my name, it had to be me driving the car). Front desk lady didn't say A WORD of communication about this. So we went along, thinking it was fine. She asked me for my debit card (not realizing she would charge me $250 extra). 2 days later when we returned the car, she told me, (with a crappy attitude) that I could have had the police called on me because I wasn't the one driving. I do believe that could have been communicated to me before doing anything. I also asked if my $250 would be returned to my card, and without a polite yes or no, she said "it will take 5 days." I looked at my account and saw that my money had been returned already, which makes me believe that she took my money when she wasn't supposed to, and quietly returned it so as not to make an $#*! of herself. Overall, glad i got my money back, but terribly unimpressed with this company. Stay away!

The experience was difficult from the very first interaction. Could not understand the customer service rep in the call center, therefore 2 unfortunate misunderstandings happened.
1. We didn't realize we were paying for the rental in advance. When you pay in advance if you return the vehicle early you do not get a refund! If you can not understand the customer service rep, how would you know.
2. When we picked up the vehicle we did not realize the vehicle had a big ding in the side. Because no one assisted us.
3. When we returned the vehicle 2 days early (without a refund) we tried to explain the situation, the employee didn't speak English very well, so again we could not communicate effectively.
4. The vehicle we rented was awful not what we though we would be getting for $500.00.
Not a good experience at all and we will never use this service again.

I rented a car from Budget which was defective as I departed the airport it left me stranded. It took me 6 hours to get a replacement. Two weeks later they charge me an additional $285 for damage to the car, $500 for a 2 1/2 day compact car rental. Total scam giving a bad car to a customer to then have him pay for their car problems. Escalated the issue and managers are as complicit as the techs checking the cars for customers.

We rented a car from budget rental we picked up the car in the airport after standing in line for 2 hours. I got the bill and was charged an extra $50 for unlimited toll service which only cost $7.53 when I called to discuss the bill they said it was in my contract very sneaky we were never told about this charge I will never ever rent from budget rental car again.