Budget Rent A Car
reviews and complaints

Beware of RSN (Road Safety Net) and XMR hidden charges. I did not accept these optional services. I was charged $6.99 / day for RSN and 6.99 a day for XMR that as a government employee I am not authorized to use. I've complained to Budget and asked for a refund I'm pending their response. I work for a major military command and i will be notifying the defense travel office of these hidden charges and recommend they do not have government employee's select Budget for their government travel.

I thought I lost the key to my trunk rental through budget, so I had to call road side assistance to seek help. Well, I found the key and called back to cancel within 30 minutes. No one from road side assistance had to come out and help because I cancelled services. They charged me $400 because they said they had to make a key for the truck rental. There is no way in hell they made a key in 30 minutes! They said they could not give me my money back and they did not notify me about taking $400 out of my account! Horrible services and piss poor customer service!

I booked a car through rentals from budget at heathrow. I arrived there at 23.00 to pick up the car. I supplied my confirmation Voucher plus my UK driving license, UK passport and my Credit Master Card. After 15 minis the person behind the desk refused to supply the prepaid booked car to me, due to their system could not confirm my address. I explained on my UK driving License state my home address.
After flying 12 hrs, with my wife and a son of 12 yrs old at 11.30 pm Budget member of staff refused everything and was rude! He did not even offered a phone call to get me a taxi to get home.
Next day I went to another branch of Budget within 5 Man's they offered a car with the same booking without any problem.
So please you tell me where did I went wrong. I advise everyone to avoid Budget car hiring and expect them to compensate all my expenses.

Similar to the other reviewers complaining about the extremely long line and dirty office, I had the worst customer service.

I had booked my reservation through Costco travel and thought I was getting a really good deal on the car. Upon arrival, I was notified that I had booked a "compact" car, when I had in fact booked an "intermediate" since I'll be carrying 5 passengers. That's an additional $20/day.

Next I was told about the many insurances that was necessary. First, was the collision damage insurance, which I promptly replied I didn't need because it'll be covered under my travel visa card. Then she told me about the liability insurance that was required by the state of California. According to her, California requires 2 MILLION DOLLARS in liability insurance.

THIS IS A LIE! It only requires the typical 15/30/5 minimum.

I was hesitant at first because I had my local car insurance but I knew it doesn't cover up to 2 million because WHO THE HELL DOES. But I also denied that.

Then she continued to badger to me about questions like "Well how are you going to come up with 2 million dollars if you get in a crash?", "or your parents going to pay for it?"

COMPLETELY STEPPING OUT OF LINE.

Needlessness to say, there was a line behind me and I caved into peer pressure and paid the additional $15/day. It was only when I got home that I realized she had lied.

I repeat DO NOT RENT HERE. They are the shadiest, dirtiest liars in the business.

We rented a vehicle at the airport in Tampa Fl. we had rented it off line and had everything set up to go. When we went to the service desk the lady who assisted us said you know your paying 80.00 per day for this vehicle you could save and spend 60.00 a day instead well of course we said yes lets do that. Well lesson learned the hard way Pay Attention to What You SIGN ! it was an extra 60.00 a day because it was a bigger vehicle. She misled us big time which cost us an additional 60.00 at the end of the week. We were sick to our stomachs when we returned the car to realize this had happened. No car should cost 901.44 for less than a week.
We tried to resolve the matter with the staff at budget to no avail. They just kept saying you signed the contract so its on you. Yes we sure did sign it but in our defense we took the salesperson word for what she was telling us.
They robbed us really ! We will never use Budget or anyone affiliated with them ever.
This just tells me that they have a commission to the sales people that are able to tact on without really being honest with the public. Ruby and Warner Hollowell

When renting a car in Florida, on collecting the car I got charged a huge amount of money (more than the carrental itself) because of LDW costs.

The Budget lady explained to me that US citizens are sometimes personally covered for LDW.
However as one of the first questions concerns your country of residence, and therefore Budget knew that my residence is in Europe, I feel that budget has deliberately lured me into this expensive LDW trap.

Picked up my rental car and asked if I could add an additional driver when he arrived the next day. I was told there would be no additional charge. When we stopped by the next day they wanted $100+. I was told because I had no kind of discount (AAA or Costco which I would have qualified for had I known) that there would be an additional charge. They had already charged me $449 for 8 days. They advertise $17 or $24 weekend days but just try to get that. Impossible. I spoke with 4 people at customer service and they would not budge. From now on I call this company WILL NOT BUDGET.

Rented a car online through Car rentals.com for a trip to Phoenix.
Reserved for 13 days, beginning April 4, 2016. My wife was arriving there on Monday, April 4 and I was to join here on Thursday, April 7.
Estimated charge for a Ford Explorer, or similar, was $645.37.
When my wife arrived to pick up the car, there were no Explorers (of course) so she asked for the "similar". She was also asked if she wanted the insurance and she declined it. She did opt for the prepaid gas refill.
The vehicle she received was a GMC Acadia, a similar in size to an Explorer.
The next day, when looking online at my credit card acct. I noticed a charge from Budget for $2057.19, so I called Budget an asked for a supervisor. None was available and was told that one would call me within 24-48 hours. I did receive a call the next day, and was told we had been charged for the insurance and an upgraded vehicle, but got no help in resolving the problem.
I was told to talk to the people at the airport when I arrived on the 7th.
So when my wife picked me up upon my arrival on the 7th, we took time out of our vacation to return to the rental garage. There I spoke to a very nice lady who, when looking up our information, told me that it looked like the insurance charge had been removed. She also assured me that the Acadia "was not an upgrade".
It had been my intention, that if it was an upgrade, I would exchange it
then, and there.
I asked again if she was sure that it was not an upgraded vehicle, and she again assured me that it was not, and that if there was a problem someone would call me within 24 hours.
So off we go onto our vacation, with assurance that everything was ok.
No phone calls come.
Fast forward to our next credit card statement only to find the $2057.19 charge still there.
Contested the charges on my credit card bill with Chase (with no luck) and am waiting for a call from a Budget supervisor .
This is total BS. Hope you can help.
Thanks
Please help me
only to find the

Unbelievable, but the female counter service rep treated me like a bum or homeless person. My long hair and severely casual clothes prompted her to judge me inappropriately and embarrassed me in the so-called"fast-break" line (of which I am a member). The Ford Focus I paid for in advance was not available. She never apologized, but instead flippantly instructed me that no cars were available and I was to have a luxury car instead (which I abhor). I paid for a smoke-free auto. The Lincoln smelled like an ashtray. I was sick with a severe headache for the entire trip because of the awful stink. I attempted to call customer service more than six times to complain and never could get through either due to their computers being down or no one available to talk to me. The only response I could get was for me to take the car back to the airport and get a different one (after already being told by the rude, judgmental, and insensitive counter rep there were none available). The last thing I wanted to do was drive back out to the airport on the little time allotted for my very short trip and haggle about getting a different car. After returning the car on the scheduled date and time I again approached the counter and was instructed to write a review as nobody at the counter but a manager could solve my problem and no manager was working at that time. I will NEVER rent from Budget again. Budget Rent a Car service from top to bottom was horrible.

My son rented a 12-passenger van from the Troy, MIchigan Avis office on March 11. The van sprung a leak and left the kids stranded on a desolate Colorado roadside for 4 hours. The replacement van's windshield wiper flew off after a couple miles. Avis refused to replace it and made my son pay for a new one with his own credit card. A couple days later the van was recalled and the kids had to spend half a day getting replacement vehicles- they had to go to several Avis offices and wait for hours while the paperwork was figured out for yet another replacement. Awad Noor is the manager of the Troy office and was incredibly rude and dismissive when the vehicles were returned after the trip. He offered just one whole day’s compensation to make up for putting the group’s safety at risk and practically ruining their trip with transportation issues. When I complained about how the problems were handled, he said that I should just leave because he would not speak to me anymore. He could not understand why a mom would be upset about her son being stranded on a roadside for 4 hours due to his company’s ineptitude. Incredibly poor vehicle maintenance topped off by absolutely horrific customer service. RENT FROM A DIFFERENT COMPANY!

I booked and paid for car rental for a minivan for my family over Christmas in Florida. It cost £516.76 which included all statutory insurance required to drive in USA. I have been travelling to the states for over 10 years and I am familiar with the car rental, however, I usually use Dollar and not Budget. Everything went smooth in getting the car and we chatted about Christmas in Florida and the weather. I took my keys, signed where asked and left. When I returned the car it was processed at the desk and she nodded all was in order, nothing further to pay. A few weeks after we got home I received an invoice from the company. I assumed this was for the car rental and never really paid much attention as this has happened before as you don't get your recipe on return usually. It wasn't until I received my January credit card statement i seen I had been charged shy of £310. I went back to the invoice to discover that it was from this invoice it had been taken. $450 had been charged to my credit card for personal accident insurance and windscreen cover. I contacted Budget customer services in the UK and explained I had this invoice and I had no idea what it was for and why I had been charged and that I wanted a full refund due to not giving consent nor even a discussion had occurred regarding this extra insurance. They had 10-15 days to respond and said they would look into it. I had to call them today (they were well over their time limit to respond and I had sent several emails none of which have been responded to either!) and they informed me that they had a copy of our rental agreement and I had signed in consent. I said it was fraud as it had been obtained through deception as I never take insurance out in the states and I always ensure this is turned down. They say they have a signature and they would send me the rental agreement to prove this which has so far not gone to my inbox and I they have said that they have a legal binding contract with my signature and it was up to me to check the details before signing. Not once did an amount of money come up on screen to show me I was signing up to another $450. They have taken this money and I do not have the money to cover it and this has been completely done without my authority and a signature has been obtained through deceptive means. I have asked for it to be escalated but I do not believe I am going to get anywhere with them and I do not know what to do. When I googled about it and this company so many complaints about the same thing came up from people visiting the states.

I rented a from this location for a last minute trip and other places were booked. Eric Sosa was the person and apparently a manager at this location. He offered me a "manager special" to upgrade my sedan to an SUV. The Car was clean, yet had a small dent on the driver side rear door. Mr Sosa didn't mark it... When he "Inspected" the car, He only did a quick run around the car. He didn't have me join him and I didn't even know that's what he was doing till afterward, otherwise I would have joined in the inspection. Before he had gone out there, I had filled out the paper work and had declined their insurance as I have my own, so apparently his set up was on. I took immaculate care of that car. I was extra cautious purely because I didn't want any issues. So when I returned the car, a little dirty on the outside, the guy that inspected the car said there was a dent on the rear door. I scoffed because I knew it wasn't from my use, and the recollection of the Eric Sosa running around the car on his "inspection." I went out and looked at the spot... a little indent that was highlighted by dirt that I could easily rub off. I went back inside and contested both the event of it being my fault, and that it was incredibly minor. To the point that Eric didn't mark it down either on purpose, or he didn't see it due to the car being clean (It was a white car). Mr Sosa emerged from the back and without even looking at it, he just backed up his fellow employee and remarked that it must have happened during my rental period because he didn't mark it down when he released the vehicle to me. As a manager, you'd think he'd investigate the dent, think about the conditions and at least lessen the extremity of the situation with his staff filing a report for it. He had no intent to mitigate the issue or hear me out. And just contest that it was my fault. So I left. I had prepaid for the vehicle, but they charges me an additional $43 I suppose for the "Damage." I firmly believe that after he knew I had declined their insurance, he "overlooked" the prior dent... as tiny as it was. Hope it was worth it Mr. Sosa, because Budget rental has forever lost a customer... and I have lots of friends who will hear this story, and I work for a firm with over 80, 000 employees... to which I'm in a corporate peer group. Guess what recommendation I'm going to make for utilizing Budget for Corporate purposes. NADA!

I rented a car in Phoenix, Arizona to drive to San Diego, Ca. I was quoted $1.98 a gallon if I took the Gas Service Option which is a prepaid tank of gas. I took the option because in San Diego gas is higher. I come to find out that there is an 18.55% city and county sales tax added to the cost of the gas making the price $2.35 a gallon. This was never told to me by Budget. If I had know I would never of taken this Gas Service Option as the real cost of their gas is a lot more. Beware! this is a bad deal and Budget will not make good on it. They just lost a customer for their false and misleading sales.

I reserved a truck, but upon arrival my credit card had internal issues. Unfortunately I do not carry more than one at a time. I called Barclay credit and they said the issued could not be resolved for 7 days. I asked the agent if there were any repercussions in canceling the truck given the circumstances. If not, I could run home to get a different card. I was informed there was no financial concern in canceling so I left. A week later I found a $50 "no cancellation fee" charged to my credit card. Keep in mind my reservation charge was set for $46 dollars for the short term rental. Afterwards I called the local branch along with customer service (3x). They informed me the local agents cannot dismiss the charges and the $50 dollars were valid. I was take back that no one at budget wants to correct the situation given the agent said he could cancel with no issues. The remote NO customer service had zero compassion and has lead me to never trusting them or Avis for future business.

I rented a car at Honolulu International Airport on October 29 2015. The vehicle was just fine until the afternoon of November 1, 2015 when I had to have it towed because it would not start. I called the Budget 1800 number as directed and requested a tow. The (Proto-WCO) tow truck arrived approximately 4:30 PM and towed the car. I call the budget customer care number and got a very BIG surprise (I was referred to paragraph 8 of their receipt packet). Needless to say my car was towed on the November 1st but I was charged until 8:00 am on November 3rd, because (per budget) my invoice wasn't closed because they considered the car break down as their loss " As part of our loss, you'll also pay for loss of use of the car without regard to OUR fleet utilization", even though the break-down wasn't my fault. TOTAL RIP-OFF!

My husband and I rented a car from Budget at Orlando International Airport. When we came back to return it, not knowing the area, we wound up in the car rental return lanes before we could get off the highway to get gas. We got stuck inside and couldn't turn around so we had to tell them we didn't get to refill the tank. They charged us right over 9.00 a gallon and with taxes 5.5 gallons cost us 80.00! That is highway robbery! The man checking in our car was very un-sympathetic and almost rude about it. As a matter of fact, almost everyone I have come into contact with through Budget has been extremely unfriendly. I called the 1-800 number and got even less sympathy there. I asked to speak to someone else and was told by Mario that there was no one else. He said we drove more than 75 miles so that means they can charge us, basically, 13.00 per gallon. And that was pretty much how it was. I get that we screwed up, but jeez, that's a lot of cash. I am a fast break member (or at least I was) and I loved that perk, but I am done with Budget, forever!

Do not accept a charge for the 'fuel purchase' Budget is just stealing your money. If the take is full or 3/4 full you still get charged for a full tank of gas. No way to object unless you have a receipt. If you return with 3/4 of a tank you have no receipt. Your money is gone. All you get is a to be a victim. Budget counts on your extra money. But they just lost a customer.

The local Budget Truck rental stores I've done business with are nice and helpful, but it's the national roadside assistance and customer service that is awful. Halfway through our journey, the ABS light came on on the dash. We did our part by stopping in a decent sized city (where there was a budget truck location) and called their national roadside assistance helpline. After waiting 20 minutes for them to call back after our initial call, they advised us to keep driving because it's "probably just an issue with the sensor, not the brakes themselves." Well, about an hour later, the rotor came completely off the wheel and we were lucky to maintain control of the vehicle (and not hit any other vehicles) while swerving around the road.

Once stopped, it took a long time to process our issue, to send someone out simply to say state "yes, it is broken and can't be repaired, " and then another hour and a half for a tow truck to come. That added up to almost 4 hours on the side of a busy interstate. No one I spoke to really seemed to care at all about the situation I was in. They had no sense of urgency and never called back with new information to keep me updated. I was told by the last person that night that the claim was put in the system (it was now after 10PM), so it should be processed by the closest store and their inventory department starting at 7AM and we should be moving forward in the hours after that. Unfortunately, when I woke up at called them a little bit after 7 (because again, they are horrible at communicating with you), they said they were waiting on one person in New Jersey (we were stuck in Missouri) to get to the office and approve the claim. I asked every which way that I could if there was any other living soul on the planet that could approve this claim and they said no (even though all the boxes had been checked off to get a new truck and someone literally just had to say "yes"). So we waited for hours for that person to show up, and then it took many more hours for a tow truck to bring the functioning truck to us (we were a half hour from the closest store). All along, again, there was no communication from them unless I called and waited on the line for 10+ minutes each time. They also said they would hire a team of movers to help us load the items from the broken down truck to the new one, except that they didn't do that until much later so we were already done doing it ourselves by the time the movers showed up.

After I returned the truck and called the customer service to get a refund and reimbursement for the inconvenience and for the time spent in a hotel, they again showed that they really didn't care about my situation. They read their script that said "I'm sorry to hear that, sir, " but when I asked them to consider more than just the "inconvenience, " to think about the dangerous situation they put us in when telling us to keep driving on a faulty truck, they just kept reading their same script. "We can offer you a 20% refund on the truck fee, " which turned out to be $73, and then I have to email my hotel and food receipts to a specific email address. I'm now struggling to get their email address to work, as I've spent weeks just trying to get through to someone to get some reimbursement back, and simply get someone to care enough to set this straight. My saga with them is still not over, and it feels like it never will be. They are extremely slow and their lack of caring and urgency is infuriating. I've worked in customer service for years and I know that at the end of the day, all people want is to feel like someone cares about your trouble and wants to make it right. I'm not unreasonable in my demands and issues with this company, and yet they have consistently shown through the entire process that they fall very short of the mediocre bar of service I'm asking from them.

Used budget truck rental for a move from california to texas. When we dropped off the truck we left an open box of unopened food in the front: chips, coke, candy and also rayban sunglasses in the box. The box was lcut in half to carry our goods. It was all in open clear view. That night we realized we left the box in the front. We were mostly concerned about the sunglass. Es obviously. I called first thing in the morning. They told me they thought it was trash and threw it all away. Really? You see a box of food that has not been opened along with sunglasses and you thought it was trash? Lame.

I rented a car from Budget at the Ft. Myers, FL airport between May 26 and June 4, 2015. I returned the car as scheduled and with a full gas tank. The Budget attendant checked me in, said everything was fine and gave me a receipt. Nine days later when I received my new credit card bill I noticed a $42 charge from Budget. Research on their website showed it was for refueling. When I contacted Budget customer service to have the charge refunded, they said they would not do it because of the elapsed time. The rep offered me half as a "goodwill gesture" to go away. So, I have been cheated out of $21 with no avenue for appeal. Pretty nice way to pump up the profit margin! I will never rent another Budget vehicle!