Budget Rent A Car
reviews and complaints

I am writing to advise you of a multiple problem rental encounter. I have never used Budget before and this is my first experience. Let me compliment all your personnel who spoke to me face-to-face. Each person whether employed directly by Budget or through a partner arrangement were polite.

As per my agreement, I attempted to contact the Dispatching Dealer at [protected] on Saturday, November 20, 2010. I attempted to contact this number approximately 20 different times on this date from 9:00am CT through 7:00pm CT. Each time I received an answering message which told me to contact the National Budget Toll Free Number. I was unable to leave a message On Sunday, November 21, 2010, I again attempted to confirm my truck and trailer reservation. However, I was unable to make contact with the Dispatching Dealer. At this time, I decided to call the 800 Budget number. I was advised by the operator that the rental was confirmed but that I should continue to attempt contact with the Dispatching Dealer. I continued to attempt contact through that day but was unable to make contact.

According to the rental contract, the truck and trailer were to be picked up at 10:30am, Monday, November 22nd. Since I had been unable to make contact with the Dispatching Dealer, we arrived early to the location at approximate 10:10. During the signing of the contract, two separate phone lines were ringing. One of the lines were never answered and received no discernible voice mail. The other line was answered and responses seemed to be in relation to Self Storage business. My hypothesis is that a separate line exists for Budget rental customers and this is why I was unable to confirm reservations.

Upon arrival we were told that Community Self Storage had a truck as requested but no trailer. The representative at Community Self Storage was highly apologetic but advised that Budget was not her employer. That it was my responsibility to drive to another location on Hwy 98 and retrieve the trailer from that location.

During inspection of rental truck, it was discovered that no moving blankets were supplied. It was a clear expectation during my rental request that moving blankets would be available. The move was to assist my elderly grandmother (81) to move from Mississippi to Texas to live with me. Some of her belongings are over 50 years old and 2 of them are antiques. These moving blankets would have relieved a little bit of stress from the situation. Unfortunately, Budget did not supply these.

Additionally, an inspection of the Dolly provided revealed a large tear in the strap and appeared to be unsafe to use. We did use the dolly but it was not without trepidation.

After inspection, the truck was driven to 6497 Hwy 98 West in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to retrieve the auto trailer. While there, a locking mechanism was purchased for $13 dollars. This lock did not work on the back of the truck and I fully expect to be reimbursed for this cost plus tax. The salesperson, Kay, assured me this lock worked with the truck rental.

I advised Kay at the 98 West location that if the truck was driven over 44 miles an hour a violent shaking took place and I was concerned for my safety and others on the road. Kay advised she did not work for Budget. She explained that sometimes Budget trucks did that and for me to have someone look at it if I felt unsafe. She also advised there were no other trucks available.

On Wednesday, November 24, 2010, an attempt to deliver the truck was made to the Destination Dealer. The worker there refused to take the trailer because he did not have a space for the trailer. Again, we were reminded that Morningstar Mini Storage Plano did not work for Budget. On the contract, Budget indicated the Destination Dealer at the address 5920 West Plano Parkway, Plano, Texas, 75093; dealer number 750930. Why did a legal contract contain this address if the dealer was unable to accept the trailer and has not accepted trailers for some time?

At this point, a call was made to Customer Service at [protected]. My first attempt at conversation was met with the phone being hung up on me before an amicable decision. My second attempt was not met with better results. Individuals answering the customer support line were hostile. My simple request to speak with a manager took 18 minutes to process and I did not receive a manager. The person who answered the phone was a second line employee who repeated multiple times that it was the responsibility of the renter to return the truck to Budget. Repeatedly, I explained to him the truck and trailer were at the designated Destination Dealer as written in the contract. His response continued to be that I had to return the truck and trailer to Budget. When it was remarkably clear that I would be charged more money if I did not do as I was told, the truck and trailer were driven less than 3 miles from the Destination Dealer. Why could the Budget dealer not come get the truck?

It is my understanding after speaking with your phone representatives and on-site personnel that erroneous information is routinely communicated on the contract agreement. When the contract is written, a database pulls the nearest location according to zip code. No attempt is made by Budget to ensure this location is actually able to accept a truck and/or a trailer. In this day and age, I can not understand why partnerships are not required to login an internal Budget system and advise if space is available. In this instance, the Destination Dealer knew well in advance his trailer spots were rented for several months. He attempted to contact me but was only given my work number not my cell number. A search on google.com provided a plethora of similar stories. This process is broken and I would recommend some adjustment be made.

Overall, I have to say this is the worst customer service experiences of my life. While I am happy that my 81 year grandmother is living with me now, I am forever mentally scarred by the way Budget has treated such a life-changing experience. Our family should have spent more time with one another to ease the burden of moving. Unfortunately, due to Budgets poor business model, our family spent an enormous amount of time and energy dealing with Budgets inefficiencies. I hope everyone at Budget enjoyed Thanksgiving. Our family was unable to enjoy our meal on Thursday due to Budgets disorganization.

I am writing to advise you of a multiple problem rental encounter. I have never used Budget before and this is my first experience. Let me compliment all your personnel who spoke to me face-to-face. Each person whether employed directly by Budget or through a partner arrangement were polite.
As per my agreement, I attempted to contact the “Dispatching Dealer” at [protected] on Saturday, November 20, 2010. I attempted to contact this number approximately 20 different times on this date from 9:00am CT through 7:00pm CT. Each time I received an answering message which told me to contact the National Budget Toll Free Number. I was unable to leave a message On Sunday, November 21, 2010, I again attempted to confirm my truck and trailer reservation. However, I was unable to make contact with the “Dispatching Dealer”. At this time, I decided to call the 800 Budget number. I was advised by the operator that the rental was confirmed but that I should continue to attempt contact with the Dispatching Dealer. I continued to attempt contact through that day but was unable to make contact.
According to the rental contract, the truck and trailer were to be picked up at 10:30am, Monday, November 22nd. Since I had been unable to make contact with the Dispatching Dealer, we arrived early to the location at approximate 10:10. During the signing of the contract, two separate phone lines were ringing. One of the lines were never answered and received no discernible voice mail. The other line was answered and responses seemed to be in relation to Self Storage business. My hypothesis is that a separate line exists for Budget rental customers and this is why I was unable to confirm reservations.
Upon arrival we were told that Community Self Storage had a truck as requested but no trailer. The representative at Community Self Storage was highly apologetic but advised that Budget was not her employer. That it was my responsibility to drive to another location on Hwy 98 and retrieve the trailer from that location.
During inspection of rental truck, it was discovered that no moving blankets were supplied. It was a clear expectation during my rental request that moving blankets would be available. The move was to assist my elderly grandmother (81) to move from Mississippi to Texas to live with me. Some of her belongings are over 50 years old and 2 of them are antiques. These moving blankets would have relieved a little bit of stress from the situation. Unfortunately, Budget did not supply these.
Additionally, an inspection of the Dolly provided revealed a large tear in the strap and appeared to be unsafe to use. We did use the dolly but it was not without trepidation.
After inspection, the truck was driven to 6497 Hwy 98 West in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to retrieve the auto trailer. While there, a locking mechanism was purchased for $13 dollars. This lock did not work on the back of the truck and I fully expect to be reimbursed for this cost plus tax. The salesperson, Kay, assured me this lock worked with the truck rental.
I advised Kay at the 98 West location that if the truck was driven over 44 miles an hour a violent shaking took place and I was concerned for my safety and others on the road. Kay advised she did not work for Budget. She explained that sometimes Budget trucks did that and for me to have someone look at it if I felt unsafe. She also advised there were no other trucks available.
On Wednesday, November 24, 2010, an attempt to deliver the truck was made to the “Destination Dealer”. The worker there refused to take the trailer because he did not have a space for the trailer. Again, we were reminded that “Morningstar Mini Storage Plano” did not work for Budget. On the contract, Budget indicated the “Destination Dealer” at the address 5920 West Plano Parkway, Plano, Texas, 75093; dealer number 750930. Why did a legal contract contain this address if the dealer was unable to accept the trailer and has not accepted trailers for some time?
At this point, a call was made to Customer Service at [protected]. My first attempt at conversation was met with the phone being hung up on me before an amicable decision. My second attempt was not met with better results. Individuals answering the customer support line were hostile. My simple request to speak with a manager took 18 minutes to process and I did not receive a manager. The person who answered the phone was a “second line” employee who repeated multiple times that “it was the responsibility of the renter to return the truck to Budget”. Repeatedly, I explained to him the truck and trailer were at the designated “Destination Dealer” as written in the contract. His response continued to be that I had to return the truck and trailer to Budget. When it was remarkably clear that I would be charged more money if I did not do as I was told, the truck and trailer were driven less than 3 miles from the “Destination Dealer”. Why could the Budget dealer not come get the truck?
It is my understanding after speaking with your phone representatives and on-site personnel that erroneous information is routinely communicated on the contract agreement. When the contract is written, a database pulls the nearest location according to zip code. No attempt is made by Budget to ensure this location is actually able to accept a truck and/or a trailer. In this day and age, I can not understand why “partnerships” are not required to login an internal Budget system and advise if space is available. In this instance, the “Destination Dealer” knew well in advance his trailer spots were rented for several months. He attempted to contact me but was only given my work number not my cell number. A search on google.com provided a plethora of similar stories. This process is broken and I would recommend some adjustment be made.
Overall, I have to say this is the worst customer service experiences of my life. While I am happy that my 81 year grandmother is living with me now, I am forever mentally scarred by the way Budget has treated such a life-changing experience. Our family should have spent more time with one another to ease the burden of moving. Unfortunately, due to Budget’s poor business model, our family spent an enormous amount of time and energy dealing with Budget’s inefficiencies. I hope everyone at Budget enjoyed Thanksgiving. Our family was unable to enjoy our meal on Thursday due to Budget’s disorganization.

Our original reservation was to pick up the truck at 11:00am on Saturday. Upon arriving at the pickup place, they had no knowledge of the reservation, nor did they have any trucks. After calling everywhere and finding no trucks available within 100 miles, we had to leave.

Phone calls to Budget customer service told us that we are not reserving equipment, merely reserving a price. Eventually, we were called at about 4:00 pm to let us know a truck was available. We were told that the rental would start at 11:00am on the next day, Sunday since we didn't get it in time to use it on Saturday.

Upon attempting to return the truck, we drove through Petoskey 3 times, stopping at the police station and 2 other places looking for the address, as well as calling Budget 2 times. We eventually found the place 3 hours after we should have been able to find it. It was located in the country without any signs or any way of knowing that it was a Budget place. We only knew to leave the truck there after calling customer service yet again.

Then, upon returning home we received a message that we would be charged for another day since they had actually started counting our rental at 1:18 on Saturday - several hours before a truck was even available. As far as we are concerned, this is theft of $60 since they are charging for a day that we did not receive.

We are retired and do not have time and money to throw away. We had to hire people to load the truck even though it wasn't available. We aren't 20 years old and can't load a truck ourselves in the middle of the night to get things rushed through. That's why we paid for a 3rd day -- but to be charged for a day we didn't even get is ridiculous.

I rented a Budget truck and had all kinds of problems- was rented a trailer with rusty, unsafe rims that blew a tire as I was leaving town. Roadside assistance was terrible, took 3 hours to get a tire changed in the middle of Seattle! Returned the trailer the next day because the surge brakes weren't working and was credited the rental charge and given an extra day. By the time I got to my destination which was 750 miles away, the odometer read I had traveled 940 miles! Absolute lie, they are renting defective equipment to get extra mileage charges or are purposefully rigging them to make more. I told the return office and they didn't care. In broken english they told me "take eet up wit corpoorate, weee are indeependent company only. not our probleem." Contacted customer service with a detailed email, no response. Tried calling the 800 number and nobody answered. What kind of company doesn't have a 24 hour number? I will NEVER rent a Budget truck again to try to save some money. NOT WORTH IT!

Have rented from budget before with no problem. I rented a car at the airport on tues (11-2-10). When i got to car, i noticed there was a half water bottle in back floor board, there was grass in floor boards. But i didn't worry about it, just needed to get going. I bring the car back on saturday (11-6-10). Wrote the mileage down, turned everything in to counter clerk (A long hair hippie) , got my reciept and left. The guy never went out to check on car. I was in parking lot for at least 10 minutes before leaving. Check my bank account on monday (11-8-10) , the rental fee was taken out, no problem. Check my bank account today and notice there is an additional 275.00 taken out by budget. I call and the girl tells me that it says on computer, that there was empty cigarette pack with ashes left in car. I explain to her that i don't smoke and it was not left there by me. She tells me to contact manager "eddie" in the morning. And believe me, he will be seeing me first thing in morning. That car was unclean when i got it, its not like i check every compartment and looked under the seats for what may have been left by previous renter. But there going to try to stick me with the cost. The manager will either fix this problem or i will be at my bank afterwards having that charge rejected from my account. I will dispute this, not going to lay down for this kind of crap. These people need to go check these vehicles while last renter is still there, instead of sitting on their lazy ### and not doing their job.

On August 14, 2010, we rented a 16-foot truck (No. 664450) in Harrisonburg, VA with the intention of being in Payson, UT on the 22nd of August. On the Sunday the 15th, as soon as we got on the freeway and reached 60 miles per hour, the truck began swaying from side to side in a violent manner. I was fighting to keep the vehicle upright and trying to stop the harmonic motion with compensatory steering, but it was almost a losing battle; braking seemed to make things worse. Rolling a fully-loaded van at 60 on a busy freeway would have been death. As it was, we just about had heart attacks anyway - but we were thankful to have been spared death or disaster. To say the least, this was terrifying.

After we got pulled over and calmed down a bit, we called Budget Roadside Assistance, and got the answer that a dispatcher would call us back in 30 minutes to tell us what to do. We decided to trundle ahead to the next exit - slowly. On the way, we found that keeping the truck at 45 or below made it possible to control the swaying, even though any uneven pavement would begin the rocking again. Budget's dispatcher called back in an hour and a half, and told us that there was really nothing we could do until Monday morning. We chose to continue at minimum speed, andd made it as far as Moorefield, WV that night.

The following morning we got on the road and slowly continued northward toward Keyser, WV, where we stopped for lunch and called Roadside Assistance again. We asked them to arrange for a repair stop along our route Northward; sadly, our request was ignored, and an hour later we were told we could take the truck for repairs to Truck Enterprises, Inc. in Burlington, WV, which was South of Keyser. When we arrived – after 90 minutes and 45 miles of trying to find the place – we were told that

a) they wouldn’t be able to help us because they were too busy - and they had clearly explained this to the dispatcher on the phone, and
b) they don’t even work on moving vans – only semis.

Why in the world would your dispatch team send us to a repair shop that they knew couldn’t assist us? This makes no sense at all.

Dismayed and disgusted, we called Roadside Assistance, and asked for a repair location Northward on our route. We were once again told we had to wait for a dispatcher, and continued on our way. By the time we had phone connectivity again, we had passed through Maryland and were back in West Virginia at the Bruceton Mills rest stop. At that point I called once more and was told there was a repair shop 60 miles behind us – again our request for a repair shop on our route was ignored. We chose to carry on, overnighting in Pittsburgh and heading the next morning for Detroit, where we had friends with whom we could stay while the vehicle was being worked on. Roadside Assistance set us up an appointment with Budget of Livonia, where we arrived at 8:15 AM on Wednesday morning.

A brief examination by the people at Budget determined:

a) The rear left and right springs were completely de-arced.
b) Right and left radius arm bushings were worn out.
c) All 4 ball joints were loose.
d) Front tires were worn as a result of 1 and 2.
e) The rear left and right spring rear shackle bushings were worn out.

Based on the service sticker in this vehicle, it was maintained in June. None of these problems had developed overnight, and all of them should have been caught at the last scheduled maintenance. In addition, the brakes were extremely soft and I had to stand on them to get the truck to come to a stop. This truck should never have been let anywhere near a road, let alone rented out. It was both un-roadworthy and unsafe.

The people at Budget of Livonia are to be commended. They bent over backwards to make sure we were taken care of, and determined that the truck could not be repaired. Once again we began dealing with Roadside Assistance to arrange for a load swap team. We returned to our friends’ home in Wyandotte, and were told by the dispatcher that a load swap team would be on-site at between 2 and 3 PM.

At 3:41 I was called by Moving Staffers and told that they could only be at the truck at about 7:00 PM. I told them that this was too late, and asked if they could arrange for another team to come help us. When they called back at 4:08 they said that a two-man team was on its way and would be there at 5:30, so we headed off for Livonia again. And, their fine two-man team arrived at about 7:00 PM, claiming that they were lost and unable to find the address, even with a GPS. Once the two got to work, they were able to swap our load in about 2½ hours. I’m so grateful for our friends in Wyandotte who shuttled us back and forth and put us up – if not for them, my wife and I would have been stuck at the Livonia Budget outlet from 8:30 AM until 10 at night.

For what it’s worth, the 24-foot truck they put us in had problems of its own. At idle, the entire cab would vibrate loudly; on certain types of pavement the truck would buck like a stallion, making it impossible to rest or read; the interior cargo lights were broken; the air conditioner would cut out at random intervals; and the headlight switch would fall into the dashboard, making it very hard to extract. Even with all that, it was nice to have a truck that didn’t feel like we were going to die in, and could drive at reasonable speeds.

We contacted Budget and reported our experience. They offered to pay our expenses for the three days we were delayed, and refund 30% of the rental price. Despite letting them know that this was unsatisfactory for having put us in a truck that could have killed us, that's all they would do. They made their choice - and now we're going to tell everyone we know to stay far away from this frightening company.

I called up in the States on an 800 number to rent a car for a week while on vacation in Israel. Car was picked up in Tel Aviv and returned in Jerusalem. I returned the car on the morning before the end of the week-everything was fine. I did not need the car any more though I was still in Jerusalem. I noticed later on when I looked at my Capital one Credit care statement that I was charged $110 more than the agreed upon price. I immediately appealed with Capital One. I asked for explanations from Budget. Firstly found out that Budget in Israel is an independent entity so the American office did not want to get involved(though they set up the rental). The Israeli office stated that once I returned the car early that they reverted to a daily rate. This was done without telling me-I could have easily held on to the car for the day. Capital One quickly informed me that the charge would go through and I only could appeal with the Rental Company. I will no longer use Capital One as their Appeal process was bogus. I would not use Budget whether in US or overseas. Also found out that Budget is really a subsidiary of Avis so be careful about them.

I returned the van I had rented from budget car rental, when I first pulled up the lady said pull up right here, leave the keys in the van, so I went inside, she said the gas hand is not all the way full, I said I just filled it up, so she let me see your receipt, I show her my receipt, I told her the gas hand is where it was when I picked up the van, she said it's still not filled up and went outside, so I didn't know whar was going on, no one was talking to me, she went outside and filled the van up, came in and handed me a receipt and went back outside, so I sat there ididn't know I was finished or not so my husband said let me see the receipt, he said they charged you $25 in gas, so I went out where she was and ask her am I finish, why did you charge my card without my approval, she said I didn't think you want me to explain anything to you and kept on working as though I wasn't standing there, her attitude was so very nasty and plus she was training to be a manager, it's not fair

Renter beware, if you're on a budget then don't rent a truck from "Budget", because you'll be broke before you know it. Perhaps I should of read the fine print, oh wait... I just did and no where in the "helpful terms and conditions' does it read that BTR (Budget Truck Rental) cannot be held responsible for returned checks due to debit card hold processing. However it does state that in their FAQ portion for "Do you require a deposit to rent a truck?".

So my complaint is directed at BTR due to the fact that the store representative informed me that the $150.00 deposit would only show as a hold on my debit card account, but depending on your bank, you may want to make sure that you have that $150.00 plus in order to make sure that you don't bounce any charges, etc.

To make a long story short, I've suffered $350.00 in overdraft charges because of my bank and BTR. I believe that BTR should add the statements that are in their FAQ to the "helpful terms and conditions" in regards to the $150.00 deposit. "Please note that your bank may take up to two weeks to post the released credit hold to your card". My bank told me that I am the one in error for not reading the fine print, so just be cautious! I plan on submitting my complaint to the BBB for further action to see if I can get my money back or at least prevent this from happening to anyone else out there.

Reserved a 10ft truck two weeks in advance of moving day. We called to confirm the reservation 3 days before moving day. 12 hours before the reservation they call to "let us know" that they don't have a truck ready and won't be able to provide one at that location. We called customer service to find an alternative location, but evidently there were "no trucks available at all for the day." Thank god U-Haul was able to bail us out. We are still waiting to see if the charges from Budget are correctly reversed.

Budget rents out un-maintained, un-checked vehicles, and doesn't care about the fact that their vehicles are risking lives.

I rented a 24-foot truck and car-trailer to move from Vallejo, CA to Tucson, AZ.

I flew out my brother to help me drive back. The first thing he did was to check the brake fluid on the trailer (in case the trailer comes loose, it has its own automatic brakes), and OF COURSE it was empty. LIVES RISKED NUMBER ONE. If the trailer had come loose, it would not have stopped and would have seriously injured or killed other people on the freeway.

U-Haul advertises that they have the lowest decks. I thought that it wouldn't be that much of a difference - but it sure was. U-Haul's decks are lower than waist level. The Budget back deck was almost neck high. The ramp they provide has very little traction. We almost couldn't get the washer & dryer up the ramp. MASSIVE INCONVENIENCE NUMBER ONE.

After the truck was loaded, it had a HORRIBLE shudder between 45 and 65mph. My brother said that there was clearly something very wrong with the front end. Given that the max speed when towing a trailer is supposed to be 55mph, and there's no way I could go under 45 on the freeway...we shuddered along. By the time we got to Tucson (20 hours later), we were beyond sore. MASSIVE INCONVENIENCE NUMBER TWO.

The AC vents had broken flaps. You couldn't turn them off of one person and on the other. MASSIVE INCONVENIENCE NUMBER THREE.

Now the good part. It got dark, we turned on the lights, and were shuddering merrily along. Suddenly my brother says, "What happened to the running lights?" We were completely dark on the sides & back of the truck & trailer. We checked the fuses (I happened to know exactly where they were, because the cover kept falling off onto my knees). It was clear which fuse was bad, because it was burning hot. Literally burned my fingers. Of course, there was no fuse diagram, so we couldn't just pull one of the "extra" fuses and plug it in - even if we had, it probably would have burned out in a second, because there was obviously a short. Driving down the freeway in an invisible-dark truck? LIVES RISKED NUMBER TWO.

My brother asked me to be sure to find the fire extinguisher. I looked around the whole cab, and couldn't find it. The next day, in the bright sunlight, I found it, completely inaccessible, WAY behind and under the driver's seat. It's a law that there has to be a fire extinguisher in a truck like that, but, of course, it doesn't have to be ACCESSIBLE! What if the short had caused a fire in the dashboard? LIVES RISKED NUMBER THREE.

I tried to call Budget's Roadside Assist, but I was on hold for about 25 minutes. Finally, my cell phone ran out, and we couldn't risk using up my brother's cell, because there might be (and WAS) a real emergency. So, we went the rest of the way with the hazards on. Have you ever driven with hazards on? TICK. TICK. TICK. TICK. For hours. And hours. And hours. MASSIVE INCONVENIENCE NUMBER FOUR.

Still, we continued. We had been averaging about 100 miles per quarter tank. We were approaching Phoenix, and I asked my brother (he was driving, thank goodness!) how much gas we had. Just over a quarter tank. We decided that we'd play it safe and get gas at some truck stops just the other side of Phoenix. About 10 miles later, we were just the teeniest amount under 1/4 tank. That should be enough to go another 12 to the truck stop, right?

WRONG. As we're driving along, my brother WATCHED the needle drop from 1/4 to zero. Then below zero. Then it ran out of gas. 1/4 tank in 10 miles. When a truck like this runs out of gas, it loses power steering & brakes. My brother is a big, strong, strapping guy, yet he was fighting with all his strength to stop this beast. I was TERRIFIED! We literally almost ran off the road. We would have flipped over, and been seriously injured or died. If I'd been driving, I wouldn't have been able to safely stop the truck. LIVES RISKED NUMBER FOUR.

There's more of a long story about how we unstrapped my car, got gas, but the truck wouldn't start due to a lack of a priming button, and then my brother sent me to Tucson while he waited for roadside assist. They did show up (after 90 minutes) and get him on the road again - that guy was great. Meanwhile, another semi almost ran him down (LIVES RISKED NUMBER FIVE) so he had to go sit outside of the truck, at 4:30am, in southern Arizona, in the dark desert, by himself. (Animals, illegals, and drug-runners...) LIVES RISKED NUMBER SIX.

The next day, when we called customer service, we were proudly told that they always do a 10-point inspection before renting the trucks. (Whee... so, the brake lights and blinkers work. What about the ALIGNMENT, the FUSES, and the GAS GAUGE?)

Do you think Budget is offering me any sort of fair compensation for RISKING MY LIFE? Not a chance.

Bottom line? RENT A U-HAUL, AND BOYCOTT BUDGET!

June 06, 2010, I returned a car to Budgets garage at Orlando airport full of gas. The check-in person checked the car inside (to see that the tank was full) and outside (to see that there was no damage to the car). She gave me my bill for $313.89. Subsequently, June 07, my credit card was charged additionally $106.82 for gas.

If the customer is present and the car is checked, how can Budget subsequently charge the customer for gas when the tank registered full in his presence? I have been renting cars from Budget and Avis for the last 16 years, in some years, I have rented a car every week. I have Avis Preferred Wizard number X3P53F and Budget Fast break number LF930M. I have always returned their car with the gas at the full level. I did not have problems before and so budget was my car rental company of choice. But Budget has billed me incorrectly $106.82 and has refused to give me my full refund.

Below I will document the difficulty I am having with Budget.

June 14, 2010

I complained to budget about the additional charge and was told that if I had the receipt and provided it by fax, my account would be credited for the $106.82. I could not locate the bill and so the staff member said Budget would give me a credit of $53.41 (1/2 of $106.82) pending their receipt from me of the bill.

June 19, 2010

I provided Budgets representative, Ivis by fax (fax number [protected]), as requested, with a copy of the gas bill which indicated that I had bought gas on June 5, at 17:59 before returning the car at 6:00 AM on June 06. I was told that I would receive the remaining credit within 7 days.

July 6, 2010

I spoke with Budgets representative, Carlos, at [protected]. He assured me that the credit had been approved and sent to head office. I checked subsequently but credit did not show up on my credit card statement.

August 2, 2010

I spoke with Budgets representative, Rod (Carlos manager) at [protected]. He confirmed that the credit had been approved. He told me that he would check with head office and get back to me by phone or email the next day. I provided him with my phone number and my email address. I have not heard from Rod yet.

Aug 06, 2010

Spoke with Budgets Representative, Laura @ [protected]. She told me that I should have sent the bill to Customer Service. I provided bill by fax to [protected]; referenced case #3199286.

Aug 19, 2010

I spoke with Budgets representative Kenneth. He told me that the credit allowed on June 14 was all I was going to get because the gas was purchased on June 5 and the car was returned on June 6. I pointed out to him that the car had to be returned at 6 am on June 6, therefore I purchased gas at 17:59 the night before, since the distance away from the airport was short. The tank was checked full by the return clerk.

MY COMMENT ON BUDGETS CUSTOMER SERVICE

Budgets customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Everyone needs to be on the lookout for undue charges from Budget. I will not rent from Budget again and I will dissuade anyone I know to do likewise.

We rented the car at Ben Gurion airport and it had 3 dents. (we have papers to prove this). When we returned the car they told us the car have dents and made us pay 647.19 for a "new damage" We are still fighting them with this. We are asking for proof and they don´t want to give it to us. ADVICE. If the car has a scratch never accept it OR take a picture of the car. They stole this money from us so PLEASE: DO NOT RENT A CAR WITH BUDGET!

Rented a truck in Riverside, CA on 6/24/10; returned 6/27/10 to Walnut Creek, CA. Truck had a flat tire on inside passenger rear tire about 7:30 pm on Saturday; we had left Riverside @ 2 pm. We were about an hour outside of Bakersfield on Interstate 5. Stranded on a very desolate offramp. Roadside Assistance said it would be 90 minutes before help arrived. At 10 pm we again called Roadside Assistance and was informed the vendor had not contacted them with an Estimated Time of Arrival. So Roadside Assistance suggested we go the nearest hotel (when I ask them if Budget would be paying for this I was told to stay where we were and they would dispatch another truck). After another 30 minutes; we decided to limp down the freeway; we drove 100 miles @ 30 miles per hr; we arrived at our destination at 2 am. In trying to work something out with Budget for our terrible ordeal; the most they would offer was a 35% refund of our $240. Their Customer Service and Roadside Service was HORRIBLE. We will never rent from them AGAIN and encourage others not to.

Budget is trying to charge me for damage to their already damaged vehiches. We rented a vehicle, it was checked out in the night. No one checked the interior windshield just beside the rear view mirror. Neither us or the man checking the vehicle out. It was getting very dark and he focused on the exterior. The car's side bumper was being held together by screws. The car was obviously in a front end and rear end collision. When we returned the car, the checker stated that everything was ok and signed out checkout sheet OK. We get inside to finalize our bill, a call comes in, Oh there is damage to the windshield. It could not be seen from the outside. Well we saw the guy checked out under both visors and he did not state any thing was wrong. It would be pretty hard to miss that small fissure when he was sitting in drivers seat. It is funny that he saw this damage in our absence. Any way to date Budget has not returned my $850 as yet. This is a lot of money. They have not emailed, called or left any message for me. It has been 7 days. I am hopping mad at this point. Does budget think I pick up my money off trees in the US. They are scamming customer to pay for their damaged vehicles. ANY OUT THERE READING THIS PLEASE DO NOT RENT FROM BUDGET JAMAICA. PLS PASS THIS MESSAGE ON, IT WILL SAVE YOU FROM GOING THROUGH WHAT I AM GOING THROUGH NOW!

My wife and child was flying to Canada on Continental airline and their flight was delayed. I called the Airport Budget who does not answer the phone. I called the 800 phone number for budget, and give them the flight number. They assured me that they will wait for their flight, which arrived at 12.45 am (Budget closed at 12 midnite). They were at budget within 45 minutes after clearing Custom and Immigration, but Budget was closed. In the morning, Budget customer care says we were closed, too bad

My experience with this Budget Truck Rental dealer was terrible, terrible and terrible. The employee named GEBRMX (the name shows on the agreement) was rude, unprofessional, and unreasonable. There are three reasons I would like to elaborate：

1）My girlfriend reserved a truck online through Budget.com under her name on 04/29/2010. However I, was the only driver and who paid for the rental truck at the signing of the agreement on 05/02/2010. We did tell the dealer very clearly this point when we pick up the truck. The employee GEBRMX, however charged $10 fee for additional driver without noticing us. This is not acceptable.

2) GEBRMX tried to force us to purchase insurance at the point of signing agreement. The purchasing insurance should be optional although recommended, but the customers have the right not to purchase insurance and assume full financial responsibility. He did not understand this at all and keep arguing with us for nearly half an hour until we made a phone call directly to 1800GOBUDGET to let a customer service representative to explain to him on the phone that the insurance purchase is optional. At last he agreed we don't have to buy insurance, however the agreement had been printed. This is why two insurance charges still appear on the agreement.

3) After I found this guy charged $10 fee for additional driver, I returned the truck the same day at night which was 05/02/2010, but I did not drop the key in the box, because I planned to come to the office next morning to talk about this issue with the dealer. I parked the truck in the dealer's parking lot, right besides another Budget rental truck.

On 05/03 early in the morning around 7am, I received a call from this guy, said the truck was getting towed. I drove to the dealer's office in 10 minutes, seeing the rental truck was about to be towed. However the towing ceased after I arrived at the scene and handed in the key to the employee. The very truck I rented remained in the parking lot when I left the scene 8:30am 05/03.

He told me that the reason why the rental truck was getting towed was because I parked the rental truck at another business' parking space which two companies sharing one parking facility. I was not informed when signing the agreement where I should park or where I should not, and there was no signs at all indicating which parking space belongs to which company. As an average customer, without any guide, I assumed that parking the rental truck in the same parking lot right besides another Budget truck was the safest way to return it.

He used profane and vulgar language toward me, and threatening to "beat the sxxx out of you", and other F words, if I do not pay for the $150 towing fee, which he already have done, charging additional $150 on my credit card.

4) I called their custom service, told what happen. The rep simply does not care what I was saying, said, "The decision is final, we cannot make compensation in this case". I requested talk to the supervisor, this guy said "There is no supervisor in this call center." What? No supervisor? Are you on the same planet?

AVOID BUDGET! THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF!

I reserved a truck two weeks before the date I needed to rent it. I reserved it from
Crystal clean truck rental
1006 e north 1st st
Seneca, sc 29678
[protected]
when my fiance got there to pick up the truck he was told the truck we reserved wasn't there so he had to rent a bigger truck that was $10.00 more than the one we had reserved and was guaranteed two weeks prior. he was told to do that or have nothing at all. so, we had no choice but to go with that. I was given a special mileage rate online of.69 a mile and was actually charged.79 a mile. the estimated quote I was given online was $64.79 and I was charge $133.75! when I called crystal clean truck rental to ask about it the man was rude and told me there was nothing he could do about it. when I asked for the number to budget truck rental he started yelling at me so I hung up the phone to look up the budget truck rental info online. I am also contacting the better business bureau about this, posting blogs, and getting the word out as much as possible to never rent a budget truck because you will not be given the truck nor the price you are guaranteed. and the service is rude and they give you absolutely no choice but to go with what they tell you to when it's too late to change to anything else.