Budget Rent A Car
reviews and complaints

I rented a Budget car from Charlotte airport on 23rd January 2023 through a British Airways booking on reservation number [protected]-GB-3. The reservation was on a full to full fuel agreement. I drove a total of 30 miles in the car and fuelled it up to ensure it was full prior to return costing $4 of which the receipt is attached. On review of my credit card bill this month I have now identified that Budget have charged me $18.55 for fuel. This is an absolute disgrace and theft! Budget must just try this on in the hope that customers do not identify or cannot be bothered to complain due to the length process involved. This in principal is incorrect and I want an immediate credit of the $18.55 to my credit, Budget should be ashamed of themselves and the business ethics they employ.

We booked a Hire car for a Fiji holiday We received a Reservation No 2370263USI on the 19/01/2023 for $450.11 including Taxes Fee & surcharges
When we arrived in Nani, we were charged $984.70 plus $500.00 bond when I showed the quote I was told it was in Fiji dollars We then just let it slide
When we found out the exchange rate was $1.45 Fiji dollar to $1.00 Australian dollar, so when you do the math we were over charge by $288.99
I would like a why and expect a refund for the difference or total amount for good will

On 1/16/23 I flew into New Orleans airport. I had a reservation for what I thought was 11am for a pickup and actually got there at 1043. It took almost 30 mins at customer service to get the car information and rental. I at that time we not told I was picking up the car early. Once all I do was received customer service advised to go to the 2nd floor and pick up our vehicle. Once upstairs it took over 45 mins to have someone retrieve our car and another 20 mins for them to get all the information needed before we could leave. I returned the car 1/20/23 at 117pm and they then advised since I picked my car up “early” on 1/16, they charged me another $120 for another days rental! With all of the waiting and time it took to actually receive the car and drive away, we were well after our reserved pick up time and really should not have been charged. I asked the manager at New Orleans international airport why since we had to wait could they not get rid of this charge, and she LAUGHED at me, and said these are the rules too bad! I am a frequent traveler and always use Budget. After this experience, I will never use this company again!

Patricia Cruz

2320 Del Aire Blvd

Delray Beach, Fl 33445

On January 15th, 2023 I had a reservation for a fast break rental car. Location was West Palm Beach near airport. When I arrived at budget, there was no rental agreement or key waiting for me. The fastbreak lane was not open and I waited on line for over 2 hours. I recently had heart surgery so this was not a good situation to be in. There were 3 workers and they were working very hard. However, the smart thing to do was have 1 worker do all the fastbreak rentals so that when customers came in it would lighten the load for other workers and customers could be services expediticously. I called customer service while waiting in line and I was told by representative that they could not help me. I asked to speak with a Supervisor and was told that their were non available. Not a way to run a business. After finally getting the car, I told the worjjker at exit gate that their were some scratches on car and windows were dirty. It was very dark and I could barely see. He refused to write this information on my paperwork. The lack of respect and simple professional courtesy was missing. I can be reached at [protected]

Thank you for your time in addressing this unfortunate matter.

Respectfully,

Patricia Cruz

On August 22 2022 we rented a car from Budget rent a car, Nassau Bahamas.
Upon arrival the rental agent was seen writing down my credit card no and I questioned her. I was then told she would need this information when they return es with screen the security deposit.
Be aware they do a 400.00 dollar deposit for a rental there. They did return the security deposit two weeks after the rental was returned.
On January 2 2023 Budget rent a car Nassau charged me the same amount on my card for a car rental and we aren’t in the Bahamas..
I have called them as they do have a direct Line., the same agent gave me a email to the so called credit card agent, I emailed the agent 3 Times with a screen shot of the original and bogus charge on my card. ho reply. Have taken it up with the card issuers for further correction.

I rented a car Dec 15th 2022 at John Wayne airport orange county California using my American Airlines points. At time of picking up the car the girl asked if I wanted any additional tile ins, tow gas etc.. I told her nothing extra as I already has full coverage and trips a towing. She brought up an agreement on her computer which barely showed in the screen. I told her I count sign/initial because it was dark in the room and the computer was to light to be read. She stated she would sj

how me where to sign declining everything, unfortunately I trusted her and did sign. She I brought the car back that afternoon I was charged $34.53 for extra charges. I explained to the rep what happened he got his manager and I explained again. He refused to do anything to help me. I have not been refunded these charges which I feel I was tricked into signing. Please reverse the as I will be contacting the better business bureau next if they are not reversed. Thank you, Betty Matkin

"On July 22, 2022, Mr. Robinson rented car at LaGuardia Airport in New York. He conducted his business during which he drove to Boston where he returned the car. at the end of that week. He was informed during the “walk around” inspection at the airport in Boston that the vehicle showed no damages. Only thereafter was he informed that the car had sustained damage to the windshield; and that the damages had been repaired five days following his return of the vehicle. Avis offered no evidence of the reported damages, no photos or repair invoices. The only evidence in support of the contention was the claim that the car had not been rented out since the Mr. Robinson’s use. With respect, this is wholly insufficient" (letter posted 12/27/22 via email at [protected]@avisbudget.com - attn: Nora Henry.). No response to date.

This is the worst hire car company I have ever dealt with.

They have taken money out of my account that has not been authorised. I am due a refund, that i having been calling all week about to be fobbed off and told i will get it ,I never got and now they have taken out the last bit of money. I paid on an Australian card and my refund is going back on my UK card so I wont get the full refund due to the conversion rate.

They have now taken the last and only bit of money I have for the week and it has not been authorised.

Do not deal with Tuggerah Budget branch, Priya doesnt know what she is doing, the manager Scott has fobbed me off and has told me that they cant do anything, they have taken my money without any authorisation

I rented a car from Budget Car Rental last year from August 25, 2022 to October 6, 2022 in Frankfurt Germany. I made the arrangement fro Columbus, OH. I was quoted a price of EUR 2735.82 approx $ 2879.81. The billing ended up being EUR 3469.49 approx. $ 3652.09. The contract I signed in Frankfurt was for EUR 2423.67 approx $ 2551.23. I called in a complaint with the Customer service department of Budget on October 17, 2022. I did not hear anything back for 10 weeks. I finally send several emails to the customer service department and after 2 more weeks they told me that I have to contact Budget Frankfurt totally ignoring everything I documented to them, Quote, Contract and Invoices.

They absolutely refuse to help me to get the over billed amount back.

Hello,

I rented a car from 12/22/23 - 1/1/23, reservation # [protected]. I have sent multiple emails and tried calling several times since we picked up the car at Bradley Airport in Hartford, CT.

The car had a very strong drug/marijuana smell and made the week of driving unbearable for our family. I don't understand why no one has responded to me as I'm seeking compensation for what I paid for this rental.

Can you please contact me,

Greg & Michon O'Neill

[protected]

greg.[protected]@purplerockllc.com

I rented a car at DFW 12/5/22 at noon. I got in the car, and the car was full of a perfume smell. I put down the window while waiting for the car to warm up and purge the smell. As I drove to the exit with the window down, I could tell the car smelled like someone was smoking weed in the car. As I processed out of the facility, I told the attendant that the car smelled like weed and she wrote up a pink slip that said it smell like smoke. I left the facility to conduct my business.

The next day, the car still had a weed smell in the morning. By lunch time the car, with the windows rolled up, heated up in the sunlight. When the door was opened, it was obvious that there was weed in the car somewhere. I checked the car from front to the spare tire, and I could not find it. I know what green bud smells like ! I brought several people from our Terrell,Tx office out to the car in case this became a legal issue and have text messages stating that it did smell and did not want to ride in that car.

On return to the airport, I told the attendant the same story and to have the car checked for weed.

Now, I'm curious, how many people have you tried to charge for this smell problem.. Obviously, from the amount of perfumed that was sprayed in the car, YOU KNEW there was a problem, but you thought you would get away with charging ME $450 dollars.

I am going to send this note to the TEXAS Attorney General for their information. There is a video record and a pink slip filed for "the smell of smoke" in that car when I checked out 12/5 at noon time.

That was a dirty stunt, to try to charge me.

I made reservations for a rental car at the Orlando International Airport. When I went to pick up the vehicle I refused the insurance coverage since I have full coverage auto insurance on my personal vehicle. The representative said that the collision coverage does not carry over from the personal auto insurance to cover a rental car. He said that if I were to get into a collision I would have to pay out of pocket since my auto insurance will not cover it. I didn't know if the laws had changed over the years so I had it added on and was charged an outrageous amount. The total amount doubled from my original reservation. I had also requested an economy car and the representative stated he upgraded me for the same price which was another lie. I called my insurance agent and found out that my auto insurance collision does cover the rental as long as I'm in US territory. I noticed there are a lot of complaints about this company for overcharging. Not only are they overcharging but it is a crime to deceive and lie to a customer in order to make a sale. I will be filing a complaint with the US Attorney General. The car wasn't cleaned before I was given the keys. The inside of the car was dirty, dusty, and had stains.

I rented from Budget rent-a-car and was in an accident 11/14/22.

I notified Budget the next day 11/15/22.

(The same day the rental contract ended).

In addition to charges for damage to the vehicle (that is why I have insurance) they charged me for 29 additional days of 'rental', while the car sat in a wrecking yard. This amounted to over $4,000.

No tickets were issued, there was no 'police investigation', and there was no more 'rental' after 11/15.

70 years old, 50 years of car rentals: first time with Budget. Big mistake.

We were picked up by your shuttle service. The man who was driving kicked our luggage and said we put the bags in the bin the incorrect way we apologized and asked him how to do it. He said it wasnt his job. My husband said you are being rude and he said my husband was rude. He continued to argue with my husband and my husband asked him to stop talking to him. After the stare down he gave me we did make it to the airport. I have tried to speak with someone and have not had any luck. And i have called 18 times. We have never been treated this way and we will never use budget rent a car again. Dont use Hobby airport Houston location

I (Margo Jones) returned a rental on Oct 23, 2022, at the Jackson, Ms airport (JAN) approx. 6am-7am. I forgot a pair of carrera sunglasses in the vehicle. I called shortly after when I realized that they were in the vehicle and I was close enough to go back and get them. I was told that I can't just drive back to the location and would have to go through the lost and found process. So, I filled out the form and needless to say, I haven't heard anything back. There's a way to check the status of the claim and the response that I got was the report was deleted and I can file it again. Well I know the sunglasses aren't there at this point and time. I could've easily got them from the location when I knew they were there for certain. Now the claim has been deleted.

A vehicle was booked at Budget Rent a Car, Cartagena, Colombia using Expedia.

The booking and confirmation was completed on October 1st, 2022, for a rental term from Jan 1st to Jan 8th, 2023.

On Dec 19th, a text message was sent from Budget that they were cancelling my reservation because they said they do not have a vehicle for my reservation.

Both Budget and Expedia were contacted and neither will do anything to uphold the reservation. This leave my family of 5 at Cartagena airport Jan 1st with no car and an hour from our destination.

I will never use Budget or Expedia again and I will warn others to avoid both of these companies as they do not stand behind their agreements.

Good morning sir/ madam, I hope this email finds you in good health. On the 3rd of November at about 8 something there about, I went to budget rental at the Albuquerque Sun-port  to make reservations for a car for 3 days. On arrival, we went to Kent and told him we wanted a rental for 3 days but unlimited miles and no extra mileage charge. So Kent looked it up and pulled up 2 cars, one Nissan and One Tacoma pick up. So we both asked him again if the two cars are unlimited and he confirmed again yes. Kent then said he will recommend the Nissan because is efficient on gas, and my friend asked him if they are both unlimited we will take the Tacoma, and Kent then said, “ You are right he said, I would recommend the Tacoma because it has good on gas mileage, and they are both unlimited". The car rental he said was 53 a day and asked us if we would add insurance, and we did. When Kent added everything total 296 or so, and he said we should deposit $200 as security deposit so everything summed up to $ 500 and something, I don't remember the exact amount. When we returned the vehicle they refunded me the $200 back, and so I trashed the original receipt that has the contract I signed for the on the 3rd of November to be charge on my credit card. This amount I’m not responsible $1672, I am sorry.When I went to the airport to talk to them they said I did the rental online on the 2nd and just came to the airport to pick it up so they will not refund me the money. Luckily enough, Kent was working on the 2nd of December when we got there and I ask him if he remembered us and he said yes. So I told him about the rental and he  said  what happened, I then narrated everything to him and he said, “Oops what do I do”? But his co-workers kept saying their system shows I made the reservation through price line and not at the location. And one of them said Kent is new and the did know that some of the special cars have extra miles charge, if we had taken the Nissan she said, that one would have been unlimited mileage and no extra mileage charge. I then told Kent to tell them if he did not make the reservation for us on the 3rd of November, and he said we should go with what the paper says, and not what he did. They then gave me the print out of the new contract they have and said to call prince line, and when I call price line, and entered the number, they said there is no reservation with that number and I have not been able to talk to anyone from price line because I don’t have a reservation number to be connected, to speak with an agent. So I am not responsible for the amount charged on my credit card. Thank you and sorry for any inconvenience this might of cause your company.

Yours sincerely, 

Nuhu Alhassan.

I rent cars a lot and I thought that Budget was going to be the company I used. I had used them a bit and was feeling good about how easy it was to make and change reservations when needed.

I had originally rented my car from budget for the week of December 26-31st, 2022. I guess I had "Paid in advance" instead of paying later. For context, I usually am renting my cars to come care take of my step dad whom just got put on hospice in another state.

On Dec 9th my stepdad fell and ended up in the hospital and I needed to fly out that night to help. I simply moved my resrvation for that day (from the above date-to the current date) Dec 9- Dec. 15, not knowing how long I would stay. I originally thought I might come back early.

When I picked up my car that night at the ALB airport I told the agent that I may return it early and he said 'no problem, they would only charge me more if I kept it past my reservation date"As I got to my step dad's house it was clear I wasn't leaving as he needs lots of help. My location is about 90 min away from the Alb airport I had coordinate a ride so I could return the car and plan to stay as long as possible.

I called Budget on Monday 12/12 and told them I would need to return the car 2 days early and I asked if I could return it to a different location. He took about 20min to put the new location in the computer and said it was all good.

When I showed up at the new location to return my car, they had no record of my location change and I was told that I wouldn't be able to get a credit for the two days I didn't use the car because I prepaid. I was upset but since this was the only day I could do it I decided to not worry about the credit I didn't get.

As I walked away I looked down at my recipt and not only did they not refund the two days, but they had additionally charged me almost $1,000! I asked agent why I was charged and she said because it was the wrong location and early and I had prepaid.

I called the ALB budget hoping to get someone to confirm that I had indeed asked for a location change before I returned it. He had no idea and was not helpful.

The agent at the Montgomery and San Mateo location started nice and called customer service as I called the other location but then she told me that she accidently hung up on the customer service and now she has other customers (1 person) and that it wasn't her problem. (I had returned to this location in the past and they were easy and she was quite nice. I was surprised how fast she became slightly rude, I wasn't being rude to her, just sad and concered about this huge charge I couldn't afford on my card)

I called customer service and talked with them for 30min and they said they wouldn't refund the extra $889 fee. I asked to speak with a manager and they said the same thing. I explained that I asked every single employee and not one person told me of this extra fee. Also, I had liked budget before this and had hoped to have them be my go to company since I rent so often. They had no sympathy even when I said I wouldn't use them again if they didn't help me. (also, I was actually quite nice to everyone considering the situation, I wasn't mean, loud, abusive or anything that would sour the interactions. After pleading the mangager she gave me a 50% credit and they only charged me me like $636.

At a time that I am dealing with so much I am really disappointed and so upset that my card was charged so much. I can understand if I didn't read/understand the"prepaid contract" but being a loyal customer and obviously asking all the agents I felt like it was cold hearted to keep the charge.

Very disappointed

I rented a car on 7/27/2022 in Sarasota Florida airport. No issues with the car. Six months later 12/12/2022 they are claiming they are hitting my Amex for damage for a hole in the exhaust pipe and a cost of $933.25 to repair. Never once did I ever hear anything about damage. I am not paying this charge for wear and tear on a car. I did nothing to the car nor did they reach out until 6 months later that the car had a hole in exhaust pipe. I am not paying $933.25 for a something that is wear and tear . Absolutely ridiculous! I received a letter from Nora Henry Emergency road side assistance [protected]