Budget Rent A Car
reviews and complaints

Costco Travel # C349356410
Budget Conf # 40054762US6

Aug, 4 - My family and I arrived in Washington DC after a red-eye flight from Los Angeles. We headed to Budget to pick up the car we reserved. At the counter, everything was going smooth up until the Insurance part. We initially declined the insurance offered to us and that is when we got told that "WE CANT RENT YOU A CAR WITHOUT INSURANCE" - We told her, we have our own insurance. she replied "WE STOPPED TAKING PERSONAL INSURANCE FOR COVERAGE" We were stunned. I asked, when did that change? she said "IT'S BEEN LIKE THIS FOR A WHILE NOW. IF YOU WANT, YOU CAN LOOK IT UP ". My Fiance and I were both in disbelief, My Fiance had worked for Enterprise rent a car for a decade and he knew her disclosure was incorrect. But its Budget, not ERAC so we had no choice but to believe what was disclosed. Today, 8/21 - called Budget and was told that IT IS NOT THEIR POLICY TO DECLINE CAR RENTAL USING PERSONAL INSURANCE. The experience made me upset. We got taken advantage because were tourist and the chances of us returning to DC to file a complaint after the fact is slim to none. I ended up keeping the vehicle for another day. What should have been $118.14 ended up being $303.64 - Not happy with the experience. I wanted to share since Costco have a partnership with Budget rent a car.

confirmation #38718343US6
Agreement #179684046c
Car reserved July 27, 2018
car pick up Aug 03, 2018 at 8a.m.
Grand Rapids, GR4
2740 28th street
Grand Rapids, Mi 49512

I arrived at 8a.m. to pick up economy car. Was told no cars available. If I wanted to stay one maybe would arrive around 9a.m. I called the airport and was told a car would be available if I wanted to pay an extra $200 . Was not an option fome. At 847 a.m. one was delivered. I was told I could take that car but that it had not been checked out nor cleaned. I was traveling to Atlanta, Ga. with my grandson and needed to get on road. I agreed to take the car after looking it over for any problems. It was an intermediate suv and representative said I could have it for no extra cost. 50 miles down highway the change oil light went on soon. Another 50 miles and the alarm went off and indicated change oil now. I was now thoroughly scared. I pulled off highway and checked the oil and called your toll free road service. They assured my grandson and myself that it was a sensor and was there only for maintenance. We continued to Ga. with alarm going off frequently telling us oil needed changing. Traffic was bumper to bumper in Atlanta . Every time we came to a halt the alarm would again go off, over and over again. When we arrived I had my son recheck oil. We drove over 1600 miles with threat of car having problems and the alarm going off .

Reserved truck on 4-11-18 for pick up 4-26-18. Confirmed with Budget 3 times and Skyview Service Inc. 370 Middletown Road, Nanuet, NY 10954 (place of pick-up) on 4-24-18. Four confirmations. Received phone call from Skyview on 4-25-18, 2:00 pm, day before pick up that a truck was UNAVAILABLE. How does this happen? No explanation from Skyview, just WE DON'T HAVE A TRUCK FOR YOU!. EXTREMELY RUDE AND UNPROFESSIONAL. Skyview complaint will follow. Immediately contacted Budget. Transferred to Escalation department. Said they will contact me within 2 hours. Shouldn't this be resolved right away? Received callback and said a truck was found but new pick up spot would be Lodi, New Jersey. 25.3 miles away from me. Totally UNACCEPTABLE. Was told they could reimburse me with miles. I don't need their DAMN miles. I needed a truck for my move the next day. I will never rent from Budget ever again and will advise all customers to stay clear away. With all their facilities, they couldn't locate a 16" truck nearby?. I can't remove the one star rating up top. I will give negative ratings if possible.

Budget Car Rental in USA (may be world wide) is a scam that herds clients to their high end partner like Avis and Hertz.

Clients will be skinned and they actually enjoyed skimming them.

My story:

1) the reserved hybrid prius vehicle was not available in Newark ( and it becomes Budget's usual practice of shortchanging clients no matter what car they reserved);
2) I was put in a midsized car without explanation;
3) both JFK and Newark says they run out of car; they habitually use this excuse to short change clients; there are multiple discussions that you force clients to upgrade at great additional cost and shortchange (change into smaller vehicles) for those who booked large cars;
4) I reserved a replacement car at JFK through your customer service phone line, only to find that your customer service is lying, because according to JFK staff (manager), they haven't seen a hybrid car for days. The so called JFK station staff is actually located in Oklahoma, "who have no idea of the actual situation in JFK!) . How is it possible for you to reserve a car when it doesn't exist?
5) it seems that Budget enjoy scamming their clients (not to mention charging their clients for loss damage and others when there were none, or when your staff created the damage, as I see in the internet)
6) I wasted a few hours detouring to JFK, receiving the upset that the promised car exchange to the Hybrid that I have reserved, is a usual scam (see 4 above). The manage is not apologetic about that. He just ask me to see the empty rental lot.
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/budget.html?page=34
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/budget.html

Very upset at Budget

Seems that this is the business model that Avis used to herd clients away from Budget

George Tseng Life-Journey

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/…/budget-rent-a-car-ripoffs_n…
"They did it on purpose — charging the customer like way too much, " said a former lot attendant,

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/budget.html
https://www.thrillist.com/…/secrets-the-car-rental-companie…
http://abcnews.go.com/…/rental-car-place-doesnt-hold…/story…
https://www.smartertravel.com/…/car-rental-secrets-bet-don…/
Lots of Car Rental Counters — But Only Three Car Rental Companies
While there seems to be a heap of competition along the bank of car rental counters at the airport, in truth most U.S. agencies are owned by one of a few major companies. Here is how it falls out:

- Avis owns Budget, Zipcar and Payless
- Hertz owns Dollar and Thrifty
- Enterprise owns Alamo and National
- Advantage owns E-Z Rent-A-Car

Also:

"They did it on purpose — charging the customer like way too much, " said a former lot attendant, who worked at Budget's Vancouver airport location for a year, checking cars for damage.
He said staff members were told to inspect vehicles from top to bottom, even after customers were gone, and report any damage to managers no matter how minuscule.

"I remember one time there was a senior couple. The other [employee] found out there was a tire cut. But from our standards, they should not charge them, honestly, " he said.

"The other [employee] asked for the manager to come out and take a look. And then the manager charged them, just charged them."

Some repairs not done
"If there was a scratch on the car, we charged their credit card immediately … and that scratch would never even be fixed, " said another former employee.
three or four times a week people were billed for damage they didn't cause.

"If [earlier renters] didn't notice it and we didn't notice it, then we would just charge the next person, " she said.

Upset customers
"I saw customers that cried. They really cried. They were shocked, " said the lot attendant.

He claims some people were made to pay for damage caused by Budget employees after vehicles were checked in.

"Sometimes it's the employees that make the damage, but everyone doesn't want to be responsible for that. The manager will make a decision ‘Hey, call the customer — he's your damage.'"

"There were a lot of [customer] complaints when I was there, " said an ex-manager, who worked at Budget's repair facility at the Vancouver airport several years ago.

He estimated 25 customers a day were overcharged for repairs.

"Every car that came from Budget that needed repair all had inflated costs on them, frivolous charges on them. Every repair that went through the system — the customer got overbilled."

Budget's repair facility is owned by Inland Transportation, a company owned by wealthy Vancouver businessman Syd Belzberg. He also owns Budget Rent a Car of B.C., which runs the car rental outlets in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
The former manager also claimed customers were billed for windshield replacements, when in reality only a chip was repaired, at nominal cost.

"Different customers would be billed … on a windshield before it got replaced, " he said.

"We repair the chip. The customer gets billed for a new [windshield]. It doesn't get replaced. Another customer takes the car, chips the windshield again. He gets billed for a new one again. And it could have happened on numerous occasions — especially in ski season."

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/…/budget-rent-a-car-ripoffs_n…

the Budget company forces you to avoid Budget...what a business model to force clients to higher end?...don't they understand that the sister company will also be tarnished and the whole chain will run to the ground?

I reserved a Mini Van from Budget in Jan 2018 for the family spring break vacation (in March). When I showed up early Saturday morning (8 AM) to pickup the Mini Van I was told that they have been out of minivan since Thursday, and that they only have 5 seat car available to rent. They also told me that they knew about this since Thursday, however no one called me to let me know to make alternate plans. Since there were more than 5 of us going on this trip, I had to cancel my plans and lose money on some of my hotel reservations since they had 72 hours cancellation policy.
I have been renting cars for over 30 years and something like this has never happened to me. I highly recommend everyone to stay away from Avis & Budget Car Rental.

My family christmas party was December 23rd I made a reservation on November 27th so i could attend this yearly event. the reservation was for 10am about a week or so before i asked if i came at 9 30 would it be ok the manager said yes. I arrived at 9 30 the manager said 4 cars were coming from indianapolis 70 miles away at 10 so not to worry i asked her if she needed my confirmation number she said in was in her computer 2 weeks earlier i called budget to prepay they said if i did they would cancel then set the reservation at a higher rate is this fair? i I received an e mail 2 days before saying your car is reserved thank you for your reservation i ask you when you have a reservation one would think that means you have a car to rent. When i got there at ten the manager told me those 4 cars went to the other location cause 6 people needed cars there. She then said i have no car for you but suggested to go 50 miles east 0r 60 miles south to see if they had cars but thy closed at noon A customer should not be traveling all over the state After talking to several associates on the phone who did not seem to care finally Frank said so sorry sir and offered me a free day Since Budget ruined my family christmas I think they should do more im getting married june 2nd a free weekly rental would satisfy me my reservation number was 23206539US6 My e mail is [protected]@gmail.com I ask you Budget is this a way to treat a steady customer I should hope not

We picked up the car at 1.00 AM (4 hrs. airline delay which we called in) and it was the last car in the category although we reserved it 3 weeks in advance.
We found it muddy outside and at the exit we showed it to the officer which he logged on a receipt. We received a copy.
Next morning the car was teaming with busy ants inside and out. Pictures were taken. We called Budget to log a complaint and they said we have the wrong number, it was the International division. We called the right number and nobody picked up the phone after 18 ringings.
We bought Ant Spray and sprayed extensively leaving the car overnight tightly closed.
Next morning we were successful: from some 30 ants we had seen any given time we had now some 4-5. Obviously we didn't get the nest.

We kept the car for the 6 days and at returning we pointed out at the counter that they gave us a car that was never cleaned before being rented out and we want to file a formal complaint. We were told that they don't handle complaints and that we should call the 800 number. We called and were offered on a $200.00 invoice, just $ 20.00 of compensation for the poor service. Quite a lame offer.

Rental agreement # [protected]
Reservation # [protected]-US-1
Vehicle # [protected]
Pickup date Oct 10, 2017
Return date Oct 16, 2017
Odometer 11, 500
Vehicle rented by MYRNA
Vehicle checked by DJORDJE
Estimated Total charges $ 199.08

Dear Sirs/Madam
1 - Reserved a car 3 weeks in advance.
2 - Picked it up at 2 AM for delayed flight.
3 - Allegedly it was the last car they had on the lot.
4 - We had to walk to the lot good 2 blocks to find the assigned car dirty with mud. Is it usual not to clean a car after it has been returned?
5 - At the Exit we let the officer know the outside condition of the car which he acknowledged in writing.
6 - Once we were inside and started driving it caught our attention 2-3 ants which we flicked out through the window.
7 - Next morning with daylight we found some 25 more ants crawling inside the car over the dashboard, the Windows and the doors.
8 - We rushed to the store to buy an Ants spray and we sprayed all over inside the car.
9 - For religious holiday reasons we didn't use the car for 3 days.
10 - After the 3 days we went to the car and to our dismay we found more ants crawling although much less then previously.
We received from Budget a car infested by ants which disappointed us enormously. Let's hope that we will be compensated for the bad experience.
ANDRES Rona

I rented a Budget Truck in Leesburg, Florida on 10/06/17 Vehicle # 336764.
Ref # [protected].
I needed a small truck to move boxes and other small possessions from Florida to Pennsylvania. I reserved a 12 foot truck but what I got was a 16 foot truck. When I got it loaded and got on the road, I turned on the radio and could find no station to listen to. When I made a stop, I found that the antenna was missing and in its place was a dry wall screw. I don't know what [censor] in their service department thought that would work, but this is pathetic. After driving 1100 miles, (which cost aver $350.00 in gas because I had twice as big a truck than I needed) I returned the truck and complained to the agent who said basically, to bad. I called Budget and complained and was told they could compensate me $15.00 for my inconvenience. I told him to keep his $15.00 and that I would be telling everyone I could to avoid Budget rent a truck.

I, John L Pena, rented a 22 foot Truck #[protected] of 071517 from
Budget of Sandau for a 3 day rental to Abilene, Texas.
The trip to Abilene is normally about a 4.5 hour trip but instead the trip
took over 7 hours as the truck lost acceleration on every hill down to about 40 miles per hour and would not go faster than 55 mph unless we were traveling downhill.
We could not call roadside assistant as there is virtually no phone service
between San Antonio and Abilene. As such, we had to reschedule the movers who were hired to unload our truck on Saturday at 8:00 and reschedule for
Sunday morning at 9:00.
The unloading took 2 hrs ending at 11:00 am and a return trip to SA would
have taken us to SA at about 6:30 and no time for the movers in SA to reload
our truck for a return trip.
I called customer service at approximately 8:45 Sunday morning to complain and ask for some type of a refund or another truck at a discounted rate or no charge for the next weekend to use for a trip from San Antonio again to Abilene.
I spoke to Frank (ID #37873) who offered me up to a $110 refund, however he spoke to his Supervisor Michael at Ext #08910 who refused the refund.
I asked to speak to Michael but was refused, I then told Frank that I would cancel payment and file a complaint unless MIchael would return my call within 30 minutes and he did not.
I have contacted my bank about the complaint and I will file complaints and contact corporate until I get satisfaction.
In the mean time, I will continue to complain and tell everyone I know about the experience I had with your company.
I am a business over of over 20 years and your customer service lacks any type of empathy or tact. I am very disappointed. I turned in the vehicle two days early and am now having to pay for a 2nd move because of your lousy equipment.
I am frankly shocked at the type of service you provide.
I hope that we can find some resolution.

John L Pena
[protected]

On the 1st of July I went to Budget Car Rental I had previously made car reservations and was told a vehicle would be delivered from the airport to the memorial location in Oklahoma City when I' I arrived I was told no vehicle had been delivered and no vehicle would be delivered and that they didn't have a vehicle for me so out to the airport I go when I arrived at the airport I was told that they didn't take debit cards only credit cards and if I hurry I might be able to catch the budget Rental in Bethany my ordeal started out at 9 that morning and it was now about 12:30 and they close at 1 so I make it out there just in time but I was told there were no vehicles available so right about now I'm mad enough to eat nails so I get on the phone to customer service and now I'm being passed around like a serving platter but thank you Jesus for a Miss Carlean Williams, after I told her about the ordeal I had went through and that I was renting the car for my anniversary, she stepped up to the plate like a real professional, she took my phone number and told me she would call me back, 10 minutes later she called me back, and told me she needed some more information, and assured me that the problem would be fixed, 5 minutes later she called me back and asked if I could get back out to the airport to pick up a vehicle, so I tip my hat to Ms.Carlean Williams, she was so caring and concern you would have thought she was going on the trip, you definitely need more people like her, or she needs to be teaching classes, thank you again Ms Williams... Furnando Powell, Oklahoma City, OK.

My reservation was canceled by the Customer Rep at the Call Center the night before pick-up, after being hung up on 3 times, in 2 days (06.13.17 & 07.14.17) because they "couldn't hear me"... on my BRAND NEW iphone that works fine, I had no problem hearing them, no one other than this call center has a problem hearing me. I was on hold, and/or meandering through their computerized directions, for no less than 15 minutes per call.

I was attempting to modify the time of pick-up, to an hour earlier, since I was continually being hung up on, my mother ended up calling on her phone in town, then got my brother on the phone, because the Rep couldn't communicate well in English, and then the Rep ended up cancelling my reservation without authorization, forcing my mother to hastily book a new reservation, since our trip is tomorrow morning, at a slightly higher price (with my credentials since she had my confirmation number), the closest pick up, now being in a town nearly 100 miles away (200 miles round trip).

Which means someone will have to drive us down, and pick us up when we return the car, an extra 400 miles on my personal vehicle, which isn't all that reliable. My original reservation was for a Ford Taurus, or similar, and the Call Center stuck us in a Compact...for 3 over-sized adults, with luggage and extras. They told my mother, there were no more cars available in our hometown; note, this call was placed to the Call Center after regular business hours of the local franchise, doubtful any other rentals had been booked in this location, for the next morning already, when I was supposed to pick up the car originally. We live in a town of about 60, 000, so not a major travel hub with a lot of business.

There is no other means of contacting Budget, other than through their Call Center or in writing (no chat, email, etc).

I booked the original reservation via AARP in April 2017, at a special rate, with bonus features, payment due at pick up.

Reservation No. 00372488US4

May 10, 2016 rented from the Orlando Airport. Car had damage in 3 spots. Completed a damage report before leaving. Upon returning the car on May 18, 2016, the man checking me in noticed the damage. I showed him the pink copy of the damage report. He recommended taking a picture of the form since "they've been having a lot of calls about this". I did so. June 6, 2016 I received a call from Viking Billing Services about the damage. I told them it was pre-existing and that I had a copy of the damage report. June 9, 2016 I received a letter from Viking billing me for (approximately) $675 for damage and administrative fees. Called Viking, told them I had a copy of the damage report, and was able to email scan it to them. While faint, you could just make out the date, my contract number and the employee number of the man who completed it. I attempted to get an acknowledgement in writing that the case was closed (which is what I was told when I called), but never did. I told my husband I wondered how many other people they tried to charge for the same damage. How did they manage to lose both the white and pink copy of my damage report?

Budget rent a car is no better. When I went to pick up my car and asked for sunpass, first he had no reply. So I explained how I usually pd $40 on sunpass with other rental companies, the man at the counter told me they dont have that. I further explained how I was traveling up/down florida turnpike through a part that only takes sunpass. His ans "no". He said we only charge by plate and you just drive and pay the tolls later that we bill you. I asked how much in tolls would that be and provided my to and from destiations. He said "I dont know, I dont drive down turnpike, I just go by plane between orlando and miami.

Later I investiated online which verified I absolutely need sunpass.

I decided to drive down turnpike and ask. Youbg man e, olained how pay by plate doest work at a certain point and unless you are getting on the turnpike & driving ovet 100 miles the ticket system to pay cash wont work.

I called budget customer service, lady said they do offer sunpass. She said I would have to go back to the car rental place to get one if I still wanted ir. She then verified my car was indeed not equiped with sunpass. Huh, so I decided to complain.
The man I spoke to next says"maybe they ran out of the sunpass boxes at that lovation

When I got back home I emailed complsint and was told by a budget ". Please note that we do not offer sunpasses for sale at our rental facilities. You are, however able to utilize the sunpass already located in the car for an additional charge."

Gee wiz, if that were the case why didnt any of the 3 other people I spoke to explain that. I told him my previos car rental companies "offered"sunpass" and they explained hiw it worked.

These people dont know or care how much trouble they make. They dont care if there customers pay more in tolls or gas to get around tolls if even possible. I ended paying abt $30 than I should have + aggravation... But it could have been alot worse.

Budget is also the same comp as dollar ans avis.. Beware.

In the past, I did okay with a company called ace

Joyce

Last July we rented a car for pickup in Flint Michigan. Due to Southwest Airlines computer issues we ere three days late. I called at every delay to 1. let them know we will be late and 2. to ensure the car will be waiting for us.

I have written them twice and have not received anything in response. When we finally arrived they did not have our promised car available. After much complaining they finally found us a pick up truck which left our luggage unprotected from theft and weather.

I am requesting a refund for the three days unused for confirmation number 34068803US6.

I reserved a car at Budget ahead of time so that my wife, who doesn't travel much, would not have any problems when she landed. When she got there (Louisville, Ky Airport) was a line of over 15 people because other people with some "FastBreak" program were cutting in front of everyone and this made everyone else wait. So far she has been in line for almost 2 hours and she is very upset and crying. She had been traveling for almost 9 hours today. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. We will NEVER go to Budget again. So do not ever reserve with Budget ahead of time. It is a trap

Rented a car at denver international airport and they "upgraded" our car for free. When we asked if there was going to be an up-charge the agent said, "no." however, when we returned the vehicle they charged us an extra $30 a day on top of our original quote!

If we had been told the truth that we would be charged an additional $60+ dollars for the rental we would not have agreed to the upgrade. We requested a refund for the difference and the manager at this location told us that they would not agree to it. We were told that the agent should never have agreed to the free upgrade. And in the fine print in our contract it stipulated that we agreed to the charges. This is fraud!

Date of incident: oct 29 - 30, 2016
Confirmation number: 40687926us6

In Oct 2016 I booked a Group B Budget rent-a-car online for a 3-day period. I was quoted $35/day "due at rental counter", which included an upgrade.
When I picked up the car, the counter clerk took 40 mins to process my transaction (due to some card issue). At the end of this very protracted process, she pushed the screen towards me and asked me to just sign "here" and "here" assuring me that this was just "all the standard stuff". I was only offered one "extra" (a fuel purchase option) which I agreed to.
A day after I returned the car on time and in perfect condition, my card was charged $390.49! This equates to $135/day!
When I asked for the invoice, they had added on a whole heap of extras which I did not want, nor ask for, nor was I asked to approve.
Their only response is that I signed for the contract.
The increase included an arbitrary increase to $45/day for the car!
This is a big con-job and their business practice is obviously a well oiled machine designed to deceive the customer and get them to sign for as much as possible without them knowing what they are signing for. It is unbelievably crooked and I can hardly believe how they can continually get away with this.

We made this reservation through Expedia. When we arrived at LAX, it took over 1 hour to be picked up by the Budget Bus after we were standing at the curb pickup spot. There were buses that were going by that were full, so they did not stop. There were others waiting and equally frustrated with the situation.
After arriving at the Budget Car Lot, we had to take a number and wait another 45 to 50 minutes to get waited on. This would have been much longer, except a nice person gave us their number which was significantly lower than our number, so it lessened our wait time.
Our flight arrived at 1:44 and the time stamped on my car rental agreement was 3:25. It should not take this long to rent a car at a major airport.
When I finally arrived at the counter, the employee told me that I was late so my car was no longer available. Of course, I am used to up-selling at the counter, but this lady would not provide me with a substitute automobile. She insisted that I would have to rent a larger car. Since we were visiting relatives in LA, who had plans for that afternoon, I could not wait her out or take time to speak with her supervisor. Instead of paying the quoted $143.45, I ended up paying $237.45.
The worst part of this is that I was late, not because the flight was late but because Budget could not handle the crowds at the airport or at their off site location. This employee was so rude that she should not represent Budget.
I equate this experience to what we have recently seen at Wells Fargo with too much pressure being placed on employees to sell!

This was my first and last time using budget.The whole purpose of me renting a car was to drive a couple hours away to go on a hike that we planned. We only needed a day rental and i expressed that to the agent i spoke with when booking. I arrived from tampa to denver at 12 pm. I got to budget at 12:15 pm. I stood in line for 3 hours! 3! I tried called several times to see if there was anything else we could do, go to another location etc. Well i was told that since i booked through a 3rd party no one at budget could touch the reservation...Ridiculous! Then getting in touch with the 3rd party was a nightmare as well. Several people were calling customer service and customer service was hanging up on people! Nice customer service you offer. No one was offering water or food which was the least you could do. When i finally got to the counter i expressed to the agent that my whole day was shot. I was unable to do what i had planned to do and completely wasted my day standing in line to get a car! She gave zero f***s! No apology or anything! I asked her what happened and why it was like this. All she said was that in the past 3 days they had a surge of bookings all of the sudden...Which is fine if thats the truth however...Thats usually when you plan on sending in more staff. Every single terminal should have had an associate behind it. This was completely unacceptable. The car itself was fine but i literally drove the car to get lunch, check into my hotel and then i went to return the car. Well...The location didn't have after hours, even though i was told i could drop it off at any time that day. So i had to pay for parking, thanks again. Well the next morning i turned in the car. The tank was full, the girl asked if it was and i said yes. She checked the mileage, printed out my receipt and i was charged $20 more than what i was supposed to pay. I was in shock and demanded that the charge be removed. She did remove it with attitude...Worst experience ever!

Don't use them!