Budget Rent A Car
reviews and complaints

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

COMPLETELY STEPPING OUT OF LINE.

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

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

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