Budget Rent A Car
Reviews and Complaints

On May 9 I called your customer service center to cancel this reservation due to a 3 hour wait to pick up the car at the Miami Airport. We were traveling with a two year old child and could not wait for two to three hours in a line, we were concerned about safety. I asked the representative if we could cancel and let him know that the car was paid for. He said there would be a 150.00 dollar cancellation fee and he will document my concerns. I just received an email saying I will lose the entire 604.58 It is unfair and unethical to charge me for the entire 6 day rental plus the car seat, due to the fact that we cancelled due to your company's inadequate staffing.

The reason again for the cancellation was the inadequate and lack of staff your company had at the Miami Airport. I am disappointed that your company thinks that making people stand in line for hours, with reservations, is okay. People travel with children and the elderly! Just to let you know, your company was the only one that was so backed up.

I will accept the 150.00 cancellation fee, but cannot accept the 604.58 cancellation. I will be disputing this with both your company and my credit card company.

Sincerely,
Mary Rock

On april 23rd I rented a car from sky harbor (phoenix). The customer service was horrible (rude, badgering to sign up for services, etc.). Rental car was dirty and parked in wrong slot. Car was returned early on april 26th. On may 10th I received a letter falsely alleging that there was a smoke smell in my car and telling me that budget was going to charge me $450 cleaning fee. I do not smoke, my brother does not smoke, and my sister in law does not smoke. This is nothing more that a false charge with no avenue to dispute.

Overcharging customers after rental over an trying to get away with it. Scam at counter on refuel courteousy charge then adding additional 63 dollars to the 45 dollar fee an trying to get customers to overlook it. Also renting junk suv with oil lite on. Past maint service an I added oil so it wont damage car. Lines 2 hours long with lack of help. Total horrible experience. I am so unhappy with this company an will never never never do business with budget or avis again.

rented car from san rafael cal
no walk round when rented
false accusations ref scrtach on return

collected car from san rafael marin caa
san francisco boulevard
NO WALK AROUND BEFORE I STARTED RENTAL
CONTrACT ILLEGIBLE
very old printer
on return the staff said had scratched the car
NOT TRUE
i will not accept ANY UPCHARGE

my name is mervyn d fogel
date was april 27 maybe 28

I was put on a do not rent list for no apparent reason.. I was stuck at the rental without a car, prior to renting, I already prepaid the rental 3 weeks ahead.. Now they gave me back my prepaid but then they scammed again by not fully refunding the prepaid amount for the services I did not receive! Budget rental is a scam! The number they gave me to call is non existent.. Hours and hours of wasted time calling but forever on call wait! I will look for other car rental with good customer support and cares for their customers well being not getting stuck on an airport!

My wife and I took a trip to Fort Myers Fl for my nephews wedding. Looked at all the car rental agencies at the air port, then was told it was cheaper to rent from off site rental agency. Checked out Enterprise, Hertz, and Budget and found that Budget had a Dodge Challenger R/T available. Thought with the money I saved by not renting from the air port I would rent the Dodge.
Paid for the rental in advance on line, confirmation code 37827452US5
received an my confirmation email with a picture of the vehicle as well as where and when to pick up the vehicle. My pick up was Fort Myers RS-7.
Not sure what or where this location was, I called on Monday April 12th.
The women who answered the phone was polite confirmed my rental for Thursday April 15th for a Dodge Challenger as well as the physical address of Budget.
I made arrangements for my wife and I to be picked up at the air port and taken to Budget were I was excited to pick up my rental. I arrived stood in line behind six other patrons. There was only 1 person at the counter, the phone was ringing almost non stop but no one was answering.
I waited my turn gave the clerk my confirmation number and eagerly awaited my Dodge Challenger. She then told my that there was no Specialty Vehicles at this time. I told her I called ahead and was guaranteed a car that was reserved on line. There was no car and I was offered a mid sized suv, Mazda5, for the Same price.
Talk about bait and switch, for the money I wasted for a SUV I could have just rented a car from the air port and not put people out to drive e to and from your facility...
I tried calling you help number several times but never got to talk to a human. So I have to result to writing my complaint down and hopes that someone actually takes time out to read it...

Still very upset with the way I've been treated and I will guarantee you this I and My family Will NEVER rent from Any of your Budget Rental Agency.

The guy on counter at detroit budget said i was on a do not rent list which is I'm not aware off.. stuck at the rental pick up for 2 hours calling the number they gave me to call and no answer! Just a pre recorder message..never got an email or a call from budget prior to my rental date..have to call some friend to pick me at the detroit airport budget office with only frustration! They took my pre paid money then never contacted me that i wont be getting my already paid rental on site! Will be vigilant in filing for a formal complaint..

The manager Windell Marland didn't seem concerned that the rental car line was extremely long. One person working desk and fifty people in line. My friend has waited as long as two hours to get a car. When I spoke to the manager he said that Budget already knew about the lines and there was nothing he could do. This is a reoccurring problem. We went to another rental car business. He couldn't give me the information about where to register a complaint. Just said it was online. It would have been helpful if he had gotten behind a register to help out instead of saying only one person in line! Very unapologetic! It's a shame that he thought customers should put up with this kind of customer service!

Instead of getting a replacement car a mile away from the accident at a Budget rental site, budget they towed my car back to the original rental site (20 miles away). The Budget employee strongly suggested that I drive the car 20 miles with no driver side mirror! Even 1950's cars had driver side mirrors.
This is a dangerous company. I m back to using Uber when I travel! No more rental cars!

I rented a car at Hobby Airport in Houston at Budget Rental Car on March 4-8. My Rental agreement number is:U331116984. My husband and I drove to his in-laws and then back to the airport. No where else in between and no one else was in the car. We put our luggage in the trunk. We were charged $450 for a "pet hair" fee. We never had a pet in the vehicle or even a human in the backseat for that matter. When I disputed this claim I was provided pictures. I have asked several times for "before" pictures. I think the bigger issue is having the cleaning crew do a better job between customers. After looking into this matter, it appears this "pet fee" with no pet in the vehicle is a common occurrence for Budge Car Rental.

On 1/7/21, I prepaid $586.67 for our reservation for a minivan to pick up at RSW Airport on 3/12/21 at 1:30 pm, drop off at RSW on 3/20/21 at 1:00 pm. On 3/2/21, our flights changed so I modified the pick up time to 3:30 pm and drop off time to 3:00 pm. I didn't change dates, type of vehicle or duration of rental. I immediately received an email reflecting our rate changed to $1, 057.44. The Budget website clearly reads: "With Budget, you can change most things on your pre-paid reservation on budget.com or at the counter any time, even multiple times, with no fee. If changes affect the total rate of the rental, the prepayment amount will not change." I called Budget immediately and was told they cannot honor the original total. She said I could send any screen shots I have to their document site for review. I did so and heard nothing. I also submitted an inquiry online and received an email back saying it looks like issue was resolved as they cannot honor original rate. I was concerned with our flights changing they would give away the vehicle if we didn't show at 1:30 so I updated it and now am expected to pay an additional $470.77? Being our trip is next week, I am unable to find any rentals near what I originally booked it at. This practice goes against what their website states.

I booked a flight to Vegas when I was done I scrolled down and it said would you like to rent a car so I clicked on it ..instead of giving me airport budget it directed me to budget on Fremont Street 40 dollars away then I had to carry 3 bags thru a motel and when I got there the guy was at lunch waited 20 minutes...very angry at this point .then when I left I dropped it off at the airport and paid a 25 dollar (wrong original location) dropp off fee i was more angry...why didn't you automatically direct me to the airport budget !

I made a reservation for a Ford Focus rental car to be picked up at Budget on January 7, 2012, at the Orlando Airport. I received text messages stating the car was ready for me to pick up. Upon arrival in the airport I had to go to 2 different places. There was a long line & since I had a car ready I went into the fast lane. When I spoke to the man behind the counter he told me that the car had been recalled & he didn't have a car for me. I told him I had to get to a funeral & had to have a car to get there. I went back to the main lobby, on the other side of the airport, & I waited in a long line of about 60 people & the agent gave me the keys to a Kia. When I got to the vehicle & opened the door I was shocked! The car was filthy & had not been cleaned, from nastiness all over the steering wheel to filthy seats. I went back to Fast Track to get someone to look at the car & was told that was all they had & I could take it or leave it. Since I had to get to Vero Beach for a family funeral, I took the car. On the way there my brother & I kept hearing a noise & the tire light kept coming on. When we got to the motel we looked under the car & checked the tires. It appeared to have parts falling off of it & the tires were bald with wires showing through & chunks missing! We called Budget & they told us to go to Budget in Vero Beach & there would be a car for us. When we arrived no one knew about it & we had to leave without a car. The next morning we called Budget Road Side Assistance & they told us to go to the Melbourne Airport & they would have a car for us. Once again they did not know about it & did not have a car for us, after driving an hour & 15 minutes. A nice lady named Liz saw the car & did what she could to get us a car. She was the only good thing about our experience. It took 2 days to get a safe, clean vehicle to drive. Days that should have been spent with a grieving family. Upon returning this vehicle I was charged an additional 71.93 for fuel, after filling up the previous car before trading it in. The nice man did refund us the gas money. Rental Agreement # [protected], Reservation # [protected]-US-6
Pickup Date 01/07/2021, Return Date 01/11/2021.
Bertram Gore Phone: Hm [protected] Mobile [protected]

We rented a car in Destin, FL and were supposed to return it to Wichita, KS on 7/25. We decided to stay 2 extra days, called and got it all taken care of, total charges were supposed to be $1, 050. We returned the car on 7/27. Got a certified letter about a week later asking us to contact loss prevention because they never received the car back. None of the phone numbers worked for loss prevention. We got a hold of someone at budget, via email, went back-and-forth for over a week. We finally asked them to call the budget that we returned the car to, that budget had on file that we returned it on 7/27. The people we were emailing with showed that we returned it on 8/5. Someone did not do their job and rented the car out without showing that we returned it. It has been almost a month since we returned the car. We still do not have a refund, and now they are trying to tell us they're going to charge us $1250 because we did not return the car with a full tank of gas. Thankfully, we have the receipt for the gas. This is all beyond ridiculous. We cannot get a supervisor to contact us because they just want to email. Over $1200 that has been taken out of our account for over a month, at this point they should be giving us interest back as well.