Budget Rent A Car
Reviews and Complaints

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.

I rented a Tacoma truck from Budget Rental car in St. George Utah on 05-19-2020 because the flight I had booked to San Jose CA had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I rented the Tacoma truck from 5/20/2020 to 05/27/2020 and got the $6.95 insurance for 7 days as well. I prepaid for my rental on 5/19/20 the total amount paid was $257.20 this included the base rate for 7 days at $151.05, Coverage at $48.65, Surcharges/Fees at $21.92, and taxes at $36.01 which came to $257.63 however I was only charged $ 257.20 left a balance of $0.43.
It showed the pick up location as 58 North 700 East St. George Utah 84770, however when I arrived there at noon to pick up my vehicle there was a sign on the door that said pick ups were at the St. George Airport. So, that was over 30 mins away. I tried to call but never got thru to a human.
Anyhow, I finally arrived at the rental counter and was greeted by a man, the manager, with no PPE protection (for covid) so, I stood back from counter and told him I had a reservation that I prepaid for. He asked me for my drivers license and card that I paid for rental with. Then he said because it was a debit card I had to provide proof of my address for residency and also had to pay for the LDW insurance. Luckily I picked up my mail on the way there so I had my water bill in hand for proof of residency and the LDW insurance he tried to charge me was wrong. He said it would be 40.00 per day and I said NO, online it said it was only 24.99 per day. He said what sight did I make my reservation with and I said BuDGET rental car website and it specifically says 24.99 LDW insurance rate. Then he paused for a moment and said, oh yeah, your right. Then he asked me if I wanted to keep the other insurance I paid for$6.95 per day and I said no. Just credit me for the amount I paid. He went and got a calculator and said that I would receive a credit of $16.00 per day to offset the 40.00 for the LDW insurance because it only costs 24.99 and $48.65 credit for the other insurance. I wrote that down on the receipt, but I guess he never put that piece of paper in my packet. So, then he said no worries we will get it straightened out when you return the truck. He said he would put a hold of $434.00 on my account for a deposit and any remaining charges would be taken out of that. I said that's fine. Then he handed me my keys and said have a nice trip.
I went out to truck and walked around it and took photos of every side and angle because he didn't come and check the condition with me before I left. Got in and it said it needed a oil change so i walked back inside and asked him if it was ok and he assured me it had one but was'nt reset. Ok. My trip goes great and I returned home on Tuesday. Don't ask me why I thought I had the truck until Thursday, but actually it was supposed to be back wed. I didn't realize this until I called to get an extension to keep the truck until Friday the 29th of May. Which was approved via email. I tried contacting the branch at the airport, but could never get through to that location. Frustrating. But, anyhow my extension was approved and because the 2 extra days would only cost me 79.50 it was my understanding that those additional charges would be taken out of the deposit when I returned the truck. At least, that is what I was told by the manager when I picked up the truck.
I returned the truck on Friday the 29th of May at 12:38 and went to counter to return the keys and get final bill. There was a young girl there, but no manager and I wanted to make sure that I was credited for the $16.00 per day for LDW insurance; plus the $48.65 for the other insurance I prepaid for that was $6.95 per day for 7 days. Then another lady came out from the back and helped me because the younger girl was confused. So, the older lady said no problem we will credit your account and I will send the receipt to my email address. I said ok no problem and left. They didn't go out and look at the truck or anything. Kinda bizzare, but because I took photos and there was no damage to truck I was fine with leaving without them checking it.
The next day I was looking over my bank account and noticed a charge from Budget on the 28th of May for $219.00. Now why in the world would they charge me $219.00 extra when the additional fees of $79.50 for truck rental for 2 additional days plus $49.98 for LDW insurance for 2 days came to $129.48 which should have been deducted from the $434.00 that they took for a deposit. So that is where my problem is. They over charged me and took additional money out of my account that was NOT authorized. I want my money back. They did refund $139.52 on 05/29/20 but that is not correct amount . They owe me additional $162.58. This is ridiculous and its impossible to talk to a human being to get any answers. Please help.

Total Rental charges including 2 xtra days is : $230.55
LDW insurance @ 24.99 x 9 days =. $224.91
Energy costs: $ 6.30
11.11APFe $ 66.09
3.75% Reg. $ 21.50
16.25%St. Tx $107.40
Total Bill should be. $656.75
Credit For Insurance Prepaid $6.95x7= ( $ 48.65)
Adjusted Grand Total. $608.10
Prepaid Amount Online ($257.20)
Grand Total Adjusted Amount. $350.90. balanced owed
Less The DEPOSIT Taken on 05/20. ( $434.00)
Refund amount should of been ($ 83.10)
Less The UNAUTHORIZED Charge on 05/28 $219.00 to my account
Total Amount owed to me ($302.10)
Amount Refunded to my account on 5/29 $139.52
Amount BUDGET STILL OWES ME IS. $162.58
It is just plain wrong for them to charge my account without my knowledge or approval. They had no right to do that! Please help...Thank you.
T.mason