Budget Rent A Car
Reviews and Complaints

I rented a car at Medford Oregon airport 10 pm at night they told me drop off before 10pm sat drove to airport sat 9:45 know one around Budget car rental tags and keys on counter know one around no drop off boxs took car back to motel at 4 am went to airport to get on plane drop off car know one around again to check car in ...against my best judgement had to get on lane landed back in chicago called asked them they dsaid I am good to go.. Next day charges on my credit card rental plus 250.00 smoke fee, called corp office she Tonya looked at rental notes and said I will not remove speak to airport agent called them spoke to Bill he said sorry I will remove next day checked still on my card called Bill again he sent to pics of a grey leather seat with smoke ash on seat ! thats great but my car had Black leather seats very nice leather seays no detail could have been there personal car /// I would pay if I smoked but do not ! sent Bill a email saying hey thats not the inside of the car I had no response ////so you give credit card to Budget look out you will pay what ever they want you to and will make sure know one is avalibe to check car in and charge you for next day rental [protected]@live.com

Just rent a car for a weekend. Needed to go from San Juan, PR to Humacao thru the Turnpike. I was instructed not to use the R lane for toll charges. So I used the other lane.

I was charged $11.30 for a toll that was $1.00. No way you can avoided because you have no choice of declining the usage of the car’s transponder. I was willing to pay the toll with cash(I have the PR Highway Toll card) but Budget do not give you this option.

Be aware charges for the transpoder is based on the entire rental car period not by how many times you use th toll road.

This is a big rip off.

I was quoted $88.29 for a mid-size car rental; two days - basically looking to save myself cab fare and my son the trouble of coming to pick me up on Christmas Eve. Upon arriving at 11:30pm, the customer service rep advised me that I could 'have any car on the lot, since they were full'. I said no the mid-size is fine. He responded well we have a brand new ford explorer, you could take that if you want. So, I did. I drove 66 kms and filled up the tank to over the amount I had received in the vehicle. upon arriving back at the airport two days later, the female customer service rep refused to go out and check the fuel gauge (apparently too much trouble for her), and we were advised that we'd receive our invoice via email the next day. When we got the email, not only had we been charged a re-fueling fee, but also the $45/day upgrade fee! So, I went from paying $88.29 all in, to $264.46! Why would pay that much to save myself a $60 carfare? When I called to get it corrected, I was given the royal run-around. They would have to 'investigate'. A whole week later, and I am called to be advised that since the upgrade was 'circled' on the document I was given to sign (bearing in mind that buddy wanted to get the heck out of there on Christmas Eve since he was only there to greet me when my flight arrived), then I am on the hook for that. As for the re-fueling charge - well, I had to produce a receipt, because apparently someone forgot to inspect the vehicle when we arrived, and apparently the next day too! Luckily, I kept the receipt! So, do NOT rent a vehicle from this crooked location or any Budget location!

After making a reservation online to rent a truck, and receiving a confirmation for a truck, Budget failed to provide a truck. I had even attempted to cancel the reservation, but they wouldn't allow it unless they charged me a $50 penalty. When I arrived to pick up the truck, the attendant informed me that someone should have called me when they were unable to provide the truck. Afterwards I discovered a $50 charge to my credit card. Budget agreed to remove it, but claimed it took 5 business days for it to show up.

I rented a 24 feet commercial truck from Budget.
Upon inspection I found the truck rear bumper was hanging on by a thread. The 2 brackets that held the bumper from swaying back and forth were missing and broken weld. The extra support brackets along the frame were broken welds. The top of bumper channel iron supports were welded very poorly with the look of a amateur welder. The welds were painted over with black paint (trying to hide the bad repair job)
The rear spring brackets on the truck were broken.
I had to use the truck, there were none other to rent. In driving the head light were shining in the trees at the side of the road and the dim lights were shining 10 feet in the front of the truck. The big problem was the fuel gauge did not work, no low fuel light, and the wipers blades were dislodged somewhat from the metal and did not clean the windshield. The truck was inspected at the Sears store in Murray Ky and the man that inspected said He forgot to write down the rear bumper. What an O well attitude!
I should have taken pictures.
Why plate the Budget trucks in Oklahoma? Because they have no safety commercial truck requirements. The list of states that do not test trucks as follows: States without safety, emissions, or VIN inspections

Arkansas
Florida
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Michigan
Minnesota
Montana
North Dakota
Oklahoma
South Carolina
South Dakota
Wyoming
How is that? RCR

I had a trip to Colorado planed, so I called Budget car rental on Tuesday and reserved a compact car for Friday between 5:00 and 6:00 pm for 3 days, and they said it would be there waiting for me, and later they confermed it, I was leaving that night as soon as I picked it up and loaed it, but when I went to pick it up ( on time ) they told me they did not get it, but I could have a 4 wheel drive SUV insted, well I wasn’t going to pay out the money a gas hog from Kansas City to Colorado, I ask why they did not call me, I drove 60 miles out of my way to get it, He just laughed and shrugged his shoulders, so I checked around with other car rentals, but nothing was available without a reservation, so I had to take my small 98 Toyota pick up with 264000 on it and have 2 tires put on it and have the oil changed before I could leave, anyway, my trip had to be cut short and a very uncomfortable ride, thanks Budget, for your great customer service and dependability.

Well it started as a good deal on the truck and trailer rental, good prices.so we went with budget over the other companys. Bad mistake...
we moved across country 2500 miles, the truck they gave us broke down for the first time on the pa turnpike. It blew over 5 gallons of oil all over the car we were towing..we were stuck there for over 4 hours, the second time it broke down was in columbus oh.Thats were it took a tuen for the worst.we were stuck there for almost two full days while the company tried to get us a replacement tuck.The truck they gave us was worst then the first one.older, more miles and dirty, plus the fact that it didn't run any better...Well it gets even better because the manager from budget jim s. promised a good truck and they would awp the load for us . He was hiring a moving company crew to do it for us so we can get back on the road.Instead he hired the tow company (pro) and the workers and there family to do it.. we stop by to check on the progress and abserved the workes smoking while moving our stuff, matress laying on the ground..when we said somthing to them john said you can move it yourself then..well that stared a war with my wife and john. we ended up leaving because it was a mess. .Also the trailer strap was broken that the pin for the hitch was broken.we pick the truck up late that night and started driving. well we get to our new home 3 days late. we open the door to unload and forund that they just threw our stuff in the truck, they didn't use any of our moving blankets or tie downs, they were all in the back just laying there...over 50% of our furniture was broken, and or dirty. broke the axle on my sons quad..I have called the manager a dozen times with no responce, the claims department keeps making us jump through hoops, and giving us a hard time.NEVER, NEVER AGAIN will we use budget truck or car rentals.learned a hard lessons...

I had a trip to Colorado planed, so I called Budget car rental on Tuesday and reserved a compact car for Friday between 5:00 and 6:00 pm for 3 days, and they said it would be there waiting for me, and later they confermed it, I was leaving that night as soon as I picked it up and loaed it, but when I went to pick it up ( on time ) they told me they did not get it, but I could have a 4 wheel drive SUV insted, well I wasn't going to pay out the money a gas hog from Kansas City to Colorado, I ask why they did not call me, I drove 60 miles out of my way to get it, He just laughed and shruged his sholders, so I checked around with other car rentals, but nothing was available without a reservation, so I had to take my small 98 Toyota pick up with 264000 on it and have 2 tires put on it and have the oil changed before I could leave, anyway, my trip had to be cut short and a very uncomforitable ride, thanks Budget, for your great customer service and dependability

I was on holiday in Australia last Sept/October. Whilst there I searched on line for cheap car rental and was directed to Budget. I duly booked a car and was offered excess reduction insurance which I accepted. On arriving at Sydney Airport to pick up the car during the pick up process I was again offered the ecxess reduction and confirmed that I had already done this. I was asked to sign to confirm the booking details and left with the car.
When I returned to the uk I noticed that I had been charged £240 on my credit card by a firm called IMALL for excess reduction, I also noticed that the charge for the car by Budget was also £400 more that expected. When I queried this I was told that the extra charge was the excess reduction.
After about a dozen emails and phone calls I discovered that when I booked on line I had done it through an agent and they had sold me their version of an excess reduction. Then at the desk when I picked up the car, when I thought I was signing to confirm the details I was in fact signing to take out Budgets own excess reduction policy, which incidentally was nearly twice the cost of the one I had bought when reserving the car on line.
The upshot is that Budget say it was my own fault as I should have known that I had already signed up for a policy and refused the policy that they offered me at the counter.
They are probably right but I think that the booking process is confusing and I believe the counter staff knew what was happening and took advantage of the confusion to earn extra wages through selling me unnecassary insurance. I think they contravened the NSW selling regulations that stipulate that they have to act with honesty and integrity.
C Bone

Made an online reservation for a compact car on Budget's website, and the reservation was confirmed. Upon arriving in Phoenix, there was a 25 minute wait before getting to the counter, where I was informed by the agent that my reservation wasn't for the car size that was on the printed confirmation, it was for the next smaller size class. For $11.00 per day extra, I could have what I'd actually already reserved. The next 15 minutes were spent deflecting sales pitching and scare tactics for LDW, Roadside assistance, etc. The Nissan Versa that I got had no package shelf and no way to obscure valuables in the car, a fact pointed out by the agent as a reason to upgrade. This was blatant and illegal bait-and-switch, sprung on me in an airport in a strange city when they had me at a disadvantage. There are also about $30.00 in charges and fees on the bill I'm still trying to figure out. Budget's conduct was totally unethical, and they'll never get the opportunity to pull this garbage with me again.

I rented a car on Budget.com and prepaid for 5 days. Unfortunately, due to some unforsee circumstances, I had to return the car 2 days early. When I picked up the car at the rental count at the DFW airport I told them about the early return, they told me I had to call Budget.com to get a refund for the 2 extra days because they don't do refunds at that location. I called Budget.com and the customer service rep insisted that I need to talk to the people at the rental counter as they own my contract. I called the DFW rental counter again and repeated what I was told by Budget.com and I read their rental terms and conditions to them regarding prepy rentals, the rep on the other side of the phone ignored everything and refused to help. NEVER PREPAY FOR ANYTHING WITH THIS COMPANY BECAUSE WHEN THEY HAVE YOUR MONEY THEY CAN CARELESS ABOUT YOU. SOME CUSTOMER SERVICE. I'll be shredding my loyalty membership card with them and I will never rent from them again!

I recently traveled to Liberia Costa Rica and rented a car for the week at the Budget Rent a Car airport location. I booked and confirmed my reservation online at www.budget.com in the United States. When arriving at the rental counter in Liberia, the counter agent initially attempted to charge me hundreds of dollars more than my confirmed reservation. He reduced the amount but still did not match my confirmed reservation total claiming "additional tax was being charged".
Upon returning the car at the end of the week this same counter agent "converted" the total US dollars into Costa Rica Colons using an over-inflated conversion rate which later appeared on my charge bill as an additional overcharge. Budget has refused to make an adjustment of this overcharge. I have the amount in dispute with my credit card company.
Bottomline to all travelers ... BEWARE Budget Car Rental in Liberia Costa Rica. Unethical business practices!
This will be my first AND last time renting from Budget at ANY location in the world.

Car not as advertised, supposed to get a Pontiac G6, got a destroyed Chevy Coblat with 25K miles. Filthy, seats were busted, no recourse. To top it off, had a one hour wait to get the car, then, after returning, had to go through the desk again to finalize return. Big hassle, junk Cars, poor customer service. Please, do yourself a favor do not use budget.

I made reservations to pick up a truck from Belair MD on 11/14/2009 and return it to Woodlawn MD on 11/15/2009. The reservations included a 16ft truck and free 99miles. I received a phone call from budget informing me that they did not have any trucks at that location and informed me that I would have to pick up a truck from Parkville MD.

Which is out of the way? The lady gave me the difference in mileage added to the free 99 miles. My reservation informed me to call the drop off location in Woodlawn Md because they were closed on Sundays. I called them and they said it was fine to drop it off and asked that I drop the keys in the drop box and it would be processed the next day.

I dropped the truck off before the drop off time and dropped the keys in the box. I find out 2 weeks later that they charged me and additional day usage plus going over my mileage. I then called customer service which I was rudely greeted. The lady informed me that I did not have 99miles and she did not see where extra mileage was given to me for picking the truck up out of the way.

This is bogus. I did not drive anywhere close to 99miles. I would like a full refund of additional charges please. This is an unfair and wrong charge. I did not expect to be treated like this from Budget because I have been a previous customer who is why I chose to go with Budget and not Uhaul.

I reserved a car online and went with the pre pay option to save money. Online it states that if you need to cancel for any reason it’s not a problem. Budget will charge you $10-50 cancelation fee depending on the circumstances and refund your money as soon as possible. I canceled and was told that it would take 7 days to refund money. I asked why so long for an electronic transfer? Its just money they took out that they will resubmit to my account.

I’m still waiting on my refund. When I spoke with a rep today she told me it may take up to 10-15 days because the processing is behind because of the holidays. Do not pre reserve your vehicle online with a credit or debit card. They will charge you and you won’t know when you will get your money back. Place a reservation for the car without prepaying it.

My family rented a Hyundai Sante Fe to take our daughter from Illinois to California for medical treatment. from our
Budget facility.
The car was to be ready before noon but they did not have it ready until 4:30PM., which added to our pressure to
get to her appointment and make up for lost time.
When we returned about 10 days later, at 3AM, we had to wait for the car wash to open
at 8:30AM to wash and clean the inside, which took about an hour. If it wasn't clean, we
would have to pay a fine to Budget. We had driven all night.
The rental facility was open around 8AM. We took the car back by 9:30 and the company charged us for an entire extra day. We
talked to customer service and told them that they were hours late getting our rental to us that we thought
they should be fair with us on the return. They would not budge.

I sent a letter to Mr. Nelson CEO, at the company on December 16th 2010 but have not received a reply to date.
I tried calling their corporate office but kept getting caught up in a telephone maze, or if I got a person, they just sent me back to customer service who will not help. We are more than frustrated that a company's corporate office will not respond.

To top things off, our daughter was very ill and when we returned, we found that there wasn't even a
spare tire in the car! We had traveled over 1500 miles each way and over desolate areas and desert at night. The
facility we rented from knew we were traveling a great distance but didn't take the time to assure our safety.

We have tried numerous times to find a way to contact the CEO's office, and there appears to be no way through Budget to get a response from those who run the company.