Budget Rent A Car
Reviews and Complaints

I rent cars a lot and I thought that Budget was going to be the company I used. I had used them a bit and was feeling good about how easy it was to make and change reservations when needed.

I had originally rented my car from budget for the week of December 26-31st, 2022. I guess I had "Paid in advance" instead of paying later. For context, I usually am renting my cars to come care take of my step dad whom just got put on hospice in another state.

On Dec 9th my stepdad fell and ended up in the hospital and I needed to fly out that night to help. I simply moved my resrvation for that day (from the above date-to the current date) Dec 9- Dec. 15, not knowing how long I would stay. I originally thought I might come back early.

When I picked up my car that night at the ALB airport I told the agent that I may return it early and he said 'no problem, they would only charge me more if I kept it past my reservation date"As I got to my step dad's house it was clear I wasn't leaving as he needs lots of help. My location is about 90 min away from the Alb airport I had coordinate a ride so I could return the car and plan to stay as long as possible.

I called Budget on Monday 12/12 and told them I would need to return the car 2 days early and I asked if I could return it to a different location. He took about 20min to put the new location in the computer and said it was all good.

When I showed up at the new location to return my car, they had no record of my location change and I was told that I wouldn't be able to get a credit for the two days I didn't use the car because I prepaid. I was upset but since this was the only day I could do it I decided to not worry about the credit I didn't get.

As I walked away I looked down at my recipt and not only did they not refund the two days, but they had additionally charged me almost $1,000! I asked agent why I was charged and she said because it was the wrong location and early and I had prepaid.

I called the ALB budget hoping to get someone to confirm that I had indeed asked for a location change before I returned it. He had no idea and was not helpful.

The agent at the Montgomery and San Mateo location started nice and called customer service as I called the other location but then she told me that she accidently hung up on the customer service and now she has other customers (1 person) and that it wasn't her problem. (I had returned to this location in the past and they were easy and she was quite nice. I was surprised how fast she became slightly rude, I wasn't being rude to her, just sad and concered about this huge charge I couldn't afford on my card)

I called customer service and talked with them for 30min and they said they wouldn't refund the extra $889 fee. I asked to speak with a manager and they said the same thing. I explained that I asked every single employee and not one person told me of this extra fee. Also, I had liked budget before this and had hoped to have them be my go to company since I rent so often. They had no sympathy even when I said I wouldn't use them again if they didn't help me. (also, I was actually quite nice to everyone considering the situation, I wasn't mean, loud, abusive or anything that would sour the interactions. After pleading the mangager she gave me a 50% credit and they only charged me me like $636.

At a time that I am dealing with so much I am really disappointed and so upset that my card was charged so much. I can understand if I didn't read/understand the"prepaid contract" but being a loyal customer and obviously asking all the agents I felt like it was cold hearted to keep the charge.

Very disappointed

I rented a car on 7/27/2022 in Sarasota Florida airport. No issues with the car. Six months later 12/12/2022 they are claiming they are hitting my Amex for damage for a hole in the exhaust pipe and a cost of $933.25 to repair. Never once did I ever hear anything about damage. I am not paying this charge for wear and tear on a car. I did nothing to the car nor did they reach out until 6 months later that the car had a hole in exhaust pipe. I am not paying $933.25 for a something that is wear and tear . Absolutely ridiculous! I received a letter from Nora Henry Emergency road side assistance [protected]

Arrived at JAX on AA772 at 10:58am on 12/6/22. I had a pre-paid rental through Budget. When I arrived at the rental desk I found that there at least 80-90 people waiting for service. At times service desk had as many as four agents working to service those waiting. Then the number of agents dwindled to two. I, like everyone else in the line waited approximately 1:50 minutes to be served! Once that process was completed we went to the garage and waited an additional 15 minutes for our car to arrive. In total the process took 2 hrs and 5 minutes!

Additionally, when we arrived back on 12/9/22 at approximately 11:30 am to catch our return flight, we released our vehicle in the garage. That was handled very efficiently. When we passed the Budget Rental desk in the airport; it was a carbon copy of what we had seen earlier. The line was just as long; the agents just a few and the looks on your customers' faces, just as frustrated.

I have never experienced this before with Budget. Perhaps it is an issue local to JAX. Whatever it is and whatever the causes; it is totally unacceptable. I must state that as we left to secure our car the tone of those waiting was one of complete exasperation. I suspect that a significant number have decided, as I have, to seek other rental agencies before I consider Budget for my next vehicle rental.

While it was a very frustrating experience; I do have to state that though the agents were the ones sitting on the frontline having to deal with angry customers; they handled the situation well. It was clear that they were not responsible for the problem, but were doing the best they could. It clearly is a local and corporate management issue that demand immediate attention.

Rental contract was not fulfilled by Budget. Confirmed reservation was for a full-size vehicle. The only vehicle available was a Kia Sportster. UNACCEPTABLE! I attempted to acquire a full-size vehicle the following day after talking to the 1-800 complaint line and speaking with a "supervisor". Being assured a number of times that a full-size vehicle would indeed be available for pickup. I requested that this "supervisor" contact this location and verify that it would indeed be available. I was told that there was no need that it would be there. It was not. Again the only vehicle available was an SUV, not a full size automobile. Again unacceptable. The attempted exchange for a correct vehicle was that great personal discomfort as my wife was in surgery, the delay at the counter caused me to miss postoperative meeting with her anesthesiologist and her surgeon. Only to have a vehicle that still did not meet my needs or the contract. The vehicle did not meet any needs and was turned in early. The charges that appeared are more than what the contract was. I would request a follow-up phone call from an upper level supervisor, not just someone on the phone that tells me they are a "supervisor". Budget Rental did not fulfill its contract and I need to be made whole..

I rented a car through the Burlington, VT location. My rental was scheduled for November 16 to 21, 2022. I promptly returned the car at 10AM on November 21, 2022. The kid at the counter said I did not need to do anything as I turned the key in. It turns out, he did not log the car back in. Not only was I charged for someone else's rental of the car in the time period that followed (November 22-26, 2022), but now I am being charged for the toll violations for a state that I was not even present in. I spent four hours getting the rental charge reversed, but no one seems to know how to reverse the toll charge. I have spent an additional four hours on this, with no resolution. I am a wit's end and cannot believe that there is no one that knows what to do. This is ruining my days trying to chase this down. All because of some incompetent person at the counter.

On 8-24-22 I rented a vehicle at the above location. I also got Allianz Insurance thru Priceline. On [protected] I had an accident on I-87 Northbound in Saratoga County NY. The NYS Police took control of the scene. I notified Budget they got me a replacement vehicle and sent a UBER to pick me up from the tow yard to take me to the Airport to pick up my replacement rental. Which I did and returned on my scheduled date of 9-1-2022. I have contacted the Budget location, I have had my Local Budget email claims for me. The tow company who to this date still has your property is Trevs Automotive in Clifton Park NY. I'm not sure how long the insurance is good for. They are waiting for information only you can provide as the vehicle owner. I'm sure I have gone above and beyond to make this right someone contact me.

I am a frequent Budget renter with a FastBreak number. The last two times I rented in Florida, I used my SunPass to pay tolls and did not “opt in” to Budget’s E-Toll service. And yet, Budget charged me for tolls and so did SunPass. So I paid twice! I had to get through Budget’s phone tree and get to a supervisor (after getting disconnected twice) and they did credit the toll charges. How do I avoid this issue in the future? I certainly don’t want to pay Budget’s outrageous $5.95/ day plus toll fees.

I am trying to rent my car. I got to the exit and it was a fast break. I put my credit card back on the counter and whomever was renting again it is 932 today in the evening. Whoever is covering that shift she was wearing a blue shirt and she was absolutely horrible to me. I rent here a lot and I’ve never been treated support in my tire life. She was using slang and told me not to go slam my business up on her rental counter. I just don’t understand how your customer service got some deplorable and she needs to be terminated immediately she should not be anywhere around people or customers.

I had a reservation to pick up a car at the PHX airport, confirmation #19778534US6. Confirmation date 11/04/22 for pick up 11/11/22 at 7:00pm. When I went to the counter to check in. My card was declined, and I was told Budget doesn't take a debit card. They asked for my social security number to do some kind of work around but was still decline. Then a woman said she knew someone who could help me. She walked out from behind the counter and had me follow her out toward the main lobby area. Some man walked out from around a corner, and she said, he can help you and she went back to her counter. This man said he has his own personal car rental company, I believe it was called Last Chance Car Rental, something like that. He said he would drive me about a mile away and get me a car. I said, No Thank you. Since then, I've had two fraud attempts on my card and have had to cancel it. Luckily my credit union has great security. The lady at the Desk was Asian, about 40. I would appreciate it if you would look into your employees at this location so no one else gets taken advantage of. Thank you. Bobbi Beck [protected]@outlook.com

Reservation # [protected]-US-3. On 11/2/22 I got to the Savannah Hilton Head airport early and went directly to Budget. It states I picked up the car at 2:05PM for a 1:00PM pick up. After waiting in line for over a hour I was told to sit and wait for the car that they would call my name. At 2:40 PM I went back to the counter and very loudly asked where my car was? I rented a small economical car and got an SUV. I waited very patiently and was very nice to the staff behind the counter because it was not their fault that they were short staff. I expect to be compensated for the loss of time and not getting what I ordered. No way to run a business.

Reservation was refused due to racism. Threats and intimidation were directed at customer by Budget service personnel when customer asked for explanation of refusal. Customer credit card was processed for rental charges & security deposit before customer was refused. The customer believes it was done intentionally based on the difference in skin color between Budget personnel and the customer. The reason given for refusal was brought to the attention of Budget corporate and they stated the reason is not valid and the customer should not have been refused. Customer was stranded at airport and has been damaged.

I rented a Ford Escape on 7/13/2022 from the Calgary Airport. I returned the car in good condition, however Dennis from Claims at [protected] and [protected]@calgarybudget.com) left me a voice message stating that the car was returned damaged. I called twice and left a voicemail asking for a call back as I was disputing the claim. I never heard back from him. I later received mail from Budget with the repair quote of the damage. I contacted the repair shop and asked for more info on the damage and requested colored pics because I don't believe the black and white pictures were for the same car, plus the damage was not very clear in the pics. He said he would look into the matter and call me back to which he never did. I then called Budget at [protected] who advised me that someone would be calling me back. When they didn't, I called back and he said he would provide me with the refund and asked for my debit card number. I told him I didn't feel comfortable giving that information as they had already over charged me for false claims. He yelled at me and said good luck getting the refund and was aggressive. I did not damage the vehicle, I believe if the car has damaged, that it was done after I dropped it off in the airport parking garage. Also, I took out Budget's insurance, I was on company time and the transaction should have went on my corporate account. Please have someone contact me to resolve this matter as i'm overcharged $473.20.[protected] Rachel Torres

We picked up a car in Milan Italy on Sept 28,2022. I had a reservation and the amount was $1060. I had intended to use my Visa that had rental car coverage and refused the coverage from Budget/Avis. When I got to the counter the woman behind it told me that Italy did not allow you to use rental car insurance from your Visa. Which was an outright lie but of course I didn’t know it at the time. So I accepted insurance which raised the bill by $700. When I turned the car in in Verona I was told by the agent there but that wasn’t true and that if I were to rent a car from them and wanted to use my rental car coverage on my Visa, that was between me and my bank. I was livid. A car that was supposed to cost us $1060 cost us $1700. The agent in Verona made €100 adjustment but that was the best she could do. When I picked up a car in Inverness also Budget/Avis as I had made these reservations at home I would never have gone to them again, the agent there also told me that wasn’t true and that she had never heard of such a thing. I used my Visa coverage there and that is documented as well. On my return home I contacted Budget /Avis with a well documented complaint and said I wanted the money refunded that I fraudulently “was talked into By a lie

I have gotten absolutely nowhere. They sent me a copy of the rental agreement with the insurance signed. Of course it was, that is not the issue. The issue is coercion and fraud by their agent in Milan to Out right lie and tell me I would have no insurance if I didn't take theirs!

I am still livid and I am not done., I am not going to just let this go.

The moral of the story is, do not use Budget or Avis for rental cars. They do not honor their customers or back them up when an employee has fraudulently given information that cost the customer considerably more money than it should have.

I rent a car rno to sfo on oct2,2022 (one way trip). And sign up with prepaid fuel. And representative told me they only charge me for what ever I used. So I did. I thought that will be very convent for me. While I was driving I totally for got that I did prepaid fuel so I did filled up in middle of my travel between reno to sf. When I got back to sfo I only used 1/4 of fuel and returned the car same day. About 1 or so later I got an email saying that they charged me $110.65 on fuel. Fuelpurchopt92.41 customerfacilitycharge6.56.50 statesurcharge10.0012.74. Since it was sunday, customer didn't answer. So I called today 10/27/2022. Right after I got back from my travel. They said that prepaid fuel means they will charge me for whole tank regardless how much I used. I told them thats scamming customer, but they said thats how they do and it won't be change and hang up on me. I just want them to charge people with right price, like they said when I rent the car. We (customers) are not a money maker.

Beware that Budget Rent a Car is a scam operation! At this point, I have no other choice than to alert as many people as possible of a recent experience with this company that resulted in us needing to take legal action. Please reference the attached invoice. It isn't obvious at first glance, but anyone who can do 4th grade math will quickly realize the charges do not add up!

We rented a car through Budget at the Chicago airport back in June 2022. We flew Southwest into Midway and then rented a car for 3 days during our stay. The day we were scheduled to fly, all flights on Southwest were canceled due to weather. We called Budget to see what the additional cost would be to drive the car 1 way and drop off at Columbus International Airport. The 1 way fee was quoted to be $300. Having no other choice, we drove the car back to Columbus and dropped the car off at the airport as stated. We were told the invoice would be emailed to us after vehicle inspection... and this is where things went very wrong.

We never received an invoice, however, we were immediately charged almost $600 for the 1 way trip. We had already paid for the use of the car in Chicago which was $333, so we were charged almost $1000 for the use of a small vehicle for 3 days! After several attempts to request the invoice be sent for our review, Budget insisted the invoice was already emailed to us but when we insisted it hadn't and they needed to resend, the invoice was never sent. After 3 or 4 attempts to work with Budget directly, we contacted a lawyer to assist with the demand letter. This is where it get VERY INTERESTING! The demand letter produced an invoice for our review, and upon receiving it, I could instently tell something was not right. NONE of the charges added up correctly. There was a charge of almost $100 to fill the gas tank, which was already full upon return. There was excessive taxes incurred, 21% and 11% but the percentages did not even add up correctly. This was NOT a professional invoice, it was almost as if they fabricated an invoice to appease us but it was so poorly crafted and there was so much misinformation on the invoice, it was easily disputed. I have attached a screenshot for everyone to reference. Pay special attention to the check out/check in date highlighted on the invoice. It reflects an August date! We rented in June!

Good News, We did get some of our money back. The sad part of this story is, we never would have received that money back had we not hired a lawyer. The silver-lining is, we have a legal service through my husbands employer so it cost us nothing, but most people will not incur an additional charge to hire a lawyer to resolve this issue.

Rented a car in Baltimore, MD on October 7, 2022 and returned it on October 15, 2022 in Charlotte, NC

1. Upon receipt of car, we found water bottles and fast food cups and bags. We literally handed the stuff to the attendant who was trying to get us in the car and out of the garage. The inside had not been cleaned!

2. A few days later we were heading to North Carolina and it started raining, so I turned on the wipers and after a while the passenger side wiper came apart and started flapping all over. I had to take a rubber band and wrap it around the end to hold it together.

3. Shortly thereafter, the check engine light came on. I had to pull over and figure out what that was about.

4. When I got to my destination in North Carolina I got up the next morning and the check coolant light was on, so I had to get coolant for it.

5. The next day the battery in the key fob died and the car wouldn’t start (it was a push button start), so I had to read the manual and learn how to perform an emergency start so I could get to the airport.

All this while I’m on vacation and spending over a thousand dollars on a rental car.

I filled out the survey that budget sent me, and got a reply thanking me for my feedback and how it will hopefully help them to become better in the future, and they were sorry for not meeting my expectations!

After renting a vehicle for my sister on 6/24/22... I see a posted debit for 720.00 that hit my account on 10/11/2022. I had paid for the rental on 6/24/22.

I was with my sister when the rental was returned. Several guys at Budget walked around the vehicle and inspected it. Now I am told the debit is for glass damage. I saw no glass damage and apparently the Budget guys did not either.

I have made numerous calls and I get nowhere. I feel so taken advantage of. Where is the proof that the car was damaged? I will NEVER give this company my business again.

Deborah S Ingle

Budget Renral E971207086 - 10/09/22 - 23/09/22. Pre Paid €355

I booked and pre paid my car hire for 13 days hire from Nice airport between 10/9 - 23/9, however I have since received an invoice for €531.90, I have raised this with your customer services and have today received a response explaining that the €531.90 charges as for an additional days rental

I understand the car was returned @ 15h49 instead of 14h00 but the cost of €531.90 is outrageous and is more expensive than the total 13 days rental

Can I please ask that the invoice is cancelled and a credit made to my credit card, even the most basic logic would agree that an extra day should be calculated as €355 / 13 days = €27.30

Enclosed are copies of the rental agreement showing Zero charges and the invoice to be cancelled

We recently had a holiday in Orlando and hired a car through British Airways, their rental company of choice is Budget (unfortunately).

When we evidently got to the agent at the desk, we were not best pleased as it had taken an hour and a half to get to this point, the gentleman said right let's see what we can do to get you moving

We explained we had everything we needed but would need the tolls.

We were given a sheet to sign, and, on the sheet, there were items that said accepted and when we queried it, he just said don't worry that is just how the form comes out you will not be charged anything extra.

The car hire had cost £900.00. On the day we returned home (16 days later) budget charged us and extra £500.00 for insurance we had not even asked for.

They have charged us for every piece of insurance over and above insurance you would need, this has put us ever using Budget again as this appears to be sharp practice as it is their word against ours

I have tried going though BA who have said we signed the form so there is nothing they can do, I contacted Budget UK but have heard nothing back. I will never use Budget again

I rented a car from Budget October 2 - 4, 2022. On October 6, after returning home after my trip, I received a Budget e-receipt in my email for a $18.60 charge. This was on top of what I had already paid up front. I returned my car with a full tank of gas and very clean on October 4, 2022. There was no explanation for this charge. I do have a copy of my gas receipt and the receipt from Budget. Both receipts have been attached.