Budget Reviews 

Stay away from these thieves.

I am extremely disappointed and frustrated with the completely unacceptable service I have received from Budget.

Over 12 days ago I returned the rental car in perfect condition. The staff member who inspected the vehicle confirmed there was no damage and everything was fine, yet Budget is still holding £300 of my money with absolutely no explanation.

Since then, trying to contact someone has been nearly impossible. When you finally manage to reach someone on the phone, they simply tell you to communicate via email instead of actually helping resolve the issue. This is incredibly frustrating and feels like a deliberate way to avoid dealing with customers.

To make matters worse, I was asked to provide proof that the £300 was taken from my account, which is ridiculous. Budget should already be able to see that they charged my card. Regardless, I still sent them a clear bank statement showing the payment, yet days later the money is still missing from my account and nobody seems to care.

This situation is completely unacceptable. Holding onto a customer’s money like this without any proper explanation or urgency is disgraceful. That £300 is not small change, and the lack of communication and accountability from Budget is shocking.

If this issue is not resolved immediately, I will have no choice but to escalate the matter and pursue legal action to recover my money.

I strongly advise anyone considering renting from Budget to think twice, because based on my experience, once they have your money it becomes extremely difficult to get it back.

Absolutely a despicable company Budget car hire Heathrow Airport.
I asked for basic insurance and wack me with Super Damage Waiver which was £400 they added this Super Theft Protection £79.07 never asked for that… some additional products what ever the heck that is £187.04. Location surcharge £174.42.

See they hide the information until the end and then run through the agreement via a computer screen, they scroll through and tell you where to sign, and that’s it before you can double check anything they have you!!
In my case that’s £1072.00 so over £800 in added charges for 11 days of hire.

I only seriously knew this after I’d signed the agreement, when my wife informed me of the cost from Budget Car hire, back in Canada through our banking app.

Yes it’s on the agreement, but they fold it in half so you see your details and car information.
The price of the agreement is at the back page, it’s all very thought through via the salesperson.

When I went to book it through Westjet, the price of the car was £205 (this all includes 20%VAT).

After find out this price I was literally about to drive back 3 hours to the pick up / drop off point to returned the car and cancel the whole thing, try and deduce this horrendous cost, because when I was collecting the car I mentioned about possibly dropping the car off early by a day or two.
The salesman assured me, that you only get charged for the day you use the car!!

Well that’s a complete and utter lie!!

I found this out by actually going through their terms and conditions, if you return early, for any reason they will still charge you for the day not used in the agreement!

So this company is a con!
It’s not a hire company, it’s a sales person looking after their own pocket!!

This salesman was trying very hard to tell me not to fill up at the petrol station before dropping it off and let them do it!!
This also is a huge con, it would have been another extremely expensive add-on £3:03 per litre.
At the petrol / gas station it was £1:35 per litre.

I honestly hope you go out of business Budget!!
I hope everyone avoids you like the plague!!

So for anyone that is reading this I’d beg you to listen and take note…..
DO NOT USE BUDGET CAR HIRE!! EVER!!
Worst company ever!!
You have been warned!!

As for me, this is my promise to you Budget you will never have my business ever again!
None of my family will ever use you so you have lost their business.
I will personally tell everyone that ever asks me about traveling to the UK from Alberta, and trust me that a lot of people in my line of work!! never to use Budget car hire!!

Without doubt the worst firm I have ever dealt with. I am in discussions with them currently about how they dishonestly added multiple products to my rental - which amounted to $1428 which they charged me. I received no communication on this until I check my credit card statement.

Worst experience with Budget at Belfast Intl. Airport

I have a UK driver's license for one year and booked Budget car for 2 days through Expedia. I arrived from Manchester at 11 PM to the revelation that I need at least 2 years of UK license is required to rent the car. This requirement was not mentioned in the T&Cs which generically mentioned that some areas of the UK might require more UK driving license experience. The Budget representative was unhelpful and we were unable to source help from him, or contact Budget customer support. We also could not request refund as they said that Expedia is yet to release funds.

Had to rent an exorbitantly expensive car at that time of night from airport. Will not recommend at all.

I am extremely disappointed with my recent experience with Budget Rent a Car UK following a rental from London City Airport.
At the point of vehicle collection, the Budget staff member clearly stated that the car already had damage and specifically confirmed that all alloy wheels were already scratched. This was said before I left the forecourt and in the presence of a witness. The rental agreement itself also records existing damage at the start of the hire.

Despite this, after returning the vehicle I was contacted with an allegation of “new damage” and the implication that I would be charged. No detailed or itemised pre-rental inspection report was provided to me at pickup, so I am shocked that Budget believes it can fairly assess or attribute damage without having properly documented the vehicle’s condition beforehand.

I also have contemporaneous video evidence taken at pickup showing the vehicle’s condition, which further supports that the alleged damage was pre-existing.

Being accused of causing damage under these circumstances is both upsetting and unacceptable. I am currently disputing the claim and seeking the return of my deposit.

Based on this experience, I would strongly advise customers to thoroughly document the vehicle at pickup and to be cautious, as Budget’s damage handling process appears unfair and poorly managed.
Rental Agreement: 789087084

I will never rent with this company again. They have charged me way more than on the invoice. When questioned about this customer service have deliberately avoided addressing that part of my email.
When I returned the car they calculated that I’d driven hundreds of miles when I’d actually only driven about 30.
They have also taken a further payment from my bank account over month after the rental, with no warning or notification of why.
What began as a £250 rental is now way over £450 because they have just taken my money. Do not rent from these cowboys.

Fantastic friendly customer service on collection of the vehicle from Prab at the London Heathrow office 👌☺️ he made us feel so welcome after our flight and nothing was too much trouble. We would definitely use Budget again

Paid in full via Booking.com for a Nisaan Juke at Manchester Airport, they didn't have that car and was given a BMW that was in quite bad condition. Photos and video taken.
Returned the car 2 weeks later, drove into the budget/avis drop off zone, met by one of their team who inspected the car and said all was fine. Took the keys and said an invoice would be emailed to me.
On returning to New Zealand an email was received with excess charges
1. City Tax....there is no city tax for Manchester
2. Upsell to the value of £250...???? no idea what this is.
3. Road Fund License
4. Grand total of extras....$1300 NZ Dollars

To top all this off, I've since received letters and emails saying I have an unauthorized parking charge at Manchester Airport £90.00/$270.00
If payment is not received within 2 days of the letter , further proceedings and court action could be made.

Several emails of complaint, all never responded to and found out they closed the case...

I'm now pursuing a claim with my bank...not sure if this work

All my booking documents specified a €1500 deposit. They denied that at the collection desk, despite me showing them the paperwork where it very clearly said €1500 deposit. They refused to honor the legal paperwork and were charging a €2000 deposit+extra fees (fuel?). They refused to split it between 2 credit cards in my name. Refused my husbands credit card (he was with me giving permission). Refused debit card and refused electronic card (Google wallet but still had cc number etc to copy down for confirmation). We were stuck paying the rediculous €30+ daily charge which on my receipt says €21 so fairly sure I've been overcharged there. Then finding the car was not easy. When we found the car we were very disappointed. Smaller than I had booked. I had booked a VW polo, which I have owned previously so know 3 teens can fit in the back seats, snug but doable. We were given a Toyota yaris which was not comfortable. The interior was worn, an actual hole in the carpeting on driver's floor. Whilst not dirty, it wasn't clean. All in all, awful experience. Worst car hire experience I've had over the past 20 years hiring.

Dishonest time wasters.

Took £300 as a deposit when car picked up. Car returned no disputes.

They won’t release deposit for 6 weeks, called the bank - they confirmed it’s their responsibility.

This morning without any communication they took a further £65 out of my account.

This review goes for Budget (AVIS) in Italy , Naples.
The staff was very friendly and understandable. They offered the best option for my situation as I was left without a car by another company because I didn't have credit card. My card was charged 200 euros deposit as collateral, and was promptly refunded in just three days after I delivered back the car. Thank you.

THEY ARE SCAMMERS at Zagreb airport! After returning the car at 05:30 in the morning in good condition and with a full tank and leaving for my early flight, I found an additional charge of 269 EUR in my bank account. Budget did not send me any notification or invoice or anything like that. After chasing them for more than 7 days via emails and phone calls, they finally sent me a calculation showing that they charged me for a damaged alloy wheel. But the car does not have alloy wheels - only steel wheels with plastic hubcaps!! There are 2 small scratches on the plastic hubcap in the picture, and the picture was taken 2 hours after the additional charges were calculated. I did not even make those scratches - they just swapped the hubcap from the right wheel to the left and said I damaged it! Even if that was true, which it is not, 269 EUR for a scratched plastic hubcap?

Avoid avoid avoid!! Rented a car in Orlando. Soon as I flew home all these payments started coming out of my credit card account!! Even from a country in US that I hadn’t visited! They are extremely difficult to get hold of when you ring them, even cutting the call off after waiting 40 minutes to talk to someone! Credit card have blocked them after informing me they stored my card details, and even more payments are due to come out! Started a dispute claim against them, so hopefully I’ll get my money back.

I asked to pick up the taxi from the airport. They then told me I had to get a minibus to get the car. What a joke of a company.

Like MANY other customers i'm left feeling ripped off.
Deposit was taken and NOT returned.
Was rudely told its standard and it may take up to a month for them to return the money.
Staff advised me that this is a known regular occurrence and problem with Budget but I still wasn't advised at the time or rental... and still haven't received my money back!
Would NEVER advise anybody to use BUDGET as they effectively steal money.
Would advise using a different company with customer service and care for the customer.

Wow did not realise Budget are so poor throughout the world!Reading the reviews it looks like Budget in Dubai Airport like to withhold deposits for no reasons. I have found out for myself and have sent an e-mail asking for my money back. This is fraud. Although the rental itself went smoothly I cannot accept that a company as big as Budget would stoop this low. I notice that the office in Dubai has responded to most reviews asking people for their details and they would look into it, has anybody had their deposits refunded after they supposedly look into it? I am planning to go to Dubai regularly and was going to use Budget as my preferred rental company but unless they deal with this immediately it will NOT be the case.
Does not seem that anybody at Budget really cares about all the reviews.

If there was a zero rating they would get it.

Hired a car for 4 weeks, dropped it off at Heathrow fully fueled up. Car was accepted back with nil issues.

Few days later massive debit from them against my credit card. Nil explanation at all. Numerous attempts to ask what's happened all met with no response at all.

So basically they just took money with no reason which is basically theft.

Do not use Budget UK if you want money taken and zero response.

Don't book with them. They scammed me about the excess on the website. I booked through budget.co.uk and the website mentioned excess of 4,000ISK, when I booked it got changed to 400,000ISK... when i called, it got changed again to 360,000ISK. Got transferred multiple times to different people and no one wanted to assist me or rectify their mistake. I couldn't even submit a complaint because I haven't used their service yet and I WON'T!

I had a very disappointing experience with Avis Budget UK at Bristol Airport in September 2025.

I returned my rental car (MG3 Hybrid, reg. LB74GXU) at 16:00, well within opening hours, but no staff were available to check the car. I was told to drop the keys in a box, which meant there was no joint inspection.

A few days later, Avis Budget accused me of damaging the front left door and sent me a bill for £478.21 (including “downtime” and admin fees). I completely reject this. The car was in perfect condition when I left it, and I have video evidence taken at the time showing no damage at all.

Despite this, Avis Budget refuses to accept the video, demanding metadata photos instead — even though their own failure to staff the desk forced me into a drop-box return. To me, this is unreasonable and unfair:
• Video is actually stronger evidence than a single static photo.
• I’ve never even been shown proof of the supposed damage.
• The burden of proof should not be on the customer, especially when the company doesn’t provide a handover.

This experience has left me frustrated and feeling misled. I would strongly caution anyone renting from Avis Budget at Bristol Airport: if you’re forced to use the drop-box system, you risk being billed for damage you didn’t cause.

Yep, its just as bad as everyone is saying. What a big mistake it was using these guys, I mean they are literally called "budget". just go with a serious company. Damn. We got scammed by £200 for extending one day, the last 4 days were £80. They also quoted us £60 and then charged £200. Scam