Budget Reviews 

I did I all the paper work before arriving in Dublin to pick up my car. It then took an hour to pick it up. I was told I would have do a manuel form because the computers were not working, and then they were. There were 20 other people waiting. Eventually after a lot of conversation where I was not given any explanation for the delay , I was offered a car where there were sensor issue, a broken rear shelf and a car with lots of scratches. Not happy

I booked online in the UK for a vehicle that I picked up for 3 days at Bordeaux airport. I was charged an extra £70 for no reason and no response when questioned by email.

Pickng up a rental car when tired after a long overnight flight should be avoided if possible. Car rental, paid in advance: 216.67 pounds. Add-ons: 731.16!! Be prepared to be shocked at the cost of (in my opinion a must-have) insurance, plus 'additional products' (not explained), plus 'location surcharge' (not explained), plus 'vehicle licence fee' (not explained). Yes, my error in not asking for explicit descriptions of the add-ons. I take responsibility for that, but how hard would it be for the clerk to run down the list on a paper copy, rather than waving a tablet? If I could give '0' stars I would.

Unauthorised and illegal extra charges after we returned the car - once in London and again in New Zealand. I will NEVER use Budget again - rather pay a bit extra & use a reputable company

TLDR: took my money for a car they didn't have, told me I would not be charged, charged me anyway, failed to provide a refund. Avoid avoid avoid!

4th July: Budget UK accepted a booking for a £200 hire, despite not having any cars to provide.

Their system would not allow me to cancel the booking, because you can only do so when there's more than 2hrs to go before the booking starts, but of course, you only get to find out that they have no cars at the time of your booking.

I finally got through to someone two days later (7th July), and received email confirmation that the booking was cancelled and that a refund would be provided to the card I paid on, with the person on the phone telling me it would be issued within 7 days.

It is now 24th July, and I've yet to see any refund, forcing me to go down the chargeback route with my bank - who tell me it could be two weeks or more before I see my money again.

The service agent was so focussed on selling me extra insurance for the £2000 excess not mentioned at booking that he neglected to tell me how to start the MG car without a key, how to use the complex display controls and where to find the petrol cap release lever. They need more agents with one dedicated to the parking lot and making sure you understand key features of their cars so you dont damage them and need to call on insurance.

Not received deposit back after 6 weeks abd They dont intend to either. I have asked them several times and they just fob me off. They also said I have a fine and charged an extra 35 euro for sending me a letter. There is no fine. Absolute sharks!!

You are supposed to report damage within 48 hours but it is impossible to call anyone during the weekend , and the phone lines once the office is open keeps you on hold for ages . It makes a stressful event even more stressful. And at palma de Mallorca airport they give you a premium number to call on your contract that does not work from uk phones . Never alike I use budget again . .

Not sure how they still operate. Please read reviews before you book.

So I hired an electric car and put it back in the condition I received it in and was slightly under charge but I paid for it ,and now it’s been over 28 days and no deposit back not happy as I can see by reviews they are not good at returning deposits. Won’t be using them again.

It is truly the worst experience. They charge me extra £178 on the day of pick up. 1 month after I return the car. I found that my card was charged additional £90 out of nowhere. Extremely disappointed.

As the car that I hired was not ready, I was given a BMW instead. That was good. However the Heathrow Budget car park is very far away from the terminaI so I rushed to return the car to not to miss the plane. Therefore I couldn't top up the fuel. Then I was ripped off. £140 was withdrawn from my card as "refueling fee" for half a depot. So be careful while you are returning your car otherwise Budget will take a huge money from your pocket. Be vigilent, don't be ripped off.

Budget £600 dearer than last year then noticed they took £580 from my bank cost me£25 to get the money back

Bought a bmw he never checked the car window washers not working oil leak no bulb in a fog lamp had to put new tyres on the first day ,and so rude never again

I wanted to add a second named driver to my car rental booking, as it was a long drive from the collection point. I emailed Budget five times and only received one response, which came three days after I had already collected the car. I also called them on four separate occasions prior to collection; each time, I was calling from abroad and was left on hold for over ten minutes without ever getting through to anyone.
Their pre-collection customer service is among the worst I have experienced with any rental company. This was my first time using Budget, having previously been a Europcar customer for eleven years, and I would not recommend Budget to anyone based on this experience. The level of service prior to collection was extremely poor.
The car itself an mg, however, was satisfactory.

Came home to additional charges that cost more than our original price. We were offered additional insurance for €38 that we accepted yet the rental agreement has charged us over £200. Charged an additional day yet we booked it for the amount of days we required. We were told to bring the car back full which we did yet they charged us a fuel up front charge too and a premium location surcharge. None of this was explained and the cost was sold as a holding charge that would be returned. Trying to get anything out of the customer services has been useless and the whole experience has just ruined our holiday. Will NEVER use them again. Absolute con artists

Hired a car for 3 days as it was cheap! Didn't really need one in Sydney but decided to, as the cost was low. That is until they extort additional, unauthorised and unsanctioned fees from the credit card they have on file. Car USB port failed enroute to airport and couldn't find petrol station as I had no Android auto/Nav. Drove around but worried Iwould be late for my flight. Dropped off and agreed 1/4 tank of fuel but when I received the statement they charged a full tank, and also charged for dropping off at the airport, where I collected it from! Credit card company now involved as Booking.com and Budget failed to respond with any valid reasons. I will avoid in the future.

They don't want to give you the car but they'll take your money. I had pre-booked a car from Glasgow airport to return to Manchester Airport. I had paid and at the counter was told because I had scored 'amber' on their internal systems ID check I had to produce two utility bills. The utility bills at our home are all in my partner's name and the Budget representative would not accept bank statements, NHS, HMRC or any other correspondence that clearly show it was my address.
I was given no indication why their system had marked me as amber and there was no common sense prevailing. The system said no so they kept my money and I didn't get a car.
This also happened to the man in front of me who was refused his prebooked and prepaid car because his bank card showed only his first name initial and surname showed on his bank card (a very common thing) rather than his full name.
Their policies are designed to catch you out and are quite frankly discriminatory unless you fit their norm of being the main bill payer of the house. I wonder if it was a man who came up with this policy.

They denied my booking from EXPEDIA In Madrid AIRPORT and offer to buy from them a new booking.
I'm fighting to get my money back and my rights. AVOID this company and rentals in EXPEDIA they don't take any responsability!

I rented a car (for the second time) from Budget/Avis car rental in London Battersea and the sales assistant was wonderful. He was super helpful as I arrived to pick up the car early. He really bent over backwards to make sure I was able to take my car early as I had a long drive ahead. This is my second good experience with this office as I previously used to go to Sixt but they always tried a hard sell, they would do everything possible for me to buy extras and upgrade the car and once I had to pay for a scratch that I did not do. None of this at Budget/Avis. Also super easy for me to drop off my car on my return which was after hours.