Budget Car Rental Reviews 5,854

The car I ordered was not available and I was offered an upgrade to a fully electric car. Not an upgrade at all. Female behind the counter was chatty with a customer about her own problems while other customers waiting and as I was being helped, the customer came back on and said her car was dirty. While trying to troubleshoot my n own problem, the staff would not be quiet and was badmouthing her bosses and company. She was extremely rude and unprofessional. I could not go on my trip bc of this incident and lost 1000s of dollars on a non refundable event ticket. Do NOT use Budget unless you want an awful experience. Based on reviews this was not a one off.

I'm stuck in the budget rental line i Pittsburgh. One person working, 23 people ahead of me. Does anyone work here.

Booked a car at Dublin airport. Long wait times at pick up and they didn't have the car type id reserved.
On route to dropping off we got stuck on the M50 due to 2 accidents so we're short of time. The girl who checked the car took ages despite us pointing out we were under time pressure. She thoroughly checked inside and out. Had to wait half an hour for the shuttle bus to the airport. Unfortunately on the bus we realised we had left our jackets on the back seat. I spoke to the driver and he assured me that he would retrieve them and leave them in the office for us. We did make our flight but only due to it being delayed by half an hour. After numerous calls over the next few days trying to arrange for the jackets to be collected by a family member I was eventually informed the jackets could not be found. All I got from their customer service was "not our problem, it's in our T&C's we don't accept liability". So basically 1 of their staff stole the jackets and they don't care. Here's the thing, theft by finding is a criminal offence. I have made a report to the Gardi and while I don't expect them to do anything I was told by Gardi if they get enough reports it will trigger a visit at the very least. Will never use Budget/Avis again. Expensive service, terrible customer service and staff are thieves.

I needed to cancel a car rental reservation and encountered a completely ineffective process.

The online cancellation option did not work and displayed an error message stating that the reservation could not be modified and that I should contact the travel partner through which the booking had originally been made.

I tried to resolve the issue using the contact channels provided by Budget, but without success. On one occasion, I spent more than 35 minutes on hold without being able to speak to a customer service representative. Despite multiple calls and repeated attempts over several days, I was unable to obtain any assistance.

As a last resort, I submitted a formal cancellation request by email, attaching evidence of the error and explaining the situation in detail. To date, I have received no response to that email.

It is extremely frustrating when online tools do not work, phone support is unreachable, and written requests go unanswered. A very disappointing experience and far below what I would expect from an international company.

We rented a car by budget cars and took insurance with it. When we came to the desk they frightened us by saying this and that can happen and we had to upgrade our insurance. They also said they would fill up our gasoline and charged us a redigulous amount of 93 pounds for it. The car was an MG and the whole trip we had problems with the automatic acceleration. Eventually we got a motor management light on the dashboard and when we called about it we learned that that was common with this vehicle so we were stresses out for no reason. So, we got a terrible car for a whole lot of money. 725 pounds for 6 days. Never again with budget cars!!!!!

Budget has let me down a few times lately but most recently we have been the target of a complete scam being operated out of the Bari Airport in Italy where damage is fabricated to charge ridiculous repair fees. This happened to both my father and I on a recent trip, with the "evidence" photos provided for the damage of my father's vehicle being a completely different vehicle with door handles that didn't match. I have a video from drop off that does not have the damage they are claiming for my vehicle. Check in counter tried to scam with a charge for fuel that was declined, and you're rushed through the check in process and shown a contract that is only in Italian.

So I rent cars nearly every month or 2 months , so it's not something iv done once or twice, to the point that i have yearly world wide hire insurance (that works, iv had to use it , twice)as it's a lot cheaper, A LOT CHEAPER.
so when i hire with my wife , I have to keep it reasonably clean .our last trip to New York we returned the car having had 2 full days of rain , it was notvthat dirty. They charged 125 us dollars to clean it.
Iv asked for photos so far nothing , no proof from there side . So people beware of budget rental . be very afraid.

We got to Budget at LaGuardia, There was a line outside the door. I counted the people. There were 30.
I looked inside. There was only one representative for over 30 people on line. It took 90 minutes before it was my turn. I then waited 3o minutes for my car,
The next day when I returned the car, there was only one representative at returns. He told me that if I wanted a receipt I had to go inside the office. I went in. There were ten people on line. There was one employee and one trainee on duty. It took 30 minutes. Then to add insult to injury, the handicapped bus they sent for us was NOT working!

Fine, until have to talk to anyone on the phone. Extremely long wait times tht make government waits looks snappy.
realy puts you off using them again.

budget has overcharged me for gas on the last 5 trips - i have to call and argue with them even though i chose the bring it back and we will fill it at market price. I love the fast break option - but will be looking for another car rental agency at this point.

Hired from Dublin Airport. Budget have unnecessarily created TWO Check-in desks here - especially to duplicate everything and waste customers' time!! Well done!
Staff fairly rude, unhelpful, don't LISTEN , and some cannot actually speak any English...!!
Car itself (Renault CAPTUR) broke down, stranding us in the Irish countryside, and only thanks to help from friends were we rescued.
Despite 19 attempts to call Budget/AVIS the next morning, ZERO response. They simply don't bother with any staff to answer calls and provide assistance at all. Had to call AA and sort out the tow myself... Then Budget had the cheek to charge us for full hire despite us losing Day 3!! A Dreadful company with ZERO interest in their customers (Other than their credit cards). We will NEVER use them again...!

Having rented a car through Budget first reserving on line , I denied the insurance. At the airport I again denied the insurance only to find out once I received an email after I returned the car to see I was charged for insurance. 3 phone calls later , from Eddie, Angel and Thomas (supervisor) was I told initially I'd be refunded (Eddie), claim denied (Angel), 50% refund (Thomas). Asked for an email confirming refund told by Thomas that they couldn't send an email only the email department could. 2nd time I was told I'd receive an email. Waiting on email and to see if refund will actually be given. All in all PLEASE NEVER RENT FROM THIS COMPANY AS THEY ARE NORTORIOUS FOR FALSE ADVERTISING AND UPCHARGES!

scam. Please read reviews

Waited a half hour in line at Punta Gorda airport. I had reserved a mid sized car. Was told they didn’t have a mid sized car. Also was told they couldn’t accept my debit card!? What?! Literally guaranteed funds. Guaranteed by Mastercard. Also would not accept cash so we would have been stranded but luckily Enterprise got us a car. There was no urgency by staff. Actually seemed like they were deliberately moving as slow as possible. I overheard them telling several people that they did not have the vehicle they reserved. What is the point of reserving a certain vehicle if it’s not going to be reserved??? Wish I had read the reviews first. Will never use Budget or Avis again.

I would give 0 stars if I could. First, I rented a car for 30 days. When I tried to extend for another week, I had to make a new reservation, return the car to the original destination and start a new reservation. The system would not allow any other option. At the desk it took 5 minutes (but I had to drive more than 2 hours round trip). Why they wouldn’t do it over the phone I have no idea. They did not even ask to see the car. Then, on the new reservation I had to extend for another 2 days. My rate went from $49.98/day to almost $500/day. And I was in a bind so I had to accept it. I will never rent from Budget again. Ever.

Deceptive Fees and Negligent Service – Avoid Budget SRQ
I rented a vehicle from Budget Car Rental at the Sarasota airport (SRQ) for a trip to Port Charlotte, and it was a complete nightmare. While driving on Interstate 75, a tire failed. When I checked the trunk, I discovered Budget had rented me a car with absolutely no spare tire.
Because of their unequipped vehicle, we were left stranded on the side of a dangerous highway for two hours in the pouring rain waiting for a flatbed tow truck to take us and the car back. Nothing was mentioned about billing at vehicle return. Instead, several days after returning home, I received a letter stating they sneaked an outrageous charge of $343.43 onto my credit card.
Had Budget disclosed this fee upfront during the call, I would have simply used my own AAA membership to handle the tow for free. Hiding the fee prevented me from using my own coverage. Budget supplies unsafe vehicles, leaves you stranded, and uses underhanded billing tactics to trap you into forced fees. Avoid them at all costs.

Worst rental car company by far. A late flight had me rushing to the next destination. Car was less than a quarter tank full when I left the lot. I refilled twice. One, a day before the return. I was charged a refueling fee. When asked to remove it, I was told to provide receipts. After providing the receipts they denied them. On the first phone call I spoke with someone that told me to call back. The second phone call they hung up on me after putting me on hold.

I rented a car from Charleston South Carolina. I drove 46 miles in 2 days. That was it. I returned it to the same location and the amount of shifty charges and bad service I got was unreasonable and left me feeling like I was bamboozled. How do they stay in business? IT'S bogus!

Budget Spain, Barcelona.
I would give zero if I could. Really, classic liars. Because of a company, you really have a terrible name for car rental companies. Stay away. Pay more with another rental agency. Whatever you can, don't work with them.

If you have any issues it is impossible to phone them or email them.
Phone takes hours to answer. EMail address for post rental bounces.