Budget Rent A Car Overview
Budget Rent A Car has a 1.5-star rating, derived from feedback provided by 813 customers. In the Rentals category, it secures the 4th position out of 300 companies.
Rating
Contact Information
Website
www.budget.com
Phone
(800) 404-8033
6 Sylvan Way, Parsippany, New Jersey, 07054, United States
Budget Rent A Car Reviews
Synia
Over charge
I rented a car from Budget on 2 occasions this last month. They were both disappointing. On August 13th I rented a car in Duluth Minnesota, I returned it on August 18th. Invoice # 1-17****. We were late returning because of road construction (which is fairly common in Minnesota in the summer they said) I was charged an entire additional day? No grace period and no prorating? The invoice said we rented the car at 1:30 - our plane did not land until 2:00 and then we got our luggage. On August 19th I rented a car in Albany, NY. I rented through Costco travel Confirmation # 3596****US5. My confirmation said Due at rental agency - $425.92. I was actually charged $535.73 I was not able to stand in line for another hour to speak to the agent. I am hoping you can make the proper adjustments for these rentals. I use Budget for my rental car needs. If this is the policy I won't be doing so in the future. Thank you for you assistance to this problem. Danette Shirley
Dorian
Unsatisfied customer
I drove 1.5 hrs to pick this vehicle up for a trip to florida. We were driving 15 hrs for a family funeral. When we got there they tried to give us a cord explorer and not a Chevy traverse. My husband caught it and then when he said no we wanted a traverse they found one. Never mentioned it was never cleaned. I got in and everything was fine. I put it in drive and noticed red gewy stuff on the driver stick. My husband did not get in the car and just went to his truck. We drove 1.5 hrs home to pack for our trip and noticed cat food, dirty tissues. The car was filthy in the back. When we started out trip my husband and daughter had an allergic reaction because of the animal in there before. They both were itching and uncomfortable. We didnt take the car back due to the additional 3 hrs we were to drive to exchange and we were already in route. I called my vacation package company which I booked through and they tried to resolve while I was on my trip, they couldnt get a response and said I had to handle directly. I did not have a chance to deal with it until I returned. I called budget and spoke to a Jose. He was very rude on the phone. Demanded I should have returned the car and said my husband was rude at the counter. My husband was saying yes Sr. There was in no way any moment of us being rude. We just requested the travelers vs the explorer. This guy Jose proceeded to tell me there was nothing else he could do. I asked if there was a claim and he said yes. I had to ask for the claim number and he gave it to me he was very unprofessional. I still have heard nothing from budget. No email or response and its been a week since I called to customer service. Im not even sure anyone received my claim. Very poor service
Anonim
Overcharged
Overcharged to my CC for a car rental, after asked for a rental price budget representative lie about some charges that they were charged to my cc saying that were refundable deposits and was completely different, overcharged my cc with a different amount told at the beginning when I ask for a price of rental
Anonim
The worse
I was in an accident while in the rental car. Trying to get roadside service with Budget put me in a continuous loop. When I finally got through I was told to get a tow truck to drive two hours to get to another car. They gave the tow truck driver the wrong address after we drove two hours to that location and he had no place to leave the damaged vehicle. The Budget place was closed they sent us to so we had to take a taxi to a nearby hotel and rent a place to stay that night. The car we picked up the next day was inferior to what we originally rented. I called my insurance and credit card companies who informed me of the information they need. One of the items was the original contract paper and the ink used faded beyond reading unless used in a bright light and magnifying glass to try to decipher any numbers. When I tried to get that copy at the airport when we turned in the car, they said they can't reproduce the original document now. Nobody at Budget will return calls I leave to get any information to submit to insurance. I literally waited online for one hour to be told that department couldn't help me. Customer service had me call lost and found, billing, and suggested I drive to the airport where the car was rented. I live in CA and I am suppose to drive to WA??? I am sorry I didn't read other reviews before signing up with Budget. I am still at a loss waiting for someone to respond. It was bad enough that someone T Boned me in the right of way, but dealing with Budget??? As I said, the worse!
Gail
Negligent behavior by Rental Company
Attached - Budget letter Got dangerous balled, gashed and holes down to the thread - 2 front tires on rental car for a short vacation. Lived through the first 2hr freeway ride at 75mph. Had no vacation and bought new tires to get back to airport safely. :(
Brooke
Where do I even start? So many complaints....
I've never used Budget Rental before - and never will again. An excerpt: "This is one of many letters, phone calls, faxes, and emails since February 2023. Ive kindly asked for detailed receipts, adjusted invoices, and reimbursement. The correspondence and communication Ive received until this point was complacent, poorly delivered, or non-existent in some instances. It is absurd to receive shallow email correspondences that my case has been satisfactorily reviewed and all charges were found to be valid. This is not standard ethical business practice. Budget does not reflect a customer-service centered approach to conflict resolution. Budgets customer service policy with regard to stranded drivers shows negligence and places customers in dangerous situations. Once again, the facts are provided here along with this cover sheet for review. If Budget does not see fit to reimburse all charges ($1383.02) be advised that I am seeking relief through Capital One credit card services and the States Attorney office will be contacted hereafter. I look forward to a prompt resolution. And there are SO MANY MORE details. I don't have time to list them all!
Marshall
Toll Issues
Your service did nothing but connect me to the same customer service I could have called without it. Not really sure what you did here?
Dawsen
The worst car rental experience with Budget
I rented a vehicle over month ago to transport youth to camp. I tried calling the pick up location and they have their phones set to go to reservations. I was told by customer service that they do that when they are cleaning cars. Called reservations and they cannot help with issues. Cannot understand or hear the people at Budget reservations or customer service. Drove to the pick up location to confirm the reservation and they said they cannot tell me if the vehicle I prepaid for will be there for pick up Talked to the manager at the location. He stated it may be there it may not. That's the way it goes sometimes, there is nothing we can do about it as he shrugged his shoulders and walked out to lunch. Called 5 numbers to get a manager. Got ahold of someone and he said the same thing. I will just need to go tomorrow and see if it is there. I was put on a list for a manager call back in 48 hours but that will not help me with this situation. Really Joe Ferraro? That is how you run the company? What a shame I used to like to use you. This has been a very bad experience.
Renada
Problems with the car
While traveling, we heard a noise coming from the front end of the car.. long story short..by the front passenger tire..the plastic covering by the wheel had melted/shredded..it appears that they might have put new tires on or did some undercarriage work and did not reinstall the covering correctly. We were unable to get Roadside assistance, I contacted the insurance company and they tried to assist, gave me a claim number (just in case), we had to get the plastic off and zip tie the plastic together, in order to proceed, we were in an area with limited resources/not safe to be put in the open all night. I called Budget a few times, no answer, I messaged on FB messenger and was told to drive to the nearest location for an exchange, I called the nearest one, no answer, I called again when we got safely to our destination. I was told to just drive there (over an hour) and see if they have a car, she didn't offer to confirm that they would have a car and then said take it back to Austin, I let her know we are in Sedona and would like to have a vehicle that could safely get us back without worry. Her response again was to just show up at the Flagstaff airport. Not convenient at all at the time. I decided to continue to see out help, messaged on FB messenger again, no response yet. I found another number on pissedconsumer.com. The rep told me they had cars there and to drive there. She said she could not take a reservation or give me any confirmation that we would be able to exchange the car, once again, told to drive there and see if a car would be available. Has to be an easier and convenient way for a guaranteed exchange for a vehicle that was given to a customer that was not properly prepared for travel.
Anonim
To speak with a manager about the experience I had and no manager was available, noonr could help me or care less. Horrible customer service.
Terrible. The truck I reserved was not available the day I went to pick up. No one was in the least bit accommodating or empathetic to my situation. Nothing was done to resolve the problem. Called customer service, NO HELP. Supervisor/ management info was not provided to me and management was supposedly not available to address my call. Very unorganized and unprofessional.
Evah
Budget Lied
Reserved a convertible in January for a Florida trip in June to pick up at Sanford Airport in Orlando. Got there to learn the car reserved for me had a chipped windshield so it couldn't be sent out. Was told to call back during my stay to see if any convertibles had been returned. Asked for the number and was handed a rental folder with the 800#. They gave me a nice car, but it had ants. (More about that in a bit.) Next morning I called the 800#. It took me over 15 minutes to get to a human who explained she couldn't help me; I needed to call the location and was given that number. I called it several times every day and it was never answered. The number just spilled over to the 800# after ringing several times. The agent who told me to call back to get a convertible knew this would be the case and lied to appease me and get rid of me. I lit up a different agent upon the return and she discounted my rate, claiming I got two days free -- on a nonconvertible car I didn't reserve or want that was swarming with ants!!!
JAYDA
Car Rental Experience
May 4, 2023, I used the noted company due to my warranty only reimbursing $30 per day. In trying to save money I created havoc for myself, WARNING: they never inspect the vehicle or take pictures of the vehicle so make sure that you do so; after picking up the vehicle the following morning the tire was flat and in calling their roadside assistant not only was there a 2-hour wait, but there was a $75 service fee. I had no time to waste because my daughter wedding was in 2 days and I had last minute things that needed my attention. So, I had my son to change the tire and since there was only a dummy tire, I was at the rental company prior to their opening in hopes of getting in and getting out expeditiously and that didn't happen. One of the employees motioned me to move the vehicle from in the front of the gate yet never letting me know where I should park the vehicle because I assumed that I could just pull in once they're open. They opened the gate ignoring me, so I parked the vehicle in the alley way in back of the building and went in to discuss the tire and paperwork was shoved in my face, and I was told to complete the form in its entirety and asked who changed the tire. No concerns of my safety, they made sure my insurance information was noted and gave me an exchange but again no walk around not making sure all was in excellent condition and my being in such a rush I forgot! BIG MISTAKE Upon retuning the car on May 7, 2023, I gave the key to the employee, he went outside and came Back in to notify me that the window was cracked. Feeling disgusted with myself for not examining this exchange vehicle, I go out to see what he was talking about and there was a hairline crack and of course I'm held liable. Forced to complete a second report and again no friendly service, no concerns whatsoever and the manager tried to force me to write what happened to the window when I have no idea and got upset because that's exactly what I wrote. Why would I think that things couldn't get any worse; I received a Demand letter dated May 26, 2023, that they will be charging my card on file for $169.00 for what they're saying is the total expense for services and repairs; why would they harass me for my insurance information on 2 separate incidents??? HORRIBLE, and unethical business practices! I'm praying that they won't hit my insurance company up for the same incident??? NIGHTMARE BEWARE!
Sara
My plane delayed and they closed the airport and upped the price of my rental car.
I booked a rental car on Expedia and when my flight was delayed by two hours due to rain I was informed by the rental agency that the airport rental place would be closed when I landed but on top of that they wanted to charge me another $200 to rent a car at their 24 hour location. I asked how I was supposed to get there and they representative suggested that I Uber! So, I cancelled my rental from them. And ended up spending wayyyy more with Avis who also is owned by budget!? Avis, had a bus that picked me up at the airport but in the end I paid waaaayyyy too much for a simple rental car. This really made my trip a lot more difficult for me and much more than I had anticipated. In the end, I paid it. But I have no intention of ever renting a car from either place ever again. You couldnt pay me to ever rent a car from here. The Avis guy was a greasy guy/ smooth talker. Kind of reminded me of Joe Biden you know they type that will look you dead in the eyes and tell you what he thinks you want to hear while full knowing that he never had any intentions of keeping my rental car price at the same price I rented it from Expedia. I probably wont ever do Expedia again because of it.
JIMMY
Fraudulent charges for damage that was pre-existing
I reserved a vehicle from the Avis/Budget Group at Glasgow Airport. When I arrived the vehicle, I reserved was not there or available. I booked an SUV. The clerk said that they will upgrade me to a Volkswagen Golf. Not really an upgrade but the was the only vehicle they had, and my reservation was pre-paid. When I did the circle check with the Budget agent, I noticed the vehicle was covered in mud and the passenger side of the vehicle was heavily damaged as well as the front tire rim. The Agent said not to worry about that damage as it is documented on the invoice. I still took photos of the damage just in case. When I returned to Canada, I noticed that my credit card was charged $1,658.34 CAD from the Avis/Budget Group for those same damages. Even though it is documented on the invoice and I have photos. I received a reply from Jonathan from the Avis/Budget Group on May 3rd, 2023, stating, According to our records, the damage documentation was already provided by our international department, the charges are considered to be valid, no action is due They did not look at the invoice for the documented damage or look at my photos. They also had my wrong address. A total Gong Show! I will be sending in a complaint at least three times a day and leaving bad reviews on all platforms until I am refunded for the bogus charges of damage that was caused by one of your employees.
April
I had to exchange cars 5 times
Go anywhere but Avis or Budger I had to exchange cars 5 times , had to go the airport 40 drive to get my rental extended, they promised me a 400.00 refund and 2 day extension. I told my job I would come in because I had the car for 2 additional days and then they informed ne that they gave me a 400.00 refund and I had extenddd car 3 times and. That I needed tip bring the car back ( the one I picked up at 1 am after being stranded for 4 hours with car #4 ) they said I needed to pay for the extension that I was promised and I advised them at this point I was at work and you can hear it on the call. I told them if I missed one more day on their behalf I wont have a job so I was transferred over 12 times hung up on 3 times and was told basically that I was a liar and was not promised a 2 day extension once . I have never felt so humiliated and belittled in my whole life these people do not care what they put you through. I have never been so disrespected in my life and I married a narcissist! The way they treat customers its as if they hate the fact that you have a problem and they have to solve it .
JIMMY
Resolved: Bad Service and fraud
Updated by user Jun 02, 2023
Company resolved the issue.
Original review May 03, 2023
Charged for damage to a vehicle that was already documented as damage at pick up. The vehicle I reserved was not available and was given a mud-covered heavily damaged vehicle. That looked like it was driven through a cornfield. It was documented and photos were taken of the damage. When I returned to Canada, my credit card was billed for over $1,600.00 CAD. With no explanation of the charges. I had to call and complain as to why was I charged $1,600.00 CAD. They told me it was for damage to the vehicle!? I told them that it was damaged prior to pick up. Even the invoice had documentation of the damage. I was dealing with Q.Owens International Customer Service