Budget

**Budget Car Rental at Columbus Airport—A Nightmare Experience!** I had an absolutely **terrible** experience with Budget Car Rental at the Columbus, Ohio airport. They **charged me $651.90 upfront**, only to **leave me stranded without a vehicle** due to an eligibility issue—AFTER they had already taken my money. Shouldn't they verify eligibility **before** charging customers? Because I was stuck without a rental, I had no choice but to *call an Uber and spend an extra $100, money I didn't have because Budget was still holding onto my $651. I had specifically saved that money for my rental, but since Budget failed to provide the car and still hasn't refunded me, I was forced to cover the cost of another vehicle—**one that I should have already had in the first place**. Budget's booking process is **misleading, inefficient, and financially damaging**. If you're traveling through Columbus airport, **avoid Budget at all costs**—unless you want to risk losing hundreds of dollars and scrambling for last-minute transportation and funds.

I rented a large 7 passenger suv. That I paid for in advanced. When I arrived, Iwas told that I had to take a car that I had rented 6 months befor and told to take it or leave. Someone came over and found out that I did rent an SUV but gave me a 5 passenger SUV which cost half as much as what I paid for. Customer service manager Dolton******* and manager Zena******* do not give a damm and offered me a very small portion of the difference. When I asked to speak to someone higher they said NO! I also can not get a veteren discount or a senior discount. Budget car rentel is a scam

I rented a car and paid $350.72 ahead of time online. We had bad weather at the airport and our plane was delayed 4 hours. Upon picking the car up 4 hours late, the transaction seemed to go smooth. They told me which car to take then some other woman told me she would email my rental agreement. Upon returning from my trip, I checked the emailed receipt and realized they charge me $968 instead of $350. There was a $90 fuel fee which I anticipated but otherwise nothing to suggest why the cost was so much higher. After hours of phone calls and many emails, they said it was because I picked the car up later than I had originally planned (due to the 4hr delay) so that voided the original rental agreement. The new rental agreement was for a higher price. I was not told this while getting my car, I was never shown a new rental agreement, and I didn't sign a new agreement. Now they are refusing to refund the $500 extra. Do not go through this company. They have fraudulent practices and will find a way to charge you more.

If you're considering using Budget to rent a vehicle, I highly recommend that you think twice! This was my first time renting from Budget, and it will definitely be my last. I learned a valuable lesson. While Hertz and Enterprise may be slightly more expensive, their quoted prices are accurate, and their employees are honest and forthcoming. I rented a vehicle from Miami airport on April 20th, with plans to return it to Charlotte airport by 12 PM. However, I returned the vehicle at 1:18 PM. Despite being assured by the employee that I wouldn't be charged for the extra hour, I ended up being charged for an entire additional day. I even confirmed this with a representative over the phone, who gave me the same assurance. Yet, I was still billed for two full days! Customer service has been unhelpful, and it seems that Budget is only interested in making extra money at the expense of its customers. Moving forward, I will continue to use Enterprise and Hertz. I've also been trying to find the employee who checked me out to file a formal complaint, but I haven't received any response regarding that, either!

Are you planning to rent a car any time soon? Here's a little advice for you. If you have a choice between Budget Car Rental and an escaped convict renting 3 legged mules, pick the mules.
I have been fleeced, scammed, and flimflammed most thoroughly. At least with the escaped convict I might have seen it coming right? I rented a car and prepaid ($359.08), thinking all would be well. Got said car and rolled down the road to later discover that the air conditioner didn't work. Also, it hadn't been thoroughly cleaned. Cupcake wrappers, corndog sticks, tic tacs, notes about homework, etc...
I called to make a complaint. No problem they said. Make the 2.5 hour drive back to Seattle and we'll exchange it! No thanks, says I. We'll make the best of it Vacation ends, we return the car. To the return employee I say "make a note, the car was received dirty and the ac does not work."
"You want me to write that down?" she says.
Yes please. Fast forward 10 days later I get a lovely email informing me that I returned their vehicle dirty and they are charging my card on file and additional $450 for cleaning. I call customer service "What?! Highway robbery! You have the nerve to charge me after I paid up front to ride around in a literal hot mess for a week? I won't pay it!"
I'm telling you I could see this guy through the phone shrugging his shoulders and rolling his eyes. "Wanna bet" (cue phone center coworkers snickering in the background).
I fire off another email. They fire back. I just thought my total rental was $359.08. They found some optional charges to tack on to the final bill, which is now up to $641.51 (plus the $450 cleaning fee). STAY AWAY FROM Avis Car Rental Budget Car Rental.

Returned car one day early and did not receive refund despite being verbally told by agent that it would be, just contact Customer Service. Arbitrary, non-transparent and disingenuous rules for why refund could not be completed. Pass the buck mentality and hope that you give up.

Never again will I consider renting from Budget. The desk agent quoted a price, which I agreed to, but then my receipt showed $55 more than he quoted after I had already returned the car. And when I called to inquire, the customer service rep acknowledged that their desk agents often lie!

We rented a 12 passenger van for a family trip from NC to Quebec, CN. Upon pick up, we noticed the gas tank was only 1/4 full when the contract stated "Full". It was a nightmare trying to get that corrected. When we got as far as NJ, the oil light came on. We called Budget, and they informed us to take the vehicle to EWR, but they didn't have any comparable vehicles, and advised us to pay out-of-pocket, to have oil changed ourselves. We lost 1/2 day of our vacation getting the oil changed before we could continue on with the trip. The process to try to get reimbursed for the $111.48 paid to get the oil changed was complex, and we still haven't received any reimbursement yet. Would not recommend.

After the rental I had broke down (brand new SUV) Budget refused to do anything but tow it - 90 plus miles to nearest location. They told me and text me I had a replacement available immediately. After getting a ride back to Salt Lake International Airport the employees refused to provide me with the replacement until the broken vehicle was in their possession. They had no concern for the fact that I, their customer, had been inconvenienced all day due to their broken vehicle, and now wanted me to wait unknown hours until it was towed back. The employees were all rude and had no concern for the fact I was paying for a working vehicle that whole day and did not have one.

This is a poor company and would not recommend to anyone, they have changed my card which has a different name to my husbands and I don't even have a driving licence, I have been meet with no support just endless emails, they then charged my husbands card 2 time which means they have 3 payment, I would recommend unless you want to be ripped off

We rented a car from Budget to get home from the Syracuse Airport. BIG MISTAKE! I always rent from National, but they don't have a drop off location near my home. The car I rented smelled of cigarette smoke, had bald tires, had a dirty interior and the check engine light came on shortly after I left the airport. I'm addition to these problems they charged me for gas even though I filled it a 1/2 block from the drop off spot. I had to call 3 times to get a discount on the already overpriced rental. It took 8 days to get the discount and it was very small! NEVER RENT FROM BUDGET.

I had been renting cars for years with Budget. In my last 3 rentals I needed to make a pick up time change. In each instance to pick up or drop off the car 2 hrs early or late they wanted to charge me an extra $200. Even though I called and waited on hold for an hour to ask for the time extension. Budget you lost a loyal customer

Side mirrors were so dirty, we had to have the gate attendant clean them as we were leaving. The gas tank was not full upon pickup (see picture). Warning light comes on that windshield washer fluid is empty (see picture). Windshield is so dirty I cannot see and I am going to die while driving this car (see picture). I requested that they provide some sort of refund of my rental fees or credit me for a free rental. Budget said I could drive an hour back to the airport, spend an hour line and exchange the car for another one then drive another hour back to my vacation location.

Rented a mini-van at MSP for a week. Returned with normal amount of dirt on floors, but was charged $125 for excessive dirt. Pictures are posted below. You decide.

Budget car rental as a cooperation has been around too long not to have better customer service on cooperate level. It is very difficult to reach the correct individuals when there is an issue that can not be handled by agents in field.

The worst experience ever! Budget ruined my Christmas. They left my 82 year old mother and I stranded on the side of the road for 6 plus hours with a rental van that had broken down. I finally got an agent who told me to call 911 and abandon the vehicle. I rented on 12/22 and 3 months later I am still receiving harassing calls from them because their "roadside assistance" can't locate their vehicle. Last night, I received a call at 2:46 am. When I call customer service I wait on the phone for 45 minutes to get hung up on by the first agent that gets my case. My father died last June and all we wanted was to take my mom on a vacation for Christmas to get her mind off of things but instead she sat on the side of a cold highway for hours with nothing but time to think about my father. Their sister company Avis closed the case, so I do not understand why Budget is still harassing me. Budget made this the worst Christmas ever!

Budget Avis at evansville airport is operated by the most uninterested children Ive encountered. I had a reservation and a conformation email and they said we dont have any cars. Call this number for a refund. I called. After 2 hours on hold i gave up. Basically they stole my 684.00. They could care less. Not even an option of when i can pick a car up. This is not a local rental. From indiana to florida. They dont care a bit about waving me stranded.

The process of reserving your rental car is not so bad, but picking it up is terrible.
Even having reserved the car in advance, we had to wait an hour and a half for our ticket number to be called. You could consider that I was picking up the car in a major city, but even considering that the efficiency was terrible. Then we got to the desk and were assailed with confusing questions and given little clarity when we asked questions in return. The service was poor, let's say. After we had everything set straight, we waited another half hour for them to bring our car around. I'm not sure why it took so darn long.
Returning the car is pretty simple, but you better fill up on gas somewhere else. They charge about $9.50/gallon for any missing gas. A bunch of other obscure fees were also added.
The only positive aspect of the experience is that the car they gave us ran well and was clean.