Budget Car Rental Reviews 5,895

When we picked up our mid-size vehicle, it was not in good shape on the outside body with many scraps, scratches, and a dent on the front bumper. The girl at the counter was very short and was not very explanatory. We were also charged for an extra insurance coverage when coverage had already been purchased through Alliance at the time of the on line booking. The bluetooth would work some times and not sometimes. Very unreliable. The return was very impersonal and we did not receive any final receipt so we could see the charges before returning the car. I physical receipt should also be given when the car is taken from the rental location, rather than an email later down the road when there is no way to refuse such charges. Budget rental has always proven to be a good choice, but this one was a FAIL!

This entire experience from start to finish. I reserved the vehicle at 8 am I had to sit there until 10 to get the vehicle. Which made me extremely late to my destination. When I returned the vehicle my charges should have been 298.87 but some how the lady charged me 498.87. She couldn't tell me why. No one at this location knows what they are doing!! Also what was the purpose of me using a major credit card so a deposit can be used but then turned around and used my damn debit card. I will never use this car rental service again. I will make sure everyone knows if I have to stand out front with a sign!!! Do not use this company i repeat DO NOT USE BUDGET!! HORRIBLE COMPANY WORKERS NEED MORE TRAINING!!!

I rented vehicle at SeaTac, Didn't buy their overpriced prepurchase $6.41 a gallon gas. We were only going to be driving 180 miles in the 2 days. Picked it up in a dark garage- it had 390 miles left to empty, ok my car is about that when full. glad I purchased the extra coverage-as soon as we drove into the sunlight - 3 chips in the windshield and door ding on driver's side. Filled up tank 2 days later less than a mile from facility for $5.55 a gallon. 499 miles left to empty! They scanned the vehicle with an electronic device upon return. Employees seem like the couldnt care less about their jobs. The paperwork said I'd returned it with only 10 gallon! They kept my $200 "deposit" and I've sent them receipts and screen shots of the gas gauge. They returned $115, but said they already released the remaining 85 within 72 hours of return. 3 weeks still don't have it.

The booking of our car came to a grinding holt as we arrived early and were told we had to wait until the exact time on our booking to collect the car.
So we waited in the waiting area as the office was in an industrial area and with luggage we had no where to go.

After a couple of hours and witnessing drop offs and pick-ups we overheard a couple drop a car back. The conversation had was that the low pressure light appeared on the dash for the right rear tyre whilst they had the car. They went and pumped the tyre up and it seemed ok. The Office Staff said it was likely due to cold weather.
Around 30 minutes after this interaction we were offered to upgrade our booking as a car had become available and with it being only an extra $15 per day we chose this option.
160 miles later the right rear tyre of the car we had been given blew out, it was completely split. As the car was a hybrid there was no spare tyre, we had to get towed to a tyre shop and pay over $400 for a new tyre to get back on the road.
Budget will not pay us back for this trye, a necessity for the hiring of a vehicle and something that we did not cause.
I would definitely not recommend you entrusting the services of Budget Car rentals, they have zero customer service.

Be careful, the onsite team mixed up my booking with someone else and I got charged an extra £160.

After 2 weeks of having to chase the customer service non-stop, I haven't received my money back yet. I even got an invoice with someone else's signate on it.

Very poor customer service and very unprofessional team. I am getting different answers and excuses every time I reached out to the customer service. No solutions or money back after 2 weeks.

If I could give no stars then I would . I rented a vechicle and went on a long road trip which was 15 hrs away and when it came time to return back home maybe one hundred miles or so and the vechicle shuts off three different times and mind you while im in traffic and it does this so safety was definitely a big concern and after the third time the check engine light comes on ,so I reach out to the location I rented it from and they told me to look up the nearest budget dealer to me and have it swiched out so I did and when i returned home finally I seen a charge by the location that switched out the vech for me and I called the location I rented the vechicle from and asked what was the added charges to my credit card and he stated to me that he tried to remove it but it wouldn't allow him to do so since it was done in Texas and I stated to him this the most ratchet form of business I had ever seen because you done place a charge on my credit card because your vehicle let me down multiple times and if there were to be any charges it should by me because I had to go 45 mins out my way to have this done to get back on the road and my time is money just like there's would be if it was late coming back or needing to make a last minute change to my rental .

If there was a 0 star they would get that instead. I rented a car 5/29/26 - 6/2/26 at the Atlanta Georgia Airport and I was charged for my services, but never provided a receipt to verify the charges that were charged to my credit card. Who does business like this 🤔 by violating the consumers right to have a receipt.

I made a reservation on Expedia for a small SUV in Aruba. When I got there, they said that it was oversold and had no car for me.
These people have no shame. Beware

I booked in Feb for a trip in June. The day before pickup they called me at 1:15 and told me they didn’t have any cars. No help, no explanation, no apology. Then tried to argue that I didn’t make my reservation months ago. I cancelled the entire reservation and went with Alamo.

Rented and paid for 8 day car rental via Booking.com to be picked up and dropped off at Cairns Airport.
At the desk at the Airport I requested Insurance cover as an extra cost which is listed as $360.00 on my Invoice (and I'm ok with) but was charged $530.27 and told that that amount included a refundable $200.00 security deposit.
Car was returned in same condition as when picked up but now Budget are saying there was no $200 deposit required and refuse to refund that amount and also refuse to refund the $170.27 difference between the $530.27 that was taken and the $360.00 that should have been charged.

I prebooked and prepaid for a car hire for a recent holiday in Croatia. When I attended the Budget desk, we clarified a few points about the hire and I signed the agreement without looking too closely. Big mistake! The car itself was fine and it was returned a week later filled up and on time. When I got home, their emailed invoice showed additional charges of £220 for "optional services". At no point when I picked up the car were any additional services and costs discussed so these came as a complete shock. I acknowledge I should have checked the paperwork more carefully before signing but I feel like these charges were "slipped in under my nose". Dealing with the Budget helpdesk has not been a great experience and I'm not getting anywhere contesting the charges after 2 weeks so I've taken it up with my credit card company. Safe to say I won't be using Budget again and I would urge anyone using them to really check the paperwork BEFORE signing.

Deshawn, a customer service representative at Budget car rental, was the best. He kindly listened to my concern about a mistake on my invoice, and after looking over my account, he was able to see that my husband and I had been overcharged, and so he provided us with a refund without any hassle. Thank you, Deshawn, you are a true example of excellent customer service and honesty.

I would give it a zero star if that option was available. I rented a car in Palm Springs that had a bad tire that I didn’t realize until I drove for about 20 min. I was slowly leaking air. When I pulled into the gas station to fill up the tire which was not free. I noticed that the window had writing on it that said tire needed fixing. ( my bad for not seeing this earlier but there was no walk around the car with anyone. ) they just give you the keys and you go.
We called several times to inform them of the bad tire with no help at all. Ok all I spen about $40 on filling and taking the tire to shop to get checked.
After our holiday and months later my CC was charged $115 for the tire.
This is the worst place to ever rent a car.
Never again!

First time I used this location, (BUDGET SHERATON , PANAMA CITY , PANAMA) it was amazing. This time, it was a complete disaster from beginning to end.

Never in my life will I use Budget again. A week ago, I called this location and the lady, very polite, gave me a quote. By the time we arrived, she told me that the car she quoted me was on its way from another location, but she could give me an SUV for about another 39 dollars extra if I didn't want to wait, which I agreed to. When I presented my driver's license and my credit card, she reminded me that I needed my passport as well. When I came back with my passport, maybe 15 minutes approximately, she said that she made a mistake and she only had the other car for rent.

After waiting 30 to 45 minutes for the car due to some computer problems, she gave me a car that had a huge dent on the door. Not only that, the brakes made some nasty noise, plus the suspension made horrible noises every time you went over potholes. For a company like BUDGET to provide that kind of service, plus substandard equipment like the car they gave us, is unacceptable. Never again.

Recently we rented a vehicle from the London Heathrow branch. We were given a 4-year-old Nissan Qashqai with a little over 80K miles. We had the vehicle for 9 days and put on approximately 1% of the total mileage. On returning the vehicle clutch failed on the M1 about 2 hours away from the airport branch. Using the recovery service was rather painful. Due to our location, we were put on emergency and picked up within the hour. However, the recovery service only relocated us 5 minutes away from our destination to a service and asked us to call back for further assistance. After calling back we were advised we would be collected within the next 2 hours. 2 hours passed and no sign of recovery. We called back and were told they would be another 3 hours. 3 hours passed and still no recovery. We called back and were told they were on their way and would be with us in the hour. About 50 minutes passed and the same recovery driver came back. He collected us and moved us 20 minutes further down the M1 to another services, this time in the right direction, but still only 20 minutes further. We had to then call back and at this point were running the risk of missing our flight home. This time the recovery service arranged a taxi to collect us for airport transfer and said they would take care of the vehicle. About an hour passed and a taxi arrived and hot shot us to the airport, we arrived with barely enough time to check in but made it. Two days later we received a final bill email charging us a refueling fee. After contacting customer services, we were advised that if the vehicle had in fact broken down and it was not possible to refuel, they could reverse the charge. After providing proof of breakdown recovery from AA, we then received further correspondence advising that in light of the evidence proving the breakdown, I was still responsible for the refueling charge. So, not only did they provide a vehicle that was not fit for the term of the rental period. But they will charge you for the inconvenience of their poorly maintained vehicles.

Charged for 'extra' products not agreed to and understated prepayment voucher - a 5 day small car hire turned out to be over Euros 540 - rip off

Do not waste your time booking with BUDGET. Worse Customer service I have ever seen.
They have overcharged me over $150 and there is no way I can even talk to them to claim it. …

We started the day at 5 AM so we would have plenty of time in Kona when our flight landed at 11:30. Our flight was on time our bags were already off the bag carriage and yet for a 2 1/2 hours in counting budget car rental. It is absolutely astoundingly and efficiently run we had booked already we had checked in already and yet we waited in the line for at least an hour only to walk outside and sit on a bench waiting for the actual car to be brought around for another hour. I will never use budget again and I recommend you don’t either

I am contacting Budget once again regarding Reservation Confirmation Number 41509473CO5 at Miami International Airport.

To date, I have received neither a formal explanation for the cancellation of my reservation nor any documentation supporting the decision made by your employee at the rental counter.

As previously reported, I complied with all requirements necessary to collect the vehicle. I arrived on time, presented all required documentation, and possessed a valid credit card for the security deposit.

The cancellation occurred solely as a result of the conduct and decision of the Budget employee assisting us. At no time did I fail to comply with any requirement of the reservation.

What is particularly concerning is that, despite the reservation being cancelled by Budget, I have still not received:

• Any cancellation receipt;
• Any written explanation;
• Any formal cancellation record;
• Any confirmation that the refund process has been initiated.

Meanwhile, the charge for the reservation remains on my credit card account, despite Budget having refused to provide the contracted service.

Under basic principles of fair dealing, consumer protection, and contractual performance, a customer should not be charged for a service that was not provided due to the unilateral actions of the service provider.

Accordingly, I formally demand:

A copy of all cancellation records relating to Reservation 41509473CO5;
A written explanation of the cancellation;
Confirmation that Budget has instructed the refund process;
Confirmation of the amount to be refunded;
A clear timeline for reimbursement.
I request that Budget treat this matter with urgency. I have been patient while waiting for a response, but the continued absence of documentation and reimbursement is unacceptable.

I look forward to your prompt resolution of this matter.

Sincerely,

Paulo Ansel
Reservation Number: 41509473CO5