Budget Rent-A-Car Car Rentals Consumer Reviews - Page 3

LOS ANGELES LAX, CALIFORNIA -- Anyone else finding their credit card charged with an extra 75 USD after returning car without any damage? Budget LAX did just this, and only when investigated by booking agency they produced an invoice without date or reason for the charge. Further investigation came up with allegation of stained seat upholstery, which definitely was not caused or noticed during our rental period. Photos produced by Budget did not identify the specific car and were taken more than 10 days after it had been returned.

Apart from the unjustified claim that the car had been soiled, it beggars belief that they can charge customers retrospectively without even informing them at all. To clarify, the car was returned in same condition as rented out, and smoke/odor was not at issue - we are non-smokers anyway. Staff on pick-up and return of car were helpful and friendly, and no issues were noted with Budget's performance other than that they are a thieving lot.

CONCORD NC -- The worst service I've ever experienced. I reserved my rental online through Priceline.com, I paid an extra $88 for insurance and roadside assistance prior to picking the car up. When I went to pick the car up the unprofessional representative working the counter told me she needed a card linked to an address to verify everything matched. I told her not to charge the card that I had money on a different card to pay for it.

She charged the card after she told me she wouldn't and over drafted my bank account. I immediately brought this to her attention and she refused to make it right. I asked her to do a walk around the car and she looked at me like I was inconveniencing her and refused that as well.

I took pictures of the many things wrong with the rental and the state of filth the car was in. We were given 2 keys on a ring together that could not be separated. The keys were accidently locked in the car the day we were packing to leave. I called the number given to me for assistance and was told I would not be charged for the locksmith, that it was covered in my reservation agreement.

I turned the car in weeks ago and just got billed $55 for a locksmith. I called customer service and received the same horrible service and run around. I've contacted my bank to dispute the UNAUTHORIZED charge to my account since Budget doesn't know how to take care of their customers. We rent cars whenever we go on vacation and will NEVER use Budget again.

FT. MYERS, FLORIDA -- I rented a vehicle from Budget Rental Car in Ft. Myers, FL Oct. 31, 2014 - Nov. 7, 2014. I filled the vehicle FULL of gas on my return to the airport. When I turned in the vehicle, the Budget Rental Car Check-In Assistant checked my fuel gauge, saw that it was indeed full, entered that information into his hand-held device and proceeded to print out my receipt showing the FUEL READING: FULL.

Two days later, I noticed on my Discover Charge Statement that I had been billed an additional $101.37. When I called to ask what this charge was all about, I was told that my vehicle was returned empty and this charge was to refill the vehicle with gas. When I stated that I had my receipt FROM THEM showing that the vehicle was FULL of FUEL upon return, the customer service agent stated that their OWN RECEIPT was not sufficient enough to prove that I had returned the vehicle FULL.

She went on to state that I would need my gas receipt and if the amount of the receipt was not for a full tank full of fuel (18 gals) that I would need to provide multiple receipts to prove I had purchased enough gas to fill the tank. This whole ordeal is laughable. I have, of course, disputed the charge with Discover and they have credited back my account. I have said all of this in order that no one else be scammed by Budget Rental Car. AVOID BUDGET AT ALL COST!!!

ALBUQUERQUE, NM AIRPORT, NEW MEXICO -- Budget "Claims" from Florida called to let me know there was some damage to the vehicle I rented in NM & asked me to send some money to "cover" it. This was absolutely false as the car was completely checked when I returned it & nothing was ever said at the time of turn in. Then I got a letter. When I brought this to Budget's attention via phone call & email, they said it was a scam, yet I received another email on the heels of that one saying it was "legit." (Who uses that terminology professionally?)

According to others' complaints online, this is nothing unusual for Budget. I have filed complaints with the BBB, the Albuquerque International Airport, the Albuquerque Police Dept., & the SEC. There is a warning going out over several large social media accounts as well!! BEWARE OF BUDGET. Be sure to get in writing that the vehicle was returned just as it was rented!

LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, CALIFORNIA -- On Monday, April 7, 2014, I had a terrible experience with a Budget car rental. I had been awake for 18 hours, flying across the country after a week away from home. Aircraft mechanical problems had caused me to miss my connection to Santa Barbara in Phoenix, and the two remaining flights were full. After failing to get a seat on standby, I decided to change my plans. I would fly into LAX, rent a car and drive home instead. I called Budget from Phoenix and arranged to pick up a car at LAX after I'd landed.

The plan seemed to be working. By 11:30 that night, I was half an hour from home. It was then, on an empty stretch of freeway at least ten miles from the nearest service station in either direction, that the engine shuddered and died. Luckily, there was no traffic nearby. I was able to coast from the center lane to the shoulder of the freeway and come to a stop next to a huge erosion abatement wall. I don't think I would have made it if I'd been boxed in by other traffic. If I'd been stranded on the freeway itself, I would almost certainly have been rear-ended eventually. What had happened?

I tried re-starting the engine, but it wouldn't run. The fuel tank warning light had also come on. I had, apparently, run out of gas. I was shocked. Budget had charged me $400 for a 1-way, 1-day car rental, and then had given me a car that didn't even have enough gas in the tank to register on the gauge?

Well, that did explain why the gas gauge display didn't seem right. I had looked at it when I started the car, and I wondered why there was only a single, thin line connecting the Empty and Full marks. I guessed that may be the line itself might disappear as the tank emptied. It didn't even occur to me, especially in my travel-weary state, that the tank might be too empty to even register. Of all the times that I've rented cars, and I've rented a lot of them, I have never been given one that had less than a quarter tank of fuel.

I was lucky in one regard: I'm a AAA member, and I had a cell phone signal. AAA sent a service vehicle with two gallons of gasoline, enough to get me to the next service station. Forty-five minutes later, I was on my way again. The Highway Patrol dispatcher told me that if I'd been another mile or two further up the road, I would not have had a cell phone signal at all, and I might have been stranded for hours.

I called Budget's customer service number the next morning. The man who answered seemed unperturbed by my complaint. "I'm sorry this happened to you." He said without much real concern in his voice, "but there's not much I can do. I just changed the initial fuel level to a quarter tank, but that's the only adjustment I can make."

Steve, the desk agent at the Santa Barbara Airport Budget desk, was much more helpful and empathetic when I returned the car. He gave me a significant discount on the rental, under the category of "on-the-road expenses," and said he was very sorry that I'd been put in such a potentially dangerous situation.

I wasn't so concerned about the money. I knew the car was going to be expensive when I rented it, and I was desperate enough to get home that I agreed to the rate. What mattered more to me was having a feeling that someone at Budget actually regretted what had happened to me. I appreciated Steve's obvious concern, and his sincere desire to make amends for the situation.

As it stands, despite Steve's good efforts, I doubt that I will ever rent from Budget again. You can bet, too, that whenever I rent a car from now on, regardless of how late it is or how tired I am, I'm going to make sure that the tank is full before I drive it anywhere.

PORTLAND AIRPORT, NEW MEXICO -- I rented a car at the Portland airport so I could attend my grandmother's funeral. I was thrilled that I got a good deal on Priceline at 60% off. My week long rental was only $179. I rent cars at least twice a year for travel and have never had any problems previously. How was I to know that I was about to engage in the worst customer service I have ever experienced in my life and be charged an erroneous $476.

One day in NE Portland, I accidentally parked in front of someone's driveway and my rental car was towed. It took me 42 phone calls, two days, and 11 direct hours of dealing with the situation to even talk to someone who was helpful. 80% of all the customer service reps I spoke with were some of the most non-empathetic people I have ever come across. They were rude, sounded annoyed from the start, had wrong information, I was hung up on three times during transfers, and all around unhelpful.

Apparently it is Budget's policy that the customer cannot pick up the vehicle if it were towed. Every customer service person I asked (most of them just kept transferring me to the wrong person) could tell me that this was the policy, but no one could tell me where this policy was located or how I could get a copy. I finally found someone who could help me. He calls the manager of the PDX airport Budget and I am granted special permission to go pick up the vehicle from the towing company.

I get back home and the vehicle I rented from Priceline for $179 is now costing me $1000! My debit account, that I used as the security card when picking up the vehicle, has been charge $350, the full cost of the rental. I also just received a bill in the mail for $211 from Budget. Let me break this down. I completely take responsibility for the fact that I parked in front of someone's driveway. I paid $202 for the impound and I have the $90 parking citation to pay. Forget all of the illegal parking fees and I will have paid $476 directly to Budget (this does not include the Priceline rental fee I already paid).

Upon calling Budget customer service again to discuss this issue, I am told that the $350 that I was charged was for the towing fee and that I needed to prove that I paid the fee directly to the towing company. But $350 was the exact amount for a full price (non-Priceline) rental of the vehicle. I am convinced that no one knows what they are talking about. To top it off, the bill I received for the parking ticket states that the violation amount was $181.50. I have the ticket in front of me – it was for $90 and is not past due. Then they have a line item for $30.00 handling fee. Where did the other $91.50 come from??

This company does not have their act together and they are taking it out on the consumer. Not only was I two days without a car I rented, but they are charging me $476 in fees that they appear to have just completely fabricated. I am writing reviews every where I can and making a complaint to the BBB. I have never experienced such bad service in all my life.

CALIFORNIA -- As a former rental car employee at a busy and well known Southern CA Budget location, I feel I can offer some valuable insight into the rental car employee culture that is becoming more and more pervasive not only in other Budget locations throughout the U. S., but also the other major rental car companies that many people rent from.

Since I have only worked at Budget though, I can't make any definitive claims about the other rental car companies. However, I do know that from speaking to other rental car agents at other companies as well as reading reviews on other consumer and employee review sites, it is IMPERATIVE that the consumer take their time reading EVERYTHING on the contract before they sign everything. I feel an inside look into the rental car culture might be helpful to the consumer and answer some questions on why it's important to read everything before you sign.

Some consumers might be under the impression that most rental car agents are unethical, money hungry hustlers that will do anything to pad their commissions. While there are many rental agents out there that do fit that description, I would say that the majority out there either fall into 1 of 2 camps:

1 camp is the agent that faces a daily struggle with their values and really hates having to pressure customers into buying stuff they don't want, but they need the job to feed the kids, pay the rent, pay student loans, etc. in a tough economy. They aren't driven so much by the commissions, but by the threat of being fired by management if their sales numbers aren't considered acceptable. Many agents in this camp have been in the industry for a long time and have seen it change from a customer service focused industry into a cutthroat sales environment.

The 2nd camp quickly realizes that this industry is not for them and either quits on their own, or gets fired in a matter of months due to low sales numbers. Many people in this camp have strong customer service skills, but for various reasons don't badger the customer with upsells, products, and other services like the management expects.

As for the unscrupulous sales agents, they pretty much ruin it not only for the customer, but also the employees that are trying their best to remain ethical. The management loves these agents since they are bringing in the revenue, but everyone else hates them. These agents can basically do whatever they want including lying to the customer, or misleading them into paying extra for something they probably didn't even realize they paid for and management will almost always back them up since the contract has been signed.

How do you spot the unscrupulous sales agents? This isn't easy since many of them are rather charming chameleons that are so good at schmoozing the customer. Some things to keep in mind though when renting: All products and services are OPTIONAL no matter what the agent may tell you. You are not required by law to purchase the damage waiver for the rental car (Called LDW or CDW depending on the location), supplemental liability insurance/renter's liability insurance (SLI or RLI), personal accidents and effects (PAE), and roadside service (RSN).

Some agents may lie to the customer and say LDW/CDW, SLI or RLI, PAE, and RSN are airport taxes or state taxes, but that is false. If a customer chooses to decline LDW/CDW, PAE, SLI, and RLI, the contract should clearly say "Declined" next to all 4 waiver/insurance options.

Here is the tricky part though: Some agents will put that you are accepting all coverages into the computer system even if you said you are declining all coverages. If the agent did that, on your contract the word "Accepted" will be printed next to LDW/CDW, PAE, SLI, and RLI. That means you are accepting full coverage. The tricky agent will lie to you though and twist things around and say that "accepted" next to the coverages means you are declining all coverages. To someone that doesn't understand English well or is really tired from a long day, it is understandable how one can get confused with this twisting of words.

My best advice is to have your original reservation printout with you to compare the price to what the contract states. If you don't know what your original price was, you can potentially become an easy victim for the dishonest sales agent. Just remember that LDW/CDW, PAE, SLI, RLI, and RSN are NOT taxes and NOT mandatory to take.

Another common trick an agent might do is "bundle" coverages together if you ask for just 1 thing. For example, say if you only want to cover the car with the LDW/CDW an agent might throw on SLI or RSN too. The agent may present this as "Partial Coverage" or "The Basic Coverage" making it seem like in order to cover the car, you have to purchase it in a "package" with other insurance. That is a complete lie and false. Some agents might continue to argue with you and say LDW/CDW is not sold separately and part of a package. That's a lie. Everything is sold separately and not part of a package. Don't fall for that common trick.

Tricky wording is another common trick rental agents do everywhere. Some examples for coverages: "Will you be taking the full protection package or just the basic?", "Will you be taking the full protection package or partial package?", and "Do you just want the basic protection?" The rental agent that uses these phrases is trying to trick you into taking some type of coverage no matter what. Some customers fall for this trick thinking "Basic and Partial" mean no coverage at all.

Here the agent didn't really give you an option to decline anything, so if you don't want any coverage, you have to tell the agent explicitly that you don't need any coverage. Even after you explicitly tell the agent you don't want anything, be prepared for fear based tactics to try to get you to accept coverage. Then be prepared to read the contract afterwards to be sure everything was "DECLINED."

You REALLY have to be careful on the upsell attempt. Management encourages tricky wording for the upsell in order to get as much money out of the consumer as possible. I can't disclose the method that they use explicitly since this method is actually owned by an outside company that many rental car companies hire in order to increase profits. I can tell you that almost no upgrade is free usually (unless the rental car company doesn't have your car class that you booked, then they often do a free upgrade), and if it is too good to be true, it probably is.

Let's just say that if you are booked into a Toyota Corolla, don't expect that you are saving money from your original reservation by upgrading into a BMW, Dodge Charger, Camaro, Mustang, etc. or getting a free upgrade. You are paying more and many times much more than your original booking if you fall for this common upsell trick. For anything that is an upgrade or sounds like an upgrade, always ask how much more it's going to cost you to avoid this.

If you took the time to read all of this, I congratulate you. I hope you find all of this information helpful. Just remember to carefully read everything on the contract before you sign anything. Once you sign that document, there is little that you can do since it is legally binding. If you do find yourself a victim though complain to corporate only, and NOT the local management especially if it's a franchise location. Nothing will change unless corporate gets enough complaints.

AMARILLO, TEXAS -- I rented a car on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 from the airport location, which is independently owned and operated. I called the location first and explained that I only had a debit card and the manager stated that would be OK. At that time manager took my debit card (despite the written sign stating that they do not accept debit cards). The estimated charges were going to be about $215.00. He placed a hold on my account of $200.00.

I called back on Thursday to request an extension and a better rate comparable to the one posted on website. ** said I would need to bring the car back and close that rental out and re-rent the vehicle to get the new rate. I brought the vehicle back on 07-14-2011. She closed the rental out and opened the new one at the better rate. She took my debit card and without disclosing the amount, placed a $500.00 hold on my debit card for estimated charges of $61.50.

I received a text message from my bank indicating that my account had been overdrawn by $167.21. I then asked her if she had just held $500.00 on my card. She said yes that was their policy. I explained that earlier in the week, Budget had only held $200.00. She again stated this was their policy. I asked to see the policy, because nowhere on the contract I signed did it state this policy or was it indicated anywhere that they had held any amount on my card. She brought out a book and stated that these were also listed on the website.

I read the policy and it states that "generally we require a debit card authorization hold of estimated charges plus $200..." I pointed this out to her and she said it was for credit cards. I showed her the words "Debit Card Hold Rules". She then claimed that they do not accept debit cards. I told her she just accepted mine. And that she couldn'€™t say they do not take them and then accept them and charge whatever they want.

I asked to speak to the manager. He came out and I questioned why they had only held $200.00 earlier in the week (which was still being held on my card at this time as well). He replied with "I don'€™t know you from Adam. We are basically giving you a $20,000.00 car for $500.00. You could just take off in the car. I would hunt you down." I said "so now you are calling me a thief?" They refused to release the hold.

I called the corporate office, who stated that because they were independently owned, they were not able to do anything. They had requested several pieced of information from my rental contract that was not filled in by **. I called my bank who was unable to release the funds even though the charges were disputed. I never gave them authorization to hold $500.00. They never requested authorization to hold this amount.

I called the Budget office again and asked to speak to the owner, who conveniently had just left for the day. I find this suspect as I was sitting in the parking lot this entire time and had not seen anyone leave. I returned the vehicle on Saturday 07-16-2011, a few hours early. On Monday morning the $500.00 hold was still on my account. I spoke to my bank and they had not received the release from Budget. The written policy states" Upon returning the vehicle, we will process a released of the unused portion of the debit hold..."

I called Budget and spoke once again with ** who states the funds had been released and it was my bank that was holding things up. I informed her that I had just spoken to my bank and they have not even received the release. She said it was sent. I asked for the name of the person who sent it. She refused to give that to me. As of the time of this complaint, the hold is still on my account. This company was unethical, unprofessional, and deceptive.

DUBLIN IRELAND -- In May 2009, I had a troubling experience in Ireland (apparently notorious for scamming tourists). I have fought for six months and I have WON! Here's my story and here's how to defeat these common scams. I rented a car from the Dublin airport, a grey VW Golf, and it was acting funny from the start. It stalled when the clutch was almost fully depressed and the gears would grind even when the clutch was fully depressed.

At first I dismissed the stalling as learning a new cars behavior. But after only driving the vehicle for 9km (5.5 mi), the clutch burnt out leaving me stranded. Keep in mind I have years of experience on a stick shift as it was the first car I learned how to drive. I filled out an incident report and was told I would be contacted within days if there were any issues.

I left Ireland for the USA 16 days later. Six weeks after THAT, I received a bill in the mail. They had already charged my credit card $1801.13!!! This included towing the vehicle from Dublin (country capital) to Galway (~200 km) along with labor, parts, and a "loss of car hire" fee of 88 euro. Even insurance companies get to assess damage before paying. Why wasn't I afforded this opportunity? I was never given a copy of my own statement, OR a copy of the investigation report concluding I was at fault. I was never even notified they were holding me liable or given information regarding where and when the vehicle was being repaired.

There is no way I burned out a clutch in only 9 km and there is no way it should cost almost $2K to repair. Budget of the U.S. says they have no jurisdiction. I've filed a complaint to the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, the European Consumer Center, the Car Rental Council of Ireland, and have sent certified letters to the car agency. It sucks because for the last month I have been raving about how wonderful Ireland was. So beautiful and everyone was so nice. I even had my co-worker convinced she would retire there (she retires next month).

I have since learned that Ireland is notorious for doing this to international renters. I started doing my own research and here's what I found: Something like half of all complaints against car rental agencies in Europe are against Ireland. There are SIX authorized VW dealerships in Dublin that quoted a third of the price to repair a clutch. Low clutch/transmission fluid can simulate a burnt out clutch. I contacted VW in Ireland and even they say there it is “highly unusual” for a clutch to burn out in 9km. I saved this email (you must get this info in writing).

Budget supposedly towed my vehicle all the way to Galway to "repair" when there were six authorized VW dealerships locally. They towed it to Flynn Brothers Garage. After calling around in Ireland, this is the same company as Flynn Brothers Rent A Car... which has the same phone number and is affiliated with Budget Rent a Car. So did they even really tow it to repair it? Or did they just have their sister company write up a fake invoice? The invoice didn't even have an odometer reading.

The repair on the invoice occurred SIX WEEKS after my trip. This implies that the car just sat around for six weeks before a repair yet they charged me only 88 euro for "loss of car hire." I began blogging and right here on my3cents.com, a man named ** found my story.

Here's HIS story.... exactly one week prior to me, in April, he rented a grey VW Golf from the Dublin airport from Budget Rent a car. He drove his for 15 minutes before he realized something was wrong. He actually returned his vehicle. Seven weeks later, in June, he was charged $1801 from Flynn Brothers in Galway. This man has 30 years of experience driving stick shifts in over 50 countries with no issues but suddenly they say he broke their car?

Now that I've told you my story, let me update you on my WINNING RESULT: My credit card denied my dispute to no surprise and same for **. So ** found a lawyer ("solicitor") locally to Budget HQ in Ireland. They went through the 3 month process of sending letters and Budget claiming it was still our fault. They wouldn't budge, so we hit them with court papers. This time I will no longer accept the original $1800.

I wrote an invoice for my time and money spent on the issue with receipts (logged international phone calls, certified mail, car checks, plus all of the HOURS spent) and charged my hourly rate as an engineer. Then we hit them with court papers demanding not only the $1800, but about $4700 total and that is to be ON TOP of our lawyer fees. Guess what. One day before the court date, my lawyer was sent a check for $4704.02!! I just got it in the mail and I am cashing it today! ** got his check a few weeks ago.

NEVER GIVE UP. If you are in the right, you will prevail if you persevere enough. ** and I also contacted the Garda (police) in Ireland. Mostly they said it was a civil matter but ** somehow got one to go pay Budget a visit and ask some questions. This just adds more pressure. Also I got Christopher Elliott, the travel guy from MSNBC (after multiple emails pleading for his interference) to contact Budget in Ireland as well. They never responded but more pressure is better.

Now that I've won after 7 long months, I want to do my job to help others as well. So if this has happened to you, in ANY country, here's how you win! Don't pay your credit card. Dispute it. Keep in mind you WILL LOSE the dispute, but the process takes months and buys you time. In the meantime, go ahead and begin your research. Blog like crazy. Ya never know who you will find out there that can help you out (like **).

I also emailed Christopher Elliott, the travel guy from MSNBC. It took about 5 emails before I got his attention but once I did get his attention he contacted Budget in Ireland and that hopefully added pressure. Email news agencies, radio shows, anyone. Probably one out of 50 will respond, but you need all the publicity you can get to add pressure.

You must work with the local legal system. Even countries like Ireland have such different laws than the U.S. It will take time. Be patient. They will play chicken with you but stick it out; you will win. Just a letter from a lawyer will most likely not do it. It will take at least serving them papers for court. They will most likely wait until last minute before the court date to pay up. You just have to be patient and be persistent!! Let it go to court if it has to. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission so it's logged. Once a company has so many complaints, they are required to investigate. Do your part in making sure this doesn't happen to others. GOOD LUCK!

I, along with my wife and 14 month old, arrived in orlando about 10:30am on saturday may 30, 2009. Excited about our family vacation. We collected our bags and made our way to the Budget rent a car counter and everything seemed to be going smoothly. ** checked us in with the online reservation made through hotwire.com. He gives us the sales pitch of upgrading us to an SUV for $10 more dollars a day, but we felt fine with our "full size" reservation.

He then tries to get us to buy the insurance telling us this was what "most people" do. I decline and decide to give him a break as it is probably part of the required sales pitch. We take our rental agreement across the street to the garage to pick up the car and this is where our experience takes multiple turns for the worse. As I was given the keys, I noted that they were for a Chevy Malibu, which according to the EPA classifications is a mid size, and I thought there had been some mistake. We make it down to the space and sure enough, it was a Chevy Malibu.

I was confused as our confirmation from Budget rent a car's website listed a "full size" car, Chevy Impala, Hyundai Sonata or similar. I understand the "or similar" but there is a great deal of concern that a Chevy Impala and a Chevy Malibu are considered similar, which are not considered similar by EPA or General Motors whom both classify the Impala as a "full size" or "large" and Malibu as "mid size." The trunk space alone is nearly 20% smaller in the Malibu as compared with the Impala. While I have highlighted the comparison with the Impala, it is similar with the Sonata, which is also classified as a full size.

After recognizing what I thought was a mistake, I went back to the key counter, passing five Hyundai Sonatas and two Chevy Impalas. I was then directed back across the street to where I signed my rental car contract. I went back down and talked with ** again who greeted me with "not big enough, need a bigger car?" I would not want to think that he purposely issued me the smallest car he could in a malevolent attempt to have me to pay more money for an upgrade.

I pull out the rental confirmation and detail for him the differences between the Malibu and the Impala and Sonata, and he only attempted to have me agree to a Mercury Grand Marques for an additional $35 a day. At this point ** became rude and dismissive telling me that the Malibu was what I had, unless I wanted to "pay more money." Sounds fairly close or "similar" to extortion to me. I thank ** and inform him that I needed to call Hotwire. I called Hotwire and spoke to a very friendly and helpful young man, it was quite the contrast.

After he made multiple attempts to reach customer service at the Budget rent a car there in Orlando. He called the main office, which only gave him another number that never got answered. After being on hold with him for 30 minutes he informed me that he had noted the complaint and gave me the number to customer service to continue trying. I then called the number and left my name and number along with rental agreement number, and have yet to hear from them. Not exactly the glowing example of promoting quality and service of Budget rent a car's mission statement.

At this point my 14 month old had been in the parking garage for over an hour, he had drunk just about all of his water and eaten all of his snacks. He was hungry and starting to fuss as he had growing tired of his stroller, but there isn't really a clean or safe area to walk or play in a parking deck. Frustrated, we go to the Malibu to install the car seat and the car reeks of dry, hot and stale, cigarette smoke. I refuse to subject the health of my child to a situation resulting from others failing to properly clean a car.

Again I head back to the key counter in the garage only to be referred back across the street to the rental counter. This time ** would barely even talk to me. I told him that the car reeked of cigarette smoke and he referred me wait for the next available agent. Miraculously the new agent now had a Hyundai Sonata, a "full size" car available. I was then able to go back over to the parking garage, pick up the new keys and load up my family. The new as well had an odor of cigarette smoke, but a hungry, crying toddler along with some airing out with the windows down convince us that we need to get going.

Finally about 12:30pm, almost two full hours since collecting our bags, we were leaving the Orlando airport to start our vacation. While there were no major concerns with the Sonata, we had to continuously be sure to air the car out before we loaded our family in it due to the smell. I also believed that I would be called by customer service, since I had left them my number, and the car could be sorted out afterwards. Much to my chagrin there didn't appear to be much customer service present with the Budget rent a car in Orlando.