Budget Rent-A-Car Car Rentals Consumer Reviews - Page 4

We rented a car from the Budget Car Rental at Reno airport. We got to the counter after we landed and waited nearly 45 minutes to get to the counter. There was no line anywhere else, and had we not had a pre-existing reservation I would have left then. We used a credit card for the hold (of $200) but let them know that we wanted to pay with the debit card when we returned. We were only in town for 2 days, and we returned the car on time, with a full tank of gas.

Returning the car was easy. We changed payment to the debit card and were on our way. Only when we returned home did we figure out that we had been charged over $700 in 3 charges. First the credit card was charged $250 (I imagine this was the hold that hadn't yet been refunded), the $81.05 rental fee to the debit card, and a $300 fee to the debit card. I had no idea what the $300 charge was for, so I called the national Customer Service number to ask.

After 30 minutes of being on hold, I explained what my issue was, and he pulled up our reservation. He then told me that it was my fault that we were charged so many times because the only reason that would happen is if I asked to be overcharged. I told him that I couldn't think of any circumstance in which I would actually ask to be overcharged, and that perhaps it was an accident. He said there was no way, and it had to be because I asked for two charges to two different cards.

At this point we weren't going to agree, but I just wanted to get it taken care of. He said that he could certainly get the $300 charge released if I would give him my bank account information, pin number, and social security number. I politely refused and asked for another way to handle it. I specifically asked for a letter to be faxed to me showing this charge to be released and I could handle it with my very nice local bank.

He said this wasn't possible and again asked for my personal information. He said that he had it all there in front of him and just needed me to confirm it with him. I still refused to give him any of my personal information and asked to speak to a supervisor. He said that he didn't have a supervisor at which point I asked him for his name so I could report the call to Consumer Protection. He then hung up on me.

On the brighter side, I called back and spoke with a very nice woman who apologized for the previous agent's actions and said that under no circumstance will anyone at Budget ever need my Social Security Number, bank account info, or anything else like that. Not only did she take care of the charges (yes, without the personal info) but also she said that she would report the agent I spoke with earlier and have it taken care of internally.

I think it's incredibly inappropriate for a company like that to have a customer service agent asking for such personal information. I realize that his actions do not represent the entire Budget Car Rental Company, but he was the Customer Service agent and represented Budget to me at the time. Again, the second woman I spoke to was VERY helpful and took care of it, however, I don't think I will be renting a car through Budget again.

GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA -- I must say [I] am not a person who writes or read reviews but after my horrible and very emotional experience with this location, I will fully concur after the fact to the previous reviews on other web site, PLEASE STAY AWAY! I travel a lot and have used budget rentals many times, yet this is my first time at this Glendale location. My upfront service was good, yet staff was a little unprofessional with very casual attire (it was mid week) and used slang to describe the car functions. Overlooking this concern (slang used because I'm African American). Yet out the door service was good...

Now when it came time for me to extend my rental another week, that's when their level of service and customer care was outstandingly AWFUL. I called and spoke to an agent at the branch extending the car for 1 to 2 weeks, because I was going into surgery and also informed the agent of this fact. The agent said, "no problem and it would be taken care of..." I said thank you and ended phone conversation.

As I was recovering in the hospital, apparently this branch attempted several times to get another deposit on my credit without my verbal or written permission and the card was declined. (I inform my credit card company to place a hold on my card(s) while I was being hospitalized).

The day I was released from the hospital traveling from Northern CA and in no man's land, I find out that manager named, ** has report the car stolen via voice mail message. I immediately contacted the police department which stated it was not in their system as a stolen car yet. I then contacted the manager, ** to resolve and find a solution for this issue, then later spoken to his Regional Manager named, **...

After explaining the situation of my hospitalization, the manager, ** just want to be argumentative and made no effort for a solution. ** did apologize for hear about that I was hospitalized and could see it was just an error in communication, yet still refused to find a solution.

(Note: at this point the car is still not in the police system as a stolen car and we could contact the police station, stop the action and made arrangements with the supervision of the police department). Regional Manager ** just told me I was no longer able to drive the car. To avoid being pulled over and arrested for a misunderstanding, I had the car towed to the nearest 24 hour Budget rental location and checked in.

The next morning I called the police station, spoke to the Detective assign to the case, he verified that the car was at a budget rental location and in good condition, called me back and said the matter was closed.(Total talk time 18 mins. to resolve this matter alone).

My goal in posting this review to share my horrific experience with this location in Glendale, (which is not a corporate office, but an independent leasing office). Independent offices have much less supervision from Budget Corporate, so they can and may be loose cannon). Also to warning everyone of this branch abuse of authority, the bad customer service/care and how this branch functions professionally. If you do rent here, I pray your experience will be better. I wish I would have just read the prior post on other sites before I rented there...because if I had, I WOULD NOT!

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, CALIFORNIA -- I live in the US (California) and traveled to the UK. Before leaving, I reserved a Budget rental car through Argus. The agreed upon price was $490.97. In the confirmation email I got from Argus, it refers to "Optional Extras or Fuel Charges are payable at the rental desk". When I got to the Scotland airport, after traveling for 24+ hours, and I was delirious with jet lag, they demanded I buy insurance for 501.50 pounds, which, at the current exchange rate, worked out to $796.36! That's 1.62 times as much as the original rental price!!!

Because I'm not used to either driving on the left side of the road, or driving a car with a manual transmission, I felt having a car with an automatic transmission (which I reserved) was mandatory. Those were getting to be in short supply even when I was making my reservation, and were likely sold out by the time I arrived, so I reluctantly agreed UNDER DURESS to buy the insurance. I was standing there with two suitcases in hand. My friend that I was meeting there had taken two weeks of vacation to spend time with me. I had made numerous non-refundable reservations, etc. I pretty much didn't have any options at that point.

I contacted Argus the next day through their website, and they opened a ticket, but said the issue could not be investigated until I returned the car. Now, why on earth would that be the case? I'll tell you why: it's so that I would be more likely to hang on to the car, rather than shopping around for a better deal and returning the car early.

I called Argus a few days later, and someone assured me (and I questioned it and clarified) that this $796.36 insurance charge was a deposit, not a premium, and that it would not be billed to my card so long as I didn't damage the car, which I didn't.

I returned home on April 2, and on April 4, they had attempted to bill me for the entire $796.36. They only got $671.33 because that's about all I had in my checking account. They got a little more than what I had due to the overdraft protection, and of course I incurred overdraft fees.

I emailed Budget, and they beat me over the head with the fact that I had signed their contract, and basically told me to go to hell. Argus is expressing a little more sympathy, but I have yet to get a refund. The guy said he would pull the audio tape of the conversation I had with the Argus customer support woman, and if indeed I was assured that it was a deposit rather than a premium, I would receive a refund. That was stated on April 8.

Today is the 12th, and I have not been given any updates, and I couldn't get the guy on the phone who was assigned this case, and he hasn't responded to my emails requesting updates. I think Argus and Budget are co-conspirators in this. If Argus had given me correct information, I would have shopped around for a new rental car, and returned the old one, thus, at least minimizing the carnage. But, I was misled, I was put off until it was too late to do anything about it, and now, I'm out an extra $671.33. This is highway robbery.

To summarize: I agreed in good faith to pay the stated amount of $490.97, and I did indeed pay this amount at the time I made the reservation. They ended up charging a total of $1297.33 for the rental car. That's 2.62 times what was originally agreed upon.

A rental company is well within its rights to charge insurance, but they should state their requirements UP FRONT and IN ADVANCE!!! They shouldn't spring this one someone at the airport! Even their own contract lists these charges as "Optional Services", but they refused to rent the car to me without me agreeing to pay these fees.

This is worse than bait and switch. Bait and switch at least gives the person the option to walk away. I had flown from California to Scotland, and I NEEDED a rental car, and had reserved one, and had paid the agreed upon price for it. Then, after they had me over a barrel, they extorted another $796.36 out of me. I will never rent from Budget/Avis ever again. I suggest you do likewise.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI -- Warning to all...this is what happens when you use your debit card: May 31, 2011 I rented a vehicle using my Utility Bill (address on bill **) and my most recent pay check stub (address on stub **) my current ID (address on ID **) and my debit card. I agreed to the rental fees for 1 week totaling $365.00 and a deposit of $150.00. It was explained to me by the rental agent (you should be able to pull her name from my original rental agreement) that upon my return of the vehicle the $150.00 will be refunded to me but could take up to 2 weeks depending on when my bank releases the funds.

I was told that if I were to need to extend the rental to call back in and authorize my card to be charged again. I was also instructed that if my method of payment were to change I would need to return back to the location to extend my rental. On May 7th at 10:00 I called in to extend my rental on the same original card given on May 31st. I was told by this agent (again you should be able to pull his name from this transaction) that my total charges to extend my rental would be $216.00 and the $150.00 will be released back into my account but would be used to make up for the rest of the rental charges.

I asked the agent to please confirm only $216.00 would be debited from my account so that I could make sure enough money was in my account to debit. I was reassured that the total amount of $216.00 would be debited, nothing more. I agreed to this. I checked my account at 2pm on 6/7 and the $216.00 was debited on 6/7. On 6/8 I viewed my account and an additional $150.00 was taken out as well. At 9:30am on 6/8 I called the Wyandotte location to question the additional $150.00 charge. It was explained to me that the agent I spoke to on 6/7 did not debit enough money and the $150.00 deducted from my account was to make up for the mistake.

The agent (**) apologized for the agent not taking out the correct amount and began to tell me there was nothing she can do. When I explained to her that my checking account had been drastically compromised, she interrupted me to advise me "Well you can just return the car and I will refund you for the days you have not used the car." I advised the agent that I asked the previous agent who extended my rental to confirm the single charge as advised $216.00 would be debited and was told "yes".

I advised her that I had no knowledge to question the $216.00 being incorrect because the person I talked to should have been giving me accurate information especially when dealing with a debit card and not a credit card. Since she did not display any concern for my current situation I asked to speak to the onsite manager. She advised me that she was the location manager and there was nothing she could do. She again advised me "You can return the car and I will refund you for the days you have not used."

I advised her that I was using the vehicle for job related travel and was unable to return the vehicle that day and should not be penalized by having to look for another vehicle because I was advised the incorrect information. Since the charges were valid in the end; I decided to let the matter go even though the matter was left unresolved.

On 6/14 I called in to advise that I would be returning the car late, I spoke with ** (a manager of another location, but at the 1217 location that day) and he advised me since I was returning the car late to be sure to have it back by 10:15 6/15 and to expect a $77 refund on my debit card instead of the entire $150.00.

I later received a call from the agent who originally rented me the car and she asked if I would be returning the car that day. I advised her that I spoke with Mike and he gave me instructions on returning the rental. She advised me that he was a manager and see saw the arrangements made. I advised her that I will be calling in on 6/15 to renew the rental. She advised me this was fine, however if I am changing my card in which the rental was being charged on I would need to come into the 1217 Wyandotte to do so. Otherwise, I could call in and extend the rental. 6/15 8am I call in to the 1217 Wyandotte location to renew the rental.

** was the person who answered the call, she asked me who I was and put me on hold for about 5 minutes. She came back to the phone and advised her systems were down and she would need to call me back. I gave her my work phone number because my cell phone was not on me that day. She did call me back about 30 minutes later advising me that I could not renew the rental because there was a debit card policy that stated no rental could be out over 14 days. I would need to come in, close out the contract and take out another rental.

I advised ** that finding out this information this late in the morning at work was once again putting me into another unnecessary position. I was never told this information at the time of the rental nor while talking to the agent on the phone the previous day. ** advised me that the policy was on the information I signed that is kept in the Budget rental office. I explained to ** that $300.00 total was being held on my debit card in addition to the $365 for another week. She advised this was her policy. While speaking with her over the phone I looked at my bank account and saw a new charge for $73.00.

I asked ** to have a District Manager call me immediately as this situation was getting out of hand. ** asked what number was best to contact me on and advised my work number, the same number she had been calling me on that morning. Waiting all day at work for a phone call back, I never received one. At 5pm, I regained access to my phone and saw that I had a message from **, I listened to the message and it was from **. He called my cell phone at 11:32am. ** advised that if the car was not returned Budget would report the car stolen.

In a panic, I call ** to first ask her why I was not contacted at work. She simply said "I don't know". I advised her that I was waiting on a call from her manager. She advised me, her manager did not want to call me back and he told ** to call me and "handle" it. ** said she would call her corporate office to try to find out what can be done at this point. ** called me at 5:45pm to advise me the car was reported stolen and there was nothing she could do. She advised me "Just drop the car off at the airport location since you live up north anyway, we close at 6. There is nothing I can do."

I advised her that I had my 2 young children with me and this is leaving me without any transportation at all. She advised me "If you continue to drive the car, you are creating grand theft auto, the best thing for you to do is drop it off at the airport location". I asked her if they could renew the rental, she looked up some rates and advised me it would be $86/day in addition to a $150 deposit.

I ended the call with ** and proceeded to call the Kansas City Police department in fear that if I got pulled over on the way to the airport with my children in the car, I would be in another very bad situation. I asked them to let me know if the vehicle identification number or license on the car had been reported stolen, they advised me no. The car had not been reported stolen. Feeling very angry and confused I looked at the back of my rental agreement that shows additional fees if the car is dropped at a different location. ** did not inform me of this, but today I am very glad that I did not.

6/16 7:30am I call the 1217 Wyandotte location to speak with ** to renew the rental. Prepared to pay the additional fees, I go into the location in person. Sherry asks me for my proof of income and utility bill. I advised her that they should already have that information on file from my previous rental; ** says "I told you over the phone yesterday I would need this.” I went back to the vehicle to retrieve the original documents used to rent the vehicle. I handed them to her; ** says she needs an updated pay check stub.

I called my boss and had him fax me a pay check stub. I also gave her my most recent utility bill. ** takes my debit card and drivers license along with my proof of income and utility bill and give me the total for the rental. I advised her that I was using my cell phone to move that exact amount over into my make account. ** runs my debit card. 30 seconds later ** hands me all of my information and says she cannot rent me the vehicle because the address on my pay check stub does not match the address on my utility bill. I advise her I just recently moved and it was an update still pending with my HR office. I asked her what other information I could give her. She says "Nothing".

I advised her that after 2 weeks of renting this vehicle they are just not seeing an error? She says "They never should have rented you the car in the first place. I can't let another mistake walk out the door." I asked her to allow me to gather my son's car seat and stroller from the back of the car. Sherry advised me "I don't have to let you get anything out of the car.” I asked her, what could she possibly want with a baby car seat? She then advised me that the car doors were unlocked. I went to gather my things from the car.

At 8:28 AM I am standing in downtown Kansas City with a stroller and have no transportation to work. I called Enterprise was picked up and in a car in less than 20 minutes. No issues at all. As soon as I got to work, I checked my account again, 93.00 had been debited that morning. If ** was not going to extend the rental, my question is why didn't she tell me that from the beginning and not waste my time? She led me to believe she was running my card for the new rental agreement that morning.

Once she confirmed the charges were through, she then advised me she could not help me. When I saw the charges on my card I called ** to find out that the charges were for and she advised me because the car was dropped late and the gas tank was on E. Had I had known ** had no intentions on renewing the rental I would have put gas in the car ready to turn back in, but my intentions were to rent the car again and head straight to work.

I was given the name Mr. ** who works in the Shawnee Kansas location as the DM. He, to this day has not returned my call and to the day the deposit for $150.00 has not made it to my bank. It is my hope that writing this letter this information will make it into the right hands and this entire situation costing my not only money but complete embarrassment at my place of employment because of being misinformed on several occasions by the employees and managers at the 1217 Wyandotte location.

FORT WORTH, TEXAS -- I made an online reservation with Budget. I paid for the car rental online as well. After reading the rental contract, I called the location where I would be picking up the car. I asked if the debit card I used to pay for the rental would be accepted at the counter when I picked up the car. I was told yes. I asked for the dollar amount they would be "holding" on my card once I picked up the car. I was told $100.00. I asked why the rental contract says the hold amount would be $200.00? The agent responded with "Oh that is just a standard amount used on the rental contracts." Odd...but OK.

I asked if I would be subject to a "credit check" as this too is included in the rental contract. I was told there would be no credit check. I went to pick up the car and the agent (Crystal in the Downtown Fort Worth TX location) looked at my card and told me she would not accept the kind of card I had. She would give me no explanation other than we do not accept your kind of card?) I told her to cancel my reservation. Crystal cannot do that. I have cancel it online. OK, I cancel the reservation online and I call customer service to complain. I told the agent that I had canceled my reservation and wanted a time frame for receiving the refund.

She asked if I had requested a refund? Canceling the reservation does not entitle you to a refund? You must request it? She told me that she would request the refund for me and I should receive it within 10 business days. I asked questions about their rental policies and why what was on the contract was different at the counter and vice versa and I informed her about how poorly I had been treated at the counter. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, she informed me that I signed the contract and that I was being rude. She then proceeded to act as if she could not understand me.

Fast forward to today, two weeks later and the 10th business day. I have not received my refund. I called Budget again, spoke to Tony who advised my reservation had not been canceled (according to him my reservation was in limbo...Odd, I have a cancellation number) and no refund had been requested.

He said he would take care of this for me and that it would be another 10 business days before the credit was received. I told him that the agent I talked to two weeks ago told me that the $50.00 cancellation fee would be waived. He said it would and that I would receive a confirmation e-mail stating that the reservation was canceled and that the refund had been requested. I received the email. The e-mail said that the cancellation fee would be $50.00 and that it was not waived.

I called Tony back. Read the e-mail to him..."Oh, I'm sorry, I should have told you that the e-mail would say that and that the $50.00 cancellation fee will be processed through another department." I have not received a confirmation e-mail from that department; but I am mad as hell. A monkey could do a better job. I'm now in the process of disputing all charges made to my card from Budget Rent a Car through my bank and informing every person I know not to use them. find it quite interesting that at the time I write this, Budget has 80% more complaints than any other car rental company on this website. Go with Enterprise, and enjoy your trip.

I reserved an intermediate car which on the website says a G-6 or similar. When I go to the counter, the Asian manager on duty ** told me it would be a Corolla. I have seen the G-6 prior to reserving it online and believe it would be adequate for us, but a Corolla would be cramped and do not believe they are similar in size.

He says I could pay 20.00 for an upgrade to the next size. We only plan to use it for a day to sightsee. We kept it rather than pay extra. The transaction was handled with zero customer service at all. ** spoke with little interest during the entire conversation, it was a take it or leave it attitude. I am a general manager for a national restaurant chain for 20 plus years, his serious lack of customer service skills would never make my team.

I observed other sales clerks while I was waiting in line and they all have good communication skills until my turn with **. This man is so poor at his work. I decided to write about him and I am an Asian myself. I just got off a cruise and everyone was so friendly and then ** the manager was the next person I have to deal with when I got back to real world.

The horror came when I returned the car the next day to catch the flight back to the states and met the "inspector" who greeted us with suspicious eyes from the time we stopped at the parking lot. He founded scratches on the front bumper and told me to wait inside. I went in and told the clerk the inspection sheet I have the previous day prior to driving the vehicle off the lot showed it has damages on the front bumper. It was actually pointed out to me by an inspector that day because I had not gotten down to look at the bottom of the car.

She says she has to put a hold of $500.00 on my credit card. I demanded to see someone about it and she said the claim adjuster just left and won't be back for 10 minutes and he doesn't have a phone to call in contact to get back sooner. (Everyone has a cell phone these days, for a management person with no phone, I didn't buy that a bit).

I was not going to leave with them holding 500.00 when the car was damaged prior to me driving it and was pointed out at the vehicle inspection sheet, so I waited 15 minutes before the claim adjuster showed up and went and look at the vehicle and decided to take the hold off my credit card. I spent 30 unnecessary minutes at the counter and just made the last call on my boarding flight with my family anxiously waiting for me.

Morale of the story--Don't just drive off the lot with a rental car. Next time I will take many pictures of the car before I drive it to back up the condition of the vehicle. I will not get any more rental car from Budget because they will attempt to get you unless you have proof like I did and I still have to wait and almost missed my flight.

VANCOUVER AIRPORT -- I reserved 10 months ahead for a Toyota Camry hybrid at Vancouver airport for the Olympics. Even the day right before I left, someone from their office phoned me and confirmed that's what I was going to get a Camry hybrid. On the day I picked up my car, I got a Hyundai Sonata, with no electronic lock. The car had 34000 km on it! The body of the car had scratches on the paint and the rim.

While doing the inspection, I pointed out the scratches, but was told they don't count those since those are considered wear and tear. I was told unless the scratch is very deep they won't mark it down. I drove to whistler, parked in a parkade during the whole duration, and then returned it back to the airport rental. Upon inspection, I was told there was a scratch (1") that I need to pay for. The scratch wasn't even deep and can easily be buffed away.

The guy marked the car as "unrentable" and I was forced to sign a paper to say I will pay for whatever. I asked how much it would be and was told they had to send it away to the body shop for a quote!! I was told I had the option to wait for 2 hours and miss my flight if I want to know how much it is! The guy was extremely unreasonable and rude. Therefore beware of this company. This is the first time I rent from budget and will be my last time too! Their price seem to be a bit cheaper, but they make their money back by picking on little wear and tear to charge the customer.

I rent before from national and Hertz, and if there is a major damage (nit a scratch) they have codes in their computer so they can let the customer know right away how much the damage is and would pay for it right there. They don't require the customer to sign an open agreement to agree to pay for whatever. I just find this is a very fishy way to make money from their customer. I am sure the "damages" they charge their customers will make up for the cheap price hat hey promote. DON'T ever rent from these people!!!

Budget put a $680 bill on my Amex for this little scratch!!! Whenever these people have a chance, they will charge whatever they want. They definitely are sending out a message that either get their stupid insurance, or else pay for whatever they said you damage. They don't mark down stuff that I pointed out to them during the inspection, saying they don't count those, yet, when I returned the car being inspected by a different person, it was a different standard.

Horrible, horrible way to do business with this franchise. These kinds of scratch is definitely not worth $680. I had a car rear-ended me, and the body shop had to replace the hooks underneath, and painted the bumper, and it was about $500! These people at the Vancouver (especially that Indian guy with the funny eyes) are sharks and unreasonable. My best advice: go to Hertz or Avis. I rent from them for years, and had no problem, and the cars are much newer!

OTTAWA -- I got scammed by Budget Rent-A-Car and Myers Cadillac in Ottawa. July 8th 2009, my truck (2006 Escalade) was having warranty work done. The dealer supplied my wife with a 2009 Cadillac DTS as a rental from Budget (Location is inside the dealership). I was not there to examine the car, they simply took my credit card over the phone.

When I drove the car that night, it felt sluggish but I attributed this to the engine still breaking in. Only 14000km on the car. July 9th 2009 at 10:30pm, I filled the car at a Mr. Gas in Orleans Ontario. (After the phone call from the dealer, my wife returned to the gas station to get a receipt and match to our credit card statement). Drove the car home (less than 1Km away).

Next morning 7:30am, myself, my wife and kids hop in the car to drop me off at work. The car dies about 6 to 7 blocks from my home. All the gauges lit up and the computer screen read "Service Stabilitrack." I called the dealer who transferred me to the Budget desk. The Budget representative referred me to a 1-800 roadside number. I call that number and a woman said all Canadian calls were being re-routed to the States and to call the office where I rented the car. I did.

More than an hour later, finally a tow truck came to pick up the car on a flatbed. About 20 minutes later, another Budget representative came to pick up myself and the family and provide us with another car. 9:30 am, my wife get a call from Myers Cadillac that our truck is ready and to come and pick it up. She did.

1:30 pm, I get a call from my service advisor about the rental car. Stating that there was water in the gas tank and that since I did not take the additional insurance with Budget, I am responsible to have it fixed at a cost of $1600.00. I was told I need to pay this right away as each day the car is not available, Budget will charge me $60.00 for the rental. I immediately call my insurance company. July 15th 2009. I get a call from the dealer stating the car has been repaired and to come and pay $500 deductible. I have yet to receive any information back from my insurance.

The service advisor told us there was MOSTLY water in the tank and this was the cause of the damage. I had received the car with a full tank of gas. The car ran poorly and I barely drove it. The night before I filled the tank at a renowned gas station with no complaints about its gas. If the car was vandalized, they could not put that much water without siphoning out some fuel. And if someone was stealing fuel, why would they refill it with water and risk being caught? Not other instances of vandalism was reported on my street that night.

My opinion is that there is more to this than they want know. There was another problem with the car or previous contamination of the fuel and they want to pass the blame on to me. I refuse to pay for the deductible and I am more than willing to fight it in front of the justice of the piece.

I have had two consecutive poor experiences with Budget. I rented a car from the Houston airport and was on my way to my hotel. Along the highway, I got a flat tire so I pulled over at the next exit into a U-HAUL parking lot. I called roadside assistance letting them know of my situation - female in my early 30's, sitting in a parking lot, 8pm at night, I'm not sure where I am or if this place is safe, etc, etc.

Naturally, I asked roadside assistance how long will it take to get some help and the response at the other end of the phone was "I don't know". After more questioning and requesting information about the process and the response time, I asked if they could call me back once they knew how long it would take to get some help. The person on the other end took my number down, said she'd call back in 10 minutes.

After 20 minutes, there was still no call. Eventually, I ended up getting out of the car and asking for help from a stranger who was returning his U-HAUL. 45 minutes later, a tow truck appeared that was sent from Budget and by then, I solved my situation on my own and there was never call returned from Budget. Couple weeks later I'm back in Texas again, and now I'm at DFW picking up another rental car from Budget.

This time, I ran into two issues with this rental: The customer service representative asked me if I wanted to purchase insurance - I explicitly declined the offer since I was traveling for business and my corporate card already covers car insurance. The customer service representative had me at initial 5-6 places and contrary to what I requested, the representative completed the form indicating that I accepted the insurance offer from Budget. I didn't realize this until I returned the rental and I saw this unknown charge. They said I had initialed the contract… unbelievable!

Upon picking up the rental, I requested the customer service representative to also give me a toll pass since there are several toll roads in Dallas. We discussed the rates of the toll pass and the representative said it would be inside my car. Upon getting into the car, I see there is a sticker on the windshield and I assume this is the toll pass the representative talked about (I'm from California where we don't have toll rolls so I'm not sure on how the toll passes look).

Once I'm on the toll road and I try to get through my first toll, I learned that my car doesn't have a toll pass! I called Budget, told them of my situation and I'm advised to go back to the airport where I picked up my car to pick up a toll pass!

Here is my final complaint about Budget - after all this and the multiple bad experiences I've had, I decide to call Budget's customer care because I'm quite unhappy and frustrated with their service. The wait is so long and no one ever answers the phone! I have been on hold for 30+ minutes and no one ever picks up the line. Do they even have a customer care line?

Here is one positive note about Budget - if you email your complaint, after 10 business days (not 5-7 as they state), you do receive a response back saying they can't help you, or you initialized the contract, etc. Lesson learned: don't rent from Budget. Their service, their customer care all fits the budget price and their price isn't all that competitive...

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- It is my life's mission to put as much bad press out there about Budget Rent a car as possible. We rented a car on a Sunday morning at 11. We received a walk in rate for only 32.06 including tax for 1 day. As we were walked out to the car, the gentleman from the Budget Seattle office on 7th St was just going to let us go, without taking a look at the damage to the car.

Luckily I stopped him and had him write down all of the scratches, dents, etc. When we returned the car the next morning, things went flawless, or so I thought. When I returned home, I attempted to use my bank card, only to find out I was $500 in the hole. Come to find out, they were holding $400 on a $32 rental. Not only had they held the $400 but had caused me $160 in OD fees.

When I called them, the first individual I talked to in the call center told me I should have known that they would hold that much on my card. Then she told me that I should have asked the appropriate questions. When I asked to speak to her supervisor, she put me over to a young punk who thought he knew it all. He went on to say that their policy regarding how much $$ is held was posted at the rental facility. When I told him "no" he said "hold on, I will verify".

Without asking, he put me on hold and called the facility, not only to find out that it is not posted, but was told that I was told at the time of my rental....WHICH I WAS NOT. He then explained that all of that didn't matter, because in the end, it was a policy of theirs and he didn't have to do anything about my OD fees, and couldn't even guarantee when he would release the $400. He then informed me that my car had not even been checked in yet - meaning that I was 2000 miles from Seattle, and no proof of check in (because it was 5:15 when I used their drop box). When I finally did get a hold of someone above him, he was finally somewhat helpful.

A few days later, the $400 was dropped off my card, but a charge of $42 was on my bank statement, not the $32 that I had a RECEIPT for. When I called the original rental facility on 7th St in Seattle, I was told, by the owner/manager, that it didn't matter what my bank statement read, he only goes off his receipts and he did not overcharge me. I begged for him to allow me to send my bank statement and I was told it was a waste of time, because again, all he goes by is his receipt, not my bank account information.

In the end, after probably a combined total of 8 hours dealing with all of these issues, the only people to truly help me were MY bank. Budget wasn't "budging" even though they were at fault. Renting from Avis and its subsidiary - Budget - will only bring you bad luck. I had a car for less than 24 hours and had to spend a great deal of time getting the problem fixed. In the end, no one cared, they were all RUDE. RENTER BEWARE!!!