Awful!!! I picked out a car on Expedia. It was a car I could afford. I am not CEO! When I arrived after a 7.5 hour plane ride, walk the long distance to pick up my car, I had to deal with a car salesman! First, he said, "We don't have the car you put on hold. It's through a third party, yada, yada yada. We can give you an SUV." I ordered a small car. I said no, "I want a small car." He said ok and then wasted time writing up a "car". I went to look at the paperwork and it was a station wagon!! I said ,"I told you I wanted a small car!!" Then he proceeds to tell me he only has a stick shift assuming I'd say no! I said, "I'll take it." The car was fine and the trip was great! When I returned the car the guy said I had prepaid 75.00 for gas!! I had not approved that. The guy didn't say it either. Now, I just received an invoice for speeding a 64.00 dollar ticket, plus 42.00 for your fees!! Needless to say, after my experience, I will never use Budget again!!! They' re a bunch of scammers!!! read more

I rented a car in AZ and the electronics died including the AC during a 110 degree day, the roadside team sent me to a satellite location 20 miles away and it was closed (Sunday) and then another that was closed. I had to stay out there and then drive back to the airport the next day and waste 2 days of our trip because the satellites didnt have a 7 passenger SUV. I rented an SUV for our family of 6 and they promised me a coupon for 2 days free plus some points for my trouble. They only give sedan coupons I learned so I called and they said they will take that away and give me 4000 points. They issued me 800 points a month later which couldn't rent a scooter for an hour. I put in 30-40 calls over the course of a year out of principal and they have the absolute worst customer service of any org I have encountered in my nearly 50 years of life. I travel a lot for work and now refuse to use them even if it costs 2x as much just out of principal that they refused to do the right thing to a top level customer that called more than 30 times. This was never a good use of my time and I would generally never even call customer service but again it was a matter of principal. During all my calls one of the people asked me if I could stop calling, they have the notes and if they said they will do the points they will..... they never did after a year. read more

I have called five times to leave my name on the supervisor callback list within two weeks and I still have not got a call back. these people don't care if you have a problem or not no more Avis for me!!! read more

Reserved a convertible for one week months ago at Avis/Budget Orange City, FLA (for a pre-planned vacation during leaf season). Received regular reminders confirming and reminding me of my impending convertible rental via e mail. Went to pick up the convertible today (10/27/23). I was told there were no convertibles available. Let me repeat that: NO convertibles in Florida for me to rent. This news was delivered with complete indifference by the local manager...in semi-comprehensible English. I called the inaptly named "Customer Service" number...after finally getting a human being to answer one of the computer generated options offered...receiving no satisfaction. Suffice it to say that Avis and Budget have lost me as a future customer. I will now endeavor to make sure that as many people as possible follow my lead away from their execrable "service" company. read more

I booked a car with Avis and prepaid my reservation. When I returned the car they charged my card for an extra $1,000. They said the base rate had changed. I showed them the Avis email confirmation that stated what the base rate was that I agreed to pay. They said they can change it. I wouldn't have booked with them had I known that and I have never experienced that with any other rental company. SO BEWARE OF AVIS, they'll just charge your card for whatever amount they feel like despite anything they may have quoted you. read more

My review is for the call center since we can't review their call centers which are overseas. The physical address listed per the BBB.org is here and additionally a PO Box in Houston, Tx. Why can't these jobs be filled by people working in the United States? If the training for calls were better it wouldn't take so much time to illicit a correct response from the customer service agent trying to understand my Chicago accent. I'm trying to find out if a Dodge Challenger is available and where in the US it can be rented from. I know it's available in California. She's not sure if Illinois is a state or a city and she can't pronounce Chicago. No matter if it's Shicago or Chickago, she had her own mispronunciation going on. I understand that they have certain protocols before a quote and is given. But WTF?! See, if it was a cocky American sitting in a call center down south answering calls I would've gotten this info in under 30 seconds instead of ten minutes. Makes you realize why working online is less stressful. read more

This review was originally written and posted 03-09-2016. It was easy to rent a car from Budget but I ran into trouble when I got a flat tire on my way to return it. The folks on the phone urged me to call their roadside assistance and they assured me that it was free. I returned the car and the on-site manager reassured me that everything was fine - that I wouldn't have any surprise charges. He had me complete an incident report just in case. Months later I got a letter telling me that Budget was going to deduct nearly $200 from my credit card because of that incident. I immediately called them and they said they'd look into it. I have many back-and-forth emails. They initially said I wouldn't be charged but refused to refund it when I was. It was an absolute nightmare. For them it came down to me not having their Roadside Safety Net (or whatever they called it). That is an additional insurance for stuff like flat tires. They never offered me the coverage and it didn't show on my contract that I either accepted or declined that coverage. Also, from the letter that Budget sent to me, they didn't explain how they calculated the charge. I filed a claim with the Better Business Bureau. Budget refused to compromise. Then I sued them and won. I had to go back to court again because they still didn't refund my money. It was a stressful pain in the butt. Budget and their affiliates have completely lost my trust. I would much rather pay more money to rent from another company. read more

STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS!!! I rented a car for about 5 days from Budget in October of 2015, picking it up from Maine and dropping it off in Vermont. Everything went fine with the rental, the car seemed pretty beat up when we got it but took pictures of it and went on our way, used it, and dropped it off. Now a year and a half later I get a letter in the mail from a law firm trying to collect $1600 from me that they say I owe to Budget for damage to the car. Being that no damage occurred to the car while I had it, I thought it was a scam but calling Budget it sounds like they really are trying to blame me for something with that car, a year and a half later. I tried to call the law firm and they were weirdly hostile, almost yelling. I contacted Budget's customer service department and they simply say "you're responsible" ...but nobody will say for what! Nobody will show me any pictures of anything, nobody is interested in looking at the pictures I took of the car when I got it, nothing! Upon Googling what to do about it, there are huge forums about Budget-Avis doing this to many customers, trying to scam them out of money (check out forum.elliott.org/forums/avis-budget.58). I had no idea this was a thing! Even if other companies cost a little more, it's worth it to avoid these headaches. I've opened cases with the BBB and FTC, we'll see how those go... I really don't want to have to hire a lawyer for this. read more

I've been a Budget customer for 30+ years. Last year, rented a car from its Bogota, Colombia, airport vendor. Once on the road we discovered: air conditioner not working; electrical system for GPS charging not working. Vendor acknowledged those deficiencies during the on-return inspection and noted same on my receipt. I wrote Budget headquarters and sent the documents on the deficiencies. They wrote back a note "sorry you had a bad experience ... hope next time is better." No partial refund, no Budget rental credits. Just "sorry about that." Are you not surprised that on my coming September Alaska trip I'm using Thrifty? read more

What can I say about Avis? (Ottawa Hills Ohio) Let's start with the terrible customer service skills of the 8th-grade dropout who seemed to run the place. You would think someone who, at middle age, has aspired to run a ratty rent-a-car shack in the middle of nowhere Ohio would have some humility about how he carries out his work, but no. His extremely over inflated sense of self importance was only slightly overshadowed by his lack of customer service. My first experience with this lumpenproletariat (lets just call him Lump) was by phone. Lump: Hello Me: Umm...Is this Avis? Lump: Yeah Me: I have a reservation for toda... Lump: I'm here until noon. Me: Yes...like I was saying, I have a reservation booked for 10 AM today. I'm running a little late. Is that going to be a problem? Lump: I'm here until noon. Me: Oh, so it doesn't matter what time I made my reservation for? Lump: No. Me: Ok I'll... (click) Let me add here that it was never explained to me in any fashion that this location would be closed at noon. Which was only the beginning of things that were not explained to me. Meanwhile...I'm dropped off at Lump's Avis Rentals. I walk in the door with all my stuff, there is no acknowledgement from Lump or his sidekick who I'll call Delta Minus... To shorten this, I found there was a lot going wrong with my "reservation" which was given to someone else. What it boiled down to though was; I didn't have a major credit card to put down, and they would have taken nearly $400 out of my checking account for a prepaid deposit - effectively wiping out my remaining travel budget. Again, this was NEVER explained to me. Had it been, i would have happily brought my credit card or, at the very least, transferred money. Lump couldn't care less about my situation. Me: Is there anything we can do about this? I mean, I'm now stranded in Toledo. I booked this online, and was never told of this policy. Lump: Nope Me: Do you have a customer service hotline? Lump: Why? It's not going to do anything? Me: Look, do you have a customer service line or not? Lump: Why? They're are just going to tell you the same thing I am. Me: Yeah, well I'd like to talk to someone who isn't you. Get it? Lump: (very reluctantly writes down the number and throws it on the counter). Unfortunately for me, Lump was right. The Avis rep told me the exact same thing. They couldn't even take a credit card number from someone over the phone. They weren't willing to help me whatsoever, and by the time I hung up, neither could any other rental car agency in Toledo because they were all closed or had no availability. I ended up hitch-hiking with all of my luggage back to the hotel I stayed in to figure out what to do. Now, this isn't my first rodeo with the rental car industry. I've rented cars in the past. I've always used my debit card, but never have I heard of this policy. I've certainly never been left stranded, nor have I experienced the complete lack of professionalism or customer service exhibited by Lump & Avis in general. In the end, some great friends in Michigan bailed me out, and I was able to make it to my home town before flying back to CA. The moral of the story: 1: ALWAYS bring a credit card (I rarely use mine) 2: NEVER EVER use Avis read more

HORRIBLE international customer service. International customer service reps do their job keeping disatisfied customers from managers, not calling back when promising to! Citing ~$800 damage when damage does not exist. Checking car is 4 hours after turning it in.....beware in Dresden, Germany read more

if i could give this company zero stars, i would in a second! we rented from them to take this road trip, and when a freak accident occurred, they were quick to blame us, even when the police said it wasn't our fault. the car was done after this, so they said our contract was canceled, and they wouldn't give us another car. so, they left us stranded in browning, montana, a very small town on the outskirts of glacier national park. to add insult to injury, after various conversations with them, one of the many customer service representatives we spoke to redacted initial information, saying we would be charged for all days they did NOT have the car in their posession (it had to get back to seattle), as opposed to stopping the contract as soon as we didn't have the car. this refund has yet to take place. unbeknownst to us, budget and avis are the same company, and it was avis who we ended up having to rent from to get out of browning. first, we got the bait and switch ("sorry, we don't have any more sedans, take this gas-guzzling SUV!") then, on the same night we got car number two, we got a flat, and surprise! they left us stranded because, supposedly, they had no contractors in the area to come fix the tire (at this point, we were in helena, montana, and yes, that would be the capital of montana!)... and we should call aaa, IF we had it. the next morning, we drove to the closest avis, where they promptly refused to give us another car... until we got on the phone at corporate who forced them to give us a new car. so they did, eventually - another SUV, with even lower gas mileage! (upon returning of the car, we found out they charged us for gas too!) a day or so passes, and then... the oil change light goes on! we call avis again, and they tell us to change the oil ourselves. HELL NO! unfortunately, no corporate locations are around us, just a bunch of "licensees," and they have no obligation to switch the beast. so, we keep on driving on it... until we got to the milwaukee area, where we finally end up with car number four, a dodge caliber (a sedan-like car we wanted in the first place.) bottom line: don't rent from avis/budget. EVER. their treatment and standards of service have been incompetent, rude, and border on criminal! read more

Please allow me to take this moment to express my gratitude for my recent experiences at your Waco location. This will be lengthy due to the fact I have so much for which I feel thankful. I was a fool. I did not realize that your online website defaulted to noon no matter what day you choose. Thank you so much for reminding me the importance of paying attention to detail. However, if I had paid attention to that detail, I never would have experienced the life lessons to immediately follow. I booked the car for a Thurs through Monday. I had my partner drop me off at 8:00am so she could get to work on time. Unfortunately for me, I left my cell phone at home to charge. Also, I had the misfortune of wearing flip flops on a day I was off from work & it was already 90° outside. I see now, I should have worn shoes. A nice woman greeted me from behind the counter. Her smile was upside-down, but I felt it was a smile. I gave her my name and stated that I needed to pick up a car. She tells me that the weekend rates do not start until noon on Thurs, the time for which I apparently booked my pick up. I said, ok I did not realize this. She said it would be extra to pick it up 4 hours early. In my flawed logic, I figured there would be a prorated amount for the 4 hours added. My math is sketchy, if it cost me $104 for 5 days, then it would have cost me $3.47 for those 4 hours. To give you, Avis, the benefit of the doubt of things that make cents rather than sense, I figured $20 was a fair amount. However, my math was wrong. She informed me that the extra 4 hours would cost me an extra $114. I asked for clarification. I said, because I'm picking up the car 4 hours early... a car that will still be there at 12, you are going to charge me another $114? She is very to the point (& I like that in a person) when she says Yes, & there is nothing I can do about it. I say ok. What am I supposed to do then? It's only you & me in the tiny Waco airport. There aren't even any planes here. How am I supposed to get to where I need to be? Again, so appreciative of her poignancy when she says I don't know, but I can't do anything about it. I walk outside to the front of the airport to see about catching a cab. No cab. No one. I walk back in & ask to use the phone. Can't get a hold of anyone & I don't know but one person in Waco. She can't leave work, nor does she know about my predicament. I walk back outside & weigh my options. I live about 4 miles from the airport. I stare at my worn but cozy Reef flip flops and think - piece of cake. On the walk back home, I mull over the details & think about what I have learned. By the time I reach my front door - an hour and a half later - I realize I'm filled with gratitude. Thank you for reminding me to pay attention to detail. Thank you for reminding me to think twice about not wearing socks & shoes on my day off, and for the blisters on my feet. Thank you for helping me realize that keeping my nose out of my phone will allow me the time for a long, hot walk in the backwoods of Waco, TX. Thank you for helping me with logic and math. Thank you for reminding me that spinal fusion, 2 knee surgeries, & learning to walk again is no reason to neglect the nature found on the side of the road. Dead animals, used condoms, men's underwear, & a wide assortment of liquor bottles on hot pavement should never be missed. Thank you for reminding me that the rustle in the forest could be a mountain lion... or a boring deer, and realize that I am more afraid of snakes than I am of being hit by a car. Thank you for the hills because my calves have been bored for a while. Thank you for the passing cars, even a cop. I have taken solitude for granted. For reminding me that I should always carry sunscreen in my pocket so as to avoid having one side of my body burned & the other still as white as a baby's butt. Thank you for correcting my misconception that the weekend starts after work on a Friday. All this I've been starting me weekends 30 hours too late. Thank YOU, Avis. Without you I would have never struggled with putting pressure on my feet for a couple days. My face would have been one color instead of two. I would not have learned the gross anatomy of several rodents, a opossum, & a few unidentifiable things. I also wouldn't have watched a father & daughter kick a soccer ball together on the same field on which I helped win state & run cross country. I wouldn't have seen a variety of (live) wild animals stare at me as I stared at them. I wouldn't have listened to total silence in quite the same way. I wouldn't have realized how lucky in body that I really am despite any pain. I wouldn't have spent 10 minutes on the cab ride back to the airport at noon with a Vietnam vet who used to live in the same neighborhood that I grew up in. I wouldn't have appreciated AC in quite that way when I stepped in my front door. Thank you, Avis - your shitty policies & customer service has reminded me how lucky I really am. read more

January 10, 2014 Avis Budget Car Rental, LLC 6 Sylvan Way Parsippany, NJ 07054 U.S. I want to write you a letter and tell you how horrible of a company you have! We rented a mini van for across county trip with our 3 kids over the holidays. I rented it through your online site and had it picked up at the Chesterfield MO location. I prepaid for the van which was deducted from my account on 12/12 for $840.45. We picked up the van on 12/27 and the guy at this location ask for my credit card so he could put a deposit of $50 on it until it was returned. I gladly gave him my card and went on our way. The van radio did not work for the 11 days we traveled across the United States. The windshield wiper fluid was out and I had to purchase a new container of it. The change oil fluid light continued to flash through out the whole trip . We returned the van at the Seattle Airport on 12/7 with a full tank of gas. The man gave me my receipt and we were on our way home. On 12/8 when I got home I checked my bank account and saw that I was in the negative and that there was another charge of $840.45 on my bank account which put me into the negative! I also have $180 worth of bounced check charges and this may continue to increase depending on how long you decide to take to put MY money back into my account. I immediately contacted your customer service department which informed me that it would take 5 to 7 days to refund my money. I told them I needed it back into my account ASAP. I didn't have extra funds to put into here to cover your mistake! Now here it is the 10th I still haven't had a refund and still in the negative. Today is Friday, I do my grocery shopping for the weekend. I have 3 kids and they eat a lot! I cannot even go to the store to buy bread, milk or food! How can you do this to people!!! I need my money put back into my account so I can feed my children!!!! I cannot believe you can run a company like this and put your head onto your pillow and sleep at night. I want a full refund plus charges. read more

THIS TOO IS FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS But sadly its for ones in the good old USA. We have been renting vehicles from Avis for many months now and honestly overall the experience has been nothing but good both the Poughkeepsie IBM Rd. location as well as the Danbury, CT location have proved to be pleasant, helpful, flexible and professional. I want to make sure I clear that up before continuing as this has nothing to do with these locations and I will say again we have been pleased and impressed with both. Unfortunately I had the very unpleasant experience of calling Avis customer service line 800-354-2847 this afternoon and speaking with a gentleman who from the very start that was rude, degrading, condescending, sarcastic and overall a JERK. He basically refused to help, cut me off and completely contradicted a conversation I had the day prior with their same department. When I explained the situation in detail he laughed and said "well what do you want me to do". ( a common response apparently ) I then asked for his supervisor because I too have been in customer service for many years and know without question his conduct was inappropriate and offensive. He then said no one was available but he would basically have someone call us back in 48 hours and then dismissed the call. I am sure that request will never be heard but this was one of the worst Customer Service Reps I have ever spoken to and it's a shame because strictly on principal we will look to use one of your competition now. It is amazing what one person can do to jeopardize the integrity of a company. I can't imagine this is the first complaint but be aware stick to the location sites and don't utilize AVIS customer service line. read more

I have moved across states and across the country with Budget 6 times now and NEVER have I had such incredibly awful service! Because of my good history with the company, I didn't bother with the cargo insurance because I've had such good experiences with the company and the trucks. Today at the halfway point to my destination, I discovered there has been a leak in the corner closest to the driver side that had obviously been dripping the entire time we had been driving (we have been through rain and snow, all of which has melted from the top of the truck). The drip happened to be over the corner where I pushed my heaviest boxes, which contain collages and photographs dating back to the early 1900s. I had said box covered with about 25 articles of expensive clothing including my winter coats and recital dresses. When I discovered the leak, the clothing--some that was enclosed in garment bags--was soaked and frozen solid, attached to each other, and to my photographs. Two of my large boxes are still stuck to the floor and one of my dresses is attached to a collage my grandmother made in 1960 something. When I called customer support, I first had to call multiple numbers because the computer didn't accept my entry to speak to a consultant. Once I spoke to a human being, I got transferred from Reservations to Customer Service to someone else, and back again, only to be told I had to call another number. I called the number and was then transferred yet again. When I finally got to a representative, I was obviously upset and the man hung up on me because I said I wanted to speak to a supervisor. I called several more times, went through multiple people, only to be told that I can call a number to file a claim while they sent someone out for roadside assistance. After detaching the dresses and coats I could without damaging them further, I got a phone call from the company that was contracted to come assist me. The man, Robert W. was his name, was abhorrently rude and argued with me about the customer service I had previously experienced on Monday to extend the length of our trip. Obviously upset with the damage and runaround I'd already had, I said I didn't understand because we already extended it through Budget Customer Service on Monday. He proceeded to berate me because it had to be done through the branch I rented from. He also said it was impossible that it could still be leaking because the weather app said it was 20 degrees and sunny, implying that I was either lying or stupid because there was liquid coming from the spot. Obviously, I was infuriated by the audacity to imply my stupidity. Regardless, I was still confused as to whether or not I could get any service today, so I finally said "Can I or can I not get assistance with this?" to which he continued to angrily tell me that he won't do anything because I didn't extend the rental properly. I have worked in customer service for a decade now and I have NEVER had someone react to an upset customer in such a way. I tried not to explode on the man but instead said sternly, "I know that now, thank you!!" I had to hang up before I lost my temper as he was continuing to berate me for mentioning the Customer Service man that I spoke to on Monday... The gentleman that told me he had handled the extension and we were good to go. After three hours on and off the phone, I finally got in touch with roadside assistance, reported Mr. Robert to his supervisor, and had someone out to clean and seal the leak. I have since called the Claims department only to be hung up on multiple times because the machine answering service doesn't connect you to a human. I still can't find the link and plan to file damages the second this truck is returned. The clothes I managed to pull apart are currently at a dry cleaners for proper drying and cleaning and who knows how much that is going to cost me. The extension of this truck in itself is adding almost $500 to my trip. The photos were taken by my family and date back to 1906 and were collaged by my grandmother who is no longer living. I can never get that back. Thanks a lot for your fantastically atrocious service today, Budget. I truly appreciate your awful handling of the issue where the blame is blatantly obvious. read more

My car caught on fire as I was driving it. I had to leap through flames to escape. I could have died and no one at the corporate level cares. I now have an impound fee on my credit card for almost $800 from the police impounding the car. I can not get a hold of anyone at the claim dept and they have not contacted me. The customer service agent said I must of "done" something wrong for them to have impounded it. In Polk County Florida all vehicle fires are impounded for investigation. I have been traumatized, wrongly accused, and treated very poorly when it was their vehicle that almost killed me. read more

I Would like to express my complete dissatisfaction with this company. From the horrible rental to a complete lack of service and customer care and consideration. Unfortunate for me my car was in an accident. Person with a truck just backed into me. Since I was driving a Kia, you know what damage I experienced. Call to AVIS, tow truck will be there within the hour. Well 3 hrs. later, and told I would have to go with the tow truck driver back to Douglas Airport (charlotte NC ) to get another rental. thank goodness I had family to take me back to airport. I filled out the report, provided complete information on person that caused damage etc. At this time it is after 10PM incident occurred before 3pm that afternoon. (last day of my trip) another hour away from where I was staying during my visit. April 2, 2015 a representative starts calling and emailing me. Apparently I am responsible if they don't get their information forth coming. I was out of town due to a death in family. So when I returned I had to send a copy of the report I filled out at their rental location in Charlotte. Apparently they did not have the information in the office of their claims adjuster. Oh yes the amount of bumper damage etc., to this KIA over 6600 dollars. Oh by the way I requested before my trip a mid size sedan. And this was all they had, A KIA optima, that I had to drive long distances in two snow storms, ice etc. that week. This car not made for the bad cold weather. read more

I would've given 0 stars if I could. This company is a joke. Horribly unorganized. NO customer service. On 10.23.15 I reserved a compact car for 6 days. I was told my total was $330.52. The very next day 10.24.15 I needed to simply extend my drop off time by 2 hours, from 7PM to 9:30PM. Online it was saying my rate would more than double for just 2 1/2 hours more from $330.52 to $657.48. Thinking that didn't seem right I called Budget and spoke to a representative. It was determined the Rep wouldn't be able to assist me to the level I required so I was transferred to a supervisor named Peter ( I failed to obtain his emp ID) and I explained to Peter my dilemma. He explained to me that rates do change daily but he could provide a manual override that would keep my same rate but extend it to the time I require. He confirmed the changes had been made and the same rate would still be in effect. I never trust people to do their jobs properly, so today (10.25.15) I log onto budget and low and behold my old drop off time of 7PM is still showing. I called budget, again, and spoke with a supervisor named Ricardo (emp 86472) and he confirmed Peter had essentially lied to me. He said he was sorry but there was nothing he was able to do because he did not have the proper override authority. He said the Customer Service department did have the authority to make the changes and transferred me to Kim (emp 32695) and she was one of the most unprofessional people I have ever spoken to. She very blatantly informed me that Ricardo didn't know what he was talking about and that she did not have the authority to change the rate and provide me the original service I was promised by Peter. She tried to tell me that nobody can change the computer rates as to which I replied "well who the hell puts them in the computer then, someone has to" and she had no reply. At this point I am getting frustrated and I informed her I work for Pebble Beach and if I misquoted a guest an improper rate I would honor it because that is the level of Customer Service that should be provided. She very clearly and blatantly told me she is there for a paycheck so she can provide for her grandchildren. I couldn't believe my ears. I proceeded to inform her her method in thich she conducts business is appalling. That as soon as she accepted the job at Budget she was the company and should treat each and every customer as if this booking would make or break the company. She literally did not reply. I filed a complaint with her and cancelled my reservation immediately. I booked with ORBITZ AND THEY WERE $100 CHEAPER THAN MY ORIGINAL BOOKING WITH BUDGET!!! People please understand I do not write reviews unless the service was absolutely phenomenal or the service was horribly unsatisfying and distasteful. Please understand this company is a sham, a joke and in no means do they give a crap about their customers. Save yourself the time, stress and money by simply booking with ORBITZ or KAYAK. They've always had great service and clearly much better pricing. If I didn't choose to follow up and make sure their job was done properly I would've showed up at the airport to collect my car with a more than doubled total. I would've been stuck because they couldn't care enough to do their jobs properly the first time. Food for thought. Have a blessed day. read more

CAVEAT EMPTOR!!! Buyer beware of Budget and its egregious service. Our reserved car was not available when we arrived at Budget on January 31 and we were forced at the last minute to drive A PICK-UP TRUCK to Atlanta, and one dirty and apparently uninspected at that. Less than an hour later on I-75, we experienced a loud blow-out in our left rear tire. Budget insisted on CHARGING US FOR ITS EQUIPMENT FAILURE rather than acknowledging its own failure. Budget car rental, thus, provides the worst possible customer service. We will never rent from Budget again, and I will do my best to get the message out across the internet. read more

11-05-2009 With the holiday's approaching I want to share my experience. Although my car rental was related to an auto accident Avis Budget Car Rental, LLC. requested my bankcard for a minimal deposit until the insurance could be verified. Having failed to either contact us to verify information provided on the claim, or bill the insurance company properly four months later a charge of over $400. was applied toward the bankcard using the same authorization number from the date in which the deposit was made. After contacting Avis Budget Car Rental, LLC., customer service department about the matter, I was made aware that not only did Budget fail to handle billing correctly, but they overcharged by a whopping 5 days. The representative kindly adjusted the bill, which zeroed the balance out, right? Not so, I was reimbursed by the insurance company as expected, but another four months later this past October, Avis Budget's 5 day overcharge was re-applied to the bankcard using the very same authorization number. Although Avis Budget has a contract with my auto insurance carrier in eight months not one of their representatives attempted to contact us to verify the information on insurance claim. Adding insult to injury although the overcharge had been previously adjusted, and the date of the rental's return is verifiable Avis Budget Car Rental, LLC. representatives have refused to re-adjust the bill, or forward the matter to their corporate office for resolve. Please assist me by posting this alert so that others might be informed. Brenda (Florida) read more

When we rented a car from Budget the girl at the Ft Meyers Airport said I could upgrade for a " few dollars more. We had rented a Chevy Malibu . So we said fine . It turned out the few dollars per day was $10.00 per day. It cost us an extra $60.00 for the rental. Also, they never told us anything about tolls in Fla. a week after we returned Budget sent us a toll bill for $16.00. $1.30 in tolls and $14.00 Budget fee for using the car rental transponder, which was never mentioned when I rented the car. Budget discriminates against Seniors and is a company anyone over age 55 should never use. read more

Budget Ireland says we ruined a gearbox in 2 hours & less than 100 miles. Now they want $1500 for repairs & $550 for not able to rent. Two months down and still doing the push & pull with their customer service. Don't use them!!! Bad service and underhanded charges are not worth the price + insurance which ends up being more expensive than the others anyway. read more

I rented a car in Greensboro NC on 21 Jan 2014 for one week. On Friday morning 24 Jan no one was at the counter at the office. So I left the car keys in a box. It took me three days to get a copy of my bill. As a Governement employee I have 24 hours to complete the voucher for the trip. I called the airport number, no one picked up, and the call was routed to the central. I spoke to four "service reps" about the bill to no avail. BTW, the last rep was very upset and told me in a very aggressive way not to be rude with her (which I wasn't). She hang up on me! I called again and requested to fax me a copy of the bill, which they did. A very poor copy. Stay way from Budget. read more

This car rental company is horrible. First of all, they practice false advertisement. We book a car with them online and quoted for $45 per day which should include tax and fee in addition to a concession fee already, but when we arrived to pick up, it is now $58 plus additional airport tax and other fees! So i called the headquarter to inquire. OMG, their customer service is probably the worse i have had for a long timeL when i asked for a supervisor because the first agent was not listening to what was sayimg, she just hung up! I called back and sopke to the supervisor COREY HARP, it did not get much better. He said the rate increase from $45 per day to $58 a day is not a big increase! It is a 35% increase. So he was just arguing with me on how small a change that was. In addition, he thinks even though on the confirmation email sent me says the amount include tax and fees, he says that is just not accurate! I would not trust this company at all. Avis is related to it as well. read more

I reserved a car on the web, paid in advance, called the rental location and even went to the place where I was to pick the car up to make sure I would be able to have it there. The man running the place said" no problem your car will be here on the day you will need it". I showed up the mourning of the trip I was taking and no car available for me to use. The man at the location told me " sorry their are no cars for you, may be you call me in an hour". I called in an hour their still no cars. I finally when back to the location to find out he still could not help me. I could not rent a car from anyone else because their was a hold on my card from Avis - Budget rent a car. I had to cancel my trip which ended up costing me my time and money. I have been emailing customer service for the last 2 weeks to try and see what they can do to regain my business, all I have been getting is " we a sorry for you disappointment with us" and that's it. I am thinking I don't matter as a valued customer. I am still waiting for them to respond.... read more

Had the worst rental experience of my life. Given a truck with a bad starter, stranded in Indiana. Waited in the sun for two hours before any ETA from roadside assistance. Another two hours before anyone showed up. Given an unsafe work around to get back on the road, an exposed wire and shown how to create sparks underneath truck to start vehicle. Wasn't sure I would make it to destination. Customer service gave me the run around placing me on hold forever when I tried to resolve the issue. Still not resolved! read more

TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE & FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE ERROR OR COMPENSATION! On 04/30/16 a reservation from Austin, TX was made for pick up at the Walmart, AU1 location; reservation was made as a USAA member. A van was reserved for pick up on 07/09/16, drop off 07/19/16. Shortly after making our reservation, a confirmation was sent. The reservation online as well as the confirmation email states "Mileage: unlimited free miles". This weekend I looked up our reservation online and it was changed without my knowledge. On their website, reservation stated "Mileage: 1500 per rental; Additional Mileage: .22". When calling customer care at 800-218-7992 (# provided on my email) the employee simply repeated that the additional charge for mileage is what their system reflected and sent me another confirmation email which was not the same as I had received on 04/30/16. The employee did not show concern on the company's initial confirmation email. I was told that I could modify the reservation to unlimited mileage for $400+. I was deferred to 800-214-6094. The individual at this phone number transferred me to another department. By this time, my situation had been explained to 3 different individuals whom all told me the same and did not address or attempt to correct their conflicting information. I was told that this was something I could address when picking up the vehicle. I have emails that clearly show two different conditions of the rental and not one employee asked for the documentation that I have (again, a savings of $400+). Ultimately I cancelled my reservation. Flight tickets were purchased, a vehicle was rented at our destination point with Hertz. Poor & unsatisfactory communication as well as customer service. Budget got this wrong and failed to recognize. read more

In September 2014, I planned a trip to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. I picked my vehicle up at the Raleigh Airport in the evening, about 4 hours from my destination. After driving the car on the highway, we noticed that the steering felt loose and one of the wheels was not rotating properly. We spent over an hour on the phone with Budget and they informed us that we would have to drive back to the airport to exchange the vehicle. What?!?! We just explained that the vehicle wasn't operating safely and you've told us to DRIVE it another 2 hours away! Then, when we arrived, the clerk told us that we had to DRIVE it again to refuel the gas tank. While my partner was getting gas, I called the 800 number again. The rep that I spoke to informed me that we should not have had to refuel it or drive it and that the roadside assistance could have just driven a replacement vehicle out to us and taken the vehicle we were originally issued. WHAT?!?! She then offered me one day (of 7) credit. She said that was all she could offer, but that she would put that credit through, as well as request a manager to call me to offer additional compensation. When my partner came back with a fully fueled car, they offered an "upgrade" to an SUV. When I explained that we were doing quite a bit of driving and I preferred a more fuel efficient vehicle, he told me that SUVs were all that was available. So, not really an upgrade, just the only option. When I explained this and asked about going to another Budget for the vehicle I had reserved, he told me that he couldn't allow us to drive the car as we had now explained to him the problems with the vehicle (after he had told us to go get gas 10 minutes before). All said and done, we made it through the week with the SUV and upon returning it to the airport to leave, I was given no credit and never received a call from the manager, per the 2nd phone call we had had with a "Customer Service" representative. Worst car rental company! read more

On Oct. 22, 2015, my father-in-law and I were using a Budget truck to move my stuff from Tampa, FL to Oklahoma City, OK. The day, we got past Mobile, AL when I notice smoke coming from the truck we pulled over in Prichard, AL just outside of Mobile. I called Budget Roadside and it took them 2 hours to dispatch someone to look at the vehicle. When the roadside tech got there, he identified the issue immediately, a burst fuel line. It then took Budget Roadside. When he called to get approval for the repairs, they had him waiting on hold for 45 minutes. During that call, they had the gall to ask if the damage looked like it was caused by me or my father-in-law. Once the tech got approval to fix the truck, had to get the part and replace. In total, we were on the side of the road for 6 hours. We drove a little more and stopped just outside Jackson, MS. The next morning, we get 4 hours down the road to Bossier City, LA just outside of Shreveport where we stopped to fill up. After the fill up, my father-in-law couldn't start the truck. Again, I call roadside assistance and they sent out a tech that was an hour and a half away. He said another part of the fuel line had a crack in it causing the fuel to spray out and there was no way he could weld it or patch it without compromising the integrity of the line. In total, it took 3 hours to get the diagnosis for truck. He reported it to Budget and they got approval to have a replacement truck sent out. The Maintenance Manager on duty 10/23 basically sat on the request for so long that when he gave approval, all the Budget locations in the area were closed. I spoke with "Customer Service" and they flat out refused to help me in anyway because "the contract was still open and the only way they could was after the truck was turned in." What kind of customer service is that? I spoke with Lee, the supervisor on duty that day to find why it was taking so long to get the replacement truck to me and why they were unwilling to help me out. He refused to answer to my questions, but he managed to answer in such a way that basically said Budget doesn't give a crap about their customers. I was then told the only at this point was to tow the truck to the closest hotel where we could stay until they found a replacement truck, but gave no guarantee that they could find one on a Sunday in the Bible Belt. I told them that was not an option because I had to start work the next day and I would still have to get work clothes as mine were buried somewhere in the truck. I asked if they could tow it to Oklahoma City; that was shot down despite the fact that I know they could do it. I asked if they could get U-Haul; obviously that was shot because it was U-Haul. I asked if they could get a moving out to unload the Budget truck and put it onto the mover's truck; again, that was shot down. So, I asked if they could tow it to a storage yard to get lock up so my father-in-law and I could finish our drive to Oklahoma City; they said that was fine, but they would have to tow to a Budget storage yard that Monday, 10/26. Since then, I've been informed that the part has been replaced and that it's drivable. I've asked them since it was drivable, could they bring it to me to Oklahoma City or the very least, drive it Gainesville, TX which id a half way point; both of those suggestion were shot down by Kevin, a Maintenance Manager and Gilbert, a Fleet Manager. Gilbert went on to tell me that because I made a choice to leave the truck behind, they weren't going to do anything for me. I reiterated to him that they left me with no choice but to leave the truck because I had to start work the next day and I still had to get work clothes. So now, on 10/31, I have to make a 6 hour drive to Shreveport, LA to pick up the truck and then drive 6 hours back and hope that nothing else goes wrong. Budget has been nothing but uncooperative and unwilling to help their customer (me) out in any way that doesn't benefit them. It's absolutely crap that I have to take 12 to 13 hours out of my day to go get a truck they could easily bring closer to me. People like Lee, the supervisor on duty Saturday 10/24, Gilbert, the Fleet Manager, and Kevin, the Maintenance Manager, need to be fired and replaced with people who are willing to help their customers out. I will never use Budget again and I will tell me friends and family to not use Budget. read more

If I could give them a zero I would! Terrible customer service! I rented a car which the vehicle came with tire with a air bubble, When I brought it to the customer service attention they took 7 hours to get my family a new car!! 7hrs with us calling every few hrs seeing the status and them saying of 15 mins a couple hrs etc. we waited all day for the vehicle and couldn't go any where because it was always only a few mins to a couple hrs to be ready. Finally we received our new car and went about or rental fine, then a month and half later budget decides they want to charge $190 for a "flat" tire, Because I didn't pay for their damage protection, which I didn't damage their car it was like that when I received it but since I took the keys before seeing the car it was my problem not theirs. Let me tell you my total rental amount for the couple days I had car was $100. they will not refund the charge because they do not wish to pay for their problem and since I didn't pay for their 40 a day waiver I now have to pay almost 200 for their problem! I will be disputing with my card company and if that doesn't work taking it court for this is unacceptable! read more

We rented a car out of OAK to attend a wedding. We picked up our car late at night after a long flight from Chicago before driving an hour and half to Healdsburg. In the morning, when the sun was high and the car heated up, we realized the car had a strong smell of human body odor. The smell consistently appeared throughout our trip whenever the sun rose, forcing us to drive with the windows open. Since we were far from the rental agency, we could not swap out the car. When asked how our trip was by Budget we notified them that the car had a strong odor. They apologized and promised to make a note of it. I expected to hear back from them with a credit of some sort. When I did not a couple days after our return to Chicago, I wrote a letter to customer service. Customer service apologized and wrote me a letter apologizing for the "pre-existing odor" (direct quote from their response) and credited my credit card $30, which I thought was a low amount, but not worth my time to complain further. Imagine my surprise to three weeks later receive a letter from Budget charging me $250 for an odor in the car we returned! The letter claims it is a smoke odor. Neither I nor my boyfriend have smoked in our entire lives and no one else rode in our car. Undoubtedly, the odor reported was the odor, more akin to human BO, that we reported to Budget twice! We notified Budget of the odor two separate times, were apologized to two separate times for the odor, and received a credit for the odor that they are trying to charge us $250 for. Since receiving the letter, I've spoken with one customer service representative who stated there was nothing we could do and she would not let me speak to her supervisor. I also emailed customer service (the same method I used to receive the $30 refund) and received an obvious form letter regarding handling of pet hair, dirt and car odors. Both customer service agents mentioned I may want to contact OAK Budget, but cannot provide their contact information and only a general customer service number was put on the letter we received. Don't rent from Budget!! Tell your friends!! read more

This is a SYSTEM-WIDE issue reflecting badly on Budget. I arranged a rental by phone, making clear that an adult relative not arriving with me would be sharing the car. How do I add him to the reservation, when we will not be actually in the car together, ever? I was he could go to his nearest Budget office, show his driver's license and get recorded as an additional driver on my reservation number. A NYC Budget office said no, you can't do that -- because you don't have the car yet. I brought all of his information about what the reservationist told us to do when I picked up the car this evening. CAN'T DO THAT: you have to show up TOGETHER at a Budget office. What about recording the information, adding him to the rental contract CONTINGENT upon later confirming the information is, in fact, valid? (If it isn't, he wouldn't be covered by the insurance.) Way too logical a suggestion, even though it would MAKE RIGHT their error. If I had known, I would figured out what car rental company has the office closest to where we will meet BEFORE choosing a rental company. (Not too late, Budget, to fix this.) MORAL OF THE STORY: DO NOT BELIEVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT CAR RENTAL RULES YOU ARE GIVEN BY BUDGET RESERVATIONISTS because if it is WRONG Budget will not do what is needed to serve the customer. read more

On December 10, 2013, I reserved a mini-van online through Budget.com for $492.28 to be picked up Fri 12/20/13 at 5:30pm and returned Sunday 12/29/13 at 5:30pm. I had compared agencies/prices/options/pick up locations for a few weeks before deciding on my rental from the Parsippany, NJ location. Every time I investigated a choice of rentals, I would receive an immediate notification if I was choosing a drop-off or pick-up time outside regular operating hours-- in this instance I was not told they CLOSED at 5:30 when I put in my pick up time for 5:30. On my way to pick up my van on Friday 12/20/13, I ran into some traffic on the highway. I was a few minutes late to the rental facility. Upon arriving, the gentlemen employee was just outside the front door with his key in the door. I asked him to wait for me as I was there to pick up a van. He said to me /we/re closed/, and proceeded to walk away. I held up my rental agreement and said we were leaving on vacation that evening to which he replied /We are closed. Call somewhere else or come back in the morning/. If we were extremely late and he was long gone, I would understand. But he was still there and so were we, but he refused to help accommodate us. So, we put off our trip for 16 hours and came back in the morning 12/21/2013 at 9:15am. The woman at the desk this time was very helpful, and told me that we had until Monday 12/30/2013 at 9:30am to return the van. However she failed to mention that the price of the rental had now changed. I did sign the agreement on the tiny screen which was not clear to show a new price. What I saw was /ESTIMATED TOTAL CHARGES----494.63/. The difference only being $2 35 I didn/t notice that this $494.63 was an additional charge on top of the $492.28. I am extremely disappointed that this was NOT brought to my attention and I feel that is outrageous! It/s not like I cancelled the rental and started over with a new rental. It was only pushed off a few hours. And as a result of our trip being pushed off another day, my daughter ended up in a car accident totaling her car! If the gentleman would have given us 10 minutes (because that is all it took to complete the rental on Saturday morning), we would have left on time, returned on time, not had erroneous charges and my daughter and her car would still be in one piece! Tonight, 1/14/2014, I called Budget at 1-800-642-4720 to question the extra charges to my credit card statement. I didn't get very far except to be told, "A supervisor will call you back in 1 hour"... that was over 3 hours ago. This behavior by your company is despicable and I will not rent through your company ever again. And I plan to tell my friends and family why. read more