Excellent customer service with the rental car return portion of this business. It was a rainy, dangerous, and packed day of traveling and returning the Budget Rental SUV was smooth. The person who received the vehicle was courteous, calm in the storm, and seamless about checking the car in. He offered to get my luggage out of the car but I respectfully declined. The shuttle arrived in 5 mins just like the staff said and they even have a pop up tent and bench in the shuttle waiting area, which is very customer service friendly. The driver, I believe he was an older Ethiopian/Somalian man, was very customer service oriented and he put my bags on the rack inside the shuttle, during the bad rain. Very courteous. We will look to rent from Budget again with this great treatment and seamless process. read more

I'll be reporting this place to the BBB. It's not worth saving some money. The people running this location should be ashamed of themselves. They almost scammed us by adding charges to our reservation by around $300. We come to dc every two months or so and decided to go its budget just to save a few bucks. The girl with the light brown curly hair in a bun - she had glasses too. She first took the credit card and when we asked about the up charge, she literally stayed silent and when we asked the question again she told us "well I'll explain it to you if you'll let me." - girl after charging us the wrong price, you do not get to act like that. What if someone did that' to you? They wouldn't even tell us their names after. Why don't you explain WHY you are charging me more than what I agreed to, before you charging? In what world is that okay?? She basically told us we could not cancel the reservation which she upcharged us for again, without explaining before charging. Maybe she didn't know how to take the charges off because after RESISTING to help us correct our reservation, the upcharge was still on the bill. After some back and forth she took it off. She told us to wait another 10 minutes for the car. We asked her if we could sit and wait and she told us "no. you stand right there in front of me" like who do you think you are speaking to customers like that? They said they were short staffed but... don't take your short staffed excuses out on your customers. The male "manager" (clearly with no management experience) was aggressive with our group as soon as he came. He spoke over us - sure two people were talking at the same time but to speak to us like we are children was crazy work. He told us we could just go get another rental service after we told him this has been the worst experience we've had renting a car. I get it - no video should've been recorded which I understand, (they won't be posted anywhere) but to come at us with an aggressive attitude like that - I've never been to a business like this. He didn't want to come to any resolve or maybe he doesn't know how. They might be a training or something. After he basically told us we can take it or leave it I asked him if he wanted us to cancel our reservation and he said he was in the business to make money. Clearly with no integrity though. And to make matters worse they gave us a DIRTY unwashed car!! Incredible! Now we've been here for about 50 minutes waiting for a car we paid for and was overcharged for until we caught it. The gentleman who got our car washed was very helpful and kind. He even apologized for the terrible experience we had. You should be embarrassed of the business you run trying to scam people to upsell. Upselling without explaining and then giving us attitude about it is WILD. I have the operations managers contact information. I hope for a better response. Allowing your employees to speak to customers this way is insane to me. We should have checked reviews before deciding to use this location. And yes we checked the car thoroughly. I have a feeling they'll try to charge us for something that was already there. I'm in retail and have been shortstaffed for the past year - no exaggeration. I had a situation where a customer was upset and recorded one of my team members and yes I was upset too but I never made the customer feel like they did something wrong regardless and asked them politely to not post an offered a discount for the upset. I wouldn't let anyone leave with a bad taste in their mouths. Then I coached my team member. That's how service jobs work. I would be appalled if my team members acted this way. I'm in the business of keeping customers and getting positive reviews. That's what the job is when it comes to customer service. This location Avis and Budget - awful business practices upcharging customers unknowingly. This isn't the first time we've used Avis/budget and had a poor experience. It's not worth saving a few bucks. They know exactly what they are doing especially bc they're the only rental around off airport so we would've had to call an uber and spend another 2 hours to get another car and we didn't have the time. They know it's highly inconvenient for us so they can treat us however they want knowing they'll get our business either way. read more

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CHECK YOUR LEASE AGREEMENT AND RECEIPT WHEN YOU RETURN THE CAR. I have never used budget before, and I will not use them again. I arrived at the location, and the rep assisted me with checking out my car. I was asked what kind of coverage I needed. I told her that the $11 coverage for insurance was fine. She said that it would only cover the car. I was fine with that as I have personal car insurance. at the end, I signed for the car rental and was told I would receive my rental agreement. I never got the agreement and the email address she used was not accurate. Returning the vehicle, the attendant outside checked the car back in. I asked for a copy of the receipt and was told that I could not get one because they could not find my rental. Once I landed back home, I called customer service for a copy of the receipt and in viewing it, I saw that i was charged over $800. The original rental was $600. I was charged $59 for refueling however, I had refueled the car before I brought the car back as I declined the service. I had to give the CSR on the phone all of this detailed info to get my money back. Then I find that she charged me $30 a day for the insurance when I specifically remember saying $11. I spoke to 5 representatives before I could get a copy of my lease agreement. Unfortunately, because I signed or it, I have to eat the $200 I was charged for the rental. Check all detailed info as these people are swindlers. I trusted them with my service, and it was a complete disappointment from start to finish. read more

The reality is with how bad all the other reviews are they won't care. The car was given to me dirty with the previous renters trash still inside. The counter clerk was beyond aggressive and pushy with add on attempts for insurance to the point it was unethical what she was saying. Worst car rental experience I have ever had read more

Less than 1. Arrived after long flight and ZERO cars are available even with the reservation...forgot One 15 passenger van was available. Multiple cars on the lot with no keys, dead batteries, active recalls...but none to rent. CLOSE THIS DCA LOCATION DOWN. AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE! read more

If this could get 0 stars they would. I flew in with the a reservation I made thinking everything would be fine. Something told me that it would not but I went with it. I initially had to reschedule my reservation due to a cancelled flight. The one I modified to was landing at 9:45, but the flight was delayed. I verified with 4 different people that budget would honor the flight delay and reservation but they did not. As soon as I landed it was 10:15pm and I started calling and ran from southwest terminal to budget only for the shuttle to not what to take me to then calling again and a rep telling me that I was too late an everyone left... at 10:45pm. The person I spoke to literally said "I don't know what to tell you but we don't wait for people so looks like you'll have to figure it out." I was so livid it was 11pm had to Lyft home. Thank god the reservation had not been paid for. This company is unprofessional especially at DCA. read more

I rented a car from Budget at Reagan National recently and the entire interaction was terrible! The person at the counter would not look me in the eye. He continually cut me off mid-sentence when I asked questions. And he had zero explanation, empathy or understanding when I asked why no cars were available despite my having made a reservation weeks in advance. After sitting on the floor in the rental area for over an hour (limited number of seats were full), a car finally came available. When I returned the vehicle, the person checking it back in was equally rude and dismissive to my one question 'can I leave the car and go or do you need to check me in?'. I will NEVER go thru Budget again. #TheWorst read more

Horrible Horrible Horrible. They do NOT offer FastBreak at DCA. I chose budget since they offer the "fastbreak" program where you can prepay in advance, do all the advanced paperwork and your car is waiting for you when you arrive. This works well at LAX, MCO, among other locations. NOT at DCA. You still have to wait in line for the car, there's nothing there waiting for you. You still have to wait, go through all the questions, etc. I had booked a Standard SUV (similar to a Ford Edge) and they wanted to give me the intermediate SUV (similar to a Ford Escape). This was not the same category. Had to argue with the staff until they finally relented and was told by some staff passerby that i was impatient. Terrible terrible customer service!!!! the WORST part about this awful car rental place is that they are NOT on-site at the airport, and you have to take a little shuttle back & forth which is every (20?) minutes. So nothing nothing about this will be quick. the shuttle moves at a snails pace and is about 15 minutes away from the actual airport. Such a bad experience!! never again! read more

Don't use them, they are thiefs. We returned a car in August and October 25 they said we didn't fill the gas. They tried to charge me $9.70 for gas . Then they said I used express lanes and changed me $9.00. They will nickel and dime you to get extra money. The cars were filthy and not clean and no navigation. You come to a place and the car can't help you get there as there's no maps. read more

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I wish I could give 0. I rented a car from here thinking oh this place is good and cheap, but then I get slapped with extra charges. Like I was barely given time to listen to their questions and apparently agreed to the insurance which I didn't want. They sped thru all the screens pointing where to sign and making me get on my way. The car they gave me was a 2023 Sentra and just when I get in, steering wheel and cupholders felt sticky. Just overall a sketchy place don't go here! You will get charged for stuff you don't want! Plus! They tell you don't worry about cleaning the car before returning so for a tiny fraction of pet hair(I work at an animal hospital) I got charged $250.. 2 weeks later with no notice to my card! And I never even got the email till I had to call customer service and they sent it to me dated 1/31 when I returned it 27th. read more

Budget Car Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

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*discriminatory against mothers experiencing Post partum hair loss and will charge for "excessive pet hair" instead* If I could give a zero I would. AVOID AT ALL COST. We rented a minivan from them because we had family coming to town and didn't want to drive two cars everywhere during Christmas. It's a 7 seater minivan and we had 6 of us (1 being a newborn baby). We obviously had a full car. Well the car they tried giving me REAKED of cigarette smoke as soon as I opened the car door, dirty on the inside, and had dents and scratches all on the outside that they again tried not documenting. I refused the car as I cannot have a newborn in a cigarette smoked car or any of wanting to inhale the air The second car they gave us, again they did not want to document scratches or dents but I made them take pictures of. The inside had trash that we discarded and was not cleaned prior to us getting the car. We get a charge about 3 weeks later of $450 of excessive pet hair. We did not have pets in the car. The pictures they documented were all on the floor mats and were from dirt and grime from the bottom of our shoes. The "excessive pet hair" they documented was MY HAIR AS I AM GOING THROUGH POST PARTUM HAIR LOSS. read more

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After hearing from customer service (I won't mention a name) I received a satisfactory credit and I want to thank them. Since they made it right, I gave them another try, and I tried to reserve another rental on 05/11/2022. Budget sent me a discount code to use as a free upgrade. However, while trying to reserve the car for the 11th, I was unable to use the discount code on their WEB Side, and no Agent over the phone could honor the discount. Even though I took a screen shot and emailed it to them to confirm what price the Budget WEB site was giving me, but not allowing me to reserve the car. The agent informed me that was a price he could not honor or give me, smdh. I ended up picking up the vehicle on 05/11/2020 and I must say "the agent @ the counter was extremely nice", very good customer service skills and provided me w/ as much of a discount price on that free upgrade as she could. Still couldn't honor the price Budget offered, but I appreciate her trying. Then, as what seems to be the norm @ Budget now, I picked up my vehicle and the 1st thing I had to do was drive to a gas station, vacuum the rugs and wipe down the cup holders in the SUV. Not sure what is going on here, but that is 3 for 3 in dirty cars I have picked up from Budget on 3 different rentals in 3 months. read more

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They treat those employees horrible. One manager got upset at one employee for helping me back out the vehicle and scraping ice off the car. When I came to return, I ask the employee, who checked the car, if I can get a paper receipt. He stated "you can but they get kind of mean in there". I just opt with the email receipt. The 2 stars is only because I'm a fast break member and was able to grab my vehicle quickly. Kindness goes a long way! read more

My car was repossessed while I was renting it leaving me without a car. Do they not pay their car loans? Budget has been horrible to deal with. They never asked about my safety or offered another car? My plans all had to be cancelled. They are still charging me for the car until they get the car back from wherever it is. They don't seem to know. I have spent hours speaking to multiple people with no help at all. They will do a "courtesy refund" from the time of repossession, but not until they get the car turned in. In the meantime, my bill keeps mounting. read more

I went back in time to my very first Yelp review- which I knew was me screaming about this horrid experience. I was reminded of this just the other day when my other half was comparing rental car rates for an upcoming trip and said Budget has good rates. My head slowly looked up from what I was doing and I spit out the word NO. Have you ever had an experience that ruined the entire business chain? I have, with just a couple businesses- but this was a huge NO. Over four years later and I refuse to rent from Budget. Side note- that I didn't put in my review- that I still remember vividly: After being in line for about 45 minutes and employee did come out and announce that anyone who had reserved a car within the last 24 hours- that they didn't have cars for them. They released those who last minute reserved and left the people who had booked well in advance standing there for HOURS. And at 1am- there was still more than 20 parties behind us! 4/11/2017 Truly no stars. Thursday, April 6th was a horrible flight travel day for the entire East Coast. After spending 20 hours in various airports, trying to go a distance that could've been driven in 12, we arrived at Reagan Airport. Proceeded to Budget Car Rental. Since we were delayed so much my father called while we were stuck in Atlanta to let then know we were delayed and to make sure we would still have a car when we arrived (we reserved a car over two months ago). The line for Budget was easily 50 guests deep. 2 & 1/2 hours of standing in line ( My father is over 70), only one couple left in front of us, they ran out of cars.  RAN OUT OF CARS. 30 people still behind us! How does  company let people stand for 2 & 1/2 hours in line to tell them at 1am that you're out of cars. After the travel day from hell I didn't have the energy to pitch a fit! But I will leave my review in every place I can. DO NOT USE THEM.  They have no consideration for their customer. They couldn't count cars in the lot and count people in line and apologize and dismiss us in a timely manner? They let everyone stand there, that late at night for hours! The couple in front of us prepaid four months ago for their car! Disgustingly unprofessional. No forethought. And that manager should be fired. NEVER AGAIN. And my wheelchair bound mother and my husband were also waiting around the corner while I stood in line with dad. Unprofessional. Downright rude. read more

I looked into rental car companies for my trip to DC/VA and went with Budget because the rates were good but it turned out to be a nightmare. Friday March 15th when I arrived to pick up the car I was asked if I wanted to add additional drivers. So I added my BF and my mom declined. The lady processing my reservation asked if I wanted additional insurance. I declined all additional insurance coverages and my bf and I signed the rental agreement (all charges were correct) and went to the area to pick up the car. I did a quick walk around the car before driving away and I was mortified. The car had multiples scratches and the front bumper was falling off. I told a man who was working in the rental area I was not taking this car. He told me to go to the desk and swap it out. So I proceeded to the desk and spoke to another rep and explained the issue. I believe his name was Israel. He proceeded to crack jokes about the bumper and I wasn't in the mood. I just wanted to switch the car out. He told me he could get me into a suv for the same cost. I quickly agreed and he made the swap. I took my new paperwork (making the mistake of not looking at the charges) and headed to the car. My mom, bf and I did a quick walk stout the car and were satisfied. Fast forward to today March 18th. I dropped the car off and grabbed my receipt and put it in my bag. While I was waiting to board my flight I checked the receipt in my bag and was mortified to find out I was charged an additional $123.96 of insurance (which I originally declined) for the rental!!! I immediately called customer service and explained I had one rental agreement which I signed for and the charges were correct but the car was crappy and I switched it out. The rep stated she saw everything in the system and stated I did sign up for the additional coverage. I no longer had that agreement and no way to prove that I didn't. The rep did agree to refund %50 of the charges for any inconvenience. Beware of renting a car from this location! read more

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I feel like this place is a little shady. They ask if you want the fuel service. Then they give you car that is literally empty, causing you to panic and have to drive to nearest gas station to fill up. Their receipt sheet indicates full tank, when it's actually zero. Of course when you return it, you likely wouldn't have used all the fuel you put it, so they come up on that. Then charge another 50 something bc of the fuel service they had you on contract for. Of course, you can't talk to anyone in person bc many flights are super early and no one is there until 7 something in the morning. Then you can't get any agent to remedy that swindling via calls or emails. Be careful and go with enterprise! read more

DO NOT RENT FROM BUDGET! They charged me $9.79/gallon for gas bc i returned it with 3/4 of a tank instead of full. that's twice what's listed in their office. So $53.85 for 5 gallons of gas. also beware bc one of the women at checkout tried to add an *additional* $300 to my rental and got mad and walked off when i refused to pay it. do not rent from budget no matter what. read more

Watch out for hidden fees at Budget Car Rental! I booked a car for two days. Picked it up at 8am on a Saturday and returned it at 8am the following Monday. But because I had told Budget I expected to be back from my trip at 11:30pm on Sunday, I was charged a $20 late fee. Bottom line: Just because Budget charges you for two full days doesn't mean you can actually use the car for two full days. To avoid a late fee, you have to call them by phone and extend your reservation. Customer service provided this helpful response: "Budget assesses a modest fee of $20 for each occurrence to the rental extension...because of this the late fee is valid not [sic] adjustment is due. We sincerely appreciate your business, and regret any misunderstanding or inconvenience." Okay, you sincerely appreciate my business but are willing to lose it over a "modest" fee? read more

Budget Car Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

The broad array of one-star reviews says it all. I rented a minivan for a day of moving furniture that was too large for my personal vehicle. I picked up the vehicle at 1:11 pm and returned it at 7:25 pm the same day. I drove from Arlington to Gaithersburg to Old Town to move a dining room table. Then drove from Old Town to Annandale to DC to move a set of dining room chairs. A trip that spanned no more than 100 miles. I then returned the minivan. Imagine my surprise when I was charged for driving 584 miles, an additional $157.50. (I had the pleasure of paying nearly $300 for a vehicle that I drove for all of 6 hours and 14 minutes.) Is it even possible to drive a minivan through the DC area at an average speed of 97 mph for 6 hours straight? Would anyone with the desire to spend a Sunday driving at such a break-neck speed choose to rent a minivan? Apparently, the good people at Budget believe the answer to both questions is a resounding "Hell, yeah!", as they refused to remove the clearly erroneous charge. I get it, I should have confirmed the mileage on the contract before I drove off in the vehicle. Still, it would be nice if there were room for a little common sense and decency in this transaction. There are plenty of rental companies at Reagan. Avoid Budget at all costs. read more

Budget Car Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

This place IS A JOKE!!!! I rented a car from them and as I was walking out the airport waiting for their shuttle bus to pick me up. Guess what???!!!! Their Shuttle bus DID NOT show up!!!! Can you believe what a joke these fools are? Then, I called these fools and they told me their shuttle bus has done for the day and they told me to take a taxi to get to their rental place. I was like, are you kidding me?!!!! DO NOT USE THEM if you have a brain at all....These people are a bunch of liars and VERY DISHONEST people. Be smart and use another rental place!! That's one of the reason why they got kick out of the Ronald Regan Airport. Notice they are not with the other rental cars anymore. While I was waiting for Budget's shuttle bus, the other rental shuttle box has came and gone many times. Why would their shuttle bus be gone for the day already and left me stranded at the airport??? These Budget idiots are so DISHONEST!!!!!!!! read more

Lots of bad reviews but I picked up my car without a hassle. Staff was pleasant all around. Car was / is in great shape. I'm not returning here due to long Virginia road trip and price was best I could find. I'll see how return goes at different location but pick up was very good. Comparable to other places I've rented frequently from. read more

Worst company ever, they totally scammed me. Every rental place had closed early, and they were the only ones open. We get there and we inquired about the pricing and was going to hold the car for 2 days, asked for the price of it and the employee literally told us the price would be 180$ if we had the car for 2 days. She said there was an underage driver fee of 27$ but she did not say it was per day much less disclose the millions of other fees. She didn't even say the car needed to be full of gas when we returned it. I didnt 3even get a receipt or any proof of my rental? i even called customer service to see if i could get the details or a receipt and they said they give all of that at the end when you return the car? Had i gotten some information stating the details and everything i wouldve been able to catch the extra fees and returned it right then and there. We filled it to half way and it was 80$ for them to fill the tank up the remaining HALf of the way? 80$ to fill up half a tank?! We were that would be thrown on top of it. We bring back the car and we're charged 266$!! i feel like when renting a car its hard to read all the contracts and fine print especially for first timers such as my self and the bare minimum they can do is express the fees and be transparent, but it feels like the employee definitely scammed me and withheld information. Regardless of the contract, the employee said the price would straight up be 180$, thats the only reason why we agreed to get the car. Even though i expressed this to customer service they only adjusted the price to 249$ Dont trust this place, go with enterprise. This is the virginia location by the ronald reagan airport. read more

Honestly they are only getting 1 star because they got me a Subaru like I asked. The other 4 stars are taken off for the ass-grabbery they call their structure where they park everything. If you were hoping for signs leading out. Good luck. Your better off with Braille. Then the random employees we asked don't even know how to get out, and sent us to the repair garage. Twice!!!!! We finally found an exit gate ( run by Enterprise ) and they let us out, without seeing paperwork. I'm not joking they have chalk drawn signs with arrows for directions. We were in the structure for 40 minutes!!! Every employee should be fired and the building should be torn to the ground in an attempt to rid the world of such a headache. read more

We arrived at the airport at 9:40 pm on April 30th. We picked up our bags and went to the location where the shuttle picks you up to take you to get your rental. We waited 30 minutes and started calling them. No answer! By that time another couple were sitting by us waiting. The other couple decided to get an Uber since no shuttle never showed up. We got there at 11:15 to find out they were closed. We returned to the airport to get another rental and took a shuttle that takes you to the car rental place. On the way we encounter another lady saying that she was waiting for the budget shuttle since earlier, we told her that they were closed and she decided to get another vehicle like us. We were lucky enough to find one at a very expensive rate for one day. Next day I called Budget and explain the situation, I wanted to make sure my rental reservation was still valid, she said I have a 24 hour grace period and it should be okay if I go before the original time of the pick up and at the same rate. We returned the other rental and went back to Budget to get the actual rental. When I got there the lady at the counter said that she can't guarantee the same rate because I didn't pick up the night before. I told her what happened the night before and they said they closed at 11:00 pm and the last shuttle came back at 10:50 pm. Again, I was waiting for an hour and nobody showed up. The car we got was nasty and smelled like someone was smoking in there. read more

Let's get this straight, all car rental companies suck. Budget just happens to be a little less sucky than the rest. I don't have a car (but I do pay for car insurance) so I rent from Budget about once a month to get a big shopping trip in. I usually pay $22 to have the car for 24 hours; it's cheaper than zipcar in that sense. If you don't have your own car insurance, your prices go up a lot. Anyway, I get a USAA discount and since I rent a lot, I signed up for FastBreak. This is great because I get to skip the line and I never get the upsell from an agent. I never have to speak to an agent at all during pickup, wooho. Two shady things: - with FastBreak, they boast that they'll have your car waiting for you. Unfortunately, this means they print out the contract before you pick it up and it appears that your contract started at that time. For example, I made a reservation for 10am. They printed the contract at 8:30 am (making it look like I picked up the car at that time) so I got charged for the extra hours when I returned the car. I had to go to the counter to get it straightened out, but they did fix it right away. - If you drive less than 75 miles, you are automatically hit with a $14 refueling fee even if you returned the car full. It's stupid and makes no sense. KEEP YOUR GAS RECEIPT, take a picture of the odometer/fuel reading when you return the car. I always have to go to the counter, show them the receipt, and get them to remove the charge. In the above instances, they've never given me hassle about refunding their deceptive charges, but it's extremely inconvenient to have to take the time to do that. Especially if you're trying to catch a flight or have other things to do. So yeah, Budget is just slightly less sucky than the next guy. read more

Only go here if you hate yourself. This place sucked with a fury. No good signage, terrible wait time, lot of needless walking up and down stairs. I hate you, Budget. I goddamn hate you so goddamn much. Go bankrupt. read more

DO NOT GO HERE! they charged me an extra $190 for no reason after I already paid. I contacted customer service, waited on hold for awhile, was told I could only get a "discount" on my next rental til I fought to speak to a manager. Then the manager finally agreed to rescind the charge but asked for proof that I returned the car. When I tried to send the picture, 3 times, I got an error message from the email. Now calling back customer service, their number won't go through. I will NEVER rent from this company again! read more

DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY. At 9AM Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend, with more than 50 people standing in line, this location had 2 people at the counter. It took us more than an hour to get through the line, and that was with a reservation. While we were waiting, we heard at least one of the vehicles had an expired registration (July of 2015). Can totally understand why they still had vehicles when every other agency at DCA was sold out. When we received our vehicle the inspection sticker for VA was EXPIRED. In February. Not a good idea to drive a vehicle in VA with an expired registration or inspection....its a big fine. Took another 20 minutes to get a vehicle with valid tags. As a side note, as an upsell tactic they claim to not work with personal insurance if something happens to the rental. I'd be highly surprised if that was actually the case. If you have hired/non-owned liability coverage on your policy, it is a very straightforward subrogation claim. This strikes me as a pressure tacticthe use to get you to buy the supplemental coverage on the vehicle. read more

Budget Car Rental - Photo of the inspection sticker on the Mazda 5 given to us today (September 5, 2015) - Car Rental Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

When I called budget to make a reservation, the representative said, "for a few dollars more, you can have an SUV." I said ok. But when I showed up, they didn't have that size car. So I said just give me a mid-size sedan. When I asked if this means I'll pay less now, the attendant said no. She said since I pre-paid, I don't get money back. Wait, What?! I paid for a BIGGER car, but now that you don't have it, and I'm renting a smaller car, I still have to pay the higher rate? When I question the woman sitting at the Avis counter about this (they process Budget rentals as well apparently), she didn't care. She said well the smaller car is more expensive than the SUV, but I'm not going to charge you for it. I pointed out that I had in fact paid more to get the SUV, she grumpily brushed me off. If Budget wasn't the only option for a when we drop off to my destination, I would never use them. It was an issue either on customer service or on some charge. And then this case it was both. You should look elsewhere to rent a car. Sorry, needed to vent. read more

The absolute worst! Some of the worst customer servie that I have ever had...there is no reason to use budget whatsoever...never again

Won't rent from budget again. Could hardly understand the 1-800 customer rep. Relying on rudimentary language, I could not get him to understand my simple question. Arrived at drop off to find a very curt agent who never once looked at me. She handed my receipt to me over her shoulder then walked away. ZERO customer appreciation. Felt like I was at the DMV. Not saying much for this corporation. WOW, what a fool am I having just now read other reviews. Nothing has changed. They gave me the option of selecting either basic or enhanced liability coverage. Not knowing any better, and not wanting to spend anymore, I choose basic. Joseph at the counter tried to slip one by me. You don't have to purchase either. But he presented it in such a way to lead me to think that basic was already included. I advise you to review all charges before signing. I also experienced the high pressure sales technique which includes charging my credit card directly for any damages and $60 per day the vehicle is in repair in.the event of damage. Joseph the states "okay - you could end up paying $7,000 dollars if anything happens or you can just pay only $100 now for the coverage" then looks at as if I am an idiot for saying "no" read more

This is probably the shadiest experience I've ever had renting a car. I requested through Expedia a mid-size SUV. When I arrived at the airport to pick up my car, the woman at the desk informed me that they had a certain vehicle ready for me- I know nothing about cars, but I assumed it would be a mid-size SUV like I ordered. When she asked if it was okay, I said yes and she had me sign a couple things, which I do every time I get a car. The final cost ended up being really high, but I assumed there were some additional fees on top of the standard price I was quoted. I also noticed as I was loading my dog into the car back at home that this was definitely a full-sized SUV. After my trip, I looked at my original reservation and found that I paid TWICE what was quoted. Upon calling budget, they informed me that I had agreed to pay for an upgrade and was given a souped up car. One of the forms the woman had me sign listed the upgrade as one of the expenses. When she had listed out the charges to me beforehand, she did NOT tell me that I was agreeing to pay (almost double) for an upgraded car, so when I filled everything out, my casual glance at the screen garnered some of the things she had mentioned and I assumed everything was fine. On my phone call with Budget, I pointed out how unacceptable it was to automatically give me an upgraded car without telling me I was being charged more. They kindly refunded me 50% of the upgrade fee, but said I would have to talk to the Budget office at Reagan to get it resolved. When I spoke to the office at the airport, they said I had to call customer support. Avoid Budget at ALL costs. I've used Enterprise a few times, and it's always been a smooth (and unshady) experience with them. read more

The line was very long to come pick up my car, but that's to be expected at noon on a Thursday. The reason I'm only giving 2 stars is because when I went to return my car, they said my rental agreement couldn't be found. Ok, these things happen what do I need to do to get it fixed.... the attendant directed me to the fastbreak line. Well the line was extremely long - I'll try to add a picture here. It's very frustrating when you've already paid for the car and you're just trying to return it to get home or catch your flight. I felt horrible for the man who returned his car after me - he had the same issue and had to catch an international flight. No way he was going to stand in an hour plus line to correct Budget's mistake. I love budget and I usually try to book their cars, but the budget at Reagan is disorganized and understaffed. Very friendly people though, which is why they get 2 stars instead of 1. read more

Budget Car Rental - The extremely long line I was asked to stand in because budget couldn't find my rental agreement. There was one attendant in the booth. - Car Rental Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

I would never, never, never rent from Budget/Avis again. I would rather walk. I rented a car for one day and night. When I returned the car, I had a hard time finding an employee. I finally found a young woman who told me to just park it in the line and she would get to it. I was to leave. I was reluctant, but decided to do so. Several days later, I received a $940 charge on my Visa card from Budget with no explanation. (I had already paid for the rental). I reported it as fraudulent as I had not made it and the company cancelled the card and issued me new one. This caused no end of trouble changing a lot of my automatic payments over. Later that day, I received a robo call from Budget telling me that the car had never been returned. I called them immediately and they said they had no record of it being returned. I was really upset and wanted to file a police report. They told me no - that management would report back to me in 5-8 days! Two days later, after receiving two more robo calls about not returning the call, I called again and was told - Oh this happens all the time. Don't worry about it. I said, no - it doesn't happen to me all the time and I wanted to file a police report. At that point, the Budget employee left the phone and came back to tell me that the car was now listed as returned on time and had been rented out again. I would not be charged anything extra. The next day I received a request for feedback on my experience and, of course, gave the entire operation a bad review. Two days after that, they sent me a letter telling me that the car had some animal hair in it and they were charging me $150 cleaning fee. Of course, since the young woman did not check me in while I was there - I have no proof that the car was clean. (I had carefully vacuumed it out prior to returning and could have taken it to a car wash and spent 1/10 the amoutn they charged me if there had been a check-in person when I returned the car). I believe this entire operation is a scam. Never, never again. read more

Some of the worst customer service I have ever experienced. With so many car rental options at DCA National Airport I would never rent from them again and definitely would NOT recommend Budget/Avis at DCA National Airport! read more

I have rented cars from these guys a couple of times, and they are alright for the most part. Th rates seem to be the lowest, and the cars that I have rented have all been nice. What I don't like is that they don't allow much flexibility in the event that you return slightly late- like 45 minutes. They will charge for that, whereas other rental companies offer a grace period. Also, there is no one there to provide instructions on how to use some of the basic car features like the radio system, or cruise control. You are left on your own to find your car, and figure out the settings. I also don't like the fact that there is noone there to inspect the vehicle before you take it out. I noticed a couple hours after I had the vehicle, that there was a sizeable sent on the passenger side door. I wasn't sure whether ai should have reported this or not, because I certainly didn't want to get blamed for damage that I didn't do. When I had rented cars from other rental car companies actually, there s someone to inspect the outside of the vehicle before you take it out. read more

Budget Car Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

This is literally the worst place I've ever dealt with. It's impossible for them to answer phones. I rented a car only to have it turn a check engine light on. This is a new keep wrangler with just above 10,000 miles on it. I called customer service only to have them tell me to keep going. The car should be fine. We can get you switched out to another car tomorrow if you need to. Well I never made it to my destination. The car went into power saver mode. I lost power steering, brakes, and lights. The car was getting no power. I then contacted roadside assistance and was told I needed to stay with the vehicle or I would be charged an additional fee. Additional fee? For what?!? As I'm on the phone telling the lady it's 35 degrees here and I'm not staying in the freezing car she tells me that they can try to get me a ride share and have them take me back the 1 1/2 hour drive back to the DCA airport to get another car. BUT the car would need to be physically on a tow truck so they can actually release another car to me. As I'm on the phone arguing with her I notice on the key chain that it has a note on it that says "Engine Light." These people let me take a car with a known problem. This is extremely irresponsible and dangerous. The best part is I get a call from the tow truck company 2 hours later stating it's going to be another 2 hours. read more

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One of the worst rental pick-up experiences ever. Long line with 13 people. Two rental agents. Each agent took on average 13 minutes to process one customer. I waited 37 minutes in line. When I reached the rental desk I found out what was taking so long. The agent stopped several times during my transaction to retie her necktie. It was as if she was in slow motion. Then the for the kicker, the agent signed me up for the Budget frequent renter program without asking me first. She spent 11 minutes (I timed her) on a separate laptop computer signing me up for the frequent renter program. Apparently the agents get credit for signing up customers. Now it made sense. The agents were making everyone wait while they signed each customer up. read more

My Initial rental for seven days went well. When I needed to extend for three days, the app did not work properly and I had to call three different phone numbers before I could talk to someone and get it extended. The price for the three day extension was three times the original rate!! When I called to ask for a review, the customer service reps just kept repeating to me that the rate was different but finally said she would accelerate it to a supervisor who would call me back within 48 hours. no one ever called. I will never use Budget again. I would give zero stars if I could read more