Well well well, Budget...you get the dubious honor of making me so angry that I am now writing my first Yelp review, ever! Like so many others that have left reviews before me, I had to wait for an hour to reach the desk. During that time, there were two people staffing the desk, one of which was tied up with the same customer for the entire time. Was she even a customer? She looked like a hooker and was draped over the counter, seemingly making idle chit chat with the staff member. The other staffer, to her credit, was doing all the work. She was young and not-yet jaded, tsk tsk. Anyway, I finally get to the desk...I had a reservation but they didn't have the car (also like so many before me), so they offered me a free upgrade to an SUV. Okay, fine. Worse mileage, but whatever. At that point, I was just like gimme a car, any car. So I get to the car, the outside looks fine, then I get in, and Holy F**k, what is that smell?!!! It wasn't quite cigarettes or cigars or vomit...I just don't know, but it was foul and disgusting. Hmm, do I go back and brave that office again? Hell no. I decide to just roll down the windows and hit it with some Fabreeze or whatever when I get my elderly disabled mother-in-law home (yes, she had also been waiting for over an hour with me). So anyway, the car worked fine for the duration of my stay (unlike many others before me!). I dropped it off without issue (unlike many others), and flew back home. (((Two weeks later...))) I get a letter from Budget saying that there were "spills and stains" in the vehicle and that my credit card would be billed a $450 cleaning fee. What!??? Four hundred and fifty fucking dollars?!!! There weren't any stains, at least not that I noticed, and believe me, I checked. I assumed it was about the smell, but that wasn't even the case. So of course I call them...after about 20 minutes of muzak, a recording comes on says something like "tired of waiting? try our online customer service". So I go there and write an email detailing my experience and how there must be some misunderstanding. A week later (!) I get a reply saying that they've reviewed my case and that they are continuing with the charges. I write back, they write back, etc. I check my credit card statement, and sure enough, those MFers have indeed charged me $450, on top of the original rental fee. What can you do? You can weep. You can gnash your teeth. You can curse them with words and phrases you never thought you'd utter, even in front of your kids. But in the end, all you can really do is write a scathing Yelp review and take a solemn vow to not only never use their services again, but to spread the word to everyone you know far and wide. And people, take it from me: when you first approach your rental car for checkout (especially from this company, if these reviews have not deterred you), get out your camera and start taking pictures, outside and in. The photos will be time and date-stamped so that you will have some recourse if you are wrongly accused like I was by a crooked, uncaring and failing organization. And also like many before me, I only gave one star because I had to in order to submit this review. If I could, I'd give a negative-1000 stars, also like some guy before me. Budget/Avis/Whatever, may you die a horrible death....it looks like you're already well on your way. read more