I bought the fuel option for my rental. My Tucson has a fuel capacity of 14.3 gallons, I was supposed to be charged $3.4x per gallon for Budget to refuel the car. I was charged $101.35 to refuel my car. That means that I was charged $7.09 per gallon to refuel. I talked to customer service and they said they refilled 22 gallons which is absolutely impossible as the fuel tank capacity is only 14.3 gallons assuming I drained the tank dry. That means I am being defrauded by Budget and they are filling other cars up with my money. I was promised a free upgrade and when I got to the place to pick up my car in Boston I was told they didn't have any upgraded cars to give me. Instead I got the worst car in the fleet. It had a bad bounce in the back end that vibrated the car at any speed over 60. Frankly, it was dangerous. I was able to trade it for another car in Middleton Pennsylvania. I drove that car for 3 miles and discovered it didn't have USB jacks that worked and cigarette burns in the passenger seat. So I returned that and got a THIRD car. It had an issue that turned off the front radar until it decided to be on and then it would slam on the brakes randomly as I changed lanes. Another dangerous car. I called customer support and they said there is nothing they can do. I believe there is something they can do. 2 out of 3 cars were dangerous, all three were broken. It's not a good look. read more

So only the person picking up the car can be inside for this budget. So, if you have kids or luggage leash them to the lamp right outside. Or they won't let you rent. (Meanwhile one of the employees has their mask under their nose). [eye roll] read more

We will not patronize a company that has an arbitrary 'Senior Fee' for those over 70 years of age. It should be about our driving record, not our age. We will be happy to support car rental companies that make us feel they actually want our business. Also, the fee is illegal - get ready for some litigation. Seniors do not just stand by & let others take their hard earned money for no reason. read more

this place has ruined my plans for my entire weekend !!! i prepaid almost $900 on a rental just to be told in the confirmation email i cannot book with my debit card in person and theres a minimum $300 hold they place on your card !!! then to cancel even though i cancelled right after i booked they charged me 150 !!!! on top of that i wont get a refund for 3-10 business days !!! i am infuriated !!!!!! this is so inconsiderate to a customer !!! this was overall sneaky and i feel scammed out of $150 !! i will never suggest this company to anyone ever read more

Budget Rent A Car - all the way at the BOTTOM of my confirmation email . - Car Rental Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Employee signing us up for a car asked if we wanted to lock in the West Palm Beach gas price so when the car was topped off upon return, we would be charged the local rate of $3.47. We agreed. The employee was busy talking to the other employees at the desk about alcohol and apparently forgot to add this to our contract. We were charged $160 for the gas top off upon return - $30 for service and $9.99 per gallon. When I called budget customer service for help they said because it was a verbal agreement and the employee did not add it to the contract, I would not receive any money back, although it was the employees fault for not doing her job correctly. DEEPLY DISATISFIED. read more

Overcharged: I am very upset with Budget and it's non-existent customer care. I rented a car online, thinking I was only paying $572.35 for 6 days. However, when I went to pick up the car at their Las Vegas location on 4/1, I was upsold to get Roadside Assistance and a Loss Damage Waiver. Bottom line is I was charged an additional $262.19. Making matters worse was the poor customer service I received today (4/11) when I call to inquire. It took hours to reach someone by phone and that person told me that I was out of luck. I am deeply upset and would not recommend Budget to anyone. Bob H. (Rental Agmt Number 574055672) read more

Totally unreliable if renting a large SUV. Made the reservation a month ago. Just received a call saying the SUV I had scheduled to pick up at 7am would not be available. The representative couldn't help in any meaningful way. This is very frustrating when I need to hit the road at 7am! read more

Filed with BBB, escalated with Budge Rent-A-Car, sent a letter all between April 2022 - for not refunding deposit for a cancellation for rental in May of 2022 - provided all the account information for refund - been on the phone - promised "check in the mail" - it is now mid August 2022 - no refund. They take your money and run..... read more

Was excited to find a car rental location so close to my apartment. But wow, these guys are the worst! Rude front desk help, limited hours, and general poor customer service was obvious from the moment I walked in. There was immense traffic on the way home to D.C. to drop off the car, and I called ahead and informed there was an "hourly rate" for renting the car. For being a hour late, they charged me for a whole day! In the world of Zipcar,Car2Go, etc... This company is not keeping up with the times. I feel ripped-off and will not be returning. read more

I don't have a ton to say about this rental location, but happened upon it while looking for the hours and was shocked by the bad ratings. I've rented cars here on about 5 occasions, and it's always been fine. Yeah, the employees aren't oozing with friendliness, but that's fine. The cars are okay, it's never taken more than 10 minutes, and it's a very convenient location. Some notes: The cars are maybe a little older and don't all have USB ports. Also, be aware that there is a fee for using the E-Z pass thing above what the toll fare is. read more

I thought I was getting a great deal with Budget. We love the vehicle. But our trip hasn't gone as planned and I have to return the car in a different location at a different time, which apparently means paying 50% extra of my contracted price. Had I known this to begin with, I may have cut my trip short so I could stick to the contract. Picked up in PA and now have to drop off in DC instead of the original NC location. Will not use again. read more

I had a reservation for today and the person at the counter was extremely mean and with my confirmation on hand he said that he didn't have cars and layer run away... very rude an disinterested... shame for budget... I will never again reserve with them... read more

I experienced the worst customer service ever, when I first arrived the front desk, female employee basically scolded me for being early. She was lecturing us on why you don't arrive early and I quote "that is like arriving to your flight early and that I can make you wait if I wanted to." She was too busy scolding us that she never informed me about the late fee. So I turned in the car one hour late and she charged me the full day rate of $181. When I called to see if she can waived it or at least bring it down, again she was rude basically giving me the "I told you so" treatment. She was not flexible or understanding. At the end she never assisted me, I actually think she was happy that they charged me like if she wanted to teach me a lesson. I will never recommend budget or will return just because of her terrible customer service treatment. read more

Beware! SCAM! Budget at Logan Airport admits to renting cars with malfunctioning chips for reading gas tank levels. I returned car with full tank and was charged for 9 gallons of gasoline; was told the chip in car was faulty. They refuse to reimburse me even though I have a receipt from gas station next door to rental car return facility. Do not leave car without a receipt - Budget employee refused to give me a printed copy, told me email only. Believe this was age discrimination. read more

I am only giving this a one stare because the ratings do not allow negative star counts. am heartily recommending that NO ONE ever rent a car from Budget Car Rental or its parent Avis. I had a friend rent a car from Budget to drive 450+ miles to be at his wife's hospital bedside. When arriving, he discovered his wife on life support. As she lingered between life and death, his initial 9 day car rental period expired. The rental extended for another week, and yet another week. These extensions were charged at the daily rate! Budget did not inform him at either time that he could convert the contract to a monthly rental, with about a $600 savings. Instead, when he returned the car at the close of 4 weeks, they charged him $2,010. When I contacted this location to try to convert the contract to monthly, I was informed that since my call came more than 24 hours after the rental closed, they could not change it to monthly. I explained the circumstances, including the fact that the $600 in excess costs imposed by Budget was needed by my friend to ship his wife's body back to her native country in Europe, the manager at the location where the car was inflexible. He claimed only corporate could make the change. When I called corporate, corporate customer service said the change could only be done locally. So, the Budget Rental Car location on Wisconsin Avenue, NW, in Washington, D.C. got $600 in blood money off of someone who just lost his wife and did not even have the funds to bury her body. The manager was the rudest, most condescending, person I have dealt with in many many years. His employee ID number is 04743 and his first name, according to him, is "Tom". I suspect at least the name, if not the ID number, are both fictitious. He stated that he is the manage on duty. This occurred at 3 p.m. January 19th, 2023, at the location on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C. $600 is nothing to Budget's bottom line, but the ability to bury his wife's body in the family burial plot is everything to my friend. Small minded people who are given the title "manager" turn into tyrants. Must have a pathetic life and be a miserable person inside, lashing out against the public to try to relieve his own inner demons. read more

Abysmally slow and intolerably indifferent. Next time I'll drive out to Reagan National; and this location is only a mile from my home! It took them 45 minutes just to bring the car down and I had a reservation. The staff is rude and have no idea of the concept of customer service. If the employees spent less time gossiping about the clients and more time servicing them they would be at least on the road to getting it right. If I could have given this experience zero stars I would have. And did I mention that the GPS that they gave me didn't work? read more

TERRIBLE SERVICE. Do not rent a car from here. Even though it is a bigger hassle to go to the airport to pick up a car, it will be worth the travel time -- trust me! Twice in 6 weeks, I went to Budget WITH A RESERVATION and they informed me "they had run out of cars." The only information/excuse the two agents would give was, "Well its a long weekend." I can't quite understand if they have reservations why they wouldn't work to transfer cars from the airport location to this location to ensure that customers did not have to wait 2+ hours for a rental that they had reserved. The customer service there is horrible. I filed a complaint with Corporate who would only say "the district manager is aware of the problem" but they would not (could not?) assure me that this would NOT happen again. Its best if you try your luck at the airport. It will end up saving you time! read more

Wow, surprised by the ratings. I reserved a car. I showed up at the time. Staff was professional. Car was ready. I took possession of car. I drove car. I returned car. No hidden charges, no supposed damage, no issues. Overall I was happy with my experience. Would rent again. read more

Echoing other reviewers - TERRIBLE customer service. Made no effort to answer questions and very rude. HIRE SOME DIFFERENT PEOPLE, BUDGET! read more

Despite the laundry list of complaints and moans, my experience was quick and painless. The employees may be a bit brazen but get over it, we are too old to be grumbling about bad attitudes. My biggest obstacle was finding a parking spot in my neighborhood on the drive home. Perhaps one should consider a). The weekend to reserve cars (avoid holidays, events in town) b). a location in the city probably has limited vehicles, especially size variation and c). It's a rental car place, not the Westin. Do not expect back rubs and hot towels at budget car rental. Furthermore, I would much rather utilize this location versus trekking to DCA. read more

*Amendment: I emailed Lee Fletcher and received a response within 10 minutes offering a refund of the late fee we were charged for returning the car at 11am (when we actually received the car) instead of 10am (when we checked in for the car). He also offered us $25 as compensation for the wait. While the service on the day of rental was poor, management's response was good. I hope they will also shift staffing to accommodate the busy days! Thank you, Mr. Fletcher! We'll be back. ______________ Usually we are in and out with no issues. Today, at the start of Columbus day weekend, the welcome area is filled with people who MADE RESERVATIONS who are being told that there is a two hour wait. The problem? They are low on staff who bring the cars down the ramp. EXCEPT... there are THREE people at the front desk sitting around just watching us seethe. If they know that they will be slammed, they need to staff accordingly. If their wait time is long, they need to shift staff off the front desk. Our reservation was at 9. We are next in line for a vehicle, and the time is now 10:56am. Lee Fletcher, I hope you will be able to offer us some compensation for the wait. Overheard: "are you willing to take the ford flex? ... Sir?... I mean, you don't have much of a choice hahaha" good lord... read more

I work for a travel company. As such we contract & work with airlines, hotels & car rental companies on a daily basis. We sponsored an event in Washington DC over the Memorial Day weekend this year. We needed ground transportation for our employees traveling to DC and we decided to use Budget. Nearly 6 months later we receive a bill from Budget stating we were responsible for damages to the vehicle and we owed well over $400. We called the number on the invoice and told the representative we had inspected the vehicle with a Budget employee prior to releasing vehicle back to Budget. There was absolutely NO damage incurred during our rental period. The most troubling aspect is that when we called this number the person on the other end kept asking us how we were going to pay for these damages. They obviously wanted us to give them a credit card number. We are contacting the better business bureau and sharing Budget's shameful actions with our customers and contacts. We will definitely never use or book Budget for our customers again. read more

Do NOT rent from this location. Horrible customer service, rude people behind the counter don't even greet you or look up from their computers, and on top of everything they tried to charge me for scratches they themselves had written down as pre-existing when they gave me the car. I had to call customer service around eight times to get the situation resolved. Never again, Budget. read more

I can't say enough about how wonderful the agent was who helped us. We picked up our rental car with no fuss, the woman working at the counter signed us up for fast track for upgrades in the future and the car we were given was brand new - only 16mi on the odometer. I only wish I had the name of the agent so that I could complement her properly. read more

Showed up 10 minutes early to pick up our car. And then told it will be ~45 minutes until our car is ready. Excuse me??? This car has been reserved for MONTHS. And there were 7 people ahead of us already checked in already waiting for cars ahead of us. Unbelievable. Is understand if we were walk ins, but this is completely unacceptable for a car booked in advance. Well in advance. Threw our entire day's schedule off & no one cares why is this ok???? read more