I have been an Avis Preferred member for over 25 years and have rented vehicles at airport locations nationwide. This was only my second rental from this particular location, which appears to be a franchise. This rental was through Budget, which shares the same parent company as Avis. During my first rental from this location, I received a rude and accusatory phone call after returning the vehicle. An employee insisted I had transported a dog because a small amount of pet hair was found in the car. I had not traveled with a dog; the hair likely came from my clothing, luggage, or family, as we live in a home with dogs. I was told I was being "done a favor" by not being charged a substantial cleaning fee. The interaction was unprofessional and left a very poor impression. Over the Christmas holiday, I rented again due to a competitive AARP rate for an SUV and decided to give this location another opportunity. At pickup, I noticed multiple signs at the counter warning that customers could be charged significant fees if vehicles were returned with road grime, salt, dirt, or odors. The messaging strongly implied that customers are expected to wash and clean the vehicle before return. I have never encountered this policy at any other Avis, Budget, or rental car location, and I find it to be an unreasonable business practice. I returned the vehicle clean and was not charged any additional fees. However, when I submitted feedback, I initially received a generic response from Budget corporate, followed by a direct message from the location. Lisa Golias (title not provided) stated that I had "misinterpreted" the signage, asserting that one sign applied only to road salt and grime and the other solely to smoke or air freshener odors. While those issues are mentioned, the signs clearly go beyond those narrow interpretations. I found this response dismissive of a reasonable concern. I have included photos of the signage so others can decide for themselves whether they are comfortable renting from this location and potentially being charged extra fees for normal vehicle use. In my view, routine cleaning and washing are standard responsibilities of a rental car company, not the customer. I also encourage prospective renters to review the other complaints and reviews posted here and on additional platforms. I regret not doing so beforehand. read more

Budget Rent A Car - Road Grime, wash your car sign - Car Rental Near Me - Winston-Salem, North Carolina

See all

I had a rollercoaster of an experience renting here. In the end everything turned out ok, and the associate did address my problem, but it was momentarily very stressful. I rented a car for a couple weeks in January and returned it after-hours the night before it was due. A week later, I had not reeived my invoice and called to follow up. I was then told that I would be charged an additional $400 because I violated the smoking policy, which was NOT true. I don't smoke - I dont' care if others do of course - and I was obviously going to contest this bogus charge. After a lot of back and forth, and me driving to the facility to speak to someone in person, the associate finally let me know that they had mistakenly mixed up my rental with another return. To be fair, they did adjust my rental dates when I originally went to pick up my vehicle because I had mixed up the date by 1 day. @azfitfoodfun read more

BEWARE of this location! As others have mentioned, there is no reasoning with this guy who says he's the "manager" (Dennis) while the real manager, Lisa is off. I have been in customer service for over 21 years, and would never speak to a customer in this manner or be as unprofessional and unreasonable as this guy is. He spoke over me, and even said that if I would listen he would explain, but he wasn't reasoning or listening to what I was saying. So I went to pick the vehicle up as planned, and they were still attempting to vacuum the inside, they DID NOT wash the exterior which had many bugs splattered on the front and road grime on the entire vehicle, especially back door. But my big issue was with the fuel tank not being full, they said that it's on 7/8 full, just bring it back with 7/8. When I brought the vehicle back, the guy said it's at 6/8 and charged me an additional $37.70 for them to fill the vehicle. First of all if the vehicle was filled up and full as it was supposed to be it would've been much easier for me to just to fill the tank, but trying to judge what 7/8 is was a little more difficult. I realize this when picking the vehicle up and took a picture of the odometer with the fuel range which was showing 473 mile range on fuel. When returning the vehicle the range was on 470 mile range (3 miles) that is the way I judged the fuel. This practice seems shady and possibly a way for them to add additional charges to the bill. Any reasonable business would agree that the fuel was fine and let it go, but not this place. I would never go back here and deal with these people. read more

Wated 2 hours for my car, had to give up and take a lyft. DO NOT USE!!! Front desk staff were barely civil and annoyed at being asked for updates. I had people waiting for my arrival so I asked a few times over the TWO HOURS I WAITED. Also very hard to cancel the day of. STAY AWAY!! read more

They charged me for a rental car and then told me they don't have any cars to rent. They couldn't offer me a refund right away, I had to call customer service. Why let someone pay for a rental car if you don't have any? read more

I would rate 0 if I could. Nobody there is in charge. I was supposed to pick up a car at 11:30, the manager said I'll have to wait. So we agreed I will come at 1:30. So the time comes, I show up at 1:30, the guy in front of me gets his car, and guess what. There is no car for me. The manager messed up and gave the car to someone else. I was told there is nothing they can do for me. So I lost time, which is not free, lost money for a 3rd party rental insurance and she said she even couldn't print me a letter where it says it's not my fault. Poor service, poor management. Don't deal with them if you value your time. read more

Schedule to pick a car up at 9:00 and they did not have a car ready. They didn't try to make any accommodations like substituting another car. I needed the car on time since I was driving it for work travel so I asked they called me when it was ready. No one reached out for hours I tried to get in contact with the this location but kept getting transferred to people who work at their customer service center. My mom decided to just drive and check and they finally got a car 3 hours after my reservation. read more

Every single employee that we have encountered in this location both in person and over the phone was extremely rude and impatient. The way they talked to my parents were horrible. And these employees were older as well. No mutual respect. Not even decent customer service. My mother has asthma and the smell of the rental they picked up smelled like a combination of cigarette smoke and an over abundance of disinfectant spray to cover up the smoke smell. To have a car that they NEED to use for 10 days to smell like that would prove difficult for my parents. And so upon trying to see if they could have exchanged it at this mall location the same day they picked up from the airport location, they were met with complete discourtesy from the gentlemen at the counter and was immediately lectured into returning it to their initial pick up location. A simple "I'm sorry sir but we can not clean it or exchange for you" would have sufficed. Instead my mom was left with such a disheartened feeling that she did something wrong because she has asthma. That is not right at all. So my parents tried their very best the last 24 hours to tolerate the wretched smell of this car and at their wits end tried calling the airport budget location and spoke the a much friendlier gentlemen at the Smith-Reynolds Budget location but unfortunately he kindly explained due to the holiday weekend there were no alternative rentals they can exchange it for. They called the general Budget headquarters and was directed to call the Hanes Mall location to see the possible exchanges that they may have and a very very rude woman answered the call. We can understand that she put us on hold for 10-15 minutes because she had a long line and she could have stated the fact a little kinder but instead was snarling at my mom over the phone to tell her that. She continued to sound impatient , huffing and puffing every second she was on the line and said "look I don't know what you wanna do but why don't you get off the phone and discuss it on your own". This by far has been the WORST Budget rental establishment my parents and I have every encountered. There was so much more this unpleasant woman at the counter said that I heard since my mom put her on speaker phone and unfortunately this review is running out of space for me to recount it. But never again will I use Budget. This area of Winston-Salem I thought was nice and in general the people are but these people were bad-mannered and insolent. I will be writing a review in every travel/booking website and contacting their corporate office. This is unacceptable. read more

BEWARE! BEWARE! BEWARE! I've never been so shaken from a business interaction, even weeks after. Absolutely the worst encounter to witness, which involved the person in charge of operations. Count yourself lucky if you've ever received some semblance of service. GEORGE GERDES, undoubtedly the most unprofessional and incompetent business operator in Winston-Salem. I unfortunately was privy to witness his low emotional intelligence after he lunged forward over the counter and jabbed his finger towards the face of a customer who was there only to retrieve his prescription glasses that were left in a prior rental. Thereafter, a lot of back and forth - yelling, threatening words - a verbal war of words ensued, the mayhem was quickly escalating to a physical altercation without someone intervening. Luck was definitely on his side that day. George Gerdes was aggressive, provoking and utterly disrespectful and should NOT be in a customer facing position. Case in point - call there more than twice and if he's manning the phone, brace yourself to be berated, just utter disrespect to anyone/customers. Why patronize this business that is insensitive and lacks a sense of service? No one deserves to be treated without dignity, especially when it's merely a transactional interaction. I will NOT, and I'd advise anyone to do the same. Besides there are plenty of rental places in Winston that don't require a crash course in combat to do business, that addresses customer's concerns with respect and overall appreciate the customer and the profits their dollars bring. If George Gerdes is the only choice that Budget/Avis has to run a site, they strongly need to reconsider. This man, who appears OLD enough to know better, is a company liability. He lacks empathy, simple basic human dignity and common sense. No customer service course can fix those shortcomings. In talking with agents at other rental companies, the reputation of this location precedes itself. I feel sorry for the employees who must endure his hostile working environment. A blatant lack of dignity and respect for himself and Budget/AVIS. Ultimately, you have to also feel sorry for a human being that is in so much pain that he must inflict his injuries on complete strangers at a place of business. ________________________ Of course the incident was reported to customer service and also to the Territory Manager who seemed concerned and disappointed. It's unsure how much investigation will occur on the part of Budget/Avis. You can only trust they take the report seriously considering Budget/Avis' reputational risk is at stake. An employee who was outside asked what was happening and in explaining it he interjected, "blue case, from Eye Care". YES!!!! Of course George Gerdes was clueless. The glasses were actually next to him behind the counter.... the irony, need I say more. read more

Budget Rent A Car - Witnessed the worst verbal dispute - being incited to a physical altercation by this guy who is also pictured in the prior post. - Car Rental Near Me - Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Absolutely recommend renting from This location. The customer service is first class. Ask for Chris, he really cares and is so helpful. read more

Went to pick up 2 mini vans that were reserve a month ahead. Got there in the a.m and was told no vehicles. They close at 2 p.m. and Nobody even called to say anything. This was a family trip of 11 people . It was a good thing I made 2 reservations because they done this before. Had to drive 40 minutes to go elsewhere. This place is no good. read more

My daughter rented a car at Avis at the Charlotte airport. When the screen stopped working that controls everything we went to the local Avis/Budget car rental location. Chris decided it was worth a try to reset the battery. This worked and we were on our way. Thanks Chris. read more

I want a car from the Hayes mall location I think the young ladies name was Lisa rented it on the weekend of January 14. Best customer service I've ever had just a pleasure. read more

Manager does not care about customers. An item was left in a vehicle and I tried calling the location this morning before they rented the car out again. Phone lines routes directly to budge customer service head office and they said to fill out a form. There is no form, and the website does not even recognize Winston-Salem. I go to the location and the manager said "phones have been down for 3 weeks". No recourse, no care, has a smirk on his face. Not to mention he talks to the employees who wash cars like they are not humans. Would never recommend. read more

Communication is poor! Don't rent out all of your cars and then have people needing a vehicle that was reserved for months without a vehicle! read more

I reserved a car on Monday for a five day trip. I arrived to pick up the car and they did not have my vehicle available. I left without a car. They didn't even call me to let me know they did not have a car. They had two days to do this. They let a lady who walked in front of us get a car. I was told the website keeps allowing cars to be rented even though none are available. I am not going to utilize budge car rental again. read more

We rented a car from Budget in Chicago, and one of the tires had a slow leak. I called this Budget location (Hanes Mall, next to Firestone) and explained the problem. The nice young lady I spoke with told me that if I came in, she'd walk me over to Firestone and have them take care of the tire. As you've probably guessed, when I visited the location, the nice young lady walked me next door to Firestone, explained my issue to the folks at Firestone, and asked them to either fix or replace the tire. I'd expected to be sitting in the waiting area for at least an hour, and possibly two, but I was done and on my way with a newly installed tire in less than 45 minutes. No muss, no fuss, no problems. In the 45 minutes I sat in the Budget lobby, I watched the young lady assist 4 or 5 other customers. Two of those customers had some sort of issues with renting their cars through the Budget web site, and the young lady walked them through getting their rental cars and getting the best possible price. I see there are several reviews from people who were unsatisfied with this particular Budget location, but the customer service I received from these folks was top notch. read more

Go into this business with your eyes wide open! They misled me and than refused my refund after turning in their car 3 days early. So affectively they charged me for 5 days and then double dipped by renting the same car for 3 additional days I already paid for!!!! NO CUSTOMER SERVICE HERE!!!! read more

I recently rented a car from this location to get me to Durham where I was meeting a family member. It was a short-term rental but was very easy to reserve online. This location shares space with the Sears Auto Repair shop at Hanes Mall. The woman working the counter was competent and took care of me quickly. I certainly wasn't "wow'd" by her service and I think it was clear that she doesn't love her job, but, c'est la vie. If I have car rental needs in the future, this location is very close to my home and I felt like my car was safe there as I left it overnight. read more

George and his staff is the best. This should be the end of this review but I noticed a couple of negative comments from negative people. Trust me when I say I have known George for close to 20 years and he will go above and beyond to help any customer in his business that can handle themselves with a little decorum. If you don't know what that is than you don't have it. I can't provide enough praise to his team in this review. Friendly and willing to help. They will treat you like family. read more

Amazing service from George! I was renting a car (full size) for 6 days returning the car to Greensboro Airport it took all of 10 minutes for him to get my information (drivers license etc..), confirm my rental and I was out the door. As they did not have any full size he allowed me to choose a car rather than just assigning me the one he decided would work best. I was given the options of a Dodge Journey, Chevy Cruze, GMC Terrain (which I chose) and I believe another Chevy. There was no up sale or push to make me purchase any further protection for the car. George was very friendly, warm and welcoming. He had a sincere personality and when I come back to NC I will only be renting from this location. Rented through Costco Travel. read more

We prepaid for a more expensive vehicle since it was bigger. However, the manager George gave away our prepaid rental before our rental car pick up time although he was notified by staff that the car was already reserved. We had to get a smaller car that had half a tank of gas. When we left the lot, the rental car's tags were expired by 8 months. My husband complained to the manager George for George's mistake who did not apologize and got defensive. George never refunded my husband the difference in cost for the initial pricer reservation or half of tank my husband put in. George also skirted around the issue that he allowed cars on his lot that had tags over half a year expired. My husband got so frustrated that he asked for George's boss, named Chris. We have not heard back fron Chris for weeks. I'm posting here for help. read more

Very aggressive service, xenophobic place, smells marijuana, looks the guys in the front desk are doped all day, specially the big one wearing prescription glasses, very dangerous for families with young kids, they drive their own cars reckless, they almost hit me with their truck in the parking lot, they yelled at costumers, it was Saturday morning, they threatened costumers, they have cars, but always say they don't have when you clearly can see they have cars available, no clear information, it's sort of mini-power syndrome the game they play there. Specially the guy at the front desk, I would trust to keep my daughters alone in the place. read more

I recently rented an SUV form AVIS. When I went to pick up the car, it literally smelled like a marijuana joint. The smell was sooo strong. This was the ONLY car they had. I absolutely had to get to my destination and did not have another option. The owner, George, was a complete jerk and YELLED at me when I returned the car and asked for an adjustment. I had to ride with the windows down in 40 degree weather on the highway. I realize these things happens, my complaint is the "eff you" level of customer service. Also, the car did not lock. I now have to dry clean all of my clothing. I am disputing charge with AMEX. It is no wonder they filed bankruptcy- crappy product with even worse customer service. 100% will not rent a car from AVIS again read more

I wouldn't hire the 2 idiots who work here to shine my shoes. No customer service skills, and refused to do anything about the fact Budget gave me a damaged car. Completely unprofessional employees that Budget has working here, I would avoid at all costs. read more

Budget Rent A Car - This guy who works here is a complete jackass, has no concept of customer service at all - Car Rental Near Me - Winston-Salem, North Carolina

We have returned three cars here and each time there has not been an attendant on the premises at all. We wait about 45 min to an hour for someone to show up, and when they do they fire off excuses. Basic management practices would have someone at least in the building. Returning a car should not be an event around which you have to schedule your day. read more

Budget Rent A Car - Car Rental Near Me - Winston-Salem, North Carolina

CROOKS, RUDE, UNPROFESSIONAL, NO HELP Customer service. All they can do is tell you call cooperate. call cooperate.Like robots, no offer to call for me or with me or even give me cooperates number?? How do these people Have a job? And what does that job entail since they refuse to help you in any way? And with extreme rudeness like they hate their job. particularly girl with red hair, acne, and glasses? read more

If I could give negative 20 stars I would. DEFINITELY trust all the negative and one star reviews about this location. I have rented with AVIS for years and never in my life have I encountered such incompetent and rude staff. We were delayed with picking up our reservation due to a situation beyond our control. I attempted to call this office as soon as I knew I needed to move our reservation time and no one in the office picked up the phone. I called AVIS and they said only the office was able to change the reservation time this close to the pick up time. I went 2 hours after the reservation time and there were no cars available. I understand the lack of inventory given that I was late, however no one offered to look at surrounding rental locations, no one offered to get a car in tomorrow, no one offered me to help with the refund process. NOTHING. They just shrugged and looked at me. Seriously seriously seriously avoid this place at all costs. read more

Amazing, quick, and helpful. This is how I describe George and his team at Budget. Every time we need to rent a car for work or play, we rent from George. He works hard to keep every customer happy and will go out of his way for you. We will never go anywhere else. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication! read more

Found cheap rate to pick up here and drop off at GSO. All was good, super cheap w/online code and free upgrade coupon from entertainment book. Was a little annoyed by wait inside to get car but everyone was super friendly. Would definitely book again. read more

Our mother was in the hospital and not expected to survive the night and my sister was doing her best on a tight budget to get from Winston-Salem, NC to New Haven CT before she passed away. She called the Hanes Mall Budget/Avis car rental and received the MOST INCENTIVE treatment I've ever heard of! The agent, a light skinned black man with short hair and about 5'9 asked her if she had a visa or MasterCard logo on her card and she said yes. This "agent" told her if she prepaid she would receive a discount when she picked up the car so she did and got a ride to the Hanes Mall location. When she presented her card the agent told her very nonchalantly we don't take that card, they needed a major credit card for her get the car! Why didn't he tell her that BEFORE they took her money!!! She said she needed her money back to make other arrangements and he told her with a smirk that HE didn't take her money some other entity did. She called the place and was told it would take 5-7 business days to refund everything EXCEPT a cancellation fee! But she wasn't cancelling! THEY were. My sister called me in tears and hysterical. I tried to talk to the "man" and asked him if I could give him my card. He told me "nope you have to be here and there's nothing you can do no matter who you call". So basically The Budget/Avis car rental at the Hanes mall are ripoff artists scamming unsuspecting customers out of money they can't afford to lose and because this so called agent thought he was cute my sister was forced to wait another day and get help from family before she could leave North Carolina for Connecticut and she wasn't able to say goodbye to our mother who passed away early the next morning. If this is the only way this location can turn a profit they don't need to be in business! read more

The foundation to good customer service is building good relationship with your customers. By promoting a positive, helpful, and friendly environment will ensure customer leave satisfied. A happy customer will return and likely to spend more money in the future. Unfortunately, Budget by Hanes Mall Winton Salem NC does not practice customer service. They recently gave me a car that had a strong marijuana odor. At the time they did not have any other full-size vehicle and I was press for time. Besides the vehicle odor the car also had mechanical issue. I informed them of the problem and was told to go to the nearest budget to exchange cars. When returning the vehicle, I ask for a discount for the inconvenience for the other rental and the fact that Marijuana odor was embedded in our personal belong. George the manger immediately developed an attitude and ask me what kind of discount. I explained to him the situation and I said whatever he though was feasible. George walk away while I was talking and stated, "I don't have time for this you two handle him" Having a degree in Supply Chain and Logistic Management exceptional customer service are essential to the company success. The two other men that was instructed to help me was no better. They claim they did not smell smoke when they clean the car, but the inspection sheet clearly stated otherwise. I showed them the inspection sheet which clearly stated that the previous customer was charged for smoking in the car. They became even more frustrated and told me that I was insulting them and that they were about to call the cops if I did not leave. If you going to call the cops for a customer complaint, then this Budget facility needs new management and employees. The Budget corporation needs to improve on this facility Customer Relation Management (CRM) if they want to stay competitive. Because of this, they have lost a customer due to poor customer service. read more

This place is AWFUL! I don't typically leave reviews, but if I can save anyone from the experience I had...then its worth it. We rented a 26ft truck from Budget at this location roughly a month in advance, we paid for it, arranged for my husband to fly into town for the weekend (as he was already gone for the new job)...he was coming so he could drive the truck 12 hours to the new state/location, and arranged for a moving company to come help load the truck. Moving is already stressful. I packed the entire house, arrived to pick up the truck on time (2 hours before the movers were scheduled to arrive at our house)....I was met by George who let me know they didn't have a 26ft truck. He told me there was nothing he could do about it, I could call customer service and complain to them. I had reserved and paid for this truck. In the end, I took a 16ft truck (what choice did I have?!??!), I only paid $200 less for a truck that did not fit all of my things. On such short notice, no other company had a 26ft truck. Ended up paying $400 for a uhaul trailer to get extra space. The trip was so much more expensive and stressful. I get that things happen...but the rudeness George used towards me...was unbelievable. He literally didn't care, it wasn't his problem. His co-worker told me he was having a rough week...he had already told 6 people that morning (!!!!!) they didn't have the truck they reserved. AND...I was told the 16ft truck I rented, 10 other people had reserved that VERY truck that day...so he had 10 more people coming in that wer going to be ticked off. Terrible, terrible business. I wish we had paid a bit more and went with a reliable company. read more