Budget is evil. These dishonest sob's disguise in the fine print that if you cancel a reservation made with a credit card for any reason or no reason they will charge your card $50 to cancel. Are you effin kidding me? If I could sue them, and hold them up naked to the world, I would do it, and I know I am not alone. I am going to report their sorry business to the Consumer Protection Agency and to the Better Business Bureau. You do Not charge people for cancellations. read more

No line and excellent customer service from Edwin at SFO Budget counter! Friendly, helpful, and a Bay Area native go see Edwin at the Counter! read more

The line at this Budget is perpetually longer than the other rental cars in the terminal. Took at least an hour to pick up our car. Terrible. read more

Budget - The worst line literally - Car Rental Near Me - San Francisco, California

You know, I've only read about businesses that have displayed a lack of integrity and caring for their customers. That is until I rented a car from Budget. It's shocking because there were so many opportunities to do the right thing but these folks chose to do the opposite. Do they have that much of a grip on the industry to act this way with impunity? Here's my experience: - got to the counter and the kind lady suggested upgrading to a SUV for just a few dollars more, per day. Thinking about my trip to Yosemite, I thought - that's a good idea, to have 4 wheel drive. - the SUV was fine until the next day when the temperatures rose, my passengers and I detected the scent of dry urine. It could of been a pet??, a young child??, who knows but that got really annoying and fast. - so we called customer service and they suggested we drive back from Folsom to exchange the vehicle. No can do, that's way to far and we were under a tight timeframe with our AirBnB. - finally in Yosemite and my relative notices there are no backrests for the second row. Wow, no whiplash protection. And he noticed that my tires were practically bald. So much for upgrading to a SUV for extra safety. I apparently upgraded to a funky smelling car, with no backrests and bald tires. And I'm the one responsible for this trip and for everyone's safety. - I was very disappointed to say the least and decided to "Be cool!!" (Samuel Jackson - Pulp Fiction) and just enjoy the beauty of Yosemite and being with family. I thought, I'll take care of this when I get back. - Upon getting situated back at home, I filed a formal complaint and was given a gift card and was told that I would be getting a two-day rental voucher (this never came by the way). - and here's the mind boggling event, about 4 weeks after returning the vehicle, I get a bill stating that the car need to be cleaned and I was getting stuck with like a $400 bill. Can you believe it?? And they noted excessive sand but we didn't even go to the beach and the SUV was clean, now it smelled bad, but it was clean. - so I followed up my complaint and was given a letter that my charge would be retracted by Budget (they never did that). - so I was forced to contest the bill with my credit card and about another 4 weeks later, the charge was finally taken off of my credit card. So that's what I get for looking after my family and doing the right thing. Folks, this type of lack of integrity and caring rolls downhill. The kind lady who upsold me on the SUV at the counter is not at fault. Sadly, leadership has established this culture. read more

I have never been treated this poorly anywhere. I would like to say it was one individual, but unfortunately, before we concluded our rental, we spoke to three different agents, each as unpleasant as the next. An older gentleman, with a paddle he held up to call us over, at the counter swore at me when he mistyped my credit card number and had to reenter it. The reason for the multiple agents was that even though we reserved the car online using my husband's debit card, we were not told until we arrived that Budget does not accept Wells Fargo cards because they cannot run credit checks on them. We stepped away from the counter to transfer money to my debit card, came back, and when they used my card, it declined. I had not put the travel alert on my card and had to call my bank. We stepped away from the counter to do that. Despite our frustration, my husband and I remained calm and polite at each step, while the staff was dismissive, unhelpful, and rude. The price for the rental was also over five times the cost of the Budget rental to drive back to San Francisco from Santa Maria. There is a smaller Budget just a few miles from the airport, in the future, I will use Uber to get to that location. read more

There are 1 rental car agent behind the counter, there are over 100 people waiting. I have been here for more than 30 minutes. No improvement at all. Only 3 customers were served in that 30 minutes. Still waiting.... I am going be here all day in this rate. Called Budget customers service... putting me on hold for the past 30 minutes... WTF.... I will never use Budget again. read more

Budget - Empty counters... where is your staff working today??? Who manages this place? He/she better be fired... - Car Rental Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Do not use FastBreak at this location until after COVID. They cannot staff the downstairs counter and simply leave the rental agreements out for anyone to take. Just last month someone picked up a car I had cancelled, no one at any point (at the counter, at the exit booth) checked their ID, and it has taken over five weeks to resolve. This team is sadly overworked and the counters are understaffed. The fault lies largely with Budget and the pandemic, but the lack of Fastbreak, and the enormous lines on the top floor should there be any issue with your car, are unworkable. The Budget that is just off airport on Harbor (about four minutes past the the Costco north of the airport) is run brilliantly and efficiently and the staff and manager are exceptional. read more

It took 1.5 hours to pick up car from SF airport. Man at counter was super helpful though

I would never use this company ever again if I have other choices. Budget used to be a reputable, professional, and a great company to rent from. It has changed. I rented a van for three days and I had my service dog with me ;after it was all said and done they charged me double the price of the rental for cleanup. They charged my credit card without my authorization. Customer service has been nonexistent to try and rectify this charge. I have used many other companies with my service dog and have never been charged a fee because I'm extremely cognizant of any type of dog hair. read more

I would give this garbage piece of crap negative 5 if i could. The car was dirty disgusting and smelly, original price for rental was $350 and for unknown reason came up to $550! Do not use this company they are shameless scambags! read more

After a long day of traveling with two tiny humans, we got back to our car in the SFO long term parking and realized I had misplaced my keys. At 130am I panicked and was in tears as I raced over to the budget/avis car rental in the airport. I was greeted kindly even at the very late hour and as I cried, I was treated with compassion and patience. I was concerned about my kids being cold and we still had a two hour drive home. Vinay, the gentleman working, was helpful, quick and kind. He helped me get my Family home safely and I am forever thankful to him. read more

Worse rental car! Worse customer service! Just awful. I was waiting for two hours and twenty minutes . They have very bad attitude!

If I could negative stars, I would! We booked a Tesla weeks in advance, we show up and they tell us they can only give us a Kia nero. They also said we needed a credit card in order to get the Tesla that we had already put in a deposit for. She stated the car in high demand so we needed a credit card, a boldfaced lie. We get in the Kia nero and it is dirty. Straight up, dirty. They also told us we needed it to be 70% or more charged as to not incur fees when we return it and we picked it up at 65%, not even 70% at pickup. Never never use this place ever :) read more

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I'll keep this short. My flight was canceled, and I needed to change my reservation to the next day. I spent 2 hours collectively with 4 different agents who were not only able to change my reservation, but they were unable to cancel it as well! Because I pre-paid, my card was charged, and I cannot get this refunded after over a week of trying and calling/emailing constantly. $800 out the window, currently. But wait - it gets worse.. It now looks like they gave the car to someone else, who is currently operating the vehicle under my name, with my credit card, and accumulating bridge tolls that are being charged to me. It has been impossible to find someone who can help me. I am now having to get the police involved. This has turned into a fucking nightmare. I will never rent with Budget again, and recommend anyone who is reading this to avoid them at ALL costs. read more

Ridiculously terrible. DO NOT BOOK HERE! Waited for TWO hours to get the car. Whatever system they're using is incredibly inefficient. AVIS is the same price and the line was definitely better. read more

Budget - 2 hour line - Car Rental Near Me - San Francisco, California

The guy working the Fast Break desk who checked us in could not have been slower nor more rude! Listening to him talk to all the other people in front of us was troublesome. And to see how slow he walked to and from the garage when someone asked for something, with absolutely no sense of urgency was ridiculous! He yelled at a couple different customers, telling them they needed to take their requests upstairs, saying "I don't know what they be doing!" This is supposed to be "Fast Break" but checking in to get our car took 40 minutes, and there were only 3 people in front of us. Absolutely unbelievably bad service! read more

I've never had an issue renting from Budget at SFO. I have been renting with them for years. I'm a FastBreak member so I just go directly to the to the digital board to look my name up and find my rental car reservation that's been pre-selected for me. There have been a couple of times where I asked them to change my rental car as I dont want to drive/have to park such a big vehicle in the city. Other than that, it's been a breeze. Book ahead of time online, find your vehicle assignment and space, check your car out and head on out. Easy. I usually go with intermediate SUV or intermediate sedan. I like the ease of parking that size vehicle in the Bay Area and especially within San Francisco city limits. The good MPG from these rentals are also a plus. What does take me a little time when I rent is adding another driver. If your additional driver is not your spouse, domestic partner or share the same address with you... then they have to manually add their DL & CC info into the system, have you sign some forms then you can be on your way. It hasn't been that big of a hassle up to this point and there usually is hardly a wait so it's not really a complaint. Easy returns too... Budget has always been a reliable rental. There are times in the peak tourist months that the rental rates are higher so that sometimes is a bother. For the most part, Budget has competitive rates. Take the AirTrain (make sure you're on the correct line to the Rental Car Terminal) and get off on the last stop. Takes a little bit of time but the RCT is off site and the furthest destination on the AirTrain route. I always plan about 30 mins transit to & from the SFO terminals. That's a good cushion of time in case of any delays. read more

I returned my rental and (stupidly) did not take photos as I usually do. I always take before and after pics - have the before but not after this time. Neither I nor the employee checking me in noted any damage at the return. Six weeks later, I was assessed $285 of damage and when I looked at the photos the repair center provided, the damage was near the driver's side mirror - right where the two of us were standing when the Budget employee checked me in. If it was in a hidden location, I'd believe that something happened during the week when the car was parked, etc, but I cannot believe neither I nor the Budget employee would have noticed damage at the driver's side at hip level. I believe, but cannot prove, that the damage was done after they moved the car - however, the fine print says that this is how their system works and that I am liable for the damage. I don't think that a system where a car is accepted from the customer without note and then moved by location staff *who are not motivated to report any incidents that might occur during that move* prior to assessing the car for damage is not fair to the customer or the employee. The issue isn't whose insurance pays for this - I would be at risk for paying for damage I didn't incur whether I use their insurance (paying for it with each rental) or my own. I won't rent with Budget again at this location - likely not at any of their locations. And I'll certainly be more careful to always document the vehicle after the rental. read more

Horrible customer service... sitting in line for 2 hours only to get a car that was already taken by someone. Very disappointed.

Wish I could post zero stars. Rented us a car with four bald tires, a nail in one and a tear in another. Terrible time trying to get a replacement, and could only get us a lower class than we had rented. Not only unprofessional but unsafe. read more

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The worst customer service I have ever experienced. Picked up a car at the Hyatt Embarcadero downtown. Drop off was going to be in Orange County in Southern California. The only car they had was an EV - Hyundai Ioniq. I said I didn't want an EV since we were driving to SoCal but that is apparently all that they had in SF. Didn't make any sense to me that a one way long distance rental would be given an EV. Agent said we could swap out the car at SFO since they would have more available. Fine, we decided we'd stop at SFO to exchange the vehicle. Got to SFO, told the employee (he had an AVIS jacket on which is the same at Budget) when we pulled into the lot that we needed to swap the car out for a new one that was not an EV. Unfortunately I didn't catch his name but he was the rudest person ever. He closed out our rental and when I asked where we could pick up our new car he proceeded to yell at me and berate me for not telling him that we needed to exchange the car. I told him that I had informed him that we needed to change the car out but he again yelled at me and insisted that I hadn't told him even though my entire family was there and heard the interaction. I couldn't believe how rude he was, it was the worst service interaction I had ever had, period. He wouldn't stop arguing with me or help at all, he just wanted to repeat over and over again that I should have told him we were exchanging the car. My wife told me to just drop the issue since he wouldn't apologize or acknowledge his error. He is in serious need of customer service training (or lose his job as far as I'm concerned given he represented the company so poorly). It was honestly quick shocking. I then went to the rental desk and explained the situation. I asked for a gas vehicle and was again told that all that they had was EVs even though there were plenty of gas vehicles sitting in the lot. Again, if I was staying local in SF I would've been fine with an EV but for a one way long distance rental an EV is totally inconvenient. I'm sure they could have given me a gas vehicle and lent the EV to someone who was staying near SF. I asked if we could at least get a car that was fully charged as the original one was only at 70%. I was assured that would be done. Of course, when we got the new car it was actually only at 65%. So frustrating. Had to stop 3 times to charge the car for an hour each time to make it Southern California that day as I had no interest in going back to the service counter yet again. I will never rent from Avis/Budget again. One incredibly rude employee at SFO and a desk agent that didn't couldn't understand that a long distance one way rental should take precedence for getting a gas car over an EV and lied when telling me it would be more charged up that the one I returned. Worst car rental experience I've ever had and rudest customer experience I've ever had. Avoid this place at all costs. Addendum: To top things off, when I returned the car my receipt said I was being charged double what I had agreed to (800$ vs. 400$) because the agent at SFO re-rented the car to me at the going rate rather than my original agreed upon rate (despite saying he re-opened my rental). Had to spend time on the phone with customer service but they were able to refund me the uncharge. Sounds like I was being charged for the "upgrade" to the EV since I originally reserved a full-size care. Ridiculous! read more

In my opinion, the best parts of the logistics concerns of any travel experience are those that are seamless. If the entire transaction is smooth, that is the best way to be. As a traveler, if I don't even have to think about a service, that means it was great. It is my opinion and has been my experience that the SFO rental car center - especially Budget and Avis - is the best in the U.S. and among the best in the world. I've rented from there more than two dozen times and never had a single issue. I don't think they get the appreciation they deserve and that is why I have posted this review today. Here's to you guys! read more

They really need to hire more people to work here. There was only ONE person working and it took about 45 minutes for us to get a car when there was only 2 people in front of us. The process took way too long and I'm not sure why! I also recommend leaving a sign in the front of the line telling people to check in and upload their ID information while they wait in line to save more time. The car we rented was great and clean. Once we received the kegs it was very easy to get the car and exit. Budget definitely needs more people working here. This seems to be a common concern for many people! read more

Rented me a dirty car and smelled like smoke after waiting 45 minutes. So much for being FastBreak. Agent said they were short cars and were turning them around as fast as they could and weren't sure when they would get another SUV in. Asked agent to note smell so I wouldn't be charged when in dropped off at LAX. Subjected family to smoke smell for days. Now being charged $450 cleaning fee. Complained to budget customer service twice on phone calls and they won't budge. Do not ever take a car with any issues as clearly they do not properly note issues. read more

Beware the fine print! Issues from recent rental at Logan Airport- Car I asked for not available[only 2 choices avaiable]- car provided not easy to maneuver/park in a busy city. Gas cost was very expensive. Customer service was non-existent,/ hardly spoke when I asked questions Not informed that I had to use Budget's toll service so I was double charged as I used my own EZ Pass not knowing I was already being billed. Contacted the company and was directed to the fine print that they give my payment info to the toll people and I would have to contact the toll services, although the billing notice came from Budget. What a SCAM! Last time I ever use Budget!!! read more

Crazy long lines, unfriendly people, then to cap it off they charged me a cleaning fee when I returned the vehicle in the same state I got it; perhaps cleaner. This company is not trustworthy. DO NOT BOOK, you'll end up paying more in the end, even if the upfront cost SEEMS lower. read more

The worst rental experience ever! Rented a Tesla.. No directions given on how to start the car, charge it or anything. Charged me $110 for being 20 minutes late- but I had to charge the car! The contract has no words or description of anything having to so with a electric car rental! They don't say how to find a charger , how to pay for charge, how much to return the car charged - NOTHING! Just want to charge you an additional $300 after you return the car for charging fees even though you never agreed to pay them or even were i formed how to address them. Staff also checked the car in later then i dropped off hence the additional 1 hour late fee of $110. With the price they charged I could have put money down in a tesla for buying . Also customer service admitted to not knowing or seeing anywhere in the contract about electric vehicles at all.. actually hung up on me after telling me to expect further charges.. 7 on your side - here I come! read more

Booked a full size car through my company. All of the insurance and fuel option selections were made and I checked-in using my mobile app prior to finally arriving at the counter, 90 minutes after entering the line. The crappy experience was exacerbated by the agent asking me 3 more times whether I wanted insurance coverage and the fuel-up option...both which I had already declined! They don't really give a shit about the customer. If they can deceive you by enrolling you for insurance coverage, toll devices, and fuel-up options (all of which are stupidly priced) to scrape a few extra $ of revenue, they'll do it. That's how they train their agents - that's why, when people are waiting in a 90 minute line, instead of getting cars assigned as fast as possible they spend extra time to lie and cheat you into buying add-ons you don't want/need. Further to my point, the agent smugly asked me, since I was an individual traveler, if I would accept a smaller car for the same price - presumable because they were running low on full-size cars. That's an idiotic question. Someone that gives a shit about customer would've offered a larger car/upgrade for the same price...but no, not at Budget. It took them another 15 minutes to find a full-size car; a car that I had reserved 3 weeks prior! Oh and btw, the car had a "Maintenance required" alert when I started it up, and throughout the rental period. Garbage service, garbage car. read more

the worst rental car i've ever had and that's saying a lot. overcharged me by the hundreds saying I smoked in the car and when I found out the dates it wasn't even when I had the rental. they keep charging me hidden fees and I returned the car over 3 months ago. would say to do ANY rental car except budget. read more

This location is the biggest joke. Worse customer service and no integrity. The rep said his name is Pedro but I'm sure it was a lie. No pride in his job or respect for anyone! read more

I wish I could give NO a stars!!! Do NOT, I repeat do NOT rent from Budget at the San Francisco airport!!!! The absolute worst rental experience I have EVER had!!!! It took 3 hours to get our car! They had 3, sometimes 2 and sometimes ONE person working the counter with over 100 people in line! I asked if it was always like this to one of the agents and he said "it's always like this"! I'm thinking.... You are asked when doing your rental about when you are picking up your vehicle - if they know how many people will be picking up and when, why can't they staff better?!? We rented a minivan since there was going to be 7 of us with luggage. When we finally got to the counter they said they didn't have any. They tried to put us in a 4 Runner. It just wouldn't have worked. They told us to wait - which was another 30 minutes - and they would have one for us. It was absolutely ridiculous!!! I will NEVER rent from Budget again!!! read more

Budget - The people waiting in line for HOURS - Car Rental Near Me - San Francisco, California

-Update- The repairs for the rear window were sent in, and they billed it to my card on file. No unjustified charges. The window was $300. read more

Budget - Follow the signs. These thief's don't play around. - Car Rental Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Nope. Pretty bad. I waited while their slow computer (isn't this some sort of crime in tech heavy SF?) loaded and loaded and loaded.... then they gave me a car that had already been assigned to someone else. So a schlepp all the way back to the counter to change the car. Then more loading of the incredibly slow program...Then the new car had a low tire, and the attendant had no idea how to check the pressure. Then I changed the car again, which was a decent car and drove well. During the drop off, an attendant gave me excellent directions to make the BART before it shut down, so I didn't have to call an Uber going back into SF. read more

Lied about everything including price. And then when I called they lied about what they would do to take care of it. Pretending they were on my side but just lied read more

ZERO stars!!!! Avoid!!! This SFO location is beyond AWFUL! Believe the other 1 star reviews and save yourself money and aggravation. 1. Took over 2 HOURS to get car - I'm not talking figuratively....LITERALLY 2 HOURS! Unacceptable! 2. When I returned car after filling tank, they have a nerve to charge me for partial fill because they said I used up 0.08 of the tank to drive from the gas station to return the car....WHAT THE F@#K! What kind of business does THIS! Firstly, the car fill line showed that the tank was full! Plus, if this is their policy, no one will ever return a car's tank "Full" according to them!! TERRIBLE SH!Ts!!! CROOKS!!! NEVER EVER!!!! AGAIN!!! read more

If I could give this company less than 1 star I would. I'd actually ask them for 3 stars back. With my rating being -3. Where to start? The person behind the front desk was extremely rude. Asking me questions about why I wanted to rent the car that I did. Explaining to me that I am a girl and that I shouldn't need to rent a larger vehicle. Next up, we have the reason for my estimated cost was doubled by the time my payment was due. I understand mark ups and unexpected things but to have a 100+ percent markup on what my original booking was is absolutely absurd. Another thing is I received the car completely dirty. On the front driver side of the door it look like somebody poured out a coffee onto the door of the car inside the car. It looks like someone had eaten a burrito while driving salsa and cilantro everywhere. Used napkins inside the glove compartment. It just looked like somebody had just returned it and budget had no concerns about this. It was disgusting and did not feel up to Covid protocol. This was not cleaned at all the steering wheel and windows all had major fingerprints. It was disgusting. Last, we have the total disaster. The very rude gentleman at the counter, told me that I can either pay for a expensive tour pass, which wasn't needed because I only needed to use the tall ones, or that I can bring back to the vehicle and pay the toll fee of shy of $20, or he said I could go online and pay the toll myself which I did, once the car was returned, budget proceeded to charge me the toll fee and did not realize that I actually had already paid which I'm guessing they did not care to look up. This company is a scam. I could not recommend them less and I truly hope you see this review before booking with them and just know that you were cheap rental. Estimated price is guaranteed to not be that low. There is nothing this company could do besides a full refund to make me even consider trying them again. read more

This is probably the worst car rental process I've experienced in all the airports all over the world. I waited for an hour to pick up a car, better than others I've spoken to and other reviews I've seen here. I don't quite understand how it can take so long when I've scheduled the pickup for a specific time, prepaid, and checked in the day before. It certainly didn't help that they were clearly short staffed on a Saturday. It was a frustrating experience to say the least and once we got to the counter they still tried to upsell us on an upgrade but otherwise ran through other areas without explaining or really answering questions (e.g. tolls). I won't be surprised to see additional charges pop up but I would try another car rental company first before settling for Budget. The one saving grace was the actual car pickup and drop off process. The staff handling that side were great, polite, and helpful. The car itself was fine--was a new(er) Toyota Corolla that was perfectly clean on the inside and had no issues w/ the car itself. read more

Can we give 0?!?! Almost 1 hour I'm in front of the desk 3 employees they ask you few questions and then disappear . If you have to rent a car forget Budget and Avis. Worst of all time. Stay away read more

This Budget is running a scam--charging fees for damaged windows and scratches, months after returning the rental. I rented a car in Dec 2021. The Honda Camry I was given was dinged and dirty, inside and out. Worst condition of any rental car I've ever had. In April, I received a letter stating I damaged a window and scraped the side of the car, and my credit card would be charged $170 in 20 days unless I contested the damages. Signed by Nora Henry, Emergency Road Services Specialist. I called customer service. They had no evidence of the damages, and cancelled the charges. Unfortunately a friend visiting SF rented from this same location in May 2022. She just received a letter in Oct 2022 stating she also damaged the window of her rental car, and would be charged $340 in 20 days. Signed by Nora Henry. Because of my experience, I told her to take extensive photos in the parking garage when she returned the car. She did. Hopefully she'll also escape this scam. read more

Worst location I've visited- got in at 2 am and had a reservation and still had to wait in a long line of over 50 people even though we are fast break members. Employees were not kind :/ read more