Budget Car Rental

"Avoid this rental car place! They tried to scam me and my wife with a refueling charge for $200!!! We had rented an SUV, but it was not available, so we had to take a minivan! Until it was my turn in the line and until they found out which car they could give me, 60 minutes passed! Also always check your time when you pick up the car and the return time. The receipt had wrong times. According to the invoice, I picked up the car when I was still standing in the line and brought the car back when I was already on the ferry at the BAT! This may be a try to charge an additional day, another customer wrote about it already here in the comments. Not easy to find, you will have only access to the garage from the small right lane. It's left of the hotel."

"As we paid for the luxury class, we were promised to get Chrysler 300 or similar for our holidays in U.S. (3weeks of driving). I went to the location one day before to make sure everything is ok with our reservation. It was confirmed. Chrysler, Cadillac or Infiniti were the options. When we arrived on the following day to pick up the car, we received some small and very uncomfortable Genesis with an explanation that no other car is available. We decided to give it a try. That was a big mistake. Driving the car is a nightmare (we are still using it and will be for another 10 days). When complained via e-mail and requested vehicle change we were told it was impossible as we’d have to go back to New York (at the time we were in Nashville, heading further South). I will never use Budget again, feel cheated now, with 2k dollars paid for the car that has nothing to do with luxury. My advice is to avoid this company."

"I left an item in a vehicle and I called the location to see if they could assist me. After leaving me on hold for about 30 minutes, they finally came back and told me that I needed to contact the other place where the vehicle was picked up from. I explained that location told me to call the other location as the vehicle was going to be dropped off there. THEY WERE NOT HELPFUL AT ALL. On top of that, they tried to walk me through the process of filling out the claim (which I had already done with the other car service, by the way). Her (Trudy) explanation was way off course - there was no HELP button at the top of the screen and I actually could not fill out the Lost and Found form because the location where the vehicle was being dropped off was not listed and it was suggested that I call them (and around and around we go). I understand that I left the item, but do not have a lost and found if you have no intention of actually helping someone find something that was lost. This is why I cringe when I need to rent a vehicle - either they: 1. Charge you for things you never signed up for 2. Overcharge for being 1 minute late 3. Barrage you with 'fees' 4. Try to make you pay for things they say happened after you returned the vehicle and received your receipt. I would not refer any car service because they all have bad service, but sometimes you just have to have a rental. Definitely caution and make sure you check for all of your items before you get out of the car! :)"

"CHARGED FOR AN EXTRA DAY! I was so hopeful that this would be my new rental spot. I typically rent from Hertz in Park Slope, but that location is always packed so I was pleasantly surprised when I didn’t encounter another person at budget when I picked up and dropped off my car. I was a little annoyed because they gave me a huge truck when I requested a small suv. The thing ended up being a gas guzzler. Fortunately I only had it for the day, got back to the city, filled up the tank and dropped it off a few minutes before my drop off time. Fast forward to today and I get a receipt for $508 (my original reservation was for $210 and then I added unlimited toll for $26). When I called the location they didn’t answer and the call got rerouted to customer service. According to customer service I dropped off the car today. Looking at the full receipt, it’s indicated that I dropped off the car at 11:15AM today. Mind you, this place closes at 9pm. I dropped the car off a little before 5pm. The attendant waited an entire day to input my return. I’m annoyed with myself because I always get a receipt in person but didn’t do so this time because I was in a rush and distracted. I’m assuming the hotel has a ton of cameras outside and inside the parking garage so I’m not too worried. I’m just extremely annoyed! Won’t be using this place again."

"They are too suspicious of the renter. They did a full damage check at the beginning, which is fine, but takes a long time. The other rental companies do it ahead of time and don't bother me with it anymore. Budget is behind the times. They also have no way to reliably contact them quickly about issues like the car being dirty inside. It's slightly cheaper than others and they do have cars available, at least!"