Budget Rent A Car

THE ABSOLUTE WORST! ZERO STARS! NEGATIVE 97 STARS!!! My brand new car was hit by a lady driving a rental from this place. My claim was rejected because only their car is covered. How is this even possible if everyone is REQUIRED in the state of CA to have at least liabilty? Im getting very vague answers about partial coverage and less than zero customer service. I’m still waiting for the adjuster to call me back. The best part is that they dont even require you to bring in proof of insurance to rent a car they just take it on «good faith» that you have your own insurance if you decline theirs. Really? Makes perfect sense.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!
We rented a Chrysler minivan from them on Sunday. It’s been a nightmare.
First, we approached the counter for Budget and Avis. There were 3 people working behind the counter, all talking to each other about personal nonsense. No one was in line. I had to speak up and say basically hey, you guys can talk later I need a car.
I asked for a minivan and was told it was $ 60.00 a day. I said fine I needed it for a week, and was retuning it in Los Angeles.
I asked the rate a second time, and was told again $ 60.00 a day. And congratulations, they were having a special and throwing in the insurance free.
I’m like, ok fine.
I was upset because my own minivan had been broken into and most of the windows broken. I towed it to the dealer in cathedral city.
Anyway, I got the keys and went to the rental van and drove home. The next morning I looked over the paperwork and realized they had charged $ 1,692.
For the 1 week rental.
I was furious. I called them back and they said, «oh, that’s because it was a one way rental to la.»
I reminded the woman that I had told her that from the beginning, and she twice quoted me $ 60.00 per day.
She said you signed it that’s your problem. She then said I could turn it in in la that day and she would only charge$ 157.00.
I went to budget in la and was told it would be $ 860. For one day.
But if I went to another location in the la area it would only be like $ 500.
So I went there, and the same thing .
$ 860.
I yelled at them and finally returned it for
$ 457.
This was for ONE day!!!
The original quote was about that price for a week.
All of budget staff are liars and scammers. They can charge whatever they feel like obviously.
I have used hertz often I’m the past and never had that kind of treatment.
I will never use budget again.

Horrible Customer Service by Christina in the Lost-​n-​Found department. She does not return phone calls nor does she clear her voicemail box out. I have been trying to get my prescription glasses back that were left in a car at the end of February and was told that the manager threw them away because they were not claimed within 30 days. Yet I left numerous voicemails for Christina without any return calls back. How can they dispose of items in 30 days when they do not respond to calls within that time frame. Horrible Horrible Horrible!!!

These guys are the best, very understanding and professional! Funny as well. I brought my car in late due to traffic issues and they took care of the issue! Couldn’t be more pleased.

Just — wow.
This is officially my first one-​star review.
Three main reasons listed (more details below):
1. Atrociously long wait upon arrival. Nearly 50 minutes to reach the counter, yet all other car rental companies has approximately a 5 – 10 minute wait.
2. My friend left an item in the car and it was nearly impossible to reach someone to discuss this (no one answered, voicemail was full, my friend was eventually bounced through 7 different phone numbers before reaching someone)
3. When the item was found, my friend’s cash had been stolen (presumably, by a Budget employee as they were the only ones with access to the vehicle)
Details:
**The Wait**
I decided to save $ 2/​day when compared to similarly priced rental companies and, boy, do I regret it.
Hertz — No wait whatsoever
Dollar — roughly 5 minutes
Thirfty — approximately 10 minutes
Enterprise — apx. 10 minutes
Budget/​Avis — NIGHTMARE. I stood in line for 50 minutes, along with everyone else, who was just as frustrated. Two guys kept walking around asking a few questions and lost track of who they’d asked. It was a mess.
**Reaching Lost & Found**
It goes without saying that it was not Budget’s fault that my passenger left an item in the car. However, trying to get any sort of help to find the item was terrible. I dialed their Palm Springs number and chose option 4 to reach Lost & Found, only to be told «this mailbox is full.» Super! How helpful. Tried again the following day; still full. My friend then called their corporate number and was transferred through SEVEN DIFFERENT TELEPHONE NUMBERS before reaching the correct department. Luckily, Budget did have his bag.
**Stolen Cash**
My friend has $ 60 cash in his bag. When he picked up the bag from Budget, the cash was missing. The only people who should have had access to the bag once we dropped the car off would have been Budget employees, so it goes without saying that AN EMPLOYEE OF BUDGET STOLE CASH FROM THE VEHICLE.
Absolutely the last time I will ever rent from Budget every again. So not worth the measly few dollars I saved.

Booked a car months and months ago (9÷26÷15) and picked up on 2÷14÷16. When we arrived they only had one car left in the size I booked. It was a sunshine yellow Kia Soul. It definitely not something a middle aged woman wants to drive for 8 days. They said they’re was nothing they could do but I could pay $ 100 for an upgraded car. I said I couldn’t. She dropped it to $ 80 additional. This just proved to me that the representative had the power to work with me a little. Either I shouldn’t have been charged for the next size up or she should have said I could come back the next day and swap out his yellow thing. I don’t feel this was right. I booked the size because of the rate. I expected just a normal car not something flashy. I never thought I should call ahead but I guess I learned a lesson. Call ahead and maybe don’t use Budget again.

I am a Fastbreak member, regular renter from Budget. When our flight was canceled, they charged a penalty fee to add an extra day, my AMEX card stripe stopped working and they said the card was declined — nope, and general they were as helpful as a case of the shingles. Not going to use budget again. Experience sucked.

Didn’t read other reviews, this is just my experience. I booked the wrong time (meant 2pm not 8pm) to pick up car, booked from a third party. Tried to fix pick up time online and they were sold out. I thought my vacation was ruined before it started. But some gentleman from Budget around 50 years old, with a long ponytail (so sorry for not remembering his name) fixed everything WITH A SMILE and great attitude. And upgraded me to an X5 BMW! This guy changed my entire mood (which was extremely sour) and I’m totaling enjoying my vacation now. I’m not usually impressed but this was outstanding service just when I needed it. I just wish I knew his name to give him praise and thank him profusely. Thanks ponytail man!!!

I have to commendation Jeff for helping me get the truck that I needed. He was very polite well dressed and handsome and provided excellent service. One of the best customer care I’ve seen

Follow up When I returned Car I asked why they never answer their phone They said they are always too short staffed Since I called over several days, from early too very late sounds bogus to me

The representative with blonde hair … I think her name was Martha … She was very helpful and made a big difference in a terrible situation that occurred.

Awful. My husband and I were sent to this counter from Alamo, after being treated horribly, because Budget was supposed to accept debit cards. The man at the counter ignored us for several minutes, talking to his coworker, while we stood at the front of the line waiting. Finally, he called us over and we explained the situation. He looked at us like we were trash because we were using a debit card, and his manner was nothing but rude and brusque. He said, «Give me your card, it’s a $ 200 hold on your account, and we run a credit check. Otherwise, too bad.» Too bad? What incredible customer service! A credit check to rent a car for 24 hours in the city in which we live?! We walked away and distinctly heard him say, «Whatever.» We will never deal with any car company at Palm Springs Airport again.

I rented a car and was given a key fob with the key attached with a thin wire. The key was lost and I called roadside assistance. They obtained my address and to my surprise they brought a new car instead of a key. One month later I was charged $ 375.00 without any notice. If I was told there was a charge I would have called AAA and it wouldn’t have cost me a dime. I was scammed by budget and they refuse to reverse the charge. My husband manages a golf store and will be telling all golfers going to Palm spring to NEVER use Budget.

i arrived on Saturday afternoon at the Budget /​Avis area, and the line was extremely long, and very slow moving. One of the lady’s on the counter left in the middle of the rush, and i saw her leave 15 – 20 minutes later, couldn’t she have stayed on the counter, taken care of the customers then left? What a way to start my vacation.
I waited 40 in line and they were incredibly slow behind the counter. Avis /​Budget are the same lines, so that makes it a little confusing for some. The line filled the serpentine and everyone in line was complaining. The gentlemen a couple of persons in front of me asked to speak to a manager and of course no one was available.
Once i got to t he counter the service person was great, car was a new car, but none of this made up for the terrible wait for service.

I don’t understand what has happened to others but I do understand their long lines. However, I have been renting from budget for several weeks in a row and I have reserved a small car and have gotten an suv upgrade every single time. Their customer service is awesome. I love the free upgrades. Also get the budget fastbreak it gives you priority so you can skip the lines.

58 minute wait in line. 15 minutes to go through reservation process. horridly timed breaks for agents. painful for not that much in savings. even more painful to see Avis, National, Alamo, Budget, and Hertz lines moving really fast.

Ok, plain and simple. The line control is horrendous. No one knows what line they belong to, and people Cheat and Lie. So if you wanna do the latter, go in the fastbreak line or the paid line. The people behind the desk will take care of you either way and you can avoid that ridiculous line of hell. I made the giant mistake of being Honest Harriet and took the avis /​budget line approach. Big mistake.
I waited probably about the equivalent of our flight and had to deal with two kids wanting to «GO SWIMMING», yeah me two… jeesh… Lessons learned.
On the positive side of things, the customer service was good and friendly. No complaints there.
Our minivan was a beauty. And yeah, we got looks driving it… Cuz my kids had their shirts all off.

When we arrived at the airport, the line for Budget was very long. The competitors’ lines were empty. This was our first-​ever time renting a car, so we did not know at the time that our online payment for the car was just to reserve and that we were free to go with a competitor. After standing in the long line, we were given a Nissan Versa. We walked out into the lot to find the car. The car had many very large dents and scratches on it. We were sure to have a Budget employee come out to verify that we did not cause the damage and that we would not be charged. Our family members rented cars with other companies, and they ended up with cars that were newer, nicer, and the same price.

This is closer to a 3.5 but they were extremely helpful.
We booked a rental car through Airmiles for Budget. We went at the worst time to get our car as the line up was huge. Once we got to the front, there was a delightful employee who helped us. His name was Aaron. He gave us an upgrade for a small difference, maybe $ 50. They gave us a Chevy Captiva, which was actually a decent rental car. Till we hit the freeway and the passengers seat had an unbearable squeak.
We took it back, as we knew by LA we’d kill each other. Now it’s not busy which was good. And they give us a 7 passenger Dodge Journey. Umm. There is two of us, I don’t need a minivan. So finally we ended up with a Nissan Rouge, which was ok to bomb around in.
They were great to deal with and super accommodating throughout the numerous times we came back.
One thing, is how much they charge for GPS rental. That should come standard in vehicles. It is $ 15/​day.

After finding out very early in the morning our car rental from the Long Beach Airport sucked! because the cigar lighter receptacle, that uses to charge our GPS did not worked, the front and rear receptacle were out.
To make our road trip easier and more comfortable, we need to fix this cigar lighter receptacle problem. How about calling Budget and make an exchange for another car? This would be our third car to exchange for the road trip, really now its three times! (It’s a long story, I’ll explain later when I make the Long Beach Airport Branch review) Anyways my wife called Budget’s call center about our problem, and they were willing to make the exchange for us and to help look for another location that is open and close by.
So came the Palm Springs Budget Rent A Car center at Palm Springs airport. When we pulled up the lot the lady who’s working the car port was cool she understood our problem and directed us to the front counter in the airport. The front counter worker was able to make us exchange our Chevy Mailibu but they only offered us a mid size which was a Dodge Avenger, we tried asking for a smaller car but none was available and to tried to upgrade for a full size but it would offset our price.
The front counter lady was nice enough to give us the key to checkout the Dodge Avenger at the rental lot. We checked it, the car was good enough for our Arizona Roadtrip. It was nice to checkout their other cars in the lot to see what to choose but for our reservation it would make us cost a bit more, so we had no choice but to settle with the Avenger.
Good service here, Budget was able to fix our problem in no time, but car selection may vary depending on how you reserve it, which we did through Priceline. Small airport, good location with no traffic and easy access here.