Budget Reviews

Total criminals:
I booked a car for a trip in France, paid the amount in full and printed my voucher.
When I returned the car at Nice Airport after our rental, I was charged extra. The Budget agent was unable to give any reason, but it was charged to my credit card. There was no damage, the tank was full, simply no reason was given other than "computer says it's extra".
I have complained through Budget website and email but they will not make a refund.
I will avoid this company in the future. Europcar is much better.

Total scam they add in lots of hidden charges that they do not tell you about and proceed to take the money after you hand the car back for charges you were not made aware of. I turned up at lax to pick up a car I believed to be fully paid for when I booked the holiday/rental car arrived to find I had to pay 1150 security deposit which wasn't made aware of beforehand returned the back then they proceed to take a further 662 odd for hidden charges I was not made aware of nor would I of agreed to as they where stupid things they have billed me for

I booked a car through wisecars back in November for this June long bank holiday weekend, I wanted to change the pick up time to an earlier time so I called the Putney budget office directly and I was told they would be closed on the date I had booked the car for pick up, which I was not aware of, I provided 2 reference numbers and was told 1) they don't use wisecars and 2) my booking couldn't be found and to forward the confirmation email and I would be rung back. 2 hrs had passed so I called to chase and spoke to someone different who wouldn't let me finish what I was saying and rudely put me on hold, they then told me my booking didn't exist. I then spoke to wisecars and got told they do book with the Putney office and that my booking did exist but it would cost me extra to pick up a day earlier so I cancelled it as I was so fed up.
The original person I spoke to in the Putney office then called me back and said I could book directly with him for the same price and not get charged extra to pick up earlier, he said he would pass it to the sales team. It got close to the end of the day and I hadn't received a confirmation email so I rang up AGAIN and got told my booking was cancelled and I wouldn't get the same price but it would be £300 extra! What an absolute joke, the customer service does not exist at this place, I do NOT recommend them and will not use them again!

Rented a Car from Budget via a 3rd party (Wisecars) at the Eversholt Street branch (London). Staff at the branch very friendly and helpful. However the company declined to honour my reservation and informed me I was on their Do Not Rent list. No further explanation provided. I had to then hire as a walk in at another firm for a lot more money.
Being a regular renter (I don't own a car) - I was super surprised. My only other rental with Budget had been at this branch a few years before and had been totally uneventful so I was super keen to find out why I was DNR. AND this is my huge gripe. It is impossible to contact this company. I sent an email and it was bounced. The website says they have a live chat - I've never seen it active; and the telephone number is a joke - they just do not pick up. Basically they are uncontactable and have NO customer service.

Booked Car Hire at Nice Airport through Budget.co.uk - when we arrived at Nice we had no end of problems due to the fact that he agent said we had booked through a 3rd Party called Zodiac, a company that we had never heard of and that we needed to contact them (despite not knowing who they were) and change our booking. It was a nightmare and really started our mini break off badly...BEWARE !!! Budget.co.uk is seemingly nothing to do with BUDGET anywhere else.

Good experience with my toyata Yaris I bought, lovely car as well as the people that sold it to me

I want to start this review with...I HAVE RENTED WITH BUDGET/AVIS FOR YEARS WITH ONLY GREAT SERVICE AND CARS!!!

However this time they fell flat! I picked up car from Heathrow Dec 20th 2021, for a month long rental. I got on M25 within 1 hour the oil light came on...When I got to a safe place I had to call AA they came and as per the AA report...the car had no oil or wash fluids. AA man said they should have checked the car over before letting it go on a new rental especially A MONTHS LONG RENTAL! I sent budget a request to speak to a customer service agent, along with photos and AA report...no reply to date! as i write this it is now January 9th 2022!!
Next, I had a flat tire ( no problem I know this happens) my 85 year old mother and i were in a dark isolated carpark.in Cornwall...no spare in boot! Budget rep says they take the spares out because people steal them....Well Budget maybe you should check each car return and CHARGE THAT CUSTOMER IF THERE IS NO SPARE!! this caused alarm for mum and was a safety issue for sure.
AA came the next day and plugged it but as per agreement with Avis/Buget I had to follow him to Plymouth 40 minutes away and get new tire...Driver safety they say...Well what about having a flat and not spare...where is the driver safety concerns then? I lost the AA van on motorway, as I had to pay Toll bridge charge and he didn't wait. I expressed not having a physical address for tire shop back in the car park,but he said it is so difficult to find, he would go slow and would turn around if he lost me. That didn't happen! I had to stop and ask where I could find a Quick Fit, I found it and had new tire put on. All this, while my 85 year old mother waited in our holiday flat alone.
To date I have written to Avis 7 yes 7 times since Dec 22nd 2021 via email with photos and documentation
( all of which I have) and I have yet to hear back from them.

I do not complain often in fact I am the very person who writes great reviews, asks to speak to managers and compliments servers etc. I have been in customer service for over 37 years.

I sincerely hope Budget/Avis can reach out to me directly and rectify this situation.

Bunch of crooks. Refused the additional insurance at the counter only to find my credit card had been billed $380! When I complained they said I signed agreement which stupidly I had, but after 20 hours of travel you don’t expect to be hoodwinked by some jumped up prat at the counter! Absolute scamming thieves! Proper revved the nuts out of my hire car! Hope it blows up. AVOID BUDGET AG ALL COSTS.

We hired a car for 2 days picking up and dropping off at Dublin airport.

I’ll start by saying the car was brilliant; spotlessly clean and a pleasure to drive. The gentleman on the rental desk was also super friendly.

Unfortunately, the shady concept of the business itself is where the poor review comes in. There were so many hidden and confusing costs.

We paid upfront online when pre-booking, so I was surprised that we had to pay almost the same amount again on collection of the car for insurance as I thought this was included in my booking already (theft, collision damage, third party etc.). There are also unclear charges called ‘combination of charges’ on our invoice received after returning the rental and nothing seems to make sense?!

I’m left with the feeling that the price you ‘pre-pay’ online is just a pointless quote rather than a final sale price?

Needless to say we won’t be using budget again sadly. And I see they don’t reply to emails or reviews on here which says it all about how little they care about customer service and reputation.

We’ve used other hire companies where everything is much more straightforward, you pay one price with a clear invoice for any after rental charges so will stick with them.

Rented a car from Budget Cardiff (Tudor street) for 4 days. The folks were friendly and the car was excellent. Would definitely recommend this to friends and family. Strange to see all negative reviews about Budget and my thoughts are that they may provide good service in Cardiff or I may be just lucky that all went well.

'Budget' in every way.

Having used Budget for years in the USA and Europe my family and I had a shocking experience this August in the UK - with huge wait times, poor service, child's car seat which wouldn't fit properly (and was unsafe), tyres which deflated after a week's driving and then slow, uncaring customer service by email. Budget responded by giving us half the cost of the child's car seat hire back, which felt derisory.

I understand COVID affects service to a degree, but Budget's job is to provide good cars, good car seats and good service - Budget simply did not do its job here.

We won't be using Budget (or Avis) again and cannot recommend their service and product.

We had hired a car through Argus Hire to collect at Glasgow Airport. They did a no-show and are despicable. However we had the good fortune to meet Angela at Budget Car Hire who was very accommodating in finding a last minute car for us at a very reasonable rate. We were very grateful to Angela nd Budget for assisting us and would highly recommend.

Rented at Belfast International Airport. Car was fine and the price was very competitive. Collection and return were hassle free. I took pictures of the car at both collection and return just in case. I have my own CDW insurance but they put a hold on around £1300 on my credit card for the duration of my rental. That could have been awkward if I didn’t have another credit card to pay my hotel bill. They took it off immediately the car was returned.

I have given my experience 1 star because I cannot complain about the car. Customer service is a completely different matter.
I booked a car rental from Belfast City Airport through British Airways. I completed the check in online and was advised that everything was in order (drivers license, I.D and payment cards) and that I just had to pick up the keys and go. If only it were that simple!
Contrary to the email received, my details were not ok for the counter staff at Belfast City Airport. As my passport was in my married name and the remaining documents in my maiden name, I was required to show my marriage certificate. Unsurprisingly, I do not travel with my marriage certificate. Had I been previously advised to do so then I would.
With the car not being released and time ticking on - having been in a empty terminal for close to an hour, I was left with no choice but to cancel my original booking (with no refund) and re-book under my maiden name. If this was not bad enough Budget wanted over £800 for one weeks hire of the Renault Clio for which I had previously paid under £500! As this was something which I could not afford, it was necessary to hire a smaller car for a mere £530 with a £1200 damage levy!
Thankfully British Airways refunded the original booking immediately. Budget Customer Services (ref T906853B) however did not see anything wrong with what went on and have refused to refund the difference in the two bookings.
Just what is the point of Budget's Online Check in service if it does not pick up anything wrong with the documents and it is ignored by their counter staff?
This happened at the end of July, I have waited this long to write the review as I would have liked Budget Customer Services to have 'done the right thing', unfortunately this seems beyond them.

It started fine, I booked a car rental, online for 1 week. I noticed I choose, by mistake, the return hour was 1 hour later than collection so it charged me for an extra day. I arrived to collect the car and asked if I can rebook it correctly. I was told by the agent that it is not a problem but will be done after I will return the car, just in case it needs amending.
When I came to return the car there was no ones there.... Clearly the agent on collection knew the return time and knew no one will be there.
I recived an email with a charge saying i returned the car earlier so the charge is lower than what i paid but no refund at all at my card...
I called to explain It was difficult to get an answer.when someone answered the phone named Douglas, I was told that due to Terms and conditions I am not allowed to get any refund.
In addition I was charged 46 pounds although the Tank was full on my return.

In addition, There was a day were I did not manage to start the car for about 1 hour due to a safety problem I tried to call and all the numbers provided each had a message to call another company. In Short - No service...
It does leave you with such a bad taste that I would say be aware.