Budget Truck Rental

This location has the most awful customer service I’ve ever experienced. The woman behind the desk is so abrasive and my presence was a clear burden to her. I arrived on time for a scheduled car reservation and was told there was no car for me. When I asked if they made a habit of taking reservations on cars they didn’t have I got snarled at and told I would have to go to another location if I wanted a car. I had to trek out of my way to get to another location and finally received a car hours after my initial reservation. I’ll never go back to this location again, it’s worth it to make a further trip elsewhere. Don’t waste your time!

Please understand that making reservation locks you in on a RATE. It does not guarantee you a truck. Unfortunate, but that’s the way it is.
That being said, Gina was amazing. Very accommodating, and went out of her way to work around my needs. Would definitely recommend this location.

I arrived a bit late for my car rental reservation to find that the rental location closed at 4PM. A woman in the a car in the driveway next door asked if I was there to rent a car, After I said yes, she got out and processed my reservation and I got our car rental in less than 10 minutes (a brand new one at that). Gina was friendly and I very much appreciated her great customer service! (Priceline should have let me know that the car rental location closed at 4PM though.)

I had a great experience with Budget at this location. Gina was personable, professional, and very clear on all the stipulations of he rental agreement. The car was in good shape. Thanks gina!

I rented a car for a weekend trip. When I returned the car Monday morning before 8am (per rental agreement), the man behind the counter just told me to leave the keys and go. I was expecting to receive a receipt or something. Then, I check my credit card statement and noticed an extra charge. Since this office was already closed for the day, I called Budget corporate to ask what this charge was for. They said it was for the car being returned TUESDAY morning and thus incurred the additional weekday fee. I don’t know if it was a clerical error or if it was deliberate. I have filed a dispute with my credit card company and will be taking it up with the local office the next time they’re open.

Horrible experience with these people. I reserved a truck a week in advance through Budget’s website at this location. An hour before I was supposed to pickup the truck on a Saturday morning I get a voicemail saying there are no trucks available. I call back, a guy answers and I tell him I received a voicemail and I’m returning their call. To which he replies «So what are you trying to tell me?». I said I have a reservation and need to confirm, he transfers me to another person. She says yes that is correct there are no trucks available right now. I told her I reserved a week ago. She says nothing she can do, no trucks and has no idea when there will be… This is ridiculously horrible customer service.
If this location cared at all they should have offered to call Budget and find me a truck at another location. Which is what I did myself. Budget was able to find me a truck in the suburbs, I was moving in the city, but by then I had rented a truck from Penske that was much closer.

Made reservation 2 weeks in advance. Got reference number and thought I was all set. NOT! 2 days before pickup I decided to check to make sure. No trucks available. Bad business.

I had a really great experience at this location and highly recommend it. Gina who I believe is either the owner or manager is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. she went above and beyond in terms of excellent customer service.

The other reviews aren’t exaggerating. This is the worst place to rent a truck in the city. I have attempted to rent there twice… both reservations were made on the Budget site… neither were kept by the location and only rude, half-​hearted attempts were made to accommodate me.

Unbelievably terrible customer service.
We scheduled a truck via the Budget website and scheduled movers who were going to help us load the truck. We show up at exactly the time of the rental (which is the opening time of this location) and we’re told we can’t talk to anyone until ten minutes later. No reason except that the person working would rather go through paperwork from the night before than help the customers that are actually in the building.
As it turns out, they don’t have the truck we ordered AND THEY DON’T CARE. Totally nonchalant about the whole thing. They don’t have the truck, so the morning of our interstate move, an hour before a crew of movers are supposed to be arriving at our place, we are desperately calling other truck companies to come up with a substitute (which, fortunately, we did).
The woman working (there was also a man working and they were both terrible to me at different times) said she would find out later — like hours later, at a time that would not work with our schedule — whether there were other trucks available at other Budget locations in the city and would call me to let me know. Two months later, I’m still waiting on that call…

This is a review for the auto rental service provided at this location. I had a reservation through Orbitz for a car in June. I called the night before to see if we could pick the car up a little earlier than originally planned and they said that was fine. Upon arrival the next morning, we had to wait for the only customer service person there to finish a cigarette and a personal phone call outside. After she got inside, she asked for my name and then took another personal phone call on the office phone while helping us. She then informed us that the only car there had a flat tire and that nobody was available to come there and fix flat tires on the weekend. She didn’t check her computer for other availabilities, she apologized and said «try one of the airports».
Budget corporate was of little help and seemed to suggest that they can’t fill reservations all the time. They seemed confused when asked why they didn’t call me to inform me that they wouldn’t be able to fill my reservation and attempt to help me locate a car elsewhere. What is the point of having a reservation if you’re not reserving anything at all?
Luckily, another car rental company nearby had vehicles and far better customer service.

Worst customer service I’ve ever experienced in my life.
On ⁶⁄₂₈ I reserved a truck for ⁶⁄₃₀.
I call on ⁶⁄₂₉ to confirm the reservation, as was recommended to do in the confirmation email. What follows is this conversation with the rudest customer service woman I’ve ever spoken to, who started yelling at me in very improper English. Note that Budget is a good company, and this woman didn’t work for Budget; she worked for some rental place that contracts with Budget:
Me: «Hi, I’d like to confirm my reservation for a 16′ truck tomorrow at 8:30am?»
Her: «You better hope I have a truck when you get here, otherwise you’re not moving!»
Me: «I have a confirmation email that says I have a truck reserved for eight thir…»
Her: «You’re not listening to me. I said you better hope I have a truck when you get here, otherwise you’re not moving!»
Me: «So are you saying that even though my reservation is…»
Her: «You’re not listening to me! That’s fine. Just keep on talking I don’t care.»
*click*
I was taken aback. I have never been spoken to like that before by a customer service person.
After reading the other reviews here, it seems this kind of experience is the norm.
To finish the story, I called Budget corporate to complain. Their distribution manager called me back and confirmed that there was NOT in fact a truck available for me and that I should try to find a truck somewhere else. I told him the confirmation email said I had one reserved, and he told me they send confirmations based on expected inventory rather than actual inventory. At least corporate refunded all the deposits and everything.
I can only imagine if I hadn’t called to confirm and had actually shown up in the morning and tried to rent my truck that wasn’t actually there from this rude woman…
Seriously, look at the other reviews here. I cannot believe Budget still works with this location.
Absolutely avoid this place. It’s worth paying double from another company just to not have to deal with this horrible customer service and unreliable rental confirmation.

I didn’t like this location. The customer service was definitely lacking. When I arrived to pick up my truck I was simply asked for my name, handed a bunch of papers to sign and wasn’t given much of an explanation. When I asked questions about the truck, the representative acted like I was bothering her. The truck return process itself was fairly easy (park truck and leave keys in safety box). However, I had to call back three times before I could get the final cost of the rental. I was not impressed and will most likely never set foot in this rental location again.

Barbara M. (small impatient African American women) ain’t playing.
We watched her ignore everyone. Two customers came in saying they reserved a truck.“Not going to happen” she responded. When he said he had reserved about 2 months ago and something needs to be fixed. «Nothing you can do, nothing going to get fixed» was the response he received. Do not go here if you want customer service or want your moving to go smooth. She scare me.

My complaint isn’t as much about the lack of availability of trucks on the day of my move, which is apparently common across all rental companies. My primary complaint? CUSTOMER SERVICE IS HORRIBLE. They (and I mean everybody I talked to no matter which location I contacted in Chicago) really don’t care. They sincerely could care less about attracting, retaining and pleasing customers. I won’t tell you my heartbreaking story of how I had to be home in Michigan for my son’s surgery and wound up having to buy round trip transportation to and from my move location just to accommodate Budget, or the additional costs to extend my rent, or the fuss with having to reschedule the movers and secure the elevator, or the challenge with losing the crew that was to help me unload when I arrived in Michigan. Budget wins the WORST EXPERIENCE EVER from me.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY or ESPECIALLY THIS LOCATION!!! First of all, after reading the reviews, my mom and I were aware of others experiences but totally willing to be unbiased in our own first impression.
It started by us trying to confirm our reservation the day before. We never once got through to this location. There was no answer after tons of rings. No messages. nothing. Not even the Budget headquarters could get an answer but assured us there were plenty of trucks. So we confirmed our 8am pick up time and felt a bit better– high anxiety when preparing to move across the county and having movers meeting you to help out but no confirmation of a truck.
We got to the location and were told by someone (maintenance guy?) that they didn’t open till 8:30 and we should go to the café around the corner and wait. After the door was slammed, we did just that. We came back about 8:20 and there was a sign on the door (that had just been put up) that they didn’t open till 9am.
We tried calling the number again to no avail. This time, nobody at Budget answered either. There is clearly no communication there between Budget, their website, and their individual locations.
Finally Barbara (we heard someone call her this and her signature confirmed the name) showed up in a huff around 8:45. She barely acknowledged us and then finally asked us if we had an appointment because she wasn’t supposed to be open yet. We showed her that our truck pick up was for 8am, and that we had movers waiting for us at my appt. She certainly didn’t apologize for the confusion nor did she seem phased that we’d been waiting an hour and had movers waiting for us. It took her at least 20 minutes to get herself together, turn on her computer, put on her lotion, check her messages, fix her hair and then finally take a look at our reservation– by this time there was a line of 3 other people. She was just not the kind of person who should be in customer service, or really dealing with people at all.
Barbara charged our card for TWO transactions as over $ 800 a piece because she said the first one didn’t include the insurance. We never authorized $ 1600 on the card and that should always be asked about first. Then she tried to argue with us that it wasn’t her fault that she had to charge us twice… um, what? We had to call the bank and have the card canceled– who knows what else she would’ve tried to pull. This was really ridiculous as if we hadn’t called the bank to have the payment stopped after checking our account, we never would’ve known that she attempted to charge us twice.
Our truck was ALMOST full of gas as per the gage, but when I said something, she said that the truck would «level out» when we got on the road. When we returned the truck, the guy laughed at us and said that was ridiculous and that we needed to fill it up more even though it was exactly what it looked like when we got it. Greatttt…
It was just a nightmare in dealing with this place and Budget in general. We will never use them again and really don’t recommend them unless you want to deal with rude and disrespectful people and then be charged for twice what you should have been without a call. My advice: get two signatures on everything, make sure that tank of gas is BEYOND full (the gage goes past the «F» on the dashboard when really full), and don’t expect anything but lip from this location.

The epitome of terrible customer service. I rented a truck from this Budget location last week and when it was picked up the fuel gauge read 85% full. Barbara M., the woman who rented me the truck, marked the fuel level on our rental agreement and assured me that I could return the truck to another location (I was moving out of state) at 85% and there would be no issues. Of course, when I returned it out of state, they told me that it had to be 100% full or I would be charged an additional fee of $ 30 + fuel charges. I ended up spending another $ 30 in gas to fill it up to 100%.
We called budget customer service for a refund of the $ 30 and they stated that the contract they received from this location stated the fuel was at 100% full upon pickup. I obtained a copy of the form Barbara sent to budget headquarters, and it looked like Barbara went back and altered the original copy to show it was 100% full. I had the original copy that was signed by Barbara M in blue ink which shows 85%. When I called to speak with Barbara, she actually ended up hanging up on me when I told her I had a copy of the original form she signed.
I would ABSOLUTELY avoid this location. Unprofessional and extremely unresponsive service — bordering on deceitful. I should also mention about half of the time I was waiting for my reservation, Barbara M. and her associate were talking about what they were going to order for lunch.

This is a review of the franchisee — Fleet Services — not Budget overall. Budget Truck national customer service was actually very helpful in remedying the situation. However, they are aware that this location is a nightmare and continue to send her business.
AVOID THIS LOCATION AT ALL COSTS. I read the reviews and was skeptical but this place really lived up to the negative reviews here. I experienced all of the same problems others did with the exception of mechanical issues. This woman (Barbara?) is the most miserable, unhappy, bitter, confrontational, manipulative manager I’ve ever met. It’s all an act to get you to pay more money. She yelled at me the entire time I was there because she thought Budget online reservation did not charge me enough so she charged me what she wanted after berating me for needing the truck all day when she had a business to run — needed to make a living — and me having the truck reserved all day meant she couldn’t rent it to a second person in the afternoon. On and on and on… «what, are your movers going to carry one pillow at a time?» Seriously, she said that. It’s actually comical. I called Budget national customer service after because she charged me twice the security deposit (got it back, but still) and charged me 1.5X my quoted rental price and charged me 20 cents more per mile than m y quoted rental price. They refunded the difference.

My brother-​in-​law rented a truck from Budget and returned it to this location, and had a terrible time. Among the problems:
— The truck he ordered was not available.
— They gave him a different type of truck and said they would charge him the same price as the one he asked for as a favor. Problem was, the one they actually gave him was cheaper.
— They tried to give him a truck without a full gas tank.
— The truck had mechanical problems about 40 minutes after he drove it off the lot.
Overall, it was a terrible experience. Not recommended.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION: This review is written based on my experience with the individual Franchisee, FLEET SERVICES, not my experience with Budget Truck Rental as a whole.
I reserved a 16′ truck in early August for a one-​day, in city (drop off @ same location you pick up from) rental on August 28^th. A week prior to pick up, I decided to change the pickup/​drop off location of the truck; called Budget’s 800# and made the change no problem. I arrived at Fleet Services’ location on Huron shortly after 9am to which I was greeted with a countertop sign reading «I’m Busy. You’re Ugly. Have A Nice Day.» — pretty much sets the tone for the entire transaction.
The clerk (a short, older African American woman with short, grayish hair) was wrapping up a transaction with another customer. I presented her my initial reservation confirmation, my amended confirmation, ID, and credit card. She quickly flipped thru a clipboard and said «I don’t got nothin’ for you… come back after 3 o’clock and see if any trucks got brung back.» I referenced the confirmation details from Budget, to which she replied: «That’s their confirmation number… that ain’t my confirmation number.» Her response to my statement, «I was guaranteed a truck would be available…», was: «That ain’t my problem… you deal with it. NEXT!»
I called Budget customer service from my car during which the customer service rep refuted everything the Fleet Services clerk told me. «You are, indeed, guaranteed a 24-​hour rental of 16′ truck with a lift gate…» The Budget rep took my information and advised that an Inventory Manager would call me within the half hour to locate a truck. Immediately after I hung up with Budget, I got a message from Fleet Services (from the same clerk with whom I dealt with, initially) saying «This is Budget; you can pick up the truck if you want it otherwise I’m gonna give it to somebody else.» I returned to the counter in the midst of another customer battling with the clerk over scheduling error. The customer, a young man and woman, seemed to be experiencing the same situation as me: printed confirmation from Budget, but no available truck. The same clerk I had dealt with told the young woman to «Shut the hell up» and «I ain’t talkin’ to you.» At this point, another woman came from a back office area, snuffed out her cigarette, and said to me «This’ll only be a moment, hon…»
After signing for a $ 150 deposit and agreeing to return the truck with a full gas tank, lest I be charged a penalty of $ 30 + $ 5 per gallon, I asked the ladies if either could tell me the location of the nearest gas station that sold Diesel. The response «It ain’t my job to tell you.» At this point a dour, older gentleman with Gingivae Majora* pulled the truck to the front of the building and handed me the keys. «Are we all set?» I asked. «No,» he snorted. You’re all set when I say you’re all set.” We proceeded to walk around the vehicle noting any dings and damage I wouldn’t be held accountable for upon the trucks return.
I departed, 50 minutes later, with slightly elevated blood pressure followed by my ever-​reassuring and level headed wife in the car behind.
I waited to write this review and to contact Budget Truck Rental directly until my deposit had been returned and transaction with Fleet Services concluded. After a bit of digging thru public records I discovered Fleet Services had, at one time, been a Ryder Rental Truck franchisee; the franchise was taken away from them in 2007. After having invested in a franchise operation, it’s difficult and unusual for the parent company to, in essence, fire the franchisee.
I’d like to point out that the customer service folks I dealt with when I called Budget’s 800# were great. Two folks, in particular, put forth extra effort to help us out and called the following Monday to «make sure the situation played out satisfactorily.» The Budget Inventory Manager who was going to call me within an hour actually called within 5 or 10 minutes with a message saying he had located a truck and would I like it delivered to my location or prefer picking it up myself.
Alternative Budget Truck Rental locations, within Chicago proper, are:
MOVING CHICAGO LLC
2241 N ELSTON AVE
CHICAGO, IL 60 614
(773) 252‑0298
CICERO MONTROSE SHELL 24HR DRP
4401 NORTH CICERO AVE
CHICAGO, IL 60 630
(773) 286‑0825
CHICAGO MOVES
5450 NORTH WESTERN AVE
CHICAGO, IL 60 625
(773) 539‑8044
*dour, older gentleman with Gingivae Majora = A cranky, toothless old man.