Budget

I thought this would be a good experience. Check in was quick at the airport but when I had an emergency and had to drop the car at a budget in a nearby town, they charged me $ 533.00 to have the car for less than 12 hours and 100 miles. When I called to ask about it, they basically said tough sh#*. Horrendous customer service.

Buyer beware! Yes, check-​in was very fast and friendly – too fast because I ended up paying $ 266.54 for 3 days at $ 14.99. I knew about the GPS add-​on charge of $ 14.45/day, so that brings it to about $ 30/​day. I said I would fill up before returning the car when they said yes, there was a gas station within 5 miles. But it was freeway all the way, and I was afraid I’d miss my plane, so I didn’t get gas. They charged me $ 10/​gal (going rate was $ 2 something) to fill it! To top it all off, I was just looking over my bill and see that they charged me $ 4.25 + $ 11.69/day for various insurances. The bill said «Accepted», but I NEVER accept insurance, so it must have been an opt-​out, which the friendly agent didn’t point out. The agent also didn’t pair the Bluetooth with my phone, so I spent the entire trip trying to do it and never succeeded. I won’t use Budget again.

I had a really positive/​easy experience. There being only a few dozen Unilocal reviews and given how many people actually rent from Budget, I’m guessing the few handfuls of people who were scathing angry were more likely to write reviews than those who had a perfectly normal experience. Anyway, I got a really great price with my online reservation, and the final bill was exactly what was listed in the original reservation. Further, when I picked up the car and signed the contract, I was given a breakout of the charges there before I signed. All representatives were friendly and explained things clearly. The car was in great condition, and drop-​off was a breeze. My advice for anyone signing any contract ever is to actually read it and ask quesitons before you sign.

I’ve better experience in other rental company. They said would offer me a corporate discount, which was nice. But then when I asked the representative to decline my damage waiver (30 $ a day), he said I couldn’t decline the waiver because I had the discount. He didn’t give me any explanation.

I rented a minivan one month in advance. When I got to the Budget counter they told me that they replaced their entire minivan fleet with Ford Transit passenger vans which seats 10 people. I tried to find parking in Seattle which was extremely difficult due to the height and weight of the vehicle. The customer service center does not go directly to the airport and they wouldn’t transfer the call. Tried to exchange locally but they wouldn’t help us in Bellevue/​Redmond. Took the minibus back to Seatac and the guy working customer service was a tremendous help. He exchanged the bus for a… Sienna minivan. Or else I would give them no stars. Be careful and demand what you reserved.

Pros — Check in was fast and friendly. I had made my reservations through Costco, which I HIGHLY recommend as they offer a waiver on the additional driver fee. Their services representative, Daniel got me in and out of there in under five minutes! Woohoo! Yes he did offer an upgrade to a Camaro which just made me start singing «BITCHING CAMARO BITCHING CAMARO» in my head. I politely declined this upgrade and declined additional insurance coverage as I am covered by my Chase Freedom card. Zero strong arm tactics experienced here. Because I am a savvy consumer, I had THOROUGHLY read all the fine print in my reservation and knew about the $ 13.99 fee for gas should I drive less than 75 miles, etc. and even programmed the mileage into my I-​phone as a baseline. The price I was quoted on the Costco reservation matched the exact price on my check out receipt which matches the exact price that has gone through on my Visa (it’s been over 72 hours now). Daniel was even so kind to ask what I normally drive (a Honda CRV) and he put me in a snazzy little Kia Soul. The car was brand new, clean, and fun to drive.
Cons — By far the most expensive rental price I have EVER paid for a rental. However, I knew that going into this and other rental companies for the same time and dates were higher in price. I feel like a lot of people’s complaints on here ARE NOT a customer service/​in person issue and are simply people griping about the fact THEY DON“T READ THE FRIGGING FINE PRINT (and yes some of you are just griping for not reading fine print, be a savvy renter). Basically they already hate rental car companies and are just itching for reasons to complain. READ what you ARE SIGNING. I did not find it misleading in the least.

This is the second time in as many weeks we’ve needed a car first in Portland, Or and now in Seattle. As always with Fast Break I was in and on my way only this time didn’t want a Hyundai and went for a Impala, nice ride! Drop off at Sea-​Tac is flawless at the airport unlike Portland which is off-​site.
See you in Atlanta next month!

I have super mixed feelings about my experience with Budget. Arranging everything online was easy and then a free shuttle picked me up from the airport and took me to the rental hub. I still had to sign some papers with the counter guy who repeatedly tried to get me to upgrade despite my insistent refusals. In the end he upgraded me for free anyway.
Then I got the car and went on my merry way for a couple of days.
My flight left at the butt-​crack of dawn so I had to leave even EARLIER so that I could return the car. I searched Google for the Budget address at Sea-​Tac Airport and it kindly gave me navigation. About a block from my destination I got a flat. I rolled into the Budget (which was NOT the hub I needed) and they were closed. I was FREAKING out because I did not schedule enough time for that mess.
In the end, Budget sent their road side assistance to take care of the flat for me. I drove to the correct place and returned the car. I missed my flight entirely and my airline was kind enough to move it to the next day. But that was only after about an hour of calling all kinds of Budget people and not getting very good direction about what to do with their car and them insisting that the correct return address was on my paperwork (it might have been but I never found it).
Budget didn’t offer any sort of compensation for this situation. I mean, some of it was beyond their control (the flat tire) but they didn’t even offer a discount on an extra rental day since now I had the pleasure of staying.
My suggestions to Budget:
— It’s okay to try to up-​sell but don’t overdo it.
— Circle and highlight the return address on the paperwork because it is NOT obvious and Google Maps doesn’t seem to have it.
— If someone is calling you in a pickle then please provide clear instructions on what to do to fix the situation.
— If someone is in a time crunch, then please respond quickly with those clear instructions.
— Offer a discounted rental (not necessarily free) if someone is forced to extend their stay because of the pickle involving the car.

Confirmation email states that the prepayment is about $ 180. When we got there they told us the prepayment is like a down payment; not the total amount confirmed. This is the first time I run into this kind of trouble picking up a rental car. They doubled our price saying the confirmation email is just an estimate. I’d rather rent a car enterprise when their rates are cheaper than budget and they stick to their confirmation email. Enterprise don’t double the price when you go pick up the car. If budget sticked to the price on the confirmation email, I wouldn’t be as irritated with their noncustomer friendly service.
Also, they try really hard to be all nice and customer friendly by saying, «tell us what you want and we will get it for you.» But they just put that phrase on repeat for the next 30 minuets when I tried very hard to tell them what I want.

Got into Seatle late at night.
I had a prepaid reservation for a suv wih Budget.
I got there and although the representative was really nice and appolgenic, There were no suv’s too be found, They tried the old bait and switch to give me a regular car.
What the heck they knew I was coming in late they knew car was prepaid???
after about a ½ hour waiting they finally found one.
Customer service was great, But the fact that they did not have a car ready for me o get into pissed me off big time.
I would not book with budget again as I never had this problem with any otehr rental place in the past.

I’m not going to lie, I was beginning to become concerned about Budget after a couple rough rentals in a row at different airports. Plus, Budget is famous for offering great deals and coupons with fine print that means you can never actually use the great deal or coupon in question. This was a much better location and experience, however, as I was able to grab my car with little hassle, it was a decent car, and the return was extremely fast and efficient. My one gripe was the wait time to actually pick up the car, not because it was overly long, but more because the manager/​supervisor fellow didn’t appear to be doing anything except watching the team, saw me waiting, and assured me someone would help me shortly before resuming his critical supervision duties … instead of, you know, helping me. I’m sure there was a legitimate reason, but it was a tad frustrating.
Overall, though, this one is a very nice option that I’ll use again. No surprises or issues, the agreed-​upon car for the agreed-​upon price, and away I went.

Headed back to Seattle this past weekend and booked a rental car through
. Anyone familiar with Priceline knows that you’re not able to view which company you’re agreeing to do business with until you follow through with your reservation. Well, as luck would have it, I was matched up with Budget. My previous experience with this exact location was none too pleasant as noted in my review of 06.23.14, and though I vowed to never use this company again, the Priceline deal lead me straight to them.
So this time, I knew what I was getting into with the fees and this time, the person at the counter explained them to me clearly even pointing out that if I drive less than 70 miles and choose not to fill up the tank, they have a convenient top off fee of $ 13.95 — framing it up as a convenience rather than a penalty — nicely done I felt. Still no mention of needing to show a receipt with the fill up though.
Despite the «convenience fee» I made a point to fill up the car and collect the receipt as proof. This time, the person checking me in looked at the tank, saw that it was full, and never asked for a receipt to prove I filled put he car — how it’s supposed to be done.
So maybe this Budget location cleaned up their workflow, maybe I got the wrong person last time, maybe it was a little of both, but this time, things went as I would expect them to go, so I wanted to be sure and come back and share my positive experience as well.

Don’t rent from Budget… at least not here. Just don’t do it. Upon arriving, I asked if there were any «upgrade deals» for a SUV. I was told I could get an SUV for $ 15 more. It took me 10 minutes to get a clear answer from the person on if it was $ 15 total to the bill or $ 15 a day as I suspected. Had I not questioned it, they would have gotten away with charging me almost double for a stupid SUV over what they call a midsize car (VW Jetta — not midsized). My car was filthy, scratched, dented up and there was something severely wrong with the transmission. When I returned the car, I was blamed for all the blemishes and they tried to charge me for it.

Verbally said I did not want the insurance. Even explained to the agent that I had my own car insurance and that my credit card had coverage.
I signed on some part of the lengthy agreement that I wanted the coverage. Came to nearly the same price as the car. Budget wont refund my money.
They did this on purpose as they could see I was tired as it was 3 o’clock in the morning EST where I had come from.
This is a dirty business practice I have never experienced with Budget other than in Seattle. Their agents must get a spiff for every insurance scam they sell.
Good for you Budget!!! Enjoy the extra cash.

Price Gouging — Bad customer service
I called and asked for a quote to drive from SeaTac airport to Bellingham airport one way and when it was $ 246 I said «no thank you». The call center guy said ok fine I can give you a car for $ 138. When we arrived in Seattle they said «no your reservation is for 3 hours and you have to return the car here». Oh and no you can not change it from the name you reserved it with to your mothers name (who was standing right beside me). The lady basically was unwilling to correct the error made by the call center and if we were not going to follow the reservation (error or not) NO CAR. She made no apologies for the error by her call center counter part and was going to make no effort to make it right and keep us happy customers. It was not until I got very upset that a snotty supervisor came and said «just change it», did we then get what was promised by the call center. This was after waiting in line for 45 minutes even though we had a reservation. The lady behind us got a price of $ 175 for two days. Who is making up these prices? The same car in two other states I have been to were also completely different (and less). I think they make it up as they go to see who they can sucker for the most amount of money. There is NO BUDGET with Budget Car Rental. Never again.

Bait & Switch — Beware if you are in a hurry!!!
I was looking for a car to drive from Seattle to Elk Grove, California and was in a hurry with my daughter waiting after a long trip from Alaska. I was given a price of $ 221.79 as my «agreed charges». I was told there were no mileage charges and this is what I would pay. When I arrived in Elk Grove I was charged $ 449.69 for the vehicle. I have attempted to talk with someone at Budget and only get the «call center». There is no one to talk with at Budget. The call center simply hangs up when you say you want to wait to talk with a manager or supervisor. I frequently drive from Seattle to the Sacramento area and have always used Hertz. The price I was offered was low and I took it! I used a corporate rate with USAA when booking a trip and will definitely recommend that USAA stop offering any discounts with this company.

Such poor service. Everyone here always seems depressed and unhappy. The walmart of rental cars. When comparable in price, go somewhere else.

Rude employee, dirty car.

Returned a car here.
It was my first visit.
From drop off to terminal,
It took 6 minutes.
Super easy
And super fast.
If only I remembered,
To fill up the gas.
The return was easy.
I have nothing more to say.
Overall…
AOK!

I love Budget… they treat me right no matter what airport I go to! This time ’round in SEA, I got the small SUV «Wendie» special of only $ 22 per day, which was great in itself, but when we checked in at Fastbreak and got to our allotted spot, we had ourselves a 4WD Ford Explorer! Too cool!
Check-​out and check-​in were a breeze. I, too, am a Fastbreak member, which is paying dividends with my constant upgrades and quick service (no dealing with lines and counter staff at most airports). Plus, extra Southwest points, and the fact that Budget doesn’t charge extra PER DAY for a spouse to drive the car… I’ll be sticking with Budget for a long, long time :)