Budget Rent A Car

If I could give them a zero star I would !!! This is the worst place to rent a truck. 1^st we made a reservation for 9am pick up & they did not have our truck, the lady up front Cynthia was of no help at all ! She was rude, and disrespectful ! We arrived here at 9am and she kept telling us she didn’t know where the truck was and that it was arriving soon. Then the freaking truck doesn’t arrive until 11am 2 hours later, again she did not help she was not sorry. That’s not it as I was waiting here she had helped 3 people who were all upset with her and the way she was answering their questions. Seriously she needs to be removed and be taught some manners ! Or go work in a warehouse where she doesn’t need to have to talk to costumers.

STAY AWAY: I’ll never be renting from Budget again. When we went to pick up our car after reserving months in advance, we were told they didn’t have any cars available and our options were to wait for a car to be returned or pay more to upgrade to a pickup. We chose to wait, picking the car up after our reservation time. Everything went smoothly until we tried to extend our drop off time by a few hours. We called repeatedly with no answer until we were directed to their corporate line. Multiple time we were told by off shore operators that they couldn’t help us at the moment and to call back in 10 – 15 min. When we finally reached someone who was willing to speak to us about our reservation they told us that it would cost $ 250 to extend by a few hours, which is more than half of what we originally paid for a 2 day rental. no help offered. Brutal customer service and horrendous experience. Never again.

Summary: Do everything you can possibly do to avoid renting from these clowns at the Vista Way office of Budget Truck Rentral.
My experience leads me to believe that they’ve been impeccably trained how to provide the most horrific customer service imaginable. Here’s what happened to me:
I rented a truck on-​line to move my family the weekend after Christmas. The website showed that Oceanside didn’t have any trucks for that day, but said the Vista location had one 24 foot truck. This was inconvenient and more expensive than what I needed, but I thought I would do it.
I showed up an hour after the store opened on the day after Christmas, full of holiday cheer. There were 6 customers in front of me. I didn’t realize that this place is also a car rental location for Avis & Budget. My spidey-​senses started tingling when more than half (4) were told that their car reservation would not be honored. The representative said to 3 of them «I left a message to tell you not to come»…which apparently is his tried and true lie (see previous reviews).
OMG, I think this guy is a LSS, because not ONE of those customers received a call. I watched their faces as time after time they listened to this guy tell them «I left a message that we have no cars.» He apologized a total of zero times. Nope… he shifted it back to the customer… who he thinks should have listened to these BS messages left by this total liar.
I stayed instead of bailing, because: I had reserved a truck, not a car, which was where all the previous customers were getting screwed… and my wife was now home in Oceanside… I’m the idiot that didn’t read Unilocal before going to this little piece of Hell in Vista.
My time at the front of the line arrived, and, you guessed it. «we don’t have any trucks».
Oh yeah? Oh yeah?! OK, I made a bit of a stink. I was bullied by jerks like this in high school, and now I’m a grown-​ass man, and I’ve been prepared by listening to these jerks screw my comrade-​customers for 20 minutes while en queue.
So, I raised my voice, told them they should be ashamed to screw all of us the day after Christmas. I refused to be bullied by these idiots. But then again… they get the last laugh… I left without my stinking truck. They just have one more 1-​star Unilocal review to hang on their mantel.
The little punk has been trained well by the other reps, and REFUSES to apologize. He turns it back on me, claiming «I’m one of those people that is always mad». Well, yeah, when I have some punk screwing up MY MOVE… and refusing to take any accountability… I get mad pretty routinely.
He says that the website doesn’t know their inventory, so they overbook. This seems to be a well rehearsed excuse. TIP: GET A NEW JOB!
He offers to call the Oceanside location, which I already know is a waste, since by some miracle, Oceanside inventory is accurately depicted on the website.
Later, I’m outside waiting for my wife to pick me up, and kid comes outside ripping off another couple. We, er, «reiterate our positions.»
Folks, I have NEVER EVER gotten into a standoff, waiting for cops to arrive, ready to go downtown — situation like this in my 45 years. THIS place had me there.
While waiting for my wife, I made a UHaul reservation (about 15% more than Budget… but the experience was a complete breeze), cursed myself for being a cheap so-​and-​so, and resolved to write a nasty review on Unilocal Instead of picketing or calling Turko. Thanks for listening… this has been therapeutic.

Cindy was wicked rude and we ended paying 200.00 bucks for a day and half with a freakin for fusion.

This place is horrendous! My boyfriend made a reservation a few days ago, he had a coupon code for a free upgrade + 30% off the rental. He gets to the office and is greeted by this horrible «customer service» (what a joke) agent, whom gets very upset that he chooses to not purchase their insurance. I understand that I’m sure they get some kind of commission or recognition for selling the insurance, but if a customer politely refuses it does not give that supposed «customer service» agent to treat him like garbage. She gave him such an attitude and was so demeaning when speaking to him, I’m absolutely appalled that such a person works with people. Wait for it though, it gets worse…
She then proceeds to tell him that she doesn’t see his coupon on the system (even though he can clearly see it in his reservation email) and when he asks her more questions she responds with a lovely «what do you want me to do about it?» She’s a charmer, right? He decides that he’s just had about enough and just wants to leave. When he walks out to the car he notices that A) it’s full of dings and dents all over the car, that this broad failed to make notes about and B) it REEKS of cigarette smoke! When this was brought to her attention, she had the audacity to say that’s what the car is supposed to smell like. That they steam it and that’s the odor. Apparently, she thinks we’re idiots and don’t know the difference between cigarette smoke and a «steaming.» When he asked her what happens if he just chooses to not take the rental, she replies with a «we’ll charge you a ‘no-​show’ fee.» Uh, hello… he’s standing right in front of you. Oh, and that fee happens to be $ 100…how is that even possible when the reservation was for a week and it was $ 165? That makes absolutely no sense. Customer Service was called and they opened a case and told him he can just exchange it at any other Avis… here’s the problem with that. Not only do we have to drive around to other locations, which costs time and money (we work), but all the other locations refused to exchange the car! I am so disappointed with this company. This is not how you do business and you definitely don’t hire such an incompetent, rude individual to be face-​to-​face with your customers. I will definitely be filing a claim with the BBB, we will never again do business with this company.

My husband and I reserved a truck online and received a call a few hours before we were going to pick it up to inform us a truck was not available. Why have an online reservation system if it doesn’t work? We really needed the truck today (and only for about 3 hours). You cannot count on Budget!

Had to rent a 16′ one way truck from San Diego to Denver in October. I was driving the truck for my parents, who were relocating. Having had horrible experiences with U-​Haul several times over, I decided to give Budget a shot. The rate was reasonable, the truck was clean and in excellent condition. The service provided by Ernest and Cynthia was first class. They went out of their way to make my mother feel comfortable with the process – both friendly and incredibly professional. Thanks guys! Would definitely recommend this location to anyone in north San Diego county looking for a truck rental!

I reserved a truck online and was happy to know that I was able to pick it up the next day which was not the case! I arrived at the pick up rental office exactly at 10 AM (time I had chose to pick up) only to find out that they did not have the truck in fact they didn’t even have my reservation information! Not only that but the woman working there carried herself in a rude manner. I don’t know what bothered me the most them not having the rental I had reserved or the woman’s horrible customer service. I called several different «Budget» locations and all of them said sorry we only have one truck left «I cannot risk to give out the last truck» really I had a reservation! This made no sense. At the end of the day I’m glad I didn’t choose Budget!

Awesome service! We had gotten ripped us off for a lot of money at a different location but this place gave us the best possible deal. They really helped us out! Ernest is the best!

We had a confirmed reservation for a car to rent and drive to LAX airport. When we showed up at the confirmed time, we were told they did not have a car. I showed them the confirmation and told them we are on a timeline to fly and no resolution. Finally 15 minutes later after insisting that we need a car and cannot leave without, he decided to call the Oceanside location and sent us there. Very poor experience…

I had a great experience renting a moving truck. The man at the counter was very helpful in teaching me how to drive the truck. The price was fair, he was friendly and it was a good experience for me all around.

Exceptional service at this location, highly recommended!
I have had many bad experiences with Budget; however, the owner knows how to treat his customers with respect and honesty. I pass 2 locations to go to this location. He knows times is money and has all the trucks ready every time I go there. He does the check-​in in less than 5 minutes.
The owner is always there for any issues you may have and you should ask for his help if you have any concerns.
Will be doing business with them again.

No store experience is ever perfect, but when you have a person like Ernie running the show it sure makes the experience a lot more pleasant. He is honest, caring and thoughtful and works hard to please his clients. I also observed him training new employees as well as dealing with a difficult customer and I could see that he will really go out of his way to make everyone happy. If I owned a store I would want him running it AAA+++

We made a reservation online for a 10″ moving truck and showed up on June 12, 2015. Representative Ernest Macaya helped us get a great truck and made sure it was clean. He saw a notation about the truck having a broken side mirror and checked to make sure it was fixed before he gave us the keys. We were running a few minutes behind returning before they closed, we were a mile out to his location. He graciously waited for us so we wouldn’t have to come back the next day to return. Great customer service and would be coming back to rent a truck from him again. Thank you Ernest!

I needed a one way 24 foot box truck, so I booked online. Budget was about $ 100 cheaper for my 250 mile trip. Owner was friendly and got me out in ten minutes. He asked me to verify that the tank was full by looking at the fuel gauge. I did it showed full ok great. When I was finished with the truck I filled tank until the nozzle kicked off checked the gauge showed full. When I get to the drop off point they open the diesel tank look inside and tell me you have to fill it to the neck. Hum now I had to take back to station and add six gallons. Go thing it wasn’t closing time. Budget needs to get it together. I feel I got ripped for 25 bucks of fuel.

The Regional/​District Manager, Rich, was very helpful and resolved my fee discrepancies immediately after I spoke to him. He was very professional and handled the matter speedily so I did not have to disputed the charges with my credit card company. I give him big props for stepping up and handling this matter so efficiently. Because of him, I will continue to do business with this company just NOT at the Vista Way location. The services personnel at the Oceanside Blvd location were excellent!

Staff is always unhelpful and seems like they do not want to help.

Called me 10 min before I was supposed to pick up a truck to tell me they didn’t have one. Woman at the front desk was very rude and defensive. Didn’t offer help or a way to find another truck and made excuses.

Get a call the morning we are supposed to move and the employee states that «they cannot find the keys the truck» and that the owner had gone to big bear.
On top of this, if you ever try calling this place no one ever picks up the phone. They run a ½ assed business and just don’t care at all about customer service. I really hope budget dumps them because these guys are the worst in the business.
What a hassle!!!

Very strange and out of the ordinary experience we had with Ernie and Anna, the two representatives (husband and wife) at this Avis/​Budget branch. Upon post-​rental inspection of the SUV while returning it, we were told by these two employees that we would be charged $ 9 to fill up the fuel tank because it wasn’t not «on the F» part of the fuel gauge. I informed Ernie and Anna that the tank was just filled (about 6 – 7 miles from the store) prior to our arrival. Insisting that the tank had not been «topped off», Ernie persisted to take a photo of the gauge and showed it to me. Is this part of the Avis policy? Unfortunately for him, the needle on the gauge clearly rested over the «F» to which he refused to show his wife, Anna. Guilty.
At the gas station, we topped off the tank curious of what we were lacking in fuel. The fuel added was 0.90 gallon (less than a gallon)! This SUV has an approximate fuel capacity of 20 gallons! This is what Ernie and Anna were arguing with us about. Shame on them. Apparently, they don’t understand that the vehicle requires fuel to travel from the gas station to their branch.
Ernie’s conduct was very offensive, constantly insisting that I was incorrectly reading the guage and suggesting I had not «topped off» the fuel tank. Anna was more polite and professional, maintaining her composure through the entire ordeal.
As customer sales representatives, they need to re-​analyze their approach to situations such as this. Business will continue to falter without immediate intervention that emphasizes on conduct and professionalism. Good luck Ernie and Anna! We will NOT be back.