Budget® Reviews
Hired Budget truck rental for a local move. Budget had the lowest rates for local move with a 16' truck so I went with them. What can I say, lowest cost, clean truck, decent condition - the truck was as good as any other I've used. Fine truck for a move. Quick and courteous check in and check out... I would definitely use them again in the future.
THIS WAS THE SINGLE WORST EXPERIENCE I'VE EVER HAD WITH A SERVICE. To start the experience we received a phone call from budget telling us that there are no car haul's available for the day of our move. Keep in mind that we booked this reservation months in advanced and were planning on driving from CA to TX. The night before the move we receive a call that they have one available, but were forced to drive 200 miles to pick it up. We arrive in the morning and no one is at the budget location to open up and attach the trailer to the rental truck. When someone does arrive about an hour later, they don't know how to install the trailer. We wait for another hour until someone who can attach the trailer shows up. The trailer is half busted and one of the straps doesn't fit completely over the wheel which is required to secure it properly. He assures us that the rest of the restraints will do its job and we shouldn't worry. About 5 hours into the drive, our car overheats in the Mojave Desert, because no one from Budget bothered to check if there was any engine coolant in the truck. We were stuck on the side of the highway for about 3 hours. We spent an hour waiting for 24/7 emergency roadside assistance to answer. Once they did, they transferred us and then hungup the call.... We had to call the fire department to help bring us fluid to put into the car and get it off the highway. The entire fiasco cost us about 6 hours and we were forced to stop every 200 miles to check if the engine coolant was leaking, which it was. Overall renting from Budget was a MASSIVE mistake. I'd recommend looking at any other possible option before using Budget. Shipping your car and belongings would have been better and the cost wouldn't have been that much different in the end when you calculate your time, gas, etc.
Local office now has very restrictive office hours which made it very difficult to conduct business (no weekends and weekdays close at 1PM). Had a fabulous diesel 26' truck last time but, this time they have gone with a ridiculous gasoline engine that only gets about 5 MPG and you have to plan excessive fuel stops starting every 200 miles. Enormous waste of time and the fuel cost was approaching that of the rental cost while driving cross country!
My wife became very ill in California so I had to turn around about 100 miles east of Phoenix to return to Ca. I contacted the issuing office who said to call the destination office. When I contacted them they said to call customer service. To make things worse I got into and accident. I called Roadside they told me to call customer service. I got the incomplete RUN-AROUND by budget. I did get one Customer Service Agent by the name of Dianne who made every attempt to help me out so thank you for your dedication. I was passed on to 6 different departments and given 8 different phone numbers to call with no success. I think I did report the accident, I was suppose to turn the truck in to a distributor in Waco Texas on Sunday the 14th. I called all over the company and country to get my contract extended because I was with my wife in the Hospital, told if I ever left I would not be able to return. I thought my wife's daughter was taking care of the truck issue but she told me that the issuing office required me to come in and sign a authorization of some kind for someone else to drive the truck. I was in the HOSPITAL with my very SICK wife. This location in Murrieta showed no compassion, no empathy, and just kept telling me that "they issued the trucks and that is all their job ended". I got to the Hospital on March 10th, my wife was moved from the hospital to an apartment to enter Hospices Care on March 13th. I made every attempt, with no help from anyone in Budget Truck Rental, to get the truck unloaded into a storage unit and turned in to the Murrieta location. My wife passed on March 16th. I made arrangement with Get Moved Now for a friend to drive the truck from La Jolla to a Murrieta storage unit. My friend drive it to the storage unit, gave the keys to the guys there to unload the truck. A friend that didn't think his actions through. Yet another day wasted. I finally decided to take care of the truck on my own so once again I hired a couple of guys from Get Moved Now, met them at the storage, unloaded the truck, got it filled up with gas and parked it at the Truck Rental Location: 38372 Innvovation Court, Murrieta Ca 92563 on the evening of Friday March 19th. I HAVE HAVE NOT HEARD A WORD FROM THE WORKERS AT THAT LOCATION ABOUT THE TRUCK. This whole company needs a lot of help with Customer Service and the customer being directed to a single point of contact.
Guy at the counter was very nice and friendly. Truck was only a couple of years old so that was good. Didn't come with a full tank of gas, so I overpaid to fill it back up so I wouldn't get charged. I also had to clean the windshield (found a chip) and the side mirrors in order to be able to clearly see. Overall pretty decent though and the rate was good.
The Van was clean and had no problems on the road. It was easy to drive and got acceptable MPG. I liked that there was no milage charges and that I knew exactly how much it was going to cost me upfront. My agent at pickup was even able to save me additional money by reworking the fees and insurance. I will most definitely use Budget Again.
We rented 2 trucks, a 16 and a 26 foot. The 26 foot truck had the ramp jammed into its slot. It took a crowbar to get it out. The 16 foot leaked in the rain both in the cab and in the back. The driver got wet and the cargo was damaged. Valuable books were destroyed. We spent $1800 to rent these two trucks. Budget "Customer Service" gave us $70 for our troubles and told us to file a claim for damaged cargo. Thanks a lot ... never again Budget.
when i picked up truck ,it was filthy . Being that we are dealing with Covid , you would think it would be clean . when i took back and showed the person i turn it in to. He said i should call Corporate . I did and they said they could only take 10 percent off unbelievable . I showed the person who leased it to me . He gave me a pack of wipes .So I wiped down as good as i could, if my wife hadn't left ,I would have not rented it
I booked a 26' Budget Truck on 9/27/20. Planned to fly into Oregon, pick up the truck the next morning in Salem, then drive to the storage shed and load up. I received a confirmation email about my rental on 11/18/20 with a list of best practices. Budget left me a voice message while I was on the flight to Oregon, which was the day before my pick-up date and said they have no 26' trucks available so I would have to call Budget and find another one. Unbelievable! They were absolutely no help at all. When I called the main Budget customer service number, they said they would research where to find another truck and call me back within 2 hours. Since I was on a tight schedule, a friend called Uhaul. They found a 20' truck within 2 miles from the airport and had me on the road with my rental in 30 minutes. I would never use Budget again, but the folks at Uhaul deserve a 5 star review!
Reserved truck weeks in advance. I was called morning of reservation saying there was no truck available, and to call customer service. Spoke with customer service said truck would be shipped to location for pick-up. When we arrived for our pick up time - store was closed. Door said open until 6, but was closed and dark at 5:30. Called customer service and they were unable to help. Never got a budget truck - got a u-haul instead.