Budget® Reviews
I rented the Budget Truck to move and was extremely unhappy about the fact that the rental was not at the location I picked to pick it up as I reserved. I spoke with several employees and managers about the status of the Truck and given the run around each time forcing me to find an alternate rental Truck agency. Thank goodness Uhaul had one 26' truck available. Uhaul is a bit more expensive but well worth the struggle. I will never ever use or recommend Budget rental trucks.
I made an online reservation for 26’ truck, one-way, for a period of 4 days. Showed up to the rental facility and told “you should have been called yesterday, we have no trucks here. Your truck is at another location 30 minutes away”. This was only a few hours before our hired movers were showing up to load the truck. Go to the new rental location 30 minutes from original- guess what? We don’t have your reservation for a truck here and no truck available. Call the Budget customer service number and told we can try to find a truck somewhere in the state, we will call you back in a few hours. Called back and told me “we confirmed with the second location you were sent to that they have your truck. Go there.” Well 2 hours ago they didn’t have my truck. I was put on hold and the customer service agent said I just called that location and- no truck. After several hours of runaround, we rented a truck from Uhaul instead. Apparently a reservation made online with a credit card confirmation does not guarantee you will actually get a truck.
I rented a 16’ truck. The truck was clean in the cab as well as in the back. Reserving the truck, customer service at pick up and drop off and, of course, the 1,095 miles driven went very well! Budget had the best price for what I was looking for (size of truck, hand truck rental, a dozen furniture pads and the full insurance). Would definitely recommend Budget to friends and family!
The local Budget employee (not corporate) contacted me to secure the truck I had requested and arrange for pick up. When I arrived, the computer system was down and they had to handle everything manually. The workers were so patient and respectful to me and the other customers that began piling up as they diligently plowed through the time consuming process. Even though I had requested 2 hand trucks and a dozen blankets and they were only able to secure 1 hand truck with the blankets, they didn't charge me for any of the add-on supplies. These days, most companies would have just apologized but Budget compensated me for my extended time to check in as well as providing me with 1 less hand truck. We made do, but I appreciated their efforts in customer service. I would still recommend and do business with them again. The "other company" could not guarantee a truck would be there at the time I needed it...and when you've spent weeks preparing for a move with packing, buying and selling, closing timing, helpers at each end, moving out of town...it can get tedious getting everything in place for a hectic transition. I"m glad we went with Budget.
I reserved a 16’ truck but at the last moment it wasn’t available so received free upgrade to 24’ truck. Be prepared to answer questions about your insurance including... 1) are you covered for commercial trucks with 6 wheels? 2) what is the max gross weight for which you are covered? 3) what is the max personal liability for such vehicles? 4) what is your deductible for sich vehicles. Honestly, you’ll likely need to call your agent before hand or arrive at the pickup location when your agent is available.
The truck was dirty when I picked it up in Tampa, FL. I got pulled over by a highway patrol officer because he said the license plate on the truck was not registered to ANY known vehicle and when we looked at the vehicle registration it had expired in Jan 2019. Luckily he did not give me a ticket for these infractions. I told the Budget office in Mesa what had happened and there response was "Oh well" I DO NOT recommend you use Budget Truck Rental for your next move. The word Budget is in there name for a reason!
Budget rental was terrible. They called me 15 minutes before I was scheduled to pick up my 26 foot truck that I reserved to inform me they only had a 16 foot truck. They told me I could call around and try to find a 26 foot truck if I wanted. I didn't have time for that. I had movers coming. It was extremely inconvenient and rude. I went to drop it off the next day at another location and no one was in the office at 3:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday. Such a hassle and no one had any regard for my inconvenience. Would never use Budget again.
Budget Rental called me 5 minutes before my pick up time to tell me they didn't have my truck. They didn't have any alternative solutions for me. The only thing I could do was wait to see if a truck came in over the next hour before they closed. I had paid moving help coming the next morning. Glad I didn't wait for Budget to help me because they ended up canceling my reservation. Luckily, U-Haul has something called Truck Share and we were able to get a truck after hours! So forget about Budget, go with U-Haul.
I reserved a 16' foot truck with Budget two weeks prior to my move, and 2 days before the move, they call me to cancel the reservation. They had no other options either. I was left hanging, and was quite livid at the service. I was lucky to find a truck with Penske. I expected better service from Budget, as I've used them extensively. But this left a sour taste in my opinion of them.
I got stuck in DC traffic and the A.C. only worked when the truck was moving over 50 and even then not so much fan power.. so for 5 hours I roasted. Then the rains. Truck cab held up until hour 3 or 4 when I was heading west and the rain was a down pour but I started to feel water dripping from the door seam and saw the passenger door was having the same condition. This lasted thru the night as I drove thru on again off again rains.
Even though I booked with Budget Rental Truck one month in advance and called the week before to confirm my reservation, they canceled the evening before saying they could not locate a truck for us. They called at night so we couldn't find any other local rental agency that was open to call. I called the national number and they said they would call back within the hour and find us another truck. They never called. No follow-up. Left us stranded. I would never use Budget Rental Truck again. Their customer service is awful.
Ultimately rented a truck that ran well and did a good job. The first truck was missing a mirror so opted not to take this one for a 16 hour move. Second truck was newer and ran well. The rental agent forgot to put the moving blankets in the truck so needed to drive back and pick them up. The receiving agent was unpleasant, or maybe call it straight forward efficient but the return went without a hitch.
You truly get what you pay for, and my experience with this company really hammered that home. Picking up the truck in AZ, the staff were friendly and super helpful, if a little short handed (only 2 people on the Saturday afternoon before a holiday). The truck was beat up with a questionably outdated maintenance sticker on the windshield, and the items I requested were not in the truck prior (furniture pads and a dolly), so we waited for the guy to retrieve that before pulling away. Truck ran great for the 1,070 miles we needed it. The main issues came at the END, in Fort Worth, TX. Apparently their system DOES NOT take in to consideration holidays when booking your reservation online. I tried to drop off morning of July 4th to avoid being charged an extra fee for more than 5 days, but when I arrived at my drop off location, the store was closed. I was only 45 mins early to my reservation time and the site had said reduced hrs for the holiday, not CLOSED. When calling the customer service line, it took the guy more than 10 mins to realize I had a TRUCK not a CAR from them, even though I had clearly stated 16’ moving truck AND the confirmation # formats are not even remotely similar. I was transferred to a supervisor who finally realized the error, and tried to send me to a location with after hrs drop box. The address he gave was TWENTY miles from my current location, and that’s WAY too far when driving a 16’ truck whose tank you have to return full or get charged ANOTHER fee. Tried calling back for closer location details, but the same thing happened with the confirmation # and supervisor. 2nd guy’s advice was to return the next day (late) and pay the extra fee, then file a claim online due to their system error. I’ll never rent from Budget again. I’d rather just pay the extra with a company that has never given me problems as a military wife moving around a LOT.
