Budget® Reviews
Sometimes things don't go smoothly, and how the company handles these situations is what sets them apart. My mattress got wet (in the truck) from an apparent leak in the floor of the truck. Budget is taking responsibility and is going to replace the mattress. They did so without fuss and were pleasant throughout the process.
Picked up the truck in PA and ordered 2 dozen moving blankets with the truck, didn't receive them, was charged, called back and was supposed to have the charge reversed. I was told that I could drive back but didn't because it was a 40 minute drive each way for the truck and wanted to be reimbursed. I had to go to U Haul for the moving pads, dropped the truck off at a different location in Florida and found that I am still charged for the blankets. Now I have to dispute the charge. First and last time with Budget.
Dont buy in to their bullshit. Had a "reservation" that I booked 9 days in advance. The morning of my move, got a call from the branch manager stating there were no trucks available! What? How does that happen with 9 days notice? Waited all day for a call from the local inventory manager. I called 5 times to the customer service number and was told the same story each time, that someone would call me back between 15 minutes and two hours. Needless to say after waiting all day, I never received a truck for my move. Got a call from some guy in Colorado at Budget after 5 p.m., he stated that the inventory manager has gone home for the day. I asked him what I'm supposed to do now I have a reservation, but no truck. He said the reservation is not a guarantee only a "preference" of what I would like to rent from Budget. That's a bunch of crap! I will never ever rent from budget or recommend them to anyone to rent from. Terrible experience and horribly disappointed on the day of my move! They could have cared less. Make sure to read the small print at the bottom of their reservation. That's all I was told at the end of the day, and I would suggest you read it if you decide to rent from them.
We landed a great deal through Budget for a 16' moving truck and tow dolly for our cross-country move and were all set for moving day. Budget was not set. When we arrived to pick up our reservation, the tow dolly had not been delivered and we had to wait an extra two hours before receiving it. The truck was the perfect size to fit all of our belongings so no problems whatsoever there. The problem began when Budget told us that the dolly would work with our vehicle; it did not. On the way out of town, the tire straps on the dolly broke. After calling the Budget 800 number desperately pleading for help -- they told us our only option was drive our fully packed moving truck 4 hours out of our way to get a replacement; they would not deliver it to our location. We had no choice, so we did. The Budget dealer set the carrier up to the moving truck and we headed back to where we left our vehicle. By the time we arrived back to the location where our vehicle was, we had lost an entire day and spent the night in the same town we were initially moving from. We had to contact local movers, rentals, hotels, etc. to reschedule everything we had set up months before in advance. Upon arrival to our destination, the Budget dealer performed the return inspection and noticed that the previous Budget dealer had given us a severely bent car carrier that was not safe to drive across country. Luckily, we made it safely. However, our pocketbook didn't reflect the same luck. I will never try to save money by going through Budget again; I will instead use a more reputable dealer such as Penske or U-haul.
I got bumped down from a truck to a moving van (because the truck lined up for me was damaged by the previous renter) -- but that wasn't a problem. It turned out that the van was just the right size for the move - the truck would have been overkill. Budget was my second choice, but I'd definitely use them again.
Budget gave us a bit of a start when they told us they almost didn't have any trucks to rent when we arrived after reserving a 16' truck, driving six hours, staying overnight and arriving next morning to get our vehicle. Thankfully, there was a truck for us after all, but we didn't understand the confusion. The truck size was perfect for our needs, truck was clean. Budget recommend HireAHelper and although two teams cancelled out on us, we were very pleased with Antique Services and the job they did. Would definitely use again.
New truck, no damage, good engine and air conditioner. I ordered a 24', but got a 26" at no additional charge, because that is what they had available locally. That was a plus, because we needed the full 26'. Much less expensive than others, seem to be running a special to get folks to discover they rent trucks now. Customer service was excellent on both ends.
Minor glitch to start as the truck we had reserved arrived later than expected. Pete and his crew worked to get a truck transported to our pickup location. Once everything arrived, Pete was professional and informed us of best practices when driving a truck and towing a car. Move went well and Budget was a solid value, especially with the AARP discount.
The transmission was a little kludgey. I liked that it was a flat bed, no wheel well. It all worked out well. Something about the design of the gas tank made filling up a bit tedious; the pump would keep switching off, detecting the tank was full when it was far from. It took some finesse. Other than that, everything was fine.
Turn in at Gaithersburg, MD (Dealer# 208779) was Excellent customer service! Everything else was crap. NO MILITARY DISCOUNT. Pick-Up in Denton, TX (Dealer# 787350) took more than 1 hour and 20 minutes even after I had reserved on-line more than two weeks in advance. 1st truck assigned took 45 minutes (AC didn't work). Both trucks assigned were nothing less than FILTHY. Brock did not mark all damage on the Inspection sheet and I had to have him re-do items. He was constantly on the phone with other people. There were no other employees at the establishment. The second truck which I accepted; I had to replace the wiper blades and clean the inside of the cab.
The truck rental was good until we went to turn it in in Boulder, CO. The contract required the truck to be full of diesel fuel. We filled the truck up but the manager at the receiving site wanted to argue the tank wasn't full. He wanted to charge me extra for more fuel to top off the tank. We took a photo of the fuel gauge with the needle clearly on "F". When we suggested we would forward it to Budget Corporate, he quickly backed off. Be aware of filling up and your fuel levels!!
HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE!!! This is the worst company I have ever encountered. We were moving across states from GA to VA and rented a 24 ft truck. We rented the truck on a Wednesday and left out on a Saturday and paid an extra day to return the truck on Monday. During the drive the truck stopped working in NC (5.5 hours from destination). We called roadside assistance who took almost 2 hours to get anyone to us to try and fix the truck after almost 7 hours they decided the truck could not be fixed and need to go in for service. At this point its 1:30 am and we were exhausted. The told us we needed to pay out of pocket for hotel and when we said 'what if we don't have the extra money for that?' their response was get a family member or friend to wire it to you... what kind of response is that? The next day my husband calls them up at 8:30 am to see if they have found a replacement truck and they say they will look and give us a call back. We do not hear back until 2:30pm to say that no truck has been located and probably will not get one until Tuesday or Wednesday due to the holiday weekend. Which means more money for a hotel, food etc. I decided to try and go online and find my own truck which I located one less than 30 miles away within minutes. I call budget back, which every call we are on hold for at least 30 min, to tell them that I located a truck and for them to go pick it up for us. They called to confirm after I provided them the location info and then they got us the truck that night around 7 pm. So I basically did THEIR job for them, which only took me 15 minutes. On top of that, when our truck was broke down we noticed their was NO PLATES on the truck! We definitely would have gotten pulled over. You've been warned, DO NOT USE THEM!
Original truck reserved was not available did not find out until late the day before the move. The dealer did go out of his way to accommodate us by arranging two trucks instead of the original one truck. The truck I drove (in a heavy rain) leaked like a sieve through the drivers window as well as down the back of the cab. Shirt was soaked by the time I arrived!
The truck I had reserved was not available when I called the location on the morning of my move. Budget didn't even call me or email to let me know. The person who I called about this was not concerned at all. I ended up having to find another Budget truck at another location and use a smaller truck. I was not able to fit all my belongings into the smaller truck so now I will have to make two moves. My next move will not use a Budget truck.
The individual people we worked with were great - kind and helpful. However, we were frustrated that Budget changed the time and pick-up location for our truck. We had hired movers to come at a certain time and had to make changes to make it work with everyone's schedule. The truck ran incredibly rough as well. At one point we got out of the truck and checked the tires because we were sure a tire had blown or something, but it was just the truck. Around town it wouldn't have been bad, but driving 800 miles, some through the mountains of TN and NC was a bit hard in the shaky truck. The cost was good, though. I guess it is a case of getting what you pay for. If we were to do this again, and I'm hoping not, I would probably put out a little extra money for something a bit nicer.
My reservation had to be changed the morning of my move but Budget handled the switch and everything went pretty smoothly. The truck itself was nice and the moving blankets we rented were in very good condition. My only complaint would be the lack of cruise-control which can be quite unpleasant during a long trip.
Have used them before. They are always just average... The cabs are really dirty... Don't rent one and do a long distance move unless you want to clean it first. Inside of box was o.k. We use them because they are cheaper... Beware of U-Haul - they calculate the Granny's attic in the length of the box.
Rented online 2 weeks prior, got call morning of move that truck wasn't available, after I had already arranged paid help for loading of Truck. Had to be driven by Budget rep 20 miles to another location to pick up Truck there. I do not live in area, flew here to Mason OH to take my storage stuff home to NC. Rented car at Truck pickup location and confirmed Truck Rental when I got here to make things smooth, it wasn't.
Absolute HORRIBLE service. They overbooked the trucks and didn't bother to call me. I had to drive over 150 miles away to pick up a truck and they charged me for the extra miles from their mistake. And when I arrived at the pickup location they were not there and did not show up for an hour. The employees at each location were rude and both said they did not have time or energy to deal with it. One suggested I try Uhaul... The other employee was so rude and aggressive that he tried to kick me out and deny service. His yelling was so aggressive that I had to call the police. They also required us to drop the truck back off at the far away location, a day earlier than planned and charged for those extra miles. To top it off, the truck broke down on the way back and we had to have it towed. The tow truck employee said it was the second time he had towed the SAME truck for the SAME reason, Horrible company with even worse employees.