Budget
651 reviews · Statistics
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- Yes (109)
- No, I received a worse vehicle (54)
- No, I received a better vehicle (18)
Reviews
Incompetent management
How can management of a company be so incompetent that they are unable to plan for a day with more than 200 pickups. Surely it would have been known ahead of time. I felt for the staff as they were doing their best.
To make matters worse the queue was longer than the covered area so you have elderly people and young kids having to stand in the sun. Why did they not at least operate the kiosk inside the airport.
After the queue there was another hour wait before we got the keys for the car.
Not going to use Budget again.
Pack of Thieves
We picked up the car, supposedly a Kia, from Sydney airport. They told us we had been upgraded. Turns out it was an MG that was not safe at all with a 2 second delay from the time you hit the accelerator until it took up. The guy at the booth tried to upsell everything he could. We said no to all of it. When we got to our destination, we checked the oil & there was no oil in it at all!! Seriously?? Then when we got back to the airport to return the car, we filled up with petrol just across the road. You could not have fitted any more petrol in
... Read morethe tank & yet they tried to charge us for 6 litres of fuel PLUS Snow cover !! SNOW cover !! When we were there, the temperature was between 25 & 30 degrees & they said we wanted snow cover. WHAT A RIP OFF!! I fought with them for over a week to return the money they fraudulently took from my credit card & FINALLY after another 10 days, got a refund with them saying they were returning it out of the goodness of their hearts!!!! NEVER use this company. They are just thieves !! I suggest that the guys taking the return of the cars, have little jerry cans & are filling them up with 5 or 6 litres at a time for personal use. No other way they could charge us for petrol!!
Couldn’t have been a worse experience
I never make these reviews but I had to this time. After landing at Perth airport I was keen to get out of there ASAP but the car I ‘booked’ wasn’t ready because it was a ‘busy day’. What’s the booking for then?
After multiple ‘It’ll be ready in 15 minutes’ we finally got our car after an hour.
Meanwhile my 4 and 1 year old kids had to play in a car park, with no offer of a water or a toilet within a reasonable distance.
Then the ‘installed’ children’s car seats were absolutely not installed and I had to do it myself.
Never ever use Budget! We never will again.
Dishonest!
Booked a car from Sydney domestic terminal only to be informed four days later that I can no longer pick up the car at the terminal. As this was the reason I chose to pay double the amount for the booking (to save hassle), I requested the booking be cancelled. Budget refused to cancel unless I paid $82 for the privilege!
These guys used to be good to deal with but this just seems like thievery to me. Will not be dealing with them in the future.
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Disappointing
Booked a car for a short trip to Cairns. On the road to Kuranda, which has many twists and turns, the steering became erratic, making it dangerous for me to drive. When I complained, they agreed there was a problem. When I asked for some recompense they offered $80. They could have easily credited my card, but no.... they gave complicated instructions to give to my bank.... which the bank won't comply with. SO thanks Budget for nothing. Won't be using your cars again. Ever.
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Budget Fastbreak rip-off
I booked a car using my Budget Fastbreak profile (which I have done Hundreds of times before) in the UK. At Heathrow airport after waiting an hour for a shuttle they told me that Fastbreak doesn’t exist and switched my rental to Avis. On return they charged my credit card with about $850 for minor scratches which were present and clearly documented on my rental agreement. They are out and out crooks in the UK and there are dozens of similar reviews about the same issue. Avoid Budget/Avis. Photos of scratches at beginning of rental are attached.
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Terrible service at pickup and overcharged at drop off
Credit card charged, invoice states prices completely different than at booking reservation but budget call centre no help whatsoever
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I would give them Zero if I could!
THIS COMPANY ARE THIEVES!
We paid in full the day we collected the car $700 - was told we were getting $200 back once returned the car. Nearly five working days after we returned the car no sign of the $200 deposit we were told we were getting back. I checked my bank and realised they had taken an UNAUTHORISED amount of $600 out of my bank account nearly a week after returning the car. It took MULTIPLE phone calls with customer service and eventually calling and speaking with the branch we originally got the car from that we were going to push
Charged for a car that broke down and returned 8 MINUTES late
Car was rented from Perth Airport at 10:57am. The car, a Peugeot SUV, was driven to Regional WA some 3 hours south if Perth. The next day the car would not start. Eventually was able to speak to someone and roadside assistance was sent. Some hours later, they turned up and were unable to start the vehicle. At 6pm that night a replacement care finally arrived. A full day completely lost and no use of the vehicle. Was able to make a quick trip to Albany and then driven back to Perth on the 3rd day. The vehicle was driven back to Perth Airport, ar
... Read moreriving approximately 10:40 am. Walked to the office and waited to be served as wanted to discuss the loss of usage. After the person in front was served, a return time of 11:08am was recorded. A refund of one day was provided (less insurance and other additional costs that were charged). However a full day's charge was issued for being 8 minutes late, complete with of all additional charges, and the pre paid petrol was totally disregarded and a charge to refill issued. Then of course all of the surcharges applied. So end story is it cost more to hire a car for the two day usage than the quoted 3 day car hire. Budget, how different this review would have been if you waived my rental because the provided vehicle was not fit for purpose and I was not able to complete my intended trip because of your equipment failing. I would be singing from the tree tops about your customer service and how wonderful Budget is. Instead I am telling everybody, even random strangers how crap you are and I will never use Budget or Avis again. How many 100s of 1000s $$ is this costing you? Over charging this rental by $650.00 ... was it worth it? Good customer service would be waiving $650.00, for someone who will rave about our business to everybody and random stranger. You made your bed, now sleep in it!Find out how Budget compares to other Direct Car Hire
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Treated like dirt
I booked a car rental for my friend to drive to Lismore to pick up my grandchildren. I was paying he was driving....we then got told I was in the system as not allowed to hire...this was impossible ..we stepped out f the office to make a call to work it out ..the guy behind the counter refused to speak to us or give us time to sort it out ..he cancelled the booking . The call centre then made the booking in my friend's name gave us a booking number. She couldn't see any reason why I was being refused...we went back into the office and explaine
... Read mored we had a new booking in my friend's name .he looked at ya like we were scumbags and literally said "I do not care I will not hire you a car" his co worker, a female gave us the dirtiest looks and made us feel horrible. I was desperately trying to get to my grand children and they both smerked at me. And refused me service for absolutely no reason...I will be taking this further...I will take it as far as I possibly can.. absolutely disgusting treatment. This was in Armidale NSW..where they employ narcissists who think they are god.
Rip off
I recently hired a car from tullamarine airport . Before returning this vehicle I filled up petrol to full tank.
I was surprised when I received a tax invoice with a charge for filling up petrol to full tank.
I would not recommend this to any one.
Budget car rental Bornholm (Denmark)
Strong warning against using this rental agency (Avis and Budget brands).
I rented a vehicle (Hyundai I30). The vehicle was picked up from a car park near the Bornholm Ferry terminal. The car was delivered in very good condition.
Four days later, the car was returned in equally good condition, with the possible exception of some sand on the rear floor mats. There was no-one at the car park to take delivery of or inspect the vehicle.
Subsequently, I received an e mail advising that I was being charged $US144 for cleaning fees. This exceeded the actual vehicle rental charge. The cleaning charge was deducted from the bond without the opportunity of discussion or negotiation.
These images pupport to show the cleaning required:
... Read moreFind out how Budget compares to other Direct Car Hire
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bad service - over charge and adding extra unexplained charges
Terrible service and over charging without notice, sending wrong emails and invoices.
1. Prior to pick up of ute, I sent 3 emails asking if there was a trailer and timber racks included with the ute. If there wasn’t I wanted to rent one from budget but they didn’t reply until I had rented a trailer from someone else.
2. I wanted to buy or rent some timber racks for the ute but there was no place to put racks (I tried asking this via email also with no reply).
3. I tried to pay cash for the ute and they would not accept it.
4. They then charged
Betty’s customer service
Hires car just after midnight at Melbourne airport. She was wonderful and very accommodating for a family travelling late at night. Really impressed.
Not a happy return experience
We rented a car in February, for 6 days. Nice car, lovely week, went to the airport the day before return to ask the latest time we could return the car the following day. The lady at the desk said "oh as long as it is back by 1.45 that will be ok, no further charge". Now we are home and our credit card has been debited an extra $37 for the extra hour. We would have brought it back by 12 noon, if she had been honest and told us it would cost more, we were only killing time till the flight. Next time to Cairns, different car company from Budget or Avis.
... Read moreQuestions & Answers
Beware of hiring a Kia Sorrento. My Budget hire vehicle decided to lock the keys in the car as they have an auto locking function as do all modern cars to combat theft. Kia is one of only a few cars that do not have a built in safeguard to protect against this. SO BEWARE! Budget didnt even explain to me why they were keeping some of my bond. Very poor when this is a known issue with this brand of vehicle. The technician said he is regularly having to break into KIAs Am going to take it further as a KIA was not even the car I booked.
They kept all my bond 3 months ago with out any contact or explanation regardless of how many times I have tried to contact them..I will never use this company again
That is very very poor. How is it even legal to retain a bond without proof of costs incurred and an explanation to go with it? They are a s*it company. I have emailed them and they have still not responded. Have a good mind to go to consumer affairs.
Was charged $730 to hire a truck which was meant to be $630, $400 bond the rest hire, dropped the truck off on time the following morning to find they took another $330 from my account and over drew it, we just moved houses, now have no money to even buy good.. Want answers?
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Details
| Category | Car Rental Services and Direct Car Hire |
|---|---|
| Hire Vehicle type | 4WD, Campervans & Caravans, Cars and Vans & Trucks |
| Locations | NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC and WA |
Contact info for Budget
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