BUDGET Car Rental Rant...has anyone else had problems?

[LuvTigger]

I hate to complain, and normally things roll off my back, but not this time. I wanted to see if anyone else had similar problems, because someone on another board asked if they should cancel their Budget ressie.

I have to admit that I've used Budget quite a few times before and have never had a problem (in fact, I've never had a problem with any car rental agency at all). Hopefully my problem was an isolated incident, but this is basically what happened...we booked a reservation online on the Budget site about 2 months ahead of our trip. (We arrived on a Saturday afternoon.)

Upon arrival, we went to the line, and there were about 3 agents helping people (and a couple on the phone and doing other things) and they all seemed to be taking a long time (I was 2nd in line after a couple who had 2 separate reservations). I try to be patient though, because I understand that glitches can happen. I was waiting for over 20 minutes before I got an agent.

While I was waiting, I watched one man angrily come to the counter and tell one of the agents to cancel his reservation. Another person angrily asked one of the agents who the manager was. Another man had apparently walked to the parking lot where the cars were thinking an agent there was going to give him keys (there was no agent out there) and he had to walk all the way back to get his keys.

I finally get to an agent, and I tried to be pleasant, and the guy was just arrogant and did not even apologize for the wait in line. This guy also tried to pull a fast one with the insurance, like, "Did you want all the coverage or just liability?" And I said, "None," then he starts saying all this stuff about how my personal insurance won't cover the costs if the car goes in the shop, etc. which I have never had anyone tell me before. Then, after all this and me signing the paperwork, he says to have a seat and they'll call me when the keys are ready. WHAT??? I didn't say that, but I politely asked how long that would be, and he said 15-20 minutes. Apparently, at least 3 other people/families were waiting too.

After 30 minutes, we were the only ones still sitting there. I was getting pretty upset, and I went up to the man that another agent earlier pointed out as the manager, and he told me to see my agent, but that he'd call and check to see if my car was ready. I went to the agent and was very upset, and I asked if I was going to be waiting hours, and why he didn't say something before making me fill out all the paperwork, and wasn't there anything they could do, and he was speechless. (Btw, it is VERY rare that I get so angry that I actually say what I am thinking to the person I am thinking it about!)

I went back to my friend, and she went to another rental agency to find out how much they charged. We waited a few more minutes, and decided that even if it costs more, we'd rather get a car NOW, than wait any longer. So I went back to the counter to the agent and said I wanted to cancel my reservation, that I wasn't going to pay any penalty, and I wanted a copy of my contract with the word "void" written across it. Then a woman (the only saving grace in this whole situation) came up and asked what the situation was, so I explained how I'd been waiting for almost 45 minutes to get keys and I wasn't willing to wait any longer. This woman was VERY apologetic and pulled out keys from a box right in front of her and said they were giving me a free upgrade (I went from a compact to a full-size).

So, it worked out, but we waited much longer than we should have. Also, the car we had didn't seem to run that well even though it only had 6,000 miles on it, and the gas tank was not full. While I wouldn't swear of Budget forever, the experience in Orlando really left a sour taste and set our vacation off on a bad foot. It appears that they overbooked and that many of us had to wait.

Like I said, I've never ever had problems before with any agency, and I've used Budget quite a bit. I don't know if I will ever use the one in MCO anymore though.

Anyone else ever have something like this happen?

 

[CarolA]

I have had other rental car companies pull the wait trick on me. I have been known to RAISE you know what at the counter and make them give me a car. They will do that, but you have to do what you do and stick it to them (you waited much longer than I do, I will NOT walk away without keys after an AWFUL Alamo experience!) Since you have lots of choices in Orlando, I would just walk! (you might write and complain, maybe they will give you something for it, but the way the travel industry is now, don't count on it!)

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

We always have to wait when we rent with Budget. One time we waited a half hour for a Premium SUV (GMC Yukon XL), and an hour for a Standard SUV (which, we were "upgraded" at that time to a Ford Windstar after complaining about an hour wait).

 

[rcomputer]

If they ask you to wait in Orlando tell them to put the reservation back in the system and go and collect a vehicle from the other side. Similarly if the wait for the counter is long try the other side.

[Orlando has duplicate rental facilities on the A and B sides fo the terminal]

 

[markey]

I also had a terrible experience with Budget this year. Had to wait longer then I thought necessary for a car. But I also had a rude agent who tried to push for insurance, also made me feel guilty about the discount I got, code from these boards. Tried to talk me into an up grade, and also said "Do you really want the car you booked, or did you just book it for the price?" Yes I wanted what I rented it was a Ranger truck and worked out very well for our luggage. That was the first rental. We returned the truck at the port 5 days later went on DCL for a week and returned to Budget for another Ranger to return to the airport. They didn't have what I rented, but no rude agents, and upgraded us to a larger Ranger truck, again no problem. When we got in the truck it was not cleaned, mud on the outside and dirt inside.
Again no problem, only driving to airport. Then we realized the truck only had 1/2 a tank of gas. So we put in $10, and drove less than 100 miles. Had more gas in the tank when we returned, but they gave my husband a hard time and charged us $26 for a tank of gas. Well I got livid and went to the inside counter, the guy was horrible. He finally ended up saying, "What do you want me to do about it?" When we got home I called the port rental and told them the problems, again they were very nice. He checked the records but sad since it was posted I had to call customer service but said we should not have been cahrged. They told me, automatic messages, that I had to e-mail. I did and never got a response. I am just livid, but am to the point that I will not have my vacation memories ruined for $26. BUT WILL NEVER USE BUDGET AGAIN. On a side not I did e-mail the DIS Boards, because they carried the code. Got a very nice response and they said they were going to call Budget. Sorry this was so long.

 

[njmomof2]

I also had problems with Budget at MCO. When I picked up my car everything started out great, they even upgraded us to a nice Lincoln (although we had waited for about 30minutes to get to an agent). Then they tried to pull the insurance scam on me as well. "Did you want all the coverage or just liability?" I had heard about insurance problems with Budget in advance so I had contacted my insurance agent and verified my coverage and was given a copy to present at the counter. When I didn't fall for it the agent got nasty. First he told me my personal insurance insurance wouldn't cover the costs associated with loss of use if the car needs to be repaired. Then he tried to tell me "I hope you drive an expensive car at home because if the Lincoln is totaled your insurance company will only pay what your own car is worth. Then he told me a story about a guy who had the Jaguar he rented stolen last week and owes tens of thousands of dollars as he drove an old Ford Escort at home. I still refused, and did get my car after a short time. While I waited I listened to them pull this scam on other unsuspecting individuals and it worked. These poor people were scammed into paying almost as much as their rental on unnecessary insurance. This was no way to start a vacation.
I feel like I am a fairly savvy consumer, and I had done my homework, but these guys still managed to make me doubt myself.
When I returned the car a week later they could not return it in the computer. I had to go inside and still they could not close my contract. It took about 45 minutes to return my car. Fortunately I had pleanty of time to make my flight.

My advice--Pick another company.

 

[A kid at heart]

I used budget one time in may of 2000 and I had a ranger reserved, they were out of tHem and gave me aN UPGRADE TO AN SUV at no extra charge. Got my keys right away too. I'm using dollar tomorrow when I get there!