June 2019 by Jacqui Spears
The car rented did not have functioning cruise control. We attempted to replace the car by contacting the Budget Rental center near our destination in Gwinn, Michigan (at Sawyer Intl Airport) on 3 different occasions on Saturday and Sunday, including leaving a voicemail that was never returned. After contacting the corporate help center, it was recommended that we simply visit the Gwinn location. When we arrived, the Budget employee, Daphne, was immediately disrespectful and very briskly informed us that she had no cars available for us to use (with no explanation as to why almost all 14 Budget parking spots were filled). When we attempted to ask for a recommendation for any alternative method, she instead answered the phone and began ignoring us. After finishing her phone call, she went outside without another word, leaving us stunned. When she returned, she expressed surprise and frustration that we were still there and then told us we should have called ahead to see if we could switch out the vehicle. When we told her that was what we did and it was the corporate office who told us to just come by, she said (verbatim) "Well, this isn't corporate. They have no idea what's going on here." Then she said we should've left a message. When we told her we did, she proceeded to tell us that we did not. However, in an attempt to prove us wrong, she began to check the voice mailbox and discovered there was one saved message, likely ours from 24 hours before. We never found out if that message was ours though because she then began ignoring us again and talked through us to help the customer behind us (who also seemed angered by the service). It was then that we left because it was clear we were not going to receive any help or apologies for her behavior. Daphne was incredibly rude, disrespectful, and embarrassing to a paying customer that her employer had (inadvertently) inconvenienced. There is no excuse for Daphne's behavior and she has soured more Budget rentals for us.
