Budget Car Rental

Most Recent Comments

• January 2024 by Mark Trimmer
  Where do I begin... I've had to rent budget vehicles for 6 weeks because my car was at the mechanics. The first car I got was a Ford Edge. I didn't realize until I was on my way up north that the tires were near bald. I ran into hail and snow. I was on the way to see my sons. I had to alter the trip and loswe time with them because of the tires. I could barely stay on the road. I went to extend my rental with another vehicle. I rented a Jeep Gladiator. This rental worked out but when I went to extend the rental, they charged me a fee to do so. THEY CHARGED ME A FEE TO GIVE THEM MORE BUSINESS, AND I AM A FASTBREAK MEMBER. Then to add insult to injury, I received a white Jeep Wrangler with suspension issues. Every time I hit a bump on the highway, the front wheels shook violently. I looked it up and it is known as the Jeep death rattle. I extended my rental again this time with a Chevy Equinox. The car was ok, but I had to extend the rental again, and they CHARGED ME AN EXTENSION FEE AGAIN. Your firm then gave me a Silver Jeep Wrangler that turned out to have the same problem as the first one. People on the highway pointed at the font end when the wheels started shaking. I told the return vehicle staff that they should take the car off the lot, and they just shrugged. I then called Budget customer service to say to them the situation and asked them to remove the vehicle from service so no one would be hurt. Your firm This firm is TERRIBLE!!! I've spent $2,000 on rentals in about 6 weeks, and I can't seem to find anyone who gives a darn. I will report this to the State of New Mexico and the airport commission. Three times, the cars they provided put me in danger because of their poor condition.
• January 2024 by Vickie Backman
  Tldr: we had to solve serious problems to have a satisfactory rental.1) neither the budget nor the Avis counter were open in the rental center. Neither one said what to do about that. Finally, an outdoor employee came by and said I should go outdoors to a small room they worked out of. I was issued to car that was not in the space listed and in fact nowhere close. We found it way up front.2) As it turned out they had not mechanically checked much of anything since one of the tires only had 19 lb in it and I received a low tire pressure alarm after driving only a few miles. It was Christmas Eve. A lot of things are closed. This was not funny and we were going to be driving 500 miles to Denver. We pulled over at the first town that had the possibility of good services and put air in the tire. Matched the other front and what we found was it did have a very slow leak over the time we had it but it held for us. I suspect no one had checked that tire for at least a month. Way to go budget.3) thankfully nothing else went wrong and the car worked well for us after that. Returning the car was extremely simple. Just drop it in a lot and leave the key in it. And I got a text later that everything was fine.
• January 2024 by ATrie'nne Reeves
  The customer service was great. I rented a Ford F150. I really enjoyed the rental. However, when I returned the truck three days later, I was notified that I was still being charged and the truck had not been returned. It took many phone calls to try and get this situation resolved, after 48 hours later, I had finally received a final receipt stating the truck had been returned the previous Friday. However, I’m still waiting for my credit card company to fix the debacle as well. Also, there has been no apology call or email from the company stating their error. just the receipt in my email, followed by a request for a service survey.
• December 2023 by Ralf (Shrek)
  The truck I rented was unsafe to drive, bald tires at wear mark or below, windshield washer not working, registration expired 12 month ago, low air tires at destination had to air up tires after warning came on, very dirty inside with still mud and sand on the floor mats dirty and dusty dash. This was a disappointment. I emailed Budget with pictures and all they telling my how much they care about all that and they are a top notch company, well they never offered me a fix or a solution for it or exchanged the unsafe vehicle, nobody is checking anything on there vehicle just running it to a car wash and leaving all the water stains on the mirror and windows for bad view at sundown or night driving.
• December 2023 by Rob J.
  Despite having and using Fast Break they did not have the rental ready. The agent was polite and did take care of the reservation. The low rating is the vehicle provided. It was not very clean, had a warped break rotor, desperately needed a tire rotation, the wiper blades were trashed and had grooved the windshield. The pre-rental prep was well below even Budget's low bar standard. Inspect your car before driving away.
• December 2023 by John D.
  Get RentFor once, I seem to be the outlier review, but in a positive direction! Will wonders never cease?? (0:Booked a five-day rental thru Costco Travel** for $280 ($380 w/ taxes and fees [ouch]) and picked it up at the ABQ Car Rental Facility. The Good:*Great service from James, who was affable, fast, and didn't push the insurance upsell too hard. *Car was clean and didn't smell like cigarettes, which had been our luck as of late w/ rentals.*Arrived on a mid-morning Tue, and there were no lines and at least three people working their customer service area. The Meh:*Car exterior is in rough shape. The Ugly:*I'm not a fan of the overly crowded bus rides to get from airports to the car rental facilities. This is nothing to do with the car rental, but I'm just venting. TLDR: Overall, it was a good positive experience, but that may not always be the case based on the other reviews. However, I will say that car rentals are one of those Yelp categories that nobody thinks to review unless they're pissed off about something, so that may always tend to skew the ratings. Just food for thought. **Pro Tip: Always book your car thru Costco as early as possible to ensure you have one ready, but about a month before your trip, check the rates again. I've saved literally hundreds of dollars this way; this rental was originally over $500, but after checking a month before, I was able to secure it for $380.
• November 2023 by D W.
  I rented a Budget car with a GPS through Costco for 4 days. The cost of the GPS was $27.99 for the rental period. The agent at Albuquerque said the cars don't have GPS anymore but I could rent a tablet with GPS for "a little more". He didn't say how much more and dummy me didn't ask. I needed the GPS so said OK.The GPS didn't work in the rain and it rained 2 of the days we were there. Got the receipt for the rental today. The cost of the tablet was $21.95 per day.If this isn't bait and switch I don't know what is. Would not recommend Budget.
• November 2023 by Dave R.
  Learned the hard way. Do not rent from Budget until they resolve their management issues. Rented in Albuquerque New Mexico Through Costco Travel recently and first the agent asked me whether I wanted to use the refueling charge and I said no. Upon returning the car there was no one at the airport to receive the car just a long line of cars with no attendant insight. Customers left their cars in order to board the bus for the terminal, we also left the car with the keys inside only to get a text from budget two days later that we were three days overdue. Now I am being charged for three extra days that I did not use even though the car was in their possession. Only under grossly deficient management can this type of customer service occur. Managment is responsible for training employees and maintaining customer service.
• October 2023 by Barb Richter
  The windshield was not clean so driving in the direct sunlight was difficult.Car was not clean.Less that half tank of gas.I called customer service. They said they would give me a credit toward the the rental but I was billed the full amount.So, not done yet.
• October 2023 by Phyllis Shess
  Avoid at all costs. Only 1 agent to handle both Budget and Avis at Albuquerque Airport. Took more than an hour in line to get paperwork. Premium level customers got no consideration despite paying to join preferred customer program. The agent was wonderful and calm, despite the obvious pressure he was working under to keep people from revolting. For that reason, 1 star for having Jack/Ian on the counter.The car itself died after 2 days and it took 9 - yes NINE -- calls to the emergency line to get a human...only to be told there were no cars to exchange. We finally got AAA to jump start and drove to a local Budget office in Santa Fe. Their rep Michael was extremely apologetic and tried to assist. He expected a car return that day and we were able to finally make an exchange to a different vehicle. But for him, we would have been five 75 yr old females stuck with no way to get to a safe place or return to Albuquerque for our flights. We lost an entire day of a 4 day vacation. The liability issues for Budget are clear. Had we been in a more remote area on the side of the road at night -- a real possibility -- anything could have happened. Budget [except for these two reps] seemed totally unconcerned and offered no solutions other than they would come to tow the car. Again...AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
• October 2023 by Meredith Johnson
  Our entire experience with Budget/Avis for our recent rental car was absolutely unbelievable and unprofessional. It started from the pick up, which took over 2 hours.. (there were only 2 employees working on a busy Saturday). Then when we finally made it to the front of the line, the employee that was handling our rental was rude and refused us the car because we asked why he needed to run our credit card for a 3rd time, when we pre paid for our vehicle weeks ahead of time online and had already given it to him to run when we first approached the counter. This unprofessional employee yelled and screamed at us and threatened to call security if we didn’t go outside to talk to his manger… the entire situation made no sense (and I was VERY happy to talk to this individuals manager). His erratic behavior was alarming. We finally got our car and it was dirty on the inside and outside. But at this point we were approaching 3 hours… we just wanted to start our vacation. Upon return of car, there were absolutely no employees to be found. Not the usual return process at all. We had to leave and run to make our flight. Fast forward a few weeks, we receive a letter in the mail stating that we are being charged CLEANING fees for the “interior being dirty”…. Excuse me!!! We received the car dirty. There was no inspection process before leaving the lot.. nothing! Needless to say we will NEVER use Budget or Avis ever again & we do a fair amount of travel. Hope this review saves another person the hassle. The other rental car lines at the Albuquerque airport were moving fast and efficient.
• October 2023 by Susan Bainbridge
  This is a complaint about the management of Budget Car Rental. The stuff we dealt with were all very kind, but very overworked. We rented a car during the balloon festival which is an annual event bringing approx.1 million people into Albuquerque. How can Budget not plan for this with extra staffing and cars? We waited in line over 2 hours as there was only one person Working at the desk. Then, we waited for 45 minutes to receive our rental which never showed up. The staff at the outdoor office found us an alternative car in the same class which we gratefully accepted in spite of a huge dent on the driver side fender from an apparent collision.. As we exited the lot, we had man who checked our receipt make a note on it acknowledging the damage. On our drive to our destination in Santa Fe we noticed the car had a noticeable shimmy when it reached the speed limit.The next day we went on a day trip to some Cliff dwellings and then noticed that the tires were all bald. You could see steel treads starting to show through one of the tires and most had several gashes. We changed our plans for the day and headed home and called the local Budget office. They told us they had no cars available and couldn’t do anything for us. They suggested I call roadside service which I did. They were very helpful and arranged for us to exchange the car at the local office. That part went very smoothly. The replacement car was very good. The woman who helped us through roadside service was very accommodating.I understand it was overwhelming because of the balloon festival, but budget should have planned better as it’s an annual event.
• September 2023 by Melissa F.
  I am with all the people who wish they'd read the reviews for the Budget counter at the Albuquerque Airport. I've been in line for a half hour (my timer is on), and there are still 15 people ahead of me. There are NO lines for any of the other rental car companies. There are 15 people behind me. There are two people working the counter. Obviously this company gives zero you-know-what's for their clients.
• September 2023 by Tami Flater
  Beware that when u book online it’s not the price u will pay!! I booked online & paid $158 for 2 days which wasn’t bad but then my bill ended up being $350 double what I was told & what I originally paid! & don’t forget to fill it up with gas as I know it was my fault as I forgot but for less then 1/2 a tank of gas I was charged $100 absolutely ridiculous !! I understand car rental companies rip u off but come on….will never use budget again in this lifetime
• September 2023 by Tiffany Jackson
  Horrible. Contract pick up was noon. Stood in line 1.5hrs. No apology and man was super rude. When the amount was a few hundred dollars higher than my confirmation, I looked at my email, and as I did so, he said “I JUST told you the cost!” Then when I said I didn’t appreciate his response, he said he was “hangry.” No apology whatsoever, for the delay nor the rudeness. Then he proceeded to try to coerce us not getting a larger gas guzzler stating that the smaller car would use more gas due to less power. Suppose he was hoping to have small cars available to others who’d reserved them (the line was long in front and behind us!). Totally ridiculous. Wasted a couple hours of our trip and Budget couldn’t have cared less. I don’t recommend Budget, definitely not this unprofessional, shady location.