This review is for the Avis/Budget Car Rental location at 1325 Broadway in Saugus. The man at the rental desk seemed courteous and professional, and the car was clean, although perhaps a little more scuffed than most cars we have rented. There was the standard upselling and offers of insurance, but we declined since we were already covered. Then he issued dire warnings about what could happen. If there was even a tiny chip in the windshield, for example, we would be responsible for completely replacing it. The car was equipped with a transponder, whether we wanted it or not, and he warned that if we got too close to certain lanes at the toll booth, it would be activated and we would have to pay a significant fee. We started to feel uneasy.
We were in the mountains of New Hampshire when the tire pressure alert lit up. We found an Auto Zone and bought a tire gauge, only to find that all 4 tires were inflated at different levels, with one as low as 20 pounds. We inflated the tires but the light stayed on. There were no auto repair shops open because it was a Sunday, so we were forced to curtail our plans for the day and stay close to the hotel rather than have a blow out on a remote mountain road. Several hours later the tire pressure light went off and never came back on but it affected a whole day of our vacation.
We called Budget during their posted Sunday business hours. In addition to reporting the tire problem, we wanted to inquire about extending our rental because the time of an upcoming tour had changed. We called three times. Twice there was no answer, and the third time, the person who answered said he would call back in ten minutes. We never heard from him again.
When we turned the car in, we asked about a cab to Boston. The Budget man gave us a business card for a company to call, and we were quoted an estimate of $30. This experience turned out to be a nightmare. The gentleman driving the cab did not know how to enter an address into his GPS, he did not know major landmarks in Boston such as Boylston St. or Boston Common, and he surely did not know how to find our hotel. We drove around three times as long as we should have, and finally used a big chunk of our data plan trying to help him find it. I felt sympathy for him until he charged us $53 because of the extended driving time and offered no apology. It was very stressful. Perhaps it was a scam.
In summary, I have zero confidence in the reliability of this car rental location. read more