I reserved a cargo van for July 24 to pick up items from my storage unit. I flew into town specifically for this purpose, spending approximately $400 on airfare, and arrived at the Budget location a little early for my confirmed reservation. To my disbelief, I was informed that there were no cargo vans available, and no trucks available either.
What made the situation even more frustrating was the complete lack of customer service. The owner or manager never came out to apologize, explain what happened, or offer any type of solution. Instead, the employee at the counter simply gave me the phone number for another Budget location, saying they had a truck available. When I called, I was told they had no vehicles available either. I then contacted six additional Budget locations, and every one of them told me the same thing, including for the following day.
As a result, I wasted $400 on airfare for a trip that served no purpose because Budget failed to honor my confirmed reservation. I then had to spend another $400 to fly back to Georgia, and I will now have to pay for yet another trip to retrieve my belongings. This entire situation has cost me hundreds of dollars, valuable time, and an incredible amount of frustration.
I have rented from Budget for many years and have always trusted the company. Unfortunately, this experience has permanently changed my opinion. A confirmed reservation should mean that a vehicle will be available, or at the very least, that the company will make every effort to resolve the issue when it cannot honor its commitment.
To make matters worse, I canceled my reservation after being told there were no vehicles available. I was informed that the reservation could not be canceled in the system at that time. Despite that, on July 27, Budget attempted to charge a deposit to my credit card. Thankfully, my credit card company flagged and prevented the transaction. After everything that had already happened, seeing an attempted charge for a reservation that Budget was unable to fulfill was unacceptable and only added to my frustration.
This is, without question, one of the worst customer service experiences I have ever had. Budget has lost a long-time customer, and I will not be renting from them again.
If I could give this experience 0 stars, I would. read more