Slow service in the terminal on arrival at ALB yielded only a redirect to the garage desk. The Jeep compass was dirty on the outside, and had a smell inside. The car had nearly bald tires (photo) with wear strips clearly visible, and a dash warning that an oil change was required (photo). On return the line was backed up past Hertz, and the attendant who told me to stay behind an unoccupied car was saying that sometimes it just gets busy (at 2PM on a Sunday), and that he "can't move at 1,000 miles an hour". The agent who checked us in did a quick barcode scan, said "leave the keys on the dash", never asked about any issues, and ran away. Really not a good experience. read more

Budget Rent A Car - Obvious deferred maintenance. - Car Rental Near Me - Latham, New York

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Great vehicle, superb staff, and on the highway in 15 minutes Really enjoyed my experience renting from Budget at Albany Airport. The stations are across from baggage claim. Easy and simple. After a belligerent customer tried to parse and debate the language of contract terms, a rep named Abbas got to us and was super friendly and helpful. Gave my reservation package that I confirmed a couple days prior, received my car, and learned it was a level better than expected. Very helpful for this trip. A quick four minute walk across to the parking facility and I was literally on the highway within 20 minutes of stepping up to the counter. Vehicle was clean and ready to go. Minor scuffs in a couple spots, which is normal for a rental in my experience. Ran well and like the drive for a large SUV. Return exchange was super smooth with no lines. The Budget rep was friendly, and I saw the folio receipt in my email within minutes. We were in line for flight check-in within 10 minutes of pulling in to return the car. Reviewed my receipt and no surprise fees. Bonus points from reserving from my Alaska Airlines account, too. Boom. I'll use these folks again next time. read more

Budget Rent A Car - Abbas taking great care of folks at the counter - Car Rental Near Me - Latham, New York

Car was ready on arrival with only short wait in line. Car was as reserved. Drop off was easy and efficient. Nice that counters are right by baggage claim and cars are just a short walk away. Only negative was car was still a little dirty on pick up but definitely not a dealbreaker with all the other positives. read more

NEVER AGAIN. I waited for more than an hour at the Albany Airport Budget counter to pick up a car I had reserved and paid for in advance. The next day, I discovered that one of the tires was underinflated and had a slow leak - so Budget had basically sent me out in an unsafe vehicle. After AAA came and put the spare tire on, I drove back to Albany for a replacement vehicle. Rather than an apology, the Budget reps in the garage offered only a sarcastic laugh when I said I would be asking Budget to waive fuel charges, due to the danger and inconvenience Budget had caused me. Although I returned the replacement car with a full tank, Budget charged me an additional $138 anyway. Apparently, Budget employees don't check the fuel gauge on returned cars, and I didn't have the "time-stamped documentation" their online Customer Service demanded as proof. When I asked them how much my tolling charges were, they said there was nothing in the rental agreement about my enrolling in the toll program, though I had confirmed my enrollment with two on-site Budget employees. (Note: An additional $28.16 charge from Budget later appeared on my credit card, with no explanation or documentation. I assume this was the tolling charge.) The only good thing I can say is that the Budget reps at the counter in the Albany airport were working hard, and patiently, in a very inefficient system. I thank them for their courtesy and good humor, and offer my sympathy for having to work for such a broken company. I will never rent from Budget again. read more

The car we rented was okay. It had a clanking noise when it drove right when we got it. The process to get the car at the airport was unorganized. Difficult to find car, no direction whatsoever from the employees. The drop off though was the worst. We had to drop off right before an early flight and there were cars parked haphazardly everywhere, blocking all the areas to drop off cars, parked side ways in front of areas you should be able to drive thru. With how much of a mess the drop off was, you'd think the apocalypse had happened and everyone just left their cars anywhere. read more

Budget Rent A Car - Car Rental Near Me - Latham, New York

Nice car Kia suv at a good price. Manager was very helpful. Would use again and recommend in ALB.

It took us 2 hours in line to get our car. Never again. My wife was here 2 weeks ago, same line. read more

I would give zero stars if I could. I waited in line for over an hour, only to be told that the large SUV I had booked was not available "and had not been available all day". They gave me a much-smaller car but only made a small deduction to my bill - they refused to match the actual cost of the car I received. During the long wait time, one of the desk managers left and took a long break while we all stood there. Terrible all around. Do not book through Budget. read more

Replace the entire staff Nasty, sloppy, rude An elderly woman ahead of me had a reservation but they wouldn't give her a car because of no return ticket. They called manager and told him. I said I have never been asked for return info. Got the clerk in trouble. She was suspended, manager Joe called cops. Meanwhile the lady and I are still waiting for cars. I got mine and refused to leave till she got hers. Their response was, we aren't helping until you leave. The other clerk wouldn't give his name to us or his previous customer. He got involved and he and Joe manager used F bomb to us. I'm going back to enterprise. read more

Worst service I've ever experienced. We didn't get the car we had booked because they claimed they had run out of cars and kept making excuses. The staff were also very rude. Completely unreliable and unpredictable. I will never book with them again. read more

This Budget/Avis counter is by far the worst customer service I've ever received ever! I arrive in Albany on a Sunday evening, grab my checked back turn and walk to the Budget/Avis counter. Two employees behind the counter one leaned against the back wall and the other sitting at the computer on the left. Neither one lifted their heads, after about 20 seconds of standing in line the younger fellow looks up at me and says NOTHING! I then look at each of them and ask if anyone is working today?! I let it go, no biggie...right. Grab my car and go. Get to where I was going and the tire pressure was 15 PSI down. Add air to tire, go to bed wake up to 11 psi, go fill it up and return car. When returning car the employee receiving the vehicles laid his arms out over the hood of the car and say, "Ugh, now I gotta do this before I leave!" I politely told him he could pass me off to the next guy.....Alls good until the next morning my new car has low tire pressure. I go fill it up hoping it was just a fluke. Next morning, low tire pressure. I fill it up and decide to take this one back since I still had a few days left of my trip. This time I had some personal shopping items in the car and a car seat. I parked went to the garage counter and told him my issue. He told me to go back to the car and get the screen shot from the worker receiving returned vehicles. I told him my stuff was in the car and he told me to leave it in the car and take the keys with me when I come back with the screen shot from the employee receiving vehicles. Mind you this is the same guy from the other night as well. I get the screen shot from him and lock the car, he says I need to give him the keys, I said I am going to keep them until I get my new car keys so I can keep my personal stuff safe. He started giving attitude and to be honest with you, I just lost it and let him have it.....I went back to the counter shaking, upset with no keys, got my new keys asked for a refund of some sorts for being inconvenienced so many times and then yelled at. He said he gave me a discount and that's all he could do but upon looking at my itinerary and the balance he had me pay there was no difference. He then deducted $80.00 off my bill. It does not reflect on my receipt so now I need to make a phone call to a number that no one answers. Then fast forward to drop off morning the next Monday, I arrive at 5:50, the drop off line for rental cars was so backed up people were abandoning their cars so they would not miss their flight. New management and compassionate employees are in order for this location. I will never rent from Budget/Avis in this area. Do better. Corporate need to show up here. Only 1 star because I had to in order to move forward with this review. read more

Firstly my review has nothing to do with this location, it's more about Budget/Avis in general. I just returned from an international trip and rented a vehicle from Budget. My vehicle rental was prepaid at booking. After returning from my trip I was charged $468 for insurance that I was never made aware of and certainly wouldn't have paid if clearly disclosed or communicated upon checking in. I contacted Budget Customer Service and was told this was not refundable and how Budget operates. This is a "beware" review for anyone who rents from Budget! I'll certainly never be using them in the future and chalk this up to a lesson learned experience. read more

We flew into Albany NY and have been waiting over an hour in line to get our car. Highly recommend NOT using budget or if you do, get their fast break. There was no line for any other company. read more

We prepaid for a car rental. When we arrived at Albany Airport (ALB), Budget did not have a car for us and told us we would have to contact customer service later to get our money back. It was after ten in the evening. Budget told us no one at the airport had rental cars left and we couldn't get a rental that night. We walked across the street and Enterprise came to the rescue! Enterprise rented us a better car, for less money, with MUCH better customer service. I will be a loyal customer to Enterprise in the future. They've always been good to me in the past too. Budget has lost a customer for life. They are liars and cheats. It's eleven days later and have still not returned my money. Today they said it will take another five or six business days. We will see if that person has kept their word (not likely) or if I need to contact MasterCard and file a complaint. read more

DO NOT RENT FROM BUDGET! I'm absolutely shocked and appalled by the experience my family had with Budget Rent a Car. We were given a vehicle with no oil in it -- I had to pay out of pocket for oil just to keep the engine from seizing. That alone should have been enough to take the car off the road. But it gets worse. The rear passenger tire was completely bald, with the steel belting showing. That tire blew out while we were driving with two children in the car. We were lucky we weren't seriously injured or killed. My husband had to change the tire himself on the side of the road in 100-degree heat in Georgia. To top it off, they charged us for towing that NEVER happened -- no one ever came we did it ourselves! By the time we made it back to return the car, the power steering was failing too. This vehicle was clearly not road-safe and never should have been rented out. We've spent hours on the phone with Budget, going in circles trying to get this resolved. That's nowhere near acceptable for the danger they put my family in, the money I had to spend, and the time I've wasted trying to get answers. Budget, do better. This was negligent, dangerous, and disgraceful. read more

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I pre paid for a pickup truck to be picked up after I landed in Albany, NY. We landed about 1030 PM and went to immediately pick up our vehicle. There were about 10 people in line waiting to get a car and we were told that budget did not have any more vehicles. I told them that I prepaid and asked what they suggested I do and they responded "Come back tomorrow." I explained that I was staying 2 hours from the airport and coming back tomorrow was not an option. They then suggested that I get an UBER to my hotel and then UBER back tomorrow. Probably the worst part of this was the woman behind that counter was actually laughing as everyone was freaking out about being stranded at the airport with no ride after they had reserved a vehicle. I asked if they were going to pay for $175 UBER ride each way and I was told that they would probably take it off the rental but if the UBER ride went over my rental cost that I probably wouldnt get that reimbursed. After UBER denied to take us because the trip was too far, I returned to the counter to find out they had just had a car returned. We agreed to take it since the alternative was being stranded. We were put into a hybrid car instead of the truck I pre paid for. I was told I would have to ask for a refund after the vehicle was returned. During the trip we noticed low air pressure in one of the tires and since we were in the middle of nowhere we took it to a dealership since it was the only thing around. Cost me $40 to have a screw removed and the tire patched. After returning the car, we made sure to fill up 10 miles from the airport. Since we had a 6AM flight, we had to drop off the card at 4:15AM. No one was working and we had to drop the keys on the drop box. As I was boarding my first flight I recieved a bill via email stating the fuel out was 8/8 and the fuel in was 5/8 and I was charged $47.72 for fuel service. Overall, I prepaid $480.88 for my truck rental and recieved a downgraded vehicle and had an additional $63.62 in charges and paid for a tire repair. When I called customer service initially they offered me 1 day free rental for the inconvienence. Now on hold to speak with a manager. I will never use Budget rentals again after this experience. I am fully convinced that the Budget at the Albany Airport are crooks and are stealing from people who may not pay attention to their reciept. I spoke to National car rental and they said that Budget overbooks every week at the airport and this is a constant issue. They said they are always flooded with people looking for a car after being screwed over by Budget Rental. This is unfortunate as I travel fairly regularly and rent cars often. UPDATE: So I was able to speak with a supervisor at Budget, Samyiah Employee #40502 and they gave me a discount for two days rental at a rate of $52.59 a day. She said since I got a discount for pre paying, my rental was actually a higher amount than the truck I rented so the max she could give me was the two days. I explained that if I had pre payed for a car it would have been even cheaper so that logic did not make sense. They agreed to refund the BOGUS fuel charges but refused to pay for the tire fix because I did not get it pre-approved by roadside assistance. I did not feel like this discount was sufficient given my experience but they refused to do anything else or give me any information. Apparently Samyiah does not have a boss and she is the highest person you can talk to in customer service (her words.) Customer service was a bit rude and unhelpful. Will not be using this company again. read more

Dropped my rental off a half hour earlier than expected drop off to get on my 8 am flight with a full tank of gas, budget says I dropped off at 151 in the afternoon and charged me for an extra day and a late fee so took an extra 124.00 off my credit card, now fighting to get my money back. I was back in Tennessee at 1:00 . just crazy read more

The rating should be lower than 1, but 0 wasn't available. I got upgraded from a compact to a Volvo SUV, because they were out of compacts. Sounds great, but dash controls were difficult to understand, manual offered little to no help. And, on day 2 of the rental, a warning icon came on. It turned out to be the for the emission controls system. The roadside assistance person insisted that the vehicle had to be turned in and exchanged at the nearest Budget faciltiy from where I was. That turned out to be Syracuse NY. I had to drive to Syracuse Airport to exchange the vehicle (they should've brought a replacement to me!), which cost me time, and money for fuel, tolls - and a half day of work lost. This was also the 3rd year in a row that I rented from this location (Budget), and got a car that was not roadworthy - the previous 2 years, low tire pressure indicators cause me to have to pay out-of-pocket for air, since I was too far from the airport to turn back. After contacting them about being very unhappy with the experience and the quality of their maintenance, I got an email, telling me how they take pride in providing "...well-maintained vehicles..." (NOT!), and how sorry they were for my "..disappointing experience..". I got credited for the bare minimum (if that) - a day's rental, and perhaps money for extra fuel and tolls. Nothing offering additional credit as a good will gesture, nor an offer to compensate me for the half day of work lost because I had to drive the car to exchange it. Whether it was this location, or this is generally what you can expect when you rent from Budget, I don't know for sure. What I DO know is that Hell will freeze over at least once before I rent from them again. Getting vehicles 3 years in a row that should NOT have been rented out in the condition they were in; Budget not having the class of car available that I reserved (a month in advance)- (2nd year in a row); and the anemic response to the complaint for the 3rd and final faulty vehicle rental "experience", convinced me to avoid Budget at all costs. From looking at other reviews, it appears that my experience was not a one-off. AVOID BUDGET!! read more

I pre paid for an AWD SUV and was told on the phone was AWD For base price. When I arrived at the rental desk, was told additional $50 per day for AWD. The agent was unable to show me on line where AWD is published as an upcharge. The check engine light came on and I was never able to contact the Albany office . I won't go into what returning the car was like. Employees were inconsiderate and ignorant . Worst car rental experience ever. read more

I made a reservation three weeks prior to needed a vehicle. It was confirmed multiple times by Budget and they sent me an email the day prior to the pick-up date confirming. When I arrived at 9:00 at night to pick up my rental (a mini van) I was informed they had no vehicles. They had a Prius I could rent. I told the gentleman that I had a party of 7 so we needed a van or similar size vehicle. He told me straight out they overbooked, no one cancelled and they had no vehicles. I could come back the next day. I told him that really wasn't going to work since we were all at the airport at 9:00 at night NOW! I will NEVER rent from Budget or their affiliates again, they basically left us stranded! read more

if I could 0 I would. We reserved and paid months in advance for a car. After a long stressful trip we arrived to get our car and they have NO CARS. A line of customers and no cars. and you know how they handle that, the sales agent sit there and laugh and tell you to try another desk. Do Not give these people business. They ate very unprofessional read more

If I could give this place ZERO stars I would. I arrived in Albany on August 8th heading to the hospital to spend the last few days with my dying father. I booked my rental car ahead of time and was hoping for a quick transition so I could make my way to the hospital as quickly as possible, but NOPE. I did pay for an upgrade and walked out to the kiosk in the parking garage to get my rental car. The first car I was placed in had a broken screen and smelled like old weed. It was disgusting. I then proceeded back to the kiosk and was placed in a Jeep Grand Cherokee which smelled like FRESH WEED! Like someone JUST smoked in it. The manager came over to the car to smell it and was apologetic. I reiterated to her that I HAD to get to the hospital because my father was dying! After 45 minutes I finally was placed in a Ford Escape. I was told by a worker I would be getting a $50 credit and to call corporate when things settled down to have them 'help out' with my inconvenience as well. Upon returning the rental on Thursday, August 14th no one was checking people in and that entire area smelled like someone was smoking weed. I walked over to the kiosk and was told to just leave the keys in the cup holder. Today is SATURDAY, August 16th and I JUST received confirmation and receipt of the WRONG VEHICLE returned. These people left my reservation connected to the Jeep that wreaked like weed! In addition, they ADDED the fuel service to my reservation which I NEVER gave permission for! Not to mention the receipt says I only drove 26 miles. I called the customer service number today and what a joke that was. I wanted to talk to a manager but got a freaking 'ticket number' instead. Having this added stress after my father's passing is completely on the Albany Airport Budget office. I'm expecting someone to reach out. I've tried calling the number on my receipt that is 518-242-4450 but as usual, no one answers. Renting a vehicle should not be this difficult!! STAY AWAY FROM ALB BUDGET!! read more

Don't ever rent from these scam artist ..I literally paid for a car and reserved it, not only did they give away my car they didn't even refund me I had to call customer service and get refunded which takes 72 hours.if I didn't have money to get another rental I would've been completely screwed.. read more

GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!! If I could give it a zero I would. We rented a car for my wife who was going to bury her father in law in a town about 50 miles away. She had a Toyota Camry reserved. They "upgraded her" to a "mini SUV" which was much smaller than her reserved car. I totally understand being out of a particular vehicle but instead of directing her in her tired and bereaved state to another rental agency who had larger cars, they stuck her with an absolute lemon. What a joke. I will NEVER RENT WITH BUDGET IN ALBANY AGAIN, PERIOD! read more

We rented a car and after arriving at the airport baggage claim we find we will be in line for 90-120 minutes. It has been 15 minutes and we have not moved in a 30 person line. Suggestion would be to try another company that knows how to staff a line. If they knew that they had this many renters why not get another person or two to move things along? For the record this wasn't my choice to rent here but I'm paying the price for a friend's decision read more

We were going to be abt 10 hrs late for a return and Budget had the audacity to charge us an additional $560! For 10 hrs. When we inquired instead abt dropping the rental off at the city we were in and renting a new rental for 1 day, we were told it would be over $700 plus a fee to change the location. F*** Budget!! DO NOT RENT FROM BUDGET EVER!! read more

We returned car rented in Buffalo to Albany International Airport. I notified Budget from the terminal as we were boarding that I had left my prescription sun glasses in the recently returned rental, They said they would send the glasses to my home in Phoenix. Never got them back. I have disputed the $118.06 bill and $225.00 cost of replacing the glasses with VISA. There customer service is offshore and has been a nightmare to deal with resulting in numerous phone calls and emails to no avail. Albany will not answer their phone nor can a customer email Albany. I have been told three times by the offshore customer service Albany does not participate in the lost and found. This has cost me endless amounts of time and expense. I will no longer rent from Budget or Avis... their parent... from now on. William H read more

+ Budget always has low rates. I was upgraded to an SUV for the base rate of $36/day + The Budget rental cars are located on-site in the ALB airport parking garage. - This is a small airport so the wait at the counter can be long depending on the time of day. - Beware of hidden fees. Our agent never informed me the $15/day insurance was optional. My fault for not asking! read more

Rented this October at Albany International airport -had an outdated August tag on a Georgia plate!!! Luckily didn't get pulled over for that!!!! Vehicle was beat up with lots of dings and dents, also It would not bluetooth to my phone! read more

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Rented a car here for a few days. Staying in Scenectady and it was cheaper here than in town! Easy for a Bobtail truck to pass thru and drop and pick me up too. read more

20 customers waiting in life and one person working. Also tried to call 5 times to confirmation reservation and never even got an answer

The rudest woman was working at this location. Blonde hair older woman with glasses. She was awful and obviously enjoyed her bizarre behavior. Other people we didnt know were quick to comment how bad she was treating us. We went to another location and rented from enterprise without a problem. Yet we had to pay 450 dollars to take a taxi to our destination before we could rent the car. read more

I've rented cars from this Budget location at the Albany, NY airport several times in the past, and never had any major issues, unlike the experiences of other reviewers. I make my reservations online, call to confirm the day before arriving, and then grab my luggage and walk out to meet the shuttle bus which takes you to the off-site rental location. From there, I speak with the rental agent to ask if there are any upgrades available, as there usually are (as long as it's not track season). Generally a smile and a 'Thank You' will make the process a lot easier. Review the terms of the rental agreement on their screen and ask questions if you're not familiar with what is being offered. Sign the agreement, grab the keys, and walk out to your assigned parking space. Give the exterior of the car a careful walk around, and take photos if that makes you feel any better. Then load up your luggage, check out the interior, make adjustments to the seat, mirrors, and so on, plug in your GPS or smart phone and off you go. When you return, follow the directions of the car agents and line up where they point you, Offload your luggage quickly so they can scan the vehicle's VIN number and process your reservation. Grab your receipt, hop on the shuttle bus, and ride in comfort back to the terminal. Seems pretty simple to me. read more

A friendly sales associate greeted us at the desk in baggage claim, and he quickly had us on our way. As we were leaving the parking garage another employee noticed a small problem with our car and asked us to stand by. She alerted another agent. Within 60 seconds we were given the keys to another car. Bravo, Budget! read more

i made a reservation for a chevy suburan or similar at albany international airport because in needed the cargo and passenger space. you tried to put me in a nissan armada with hardly any cargo space. i went right back to the counter and than you put me in toyota sienna. i "appreciate" the $50.00 discount i was entitled to since the minivan was a cheaper rate vehicle. you than attempted over charged me for rental. i had the rental for 2 days and you charged me for 3 days. i provided a timestamp photo of the mileage which matched the return mileage exactly and was still charge for additional day. i returned the key at the counter and was told to put the key in the key drop box. they did not check in the vehicle until the following day. i than have your agent hanging up the phone on me. it is simple math. i am now on call number 4 with you guys. really shady business. there customer service rep want to talk over you the supervisors don't want to listen. one supervisor said looks like there was 2 adjustment already made, my response there can be a million adjustment made but if its not correct it doesn't make a difference. read more

Upon dropping off my rental car at Budget Rental Albany International Airport, I left my expensive sunglasses in the center console. Since it's been cloudy and overcast these last days, they were not used, and hence, I forgot about them. Josh from Budget called me shortly after the car was dropped off to let me know they had my sunglasses and I could pick them. Prior to his call, I was still unaware that they were missing. Fortunately, I was still in the area, and picking them up was easily doable. I'm really pleased with Josh and the excellent customer service from Budget Rental. I certainly will be renting from them in the future! read more

I had a terrible experience with Budget Albany Airport in October 2021 and would advise all customers to use alternative firms for car hire. I returned my car on time with a full tank of petrol, following the attendant's instructions to place the keys in the passenger glove box (as lots of cars were being returned at same time, without sufficient parking space) Two days later I noticed that an extra $470 had been taken off my credit card, without explanation. On checking with Budget Customer Service, I was told this was the penalty fee for returning a car without a key. I explained to them where I had left the key, noting I put it in the glove box on the explicit instruction of their member of staff. They are refusing to even check this glove box, or refund the penalty. They are also refusing to explain how/why I could have returned the car without a key given that I used the key to drive the car back to the rental facility. So I am $470 down, due to the incompetence and dishonesty of Budget staff. Please steer clear of this fraudulent company. read more

This has been a horrible experience. I booked a van over four months ago. I get the van and am driving home and there is a seat missing. They put us in a 13 passenger van. well first I had to call corporate to get the upgrade at no extra cost. However they cost me to be late for our family trip to North Carolina. In addition the upgrade cost us more in gas, it smelled like stale cig. Smoke, there was a dent by the gas tank and the slidding door was acting out. well then I attempted to call several times and was hung up on transferred etc. the day we left North Carolina the sliding door wouldn't even close all the way which was a safety issue for my family but of course no one in Budget was available to talk to and again I got the run around read more

CAUTION RENTING HERE!!! Picked up rental at Albany airport on 9/11. Rental $299. Charged credit card $531. 100 miles into trip vehicle shows 0% oil life. Rental agent spoke few words, licence and credit card. read more

Horrible- 1 person working the counter, 45 minutes to check in. Hertz and Avis on either side of us had 3 people at the counter and looked very efficient. Don't use these fools! read more