Rental process: Waited in line for 20 minutes, then another 1.5 hours for a "car to be brought from the back." Me and many others waited, and waited, and waited while lone staff member Carlos continued checking in new people. A couple other staff leisurely strolled from the back after an hour but didn't appear to be assisting him in any way. I don't get it. I had a reservation and waiting 2 hours for a car is ridiculous!! Worst experience ever with Budget. Carlos seemed nice enough. He just needed help and cars. He stated they shared the fleet with Avis but there hadn't been anyone in Avis' line for quite awhile. Tension got high in the lobby because people were tired of waiting. Typically they walk out to the car and it is mutually inspected by you both when renting. Here they just send you out to where the vehicle is parked. It was a little confusing at first because there are multiple agencies with the same parking stall numbers. Since the Budget lot for available cars isn't clearly marked you don't know where their lot begins/ends. The car itself drove well and appeared clean. Return process: There was a lady sitting outside waiting for returns. Maybe that position could assist in the Rental process when not busy. I digress. Lol. After pulling in she gets in the car, checks the mileage and tells me they will email me a receipt. I requested one be printed. Of course we had to go inside for that (guess her handheld unit couldn't handle that function). She told me they wouldn't give me a receipt inside either. Wait what?! Once inside I observed she went to the Avis (vs Budget) counter. So I followed suit. You guessed it...no one was in line still at Avis so I approached the counter. The guy there says ok you're all set. I again requested a receipt. He stated it's in your email. So I pull up my email right there and there is a charge for over $65. He stated oh that will be corrected. Would you believe I had to ask him to correct it right then and send me a new email? Still no one in line so he's just chilling - doing nothing else. I believe he had his hands in his pockets. Lol. Begrudgingly (it appeared) he corrected the invoice and sent me a new email with a zero balance. Wow. Don't think I'll ever rent from this Budget/Avis location again. Sorry can't recommend at this time. read more

Budget Rent A Car - Line - Car Rental Near Me - Long Beach, California

Reserved a car for a weekend trip. They call me day before they're sold out and can't honor it. I call customer support, they can't do anything other than tell me to go to the airport. Awful, unprofessional, never again going through them. read more

No inventory. Don't call customer service. Don't rent. They provide no information. Good luck to anyone trying to rent a car in Long Beach. read more

So my sister works for a company that brings her to Long Beach and ask that she rents a car to travel so we have been here a couple times. I like the fact that they have all the rental company here as it is an airport but by far this is the best. Fast and adequate employees you get in and out with a 24 hour key return. Thanks for making everything so easy keep up the good work guys. read more

This place is awful. I had a reservation and waited in line for over an hour. There was only one guy working the counter although they have three stations. A few different people/employees poked their head out the door but none came out to assist. When I finally get to the counter they tell me they don't currently have any cars and they will not have any until after 1pm. My reservation was for 8am. This is bad business. You shouldn't rent cars that you don't have available. I will be contacting the BBB and filing a formal complaint. I spent over an hour in line for nothing. Budget Rent A Car, you should be ashamed. Horrible business. I would give zero stars if I could. read more

Never rent in this location. My flight was delayed and when I was there to pick up my car no one was at the counter. They didn't have after hour assistance as well. read more

Had a question I wanted to ask them before picking up the car. Called for a week straight and no one ever answered the phone. I emailed and did everything I could to get in touch with someone but nothing. I never got in touch with anyone so when I got there, the gentleman at the front checked me in pretty quick. I asked for two car seats as well. He was able to get it for me but didn't tell me how much they were. He told me the total which I thought was kind of high but he said it was just a deposit. Afterwards, I saw the charge for each car seat were significantly higher than what they were in the past. Never got an explanation of the bill. Would probably rent from another company next time. read more

Always short staffed car is always dirty inside and out, wipe the steering wheel and my cloth turns black. Usually the customer service is so good I did not want to give a bad review but today the car was GROSS with crumbs everywhere and shmeg on the steering wheel and dash and rotting food on the floor. After 10 years of loyalty I might be switching! read more

Budget Rent A Car - Car Rental Near Me - Long Beach, California

I always have great service and the car that I need at this Budget. They have recently moved their rental counter inside the cute vintage terminal! Thank you! read more

Renting a vehicle at Long Beach Airport in California... Using Dan O.'s hack, I used Autoslash.com to find the least expensive vehicle for my Southern California trip. Autoslash sent me to Priceline where I booked a car. When I got to the rental car center, the agent found my reservation easily. She had me initial the contract and sign it. She handed me the remote and said my sports car, a white Dodge Charger, would be in stall K 05. I repeated, "K 05" and looked on the document that she gave me to verify the stall number. Searching in the dimly lit parking lot, I found the correct stall, but the vehicle was a white Transverse. It was a very large vehicle - almost like a van. I was disappointed in the size, but I didn't really want to drag my luggage back to the rental center. I placed my tote bag and backpack in the back seat. Just as I was hauling my check-in bag into the Transverse, the headlights of the vehicle were blinking. That was odd because the remote in my hand wasn't able to do that. A couple approached me and said that their vehicle was supposed to be in stall K 05. Uhg. I showed them that I had the same stall number. The woman offered to go up and down the aisles with me to find my car. We eventually found it (after much stress and perspiration) in stall J 09... Thanks a lot, Budget! I didn't get any instructions on how to return the vehicle at 5am when you're probably not open. I'll just hope that there's a self-service kiosk like Hertz that I used last time. read more

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I wish I could say my experience with Budget Rent-A-Car was easy, but it was anything but. I returned my rental in clean condition and was hit with a cleaning fee. When I asked for proof, they sent photos that showed nothing but a few crumbs and dust--nothing that would require more than a standard vacuum. No spills, no odors, no pet hair. But instead of listening, they stonewalled me. What made this even worse? The car wasn't in safe condition to begin with. The dashboard showed an "oil maintenance required" warning the entire time I had it--something that made me anxious on a long-distance trip. Yet they held me to a higher standard than they held themselves. I had to spend days emailing, documenting, and threatening public complaints before they finally dropped the charge. Yes, they resolved it--but only after I fought for it. That's not customer service. That's damage control. If you rent from Budget, document everything. Take photos. Get proof. And be prepared to defend yourself, because they clearly won't defend you. read more

I stopped by Budget today to ask about renting a truck for the week, and wow... I immediately understood why their rating is so low. I accidentally parked in the wrong area (a common mistake for first-timers), and instead of politely informing me, a staff member rudely barked that I couldn't park there. Fine--I get it, rules are rules--but there's definitely a better way to communicate with a potential customer. After parking "properly" in the structure, I walked over to the trailer and waited to speak with the woman behind the desk. She was slightly more friendly, but still not exactly welcoming. I explained I was looking to rent a truck for a week. She began checking rates and said they did have trucks available. The weekly price she quoted was over $700--which seemed high, so I told her I had seen the same rental on Expedia for around $300. That's when things took a turn. The same rude man from earlier suddenly chimed in, loudly saying "We don't have trucks" while waving me off like I was a nuisance. She then conveniently backtracked and said, "Oh, it actually looks like we don't have any," despite what their own site and Expedia showed. So, either they're being shady or just completely disorganized. Either way--thanks for nothing, Budget. I won't be back. And if you value your time, money, or basic decency--don't bother stopping here. read more

Dropped off my rental at the long beach location. Full tank no damage etc. A week has passed and they sent me an email stating they are charging me 450 dollars for excessive cleaning because of some sand on the floor mats. Not excessive just what would come off your shoes at the beach. Scam! Don't rent from this company if you have an alternative. Their representative also didn't give me a name and just said my rental agreement covers "excessive cleaning". Which is completely subjective. To add to my frustration when I called customer service the woman who took my call was extremely rude and dismissive. Very condescending. Neither I, my family, nor my company will ever do business with Budget or Avis again. read more

It's a really special skill as an employee to tell a customer to F off without using the words. Karen (yeah. Of course her name is Karen) has this ability. I stood in line and waited for a car I had reserved. "Take a seat," it might be ready in a half hour. It wasn't necessarily what she said but the disdain with which she said it. I could feel just how little she cared about the customers. I looked around the room and other hostages rolled their eyes and said we are all waiting for cars. So... apparently they are so short staffed they can't do the basic function that they exist to do... rent cars. Want a car? Do not try budget. Just shop elsewhere read more

Very disappointed. I was charged for 10 days and 6 hours. When I rented it for only 6 hrs, I called customer service, was informed of the mistake, and was told the issue would be resolved. To my surprise, 5 days later, they closed the claim and wouldn't be reimbursed. I was told I need to submit proof of a receipt. I've been calling you all for over 30 minutes and nobody is picking up. read more

Worst rental experience ever. Waited in a 5 person line for over one hour. On top of that, a couple people in front of me didn't have cars ready for them and had to wait an ADDITIONAL half hour. If you do rent a car here, sign up for Fastbreak ahead of time. Their free membership program allows you to skip the entire line regardless of how long others have been waiting. I highly recommend you rent from another company. Their lines move SO much faster. read more

NEVER us Budget car rental at Long Beach, CA airport!! I usually use Hertz and will use them again in the future! I returned my car rental the morning of 2/26/25 before a flight. I had written down mileage to hand in with key butane attendant said, "I don't need that, just the key", and waved me off. This morning I received an email from Sedgewick, their claims agency, saying I caused scratches and minor body damage!! They requested my car insurance info. I NEVER caused the scratches nor body damage!! Total SCAM! No one ever did a walk-around before or after the car return. I have my credit card company suspending any further payment. DO NOT USE BUDGET but, Alamo is connected with them at that airport. SCAMMERS!! read more

Hello Budget, I rented a vehicle just a few weeks ago and it smelled like smoke, not cleaned, engine fumes, and the check engine light turned on within hours of rental. I turned in the rental a couple of hours late and was charged double. I contacted Customer service and they were rude and did not assist at all. This will be the last time I ever rent from your company. I wish y'all better. read more

Against my gut feeling from other overall bad Budget Car rental reviews....I said let me give them a chance. It had been a while since I rented and years ago they were good. I reserved a suv for the Labor Day weekend, which was supposed to be a Ford Edge or Similar. They never went out to go over the car with me. By the counter persons own admission he just issues the keys and said he had no idea if it was clean when I asked. I go to the parking space to pick up a "Dodge Durango" a 2025. Walking up to the car it looked dirty. When I opened it it was worse. It was so nasty on the inside and there was no way I felt comfortable sitting in there. I went back to the counter and told them they would have to give me another vehicle. They gave me a Volkswagen Atlas" it too was not clean on the outside. In fact, there were ants crawling on the outside... but I thought maybe they just parked under a tree. At that point we were already an hour off schedule from getting on the road for our mini vacation. So we just said forget it let just go. I got inside this car and noticed the ants were not just on the outside but also on the inside. I thought what the heck. And it was nasty throughout the entire car. We had to go back home and clean the car before leaving....delayed 2 hours. The windows had water spots so bad we had to do the windows because it was difficult to see. That's because cars get returned and they just rinse them off and park them. I had to wipe down all the seats, the vents in the back had hard sticky brown stains like someone had spilled a drink, I completed cleaned the entire console, steering wheel and door handles etc. NO customer should have to do this. This rental should have been free. And for 2025 vehicle to look like this and not be cleaned prior to renting out is inexcusable, negligent not to mention unprofessional and just plain bad business on Budgets part. Do better Budget if you want better ratings. I will NEVER again. read more

Budget Rent A Car - The air vent area in the back seat - Car Rental Near Me - Long Beach, California

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Wasn't sure where to go, as most of the other companies have their names along the parking lot. The counter service was good. Return service was cordial and informative, also practical. The staff members were helpful every time. read more

The process was fast and they did well, and they would have earned 5 stars. The problem is I left an item in my car, and I got back about 15 minutes later to get it back. They spent an hour trying to find the car, causing my wife to begin to yell profanity at me and them. They seem to have a serious problem with organization at this location, especially if they can't find a car that they got back 20 minutes later. read more

This company has so many flaws. The latest one is, I reserved a car 11/13/24 and less then 30 minutes i cancelled because i didnt need it after all. The date of the reserversation is 11-16-2024 3 days away. they charged me $50. Avis or hertz would never do that. Budget must be money hungry. i wont rent from them again. on top of that, the cars are always flity. read more

I rented a car from this location for 10 day rental. I had it for one day and then the alarm would not shut off and I could not use the key fob to get into the car. I drove two hours back to the location to ask for a new car. I was told That there were no cars available and that I should return the next day and they may have more cars. I didn't want to spend another four hours doing this so I returned the car and went to a neighboring car rental agency. My original contract was for $652 for 10 days. They charged me $248 for the one day that I had the car even though I didn't have a choice but to return it. I will never rent from budget again because their customer service is terrible. The people at the airport were nice and apologetic but nothing Could be done to get me another car. When I called the budget car customer service they told me that I had to pay the $248 because the daily rate was that and they were willing to give me a one day free rental.I'm not gonna use the one day free rental cause I'm not gonna rent from them ever again. I wish I had read the reviews about this place before I rented from them. I definitely don't recommend them. read more

This place is a scam. They have a full on bait and switch. I made a reservation for the cheapest car. When I got there they said it's not available because I used a third party, I made it the same day, and on top of it the car I wanted was recalled. My only option. Have no car or get upsold to the next available which was 196 dollars more. The car was dirty , not full of gas. I called customer service to complain I was bait and switched because I found my original reservation and it was not with a third party like she said. It was direct. Customer service said it's not their fault since I accepted the upgrade read more

I arrived 1hr early to pick up my rental car and was told I would have to pay an extra $100 to upgrade because the car I selected was not ready yet. As a fastbreak memeber and frequent customer I've never experienced this before. The associate was very rude and dismissive. Her name was Olivia. read more

Made a reservation via Costco travel. Car wasn't available and made us wait forever. Never again. Why does Costco even represent them. We could get a car quicker if we opted to upgrade, I guess that's how they make their money. read more

I'm not one to leave Yelp reviews but this one was bad my husband waited over 3 hours to be told there were no SUV's available - we booked this reservation over a month ago and have a huge trip planned TOMORROW. We never received a call ahead of time and on top of it all, they said they couldn't give us a refund right then and there and had us call customer service to do it. I will never be renting from them again and I hope this review spares everyone the stress it caused us. Please fix your system Budget and do better. read more

Wow, what a quick and seamless experience! Check in was quick! Return was easy! The lot attendant that gave me my receipt was SO friendly and awesome! He really put the cherry on the experience! I hope they value his customer service bc it definitely is rare and adds that extra next-level service that a lot of places lack. Will definitely not be hesitant to use the Budget at this airport for my future trips! read more

This is ABSOLUTELY the WORST auto rental agency in California!!! They will rent you a vehicle with NO SPARE TIRE!! Who does this? Then when you have a flat & cannot change it because there's NO SPARE tire....you're f_cked! Then they try to blame it on the customer & say oh, well you should've opted for the emergency roadside assistance. They left me stranded in the middle of nowhere for 12 hours because I had a flat & didn't opt for the roadside assistance. Then they promised me an Uber which never showed up. The tow truck driver shows up after me being stranded for 10 hours (driver says it has been a busy night) & says he can't take me anywhere because he's sick. Then I end up shelling out $300 to pay someone who was an hour & a half away from me to come pick me up & take me to my location which was like 2 hours. AND THEN, to add insult to injury, 3 months later...Budget charges my credit card close to $300 for the cost of towing the car!! ABSOLUTELY the WORST experience I have had in my entire life!!! Then when I write to Budget to express my DISSATISFACTION, I am met with a simple "we're sorry". REALLY? that's the best you can do? How about at least refunding me half of what I had to pay? I WILL NEVER EVER USE BUDGET RENTAL!!!! By the way, they are owned/associated with Alamo so I will never use them either!!! read more

I want say first off the long beach location was different first we had find our car they said e1 but it was in another location and today i noticed a second charge to my account so called obviously im mad i got 2 charges n lady tells me mine n my wifes bday is wrong i said i dont know what u have is there anyway to get confirmed without mine or wifes i already gave u my full name and address and gave u my bday but system has it wrong and she says guess please i said wtf how am suppose to guess a bday she snapped and told me to not talk to her that way n she hung up on me i really am not ok with that plus when i push button to speak with someone that speaks english can i please have a person who can understand and speak english clear cuz both people i talked to couldnt or barely could understand either of them and i still not getting resolved please avoid budget this is second time they messed with my reservation read more

Just picked up a car that I rented via Costco Travel. This was my first time renting from Budget; I typically rent from Hertz, Avis, or Alamo. I had reserved a Yukon XL at a decent price. Unfortunately, they didn't have any Yukon XL in stock. I was willing to take a Yukon however I requested a discounted price which he said he could not accommodate (I can't remember his name since he didn't wear a badge). After waiting nearly an hour and after much discussion, I was settled in taking the Yukon and I would contact the manager and Costco to discount the price. When I went back to the counter, Ashley assisted me and I told her that I would take the Yukon and worry about the price later. She went to the back and unbeknownst to me she had the service guy bring up Jeep Wagoneer. I appreciated the extra step she took to make a not so-good customer experience turn around for the better. read more

I was charged a $450 cleaning fee for "dog hairs". It was very minimal and I could have vacuumed it myself for $1 at a self cleaning car wash. It had very minimal dog hairs in the backseat, but does not warrant a $450 cleaning fee, that is ROBBERY!!! The truck rental itself for 3 days with insurance was $433 which is less than the actual cleaning fee they charged me. I've returned cars before with minimal dog hair and was not charged any fees whatsoever. The company has to vacuum the cars either way for the next customer, so this is just morally wrong on all levels. I will never rent from Budget again, they will rob you and the only reason I did was because Hertz (my go to rental company) was fully booked and I needed a truck last minute. STAY AWAY FROM THIS LOCATION, THEY WILL ROB YOU. read more

Beware! If the rental says says 52.00 a day. You will be charged double. I had the vehicle 3 days and drove under a total of 100 miles. I returned the vehicle clean and with a full tank of gas. 339.00Also the mileage they claimed that I drove was nearly 300 miles. Rip off. Travelocity booking was 212.00 and I'm charged over 339.00 three days later. Somewhere between booking on Expedia and the budget rental counter they added over 100.00. I had already added the extra insurance coverage and Expedia charged my card already for 36.00 and my price was confirmed for a total of 252.00. All in all I paid 375.00 for a 52 dollar a day car for three days. Crooked company. Run! read more

Jimmy here. The nicest and an asset to this this location. Friendly abd in time of need. Very helpful. I needed a car for only one night cuz my ride from the airport car battery died. He found one very quickly Also Sergio nice too read more

Booked a car with them for a 4 day rental. Upon day 3, found out that one of the back passenger doors did not open from the inside... because my passenger could not open it! No child locks were activated and the other back passenger door could be opened from the inside with no issue. When I returned the vehicle, I told a man at the counter what was wrong with the doors. His response, "oh i'll have them look at it". Look, I don't care what you do with it after I turn it in, i'm letting you know my 89-year old grandmother couldn't get out of the vehicle. I got no form of apology or any inkling that he cared what was wrong with the vehicle while I had it. I will not be renting from Budget at LGB (or SNA) in the future. Enterprise has much better customer service. read more

It must be the only car company in the world that charges you an extra $30 for not driving a car long enough ! yes you are reading correctly , there is a hidden clause in your contract when you hire with Budget at Long Beach CA , that if you don't drive the car for at least 75 miles you will incur this charge . they don't even tell you when you collect the car , mind you the agent could barely speak English. on top , you email James , the manager , and never get a reply. AVOID BUDGET read more

Everyone is right I should of listened to these comments and they are not helpful they will give you a very hard time do not go through here it's gonna be a scam like and it's very true the manger name Gigi cannot help at all she will try to scam you as well but she will be nice to you once you're a customer but if you need help and need to adjust something the manager name Gigi quickly will change her professionalism as well. She is not fit to be a manager I really Hope the company realizes that after over 15 comments about her service as a "manager" but lady name Olivia helped very much she very much should be the manager her customer service is excellent(Olivia) read more

We rented a car from Budget/Avis and we were helped by Kameron. Don't know why the location gets a low yelp score. He was awesome, polite, knowledgeable and very helpful. We'll be back. read more

The only way to post this was to designate ONE star but even that over-inflates my review for this third rate operation. Because of weather delays, our plane departed three hours late from NYC. This resulted in our landing at Long Beach well after midnight. Exhausted, we made our way to the Budget rental office to secure our reserved Kia only to find the office vacant. That's right - NO. ONE. HOME. How is it possible that an airport car rental office operates on limited hours when travel itself is so uncertain and outside of the customer's control??? And why aren't customers informed of this when booking? Upset? You bet your life. Our only alternative was to take a taxi to our ultimate destination at the cost of $140!!! But it gets worse. After threes calls to customer service at Budget ( Allen, Fay and Jeremy) and a total of well over ninety minutes, their only solution was for us to return to the airport for the car ( there goes another $140) No local Budget Rental location was able to provide a one way rental. Sooo, lots of compassion but nothing in the way of a solution to a problem that we did not cause. So here we are without a car, stewing away on totally justifiable resentment. This company can hardly declare itself to be meeting the needs of the traveling customer. And, brain flash, isn't that their BUSINESS??? So picture yourself at a strange airport, after midnight, following nearly 12 hours of travel. Think twice before counting on Budget for a rescue. read more

When I originally called to book the car and I talked to somebody at the call center the lady told me I could use a debit card if need be that it was no problem and she told me there would not be a deposit so only having one credit card with me I transferred the specific amount of money to my credit card the day before the pick up that she told me I would need and then when I got to the pick up, they told me that it was gonna be more money for the deposit. There weren't enough funds on the credit card as I had only transferred so much money out of my bank to my credit card the previous day and they would not let me pay with my debit card even though there's thousands of dollars on there because of a ridiculous soft credit pull and so they had to cut my time for the vehicle down to only two days instead of the four days. Then I tried to extend the vehicle on the phone once the funds were back in my credit card the next day and Budget would not let me do this on the phone I had to go to the location where I was returning the vehicle but that was seven hours away in Phoenix. Michael at the counter in Long Beach was great and was super helpful. Everybody who's working the phones has no idea what they're doing and needs better training. This whole situation basically ruined my trip and was extremely extremely stressful, once I got to Phoenix which was a day earlier than planned because I was not able to extend the rental over the phone and I was planning on staying in California until Sunday I just decided to return the vehicle. The lady who helped me return the vehicle was super nice, but this whole situation was stressful and cut my trip short and was very beyond inconvenient and I would never rent from this company ever again and will be posting this review everywhere! read more