Family rented a car, I wasn't present when the car was picked up so my family couldn't add me as a driver. Employee told them they could add me as third driver later, at any location, for free. WRONG. In Nevada, Budgets are franchised owned so all NV facilities are unable to make changes to contracts/ add drivers. Also said since we had a second driver, the third would have to pay, even if they could have made the addition. Car came filthy! Outside was full of dirt, windshield was visible but with thick dirt film, all the dashboards and seats had makeup marks and glitter, we had to clean interior of car before we left town. Would not recommend, would not use again. read more

Budget Rent a Car Newark NJ airport - HORRIFIC Had to return a broken down car! Took 5 hrs of OUR vacation time!!! Terrible customer service when called! Bottom line - beware - horrible cars, service and facility. Our invoice is another story. $400 more than quoted. read more

The lines are long. The car I rented still had rubbish in it. Inside the pockets on the back of the front seats still had rubbish from previous renter. It's like my friend let me borrow his car and then I paid him. The rental office needs to be renovated. The cars need to be throughly cleaned before being rented. read more

Have been in line for over an hour and still waiting. This is the 3rd time in past 6 months that I have rented a car and had to wait in line for over an hour. Will be the last time I rent from Budget. read more

This place rents cars but never lets you know if u leave an once of trash or an empty soda bottle in the car or any mess they would need to clean which would be considered normal , well they will end up tacking on a sir charge of $450 dollars! This is a great way to push the clients away ! With such a penalty they could let you know when you drop off or pick up the car to pre warn you that there could be a hearty find if you return the car with anything they may have to clean or throw away ! I'll never use this company again ! I seen so many complaints from so many people I'd like to see some good they be held accountable for hurting the very valuable clients that rent from them ! When I called to try and work it out i was reprimanded by the superior customer service! Look it didn't even cost me $450 to have my home cleaned professionally! It's just a rude and an indignity to all of us that use this company! Count me out rude customer service managers ! read more

When a car breaks down with only 11,000 miles on it, a car should be waiting and not force us to be stranded in a hotel waiting the next day while the other hotel is being unused. And then after being inconvenienced getting a bill for $1500 that was reversed as if we were going to pay for the towing and all the cost associated with the car breaking down No credit was issued for any of our extra incurred expenses. They keep you on hold and don't give you the right story about a car being available when the place was closed after 4 PM at a town three hours away. Budget support on the phone wouldn't even make good with all the extra incurred expenses with no credit or refund or anything. read more

I reserved a car for pickup at 1pm on a Saturday because they're supposed to be open. Got there at 12:50pm just for them to be closed. Someone else was waiting outside and said she had been waiting since 12:30pm for them to open the doors. They took my money out my account for a car I didn't even get to receive. Called customer service and they said "I'm not at the location so I can't help you. But you can make a reservation for tomorrow afternoon " I said okay and she said your new total will be $600. How did it go from $190 for a week rental to $600?? It's not my fault your locations do not stick to the schedule. On the door of the Merced budget location, it says they close at 3pm on weekends. They need to get it together. I'll be waiting for my refund for a car that didn't receive. I'll just stick to hertz or enterprise read more

Budget Rent-a-Car - Wrong times - Car Rental Near Me - Merced, California

This place is a joke! I r reserved a truck to move out of state with a car dolly. They told me to pick it up at 11:00 am, I went there and they had no car dolly. I took the truck to put gas in it and come to find out the fuel line had been cut. I barely made it back to the business. Come to find out there were 3 trucks with cut fuel lines, a stolen generator, and batteries stolen . This business is in one of the worst areas in town. Avoid!!!! It's not worth saving a few dollars! read more

First of all, the hours posted on the internet is incorrect. They do not open until 9am. I had a pick up reservation for 8am. It was a cold and windy day. Got there a little before 8. Waited until 5 after 8. Went to the door. There was a worker inside but doors were locked. Waited another 5 minutes. No acknowledgement from worker. Knocked on window to ask what time they would be open. She yelled back at me, stating they don't open til 9am. I said I had a pick up at 8. She yelled back that she don't know why my reservation was for 8. Annoyed by that time, left then went back at 9am. Told they did not have the car I reserved. Offered me a Cadillac or mini-van. Nope! Don't need that so I canceled my reservation and asked for a refund. Will not be returning to this facility. Very limited in the rentals. read more

I rented a car from Fresno Airport to visit my sister close to Yosemite. Driving on the highway I noticed a weird vibration with the car and the Maintenance Light was on. I gave it one more day, but it continued. I went to the Merced Budget location and explained what was happening. Cheryl was very helpful and just gave me a quick switch. Less than 30 min later I was in a different car. I'm visiting for 2 weeks and am so glad I made the switch. Thank you Budget and especially Cheryl for taking care of me (so I can take care of my sister). read more

Today I had a good experience while waiting for my car... the customer service there was very nice and Pamela was very nice and respectful... i didn't have any problems or issues not like other location... I definitely will be getting my rentals here from now on. Thank u pamela read more

Simply awful service. I would LOVE to be able to give this location ZERO stars. I placed an order and received a confirmation to rent a van on their website. I borrowed a friends car to drive over an hour to pick up the vehicle in Madera, CA. I walked in to the Budget office and was greeted by a seriously unprofessional and extremely rude employee who explained that the van I rented was not at their facility. She proceeded to blame the cooperate office for allowing me to rent a vehicle that they were not able to provide. She had a printout of my reservation sitting on the desk behind the counter but failed to call and tell me that the vehicle would not be available. I ended up driving an additional hour to the Fresno airport to rent a car from one of their competitors for 1/3 the cost. I do not recommend this Budget location to anyone. This location is in serious need of a good manager to replace the one that I encountered on 7/1/22. read more

We've dealt with this lady on two occasions now. Reminds me of my old gym teacher. Should have learned our lesson the first time. I was expecting a $40 charge and then she hits me with $100 when we return the vehicle. I mistakenly heard I was good for one days charge until closing the following day. Nope. She tries to hit us with an extra, undisclosed, under 75mile charge on top of that while insisting she's "read over everything twice". That wall o text twice over in the 10-15min she got us out the door. Not. Likely. She gives me an unclean vehicle with mud all over the frame. Figured we were helping each other out because she was still able to rent out a truck that day without having to wash it. Nope. So much for I scratch your back, you scratch mine. No leniency, no understanding. She pretends to be all about the book apparently unless it benefits her... then I'll get a dirty ride. I'm not saying don't go avis/budget, but definitely try to avoid this spot and the car troll. read more

The manager, who is also part of the family that owns this location, stood at the front counter while staff helped someone else. He didn't help me. Took a call. Still left me waiting. Number 1 customer service rule--serve the person in front of you. Location is dirty with out of service restroom. Rude notes printed and taped around lobby. Not great in any way. read more

Budget Rent-a-Car - This is the restroom at the Budget/Avis. - Car Rental Near Me - Merced, California

They never have cars when you book online and the lady at the front desk always has an attitude. Terrible place to do business

I just want to let everyone know that this location in Merced California is one of the best rental locations I've been to. The staff is phenomenal, two of the girls names that I remember Pamela and Jessica, were nothing but professional. They went above and beyond for me, they're very good and explaining everything in detail. The best customer service!! read more

Rented a car from Budget at Lihue, Kauai Airport. It was a terrible experience and the worse customer service I've ever seen. Everyone getting off a 5 1/2 hour flight had to wait in a 2 1/2 hour line, of which part of that time was outside in the humid heat. Everyone in line was very upset. Definitely not what you expect on your first day on a Hawaiian Island. When we finally secured a vehicle it hadn't been cleaned inside. Luckily I had anti bacterial wipes in my luggage which I used to clean as best I could until we arrived at our condo. Yet they advertise that their vehicles are all cleaned per Covid regulations. Not the case. Will never rent through them again. Only gave one star because the lowest it would go. read more

Bottom level customer service. The mileage on my rental and subsequent charges didn't make sense to me so I asked the guy to explain it to me and so we could make sure it was correct and he couldn't. I had purchased additional miles and still went over despite driving exactly where I told reservations I was going to. Their goal is simply to charge you what they want and send you off. He kept asking for my credit card and when I finally gave it to him (I shouldn't have) he still didn't resolve my questions before charging my card. Never have I experienced any business anywhere that not only couldn't explain your charges but also tried to charge you before you agreed to the charge!!!!!!! I'm pretty sure charging someones card without their authorization is illegal??? In the end the charge was OK (although sketchy business practices to not give you the miles they should already with the truck given where you are driving) but to charge someones card without their permission seems wrong. Be sure you check the number of miles they are giving you versus what you need because they can be drastically different. The guys even rounded up the mileage on the truck. Keep my $0.85 (ridiculous per mile fee) because I won't be back. How do you expect to get any repeat business? They don't even have a functioning bathroom, the lock is broke. Just laziness and incompetence bordering on fraud. As the other reviews noted, it's in a terrible part of town and you can't even return after 6pm. If you must book with Budget, try to pickup/dropoff elsewhere. read more

This Angela lady has a terrible attitude problem. Rude service for literally no reason. Also when we arrived we were told she was gone and would be back in 5 minutes so we sat and waited for her and then had an attitude when she came back. read more

I absolutely love the new owner! I love what she's done with that location. The feeling is very welcoming. I hope she stays there because I enjoy renting from her. Thank you again, Angela. read more

I've been a customer of this Budget Car rental for almost 2 years now. The service is always great and it's convenient for me to travel to from the airport in Merced. Angela especially always goes out of her way to make sure I'm taken care of and on my way fast. I would highly recommend to any one needing a quality rental car in the area. read more

Thank you Angela for your great customer service. Angela was very patient. Renting a car from this business was quick and easy. Easiest place I've rented from yet. Car was clean and ready to go upon request. A lot of options to choose from. ~Brandon read more

Budget in Merced also services Avis. If you are from out of town, perhaps flying to/from the Merced Airport, avoid this branch. They offer no shuttle service, and perhaps more significantly, no courtesy. There are no after hour drop-offs either. So tough luck if you have a flight that arrives or takes off after 6 pm. read more

Never try making any reservation here at all. The online quote is fake. Once you successfully made a reservation, someone will call you couple days later that they don't have the rate and truck that you reserved. They said they don't care what the online quote is and will modify your reservation to a ridiculous rate. If you don't check your email carefully, you will either end up paying a higher rate or cancellation fee. Be careful and don't fall into the trap. Don't even make any reservation with them Gutierrez Rentals. My quote was modified from $79 to $178 read more

Budget Rent-a-Car - Original online quote - Car Rental Near Me - Merced, California

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Made a reservation online, when I showed up on the date of my reservation they told me They had too many reservations, and not enough cars. The guy was rude and short with me, instead of being helpful and apologetic. read more

the lady is rude. didn't have a car ready. said she'd start the paperwork at ten. my father is hard of hearing and when i answered her questions she was not a pleasant person. customer service is not her thing‼ and this place won't have our business again... ENTERPRISE is where it's at‼ read more

Nice people work here. I got charged on my credit card twice for the same rental. I've been on the phone three times with Customer Service. I've gone into the location three times so far. It was a one day rental and they charged me almost $1000 on my credit card. A week later they charged me for a second day. It makes no sense at all. Never again. read more

I made a car reservation almost two months ago for an upcoming trip. About a month ago I called to change the pickup time and was told no problem but i kept getting confirmations for my old time. Called this morning and was told all the cars weren't available until my original time. When I cancelled online, they charged me $50 to cancel. The rental was for $78. These thieves have no business renting cars. My trip is not for another 6 days, plenty time for them to re-rent the vehicle and not lose any $$$. read more

This is the first time I used Budget in Merced. I had a coupon for an upgrade where I was required to call 24 hours before the pick-up time to let them know, which I did. When I went to pick up the car, he kept indicating that he didn't have the right size car so I thought the one he gave us was a compact, the original size I had reserved. When I returned it and was asking about the discount for the upgrade, he said it was the right size but it was the smallest mid-size I have seen! This location seems to mostly do truck rental business so their car selection is very limited. read more

Angela is wonderful and very helpful aswell. She has helped me numerous times, and is very caring towards her customers!

Keith is the new owner and was very professional. He took the time to help me in my hour of need(my car broke down)and provided me with an excellent van that allowed me to complete my family trip with no hitches. I was treated fairly and would use them again in a heart beat. read more

This place is a rip off. I asked to rent a car for a week from thursday till wednesday. Due to my car breaking down. Over the weekend i was able to get a new car. Unfortunately this office closes for the weekend. So monday morning i return the car early and the salesman said i only rented it for one day. I explained it made no sense seeing how i wanted it for a week. They were not help in trying to clear this matter. I called customer service and again no help. So in all i payed $ 295 dollars for a car rental that they quoted me at $175 I will never use budget rental again. read more

If there was any way of giving this sorry excuse for a business a negative rating I would. My sister booked a reservation for a car on Friday. We got there Saturday at 9:03 and waited 45 minutes as they took all the car returns ahead of us. Then iris the rude girl behind the counter said she didn't have a reservation printed. My sister showed her the confirmation number and she refused to look it up. She said she could not contact the manager or corporate. We met another customer who also had a reservation and That she paid for and the lady behind the counter Iris turned her away also stating she didn't have a reservation. She had to call for someone to pick her up because she had been dropped off and go to Enterprise like we did. This is unacceptable. The person at corporate named Hector was also very rude he wanted us to write things down with no pen and he refused to send anything in an email because he said that was against their policy. He would not do the chat because that was also against their policy. In addition to that he was yelling at my sister telling her she needed to let him talk. This is the worst experience I've ever had and I will never go to budget again and neither will my sister. She was a regular customer but because of this experience she will never come back. read more

Rude service for no reason, from the lady who seemed to be the manager. This lady doesn't belong in customer service. Don't recommend this place. read more

The owner is professional, prompt and helps you get in and out quickly. I also appreciate how she helped me with a car rental when I showed up and discovered I reserved the car on the wrong date despite needing the car today. She was able to help me with changing the reservation and provide a rental car. It was a relief to rent a car to maintain my activities without imposing on people while my vehicle was getting repaired. read more

When I rented my car here, I realized that the car tire was already flat. As I realized this problem, I stated it to the worker Nina and she replied that the car should be okay and that nothing should happen, however, once we got on the highway the tire popped. Unsure of the situation we called Emergency Roadside Service (which they DID NOT document) and they told us that we can buy a tire (that costed us 60 dollars out of our own pocket) and they promised they will FULLY refund us our money at the front counter when we return the car. During this accident, my family had to go through a lot of trouble because we were stranded and we had to struggle to find a safe location to get the tire replaced, while being given lousy customer service. However, when I went to return the car, they would not refund us the tire that we had to buy because they said it was not their problem that they gave us a rental car with a flat tire. I was also very displeased that when I called up customer service one of the workers raise his voice at me, they were also unsure of the options in which they can help me with. They also did not document problems that I had with my wheel.The workers also told me that they will review my case but I have not gotten a call back or a response. My family could have gotten hurt in this accident because of their incompetence and failure to properly inspect and check the car before hand! NEVER RENT A CAR FROM THIS PLACE! IF I COULD GIVE THEM A ZERO I WOULD!!! read more

Take care! They try real hard to overcharge you for extras. I have just dropped off a car to find that i had to pay for both liability insurance and roadside assistance though i had only requested the former ($11/day). Employee's name is R. and call center is of no use in taking complaints. Apart from that they provide a very good and useful service in Merced... read more

Real hometown service. The owner was very kind and accommodating. Highly recommend Budget Rent-a-car on 16th St in Merced!!

I love this place. I have rented several cars from them, and they were all good. One of them broke once, and they reimbursed all the payment back to my account. read more

My boyfriend had rented a car for his daughter's graduation out of town. When we came to return the car Angela drove the car from the front to where they store them charge my credit card and never said another word. 2 days later I see that there was a charge for over $270 more than what I agreed upon. I called her and she stated that the car had been smoked in I tried to tell her that that was not true but she said she had pictures and evidence of it and I said if it had been smoked in why didn't you say something when we drop the car off you are in it she said this is not up for discussion and I said well I'm going to dispute the charge she goes go ahead I have pictures and I said well I don't know what happened to the car after we dropped it off well it's been sitting right there you can come down and look at it but I don't know who's been sitting in it or if someone's been smoking in it and I said no one smoked in the car when it was being rented she was rude talked over me and didn't seem to care what I had to say. That was the least professional I've ever dealt ever dealt with and to not even listen to the other person's point of view is very unprofessional and not good business by the fact that they only have two stars I should have known not to rent I won't make that mistake again the only thing I wish is that I could do less than one star because they deserve no stars read more