I made a reservation and prepaid for a rental car to be picked up in Barstow, California.
My wife and I had been stranded there the previous day when our single-engine aircraft had a mechanic problem while flying over the area and we landed at the local airport.
Since there were no taxis, Lyfts, or Ubers available, before leaving our hotel to walk to the Budget office, I called to ask if they had pickup service available. The woman I spoke with said that they did not but that she was cancelling my reservation because they had overbooked.
Early the next morning, on Saturday, I looked at the Budget website and saw they had a number of cars available in different categories. So I made another reservation for first thing that morning.
We showed up five minutes early to make sure that we could get a car. I was relieved when I saw there were a number out front and that there was a woman there returning a car at the same time.
The woman at the counter opened about five minutes late and refused to rent us a car again - even though we had prepaid again and were there in person.
She claimed she didn't have any cars to rent even though there were plenty of cars outside and three cars were returned between 8 and 9 a.m. when I was there.
I called the Budget customer service line for help from the entrance lobby, which by the way was filthy. The carpet looked as if it hadn't been vacuumed in months. Unfortunately, I received a recording that said the wait to speak with someone was 30 minutes.
Thus, I called the reservation line instead. I spoke with several people including a supervisor who agreed the person at the office wasn't supposed to deny us a car we had paid for and were there to pick up but that there was nothing they could do.
I later had to contact Budget again to get a refund for both times I paid but did not get a car.
My wife and I spend much of the year traveling and rent cars all the time. However, we have never had a customer experience with a rental car company even nearly as bad as this.
Both women at the counter were rude, unprofessionally dressed, and clearly didn't care about their customers.
We will never return to this location in Barstow and will now only rent from Budget as an absolute last resort. read more
