The airport rental area is combined with Avis and this is a little confusing when you get in line. However, not a problem to get a through the line and get my SUV. The attendant was very friendly and added the extras I needed with no issues. I was done and had my car before the rest of my party had their luggage. Definitely use budget in the future. read more

Charged over $300 more than the amount quoted on the reservation then misrepresented additional fees for toll roads that were not legitimate. Avoid this company. read more

Only an electric car available if you choose economy or compact. Sure, I'm a fan of clean green energy, but not when I have no idea of the electric infrastructure in the area and no place to plug in at my vacation rental. Asked for a gas car and was told I had to upgrade to a "midsize" Toyota Corolla. Argued with agent for a while but people in line behind me so I was forced to relent. Classic bait and switch. Car was dirty and parallel parked close to barrier wall and inches from other cars. Lucky to leave without damage. I reserved a Hyundai Venue or similar. Certainly did not get that. Terrible experience. read more

why is it every single time we use budget, there is only one person working and long lines? This sucks!

We had our reservations for Budget Car Rental in Largo Fl on Ulmerton rd for 2 pm. We were 10 minutes late and they were closed. There was a woman working who sat in her car while we were knocking on the door and she was the rudest person we had ever meet. She said they close at 2 on Saturdays no matter what. One would think if you had a reservation coming in that was confirmed several times that you would call them to see where they were or wait at least 15 minutes to see if the reservation actually shows up, but nothing. The woman said to go to Tampa to get a car if we needed a car. Hello we were there to get our car we reserved. So went to ​Tampa Airport to get a car and went Enterprises. Who are Very helpful people there. We will not reserve with Budget again. We have been using Budget for year with them having great customers service. read more

Zero stars. Process to get a car is a mess. Budget then gave me a dirty basic, to the bones Hyundai with 20k miles rather than the Camry dangled in front of me. Yeah, I was never getting a Camry. So, filthy car I kept for 5 days but the charged me for six and won't return the money. Run. Do not use Budget or Avis. Appears they're run together in the same haphazard manner. Never, ever again. Never. read more

Worst experience. Trapped in Clearwater. Arrived at 11p for a family gathering the next day. Car already reserved and paid for. Hoping in the car the dash shows there is a flat tire. After a LOT of loud cursing by the attendant about whoever accepted the car, he takes the car to refill the tire. Ok. On my way. The next morning bright and early wake up to a DIFFERENT flat tire. And it's raining. Call the helpline and get hung up on after waiting 20 min. Call back AND try to reach someone via Twitter who could only help if I loaded WhatApp. A family member also called the helpline to see which one of us would get to a human first. Reach a person who called a tow truck but I can't leave the car until it's picked up-- AND I have to find my own way back 30 minutes to the airport to get another car. Besides missing most of the event I was in town for, I had to have someone drive me to the airport. They did upgrade the vehicle but since I prepaid no one could comp me for losing a day. After getting home to complain to the Avis number they gave me at the airport location, they said they'd credit my card back a day. That hasn't happened yet. How is it the folks working at the desk cannot communicate with anyone at the 'main number' and customer service working social media don't have phones? read more

budget rental car - 2nd flat tire. - Car Rental Near Me - Clearwater, Florida

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I reserved a pick up truck. Upon arriving at the counter I was told they don't have it and couldn't tell me when they would. Then never gave me specific directions as to where to find my Chevy Impala. After serarching the lot I finally find it sandwiched between and large SUV and a concrete pole. Thankfully a Good Samaritan directed me forward as I squeezed out of the space. Then after dropping off I realized I left a $100 seat cushion in the vehicle. I attempted to phone them several times but of course the employees must not be required to answer the phone. With Budget Car rental you get what you pay for - NOTHING. Use any other company. You'll be glad you did. read more

Horrible customer service. Impossible to get in touch with them due to their absolute refusal to answer the phone. They allow their line to ring until the corporate line answers and directs you to their call center. This location also does not participate in their website services -- if you need to file a claim, you are directed to call their physical location since they aren't listed on the budget website for online claims. Do the math -- if you can't file a claim online and they won't answer their phone.... You're SOL. Not worth the risk (coming from someone who is currently unable to file a Lost & Found claim for a valuable personal item forgotten upon rental car return). read more

I would give 0 if I could. The worst experience with a car rental. I confirmed a car rental with Budget using Expedia. Everything was confirmed. I also added insurance and paid for it. I got texts from Budget confirming the details and instructions for pickup. 30 minutes and $50 cab ride, I was there to find out from the smug, unapologetic and rude agent that they did not have any cars. The only car that was available was an electric car. He then continued to mansplain how I can find a charging station. I even was considering taking it out of desperation and asked if it was fully charged and he said, it would make it to the nearest station with a smirk on his stupid face. I lost it at that point and yelled to be told "we are done". Later when I contacted Expedia to cancel the insurance and get a refund I was told the only way was to cancel the reservation. I then found Budget will charge $50 for " cancelling" the reservation even though they were not able to deliver what I signed up for. In what planet is this acceptable? Expedia after repeated attempts agreed to issue a credit to be used at a future reservation. But I for sure will never go near Budget ever again. BEWARE EVERYONE!!!! read more

Zero stars. Car rental company from the stone age.... Summary of my experience: 1. Most prices. With good reason, the service was. 2. We experienced an inordinately long wait, approximately two hours total. After finally making it to the counter, we were told to sit and wait within eyesight for them to find a vehicle for us. After an hour, we were advised they could not provide the vehicle type we had pre-reserved. Reason: the license plates had expired. 3. When we finally received a vehicle, via a process akin to purchasing drugs on a street corner from a man in a hoodie, we found the vehicle to be dirty, requiring an oil change for the dashboard, maintenance, monitor, warning, and having a chronically low tire. 4. During the rental, we had to add air to the low tire four times in five days. Why? Upon calling the helpline, we were advised that we would have to pay to have someone come and install the vehicle's spare tire. No thanks we're not interested in subsidizing vehicle maintenance expenses. 5. It is hard to believe this company is able to be in business even temporarily in today's environment. Needless to say, I will never rent from Budget car rental again, anywhere. There are just too many other reasonable competitive choices available for this type of performance to even exist. read more

Beware: Budget Car Rental PRICE GOUGING after Hurricane Helene. I rented a standard size car at Budget Car Rental at St. Pete/Clearwater airport for dates 9/28/24-10/4/24. I booked through Priceline. I called Budget to confirm the car was available prior to arriving, as there was limited inventory in the area across all car rental companies due to hurricane helene. They confirmed the car was there. Upon arrival, I was told it wasn't and all they had was a Ford Explorer, which was a $100 up charge. I agreed as I was desperate to have a vehicle during a time of crisis. On 10/1/24, I returned the vehicle early, and they told me I would not receive a refund for returning it 3 days early. I asked why I couldn't be refunded and the manager said they required all rentals to be a minimum of 5 days due to the hurricane. This is unethical considering the low inventory and high demand of car rental needs in St. Pete/Clearwater, and this is not their normal practice. They are price gouging people in a time where so many of us have lost everything. read more

DO NOT BOOK! Spend more money to go with enterprise if you value your time and patience. They have no cars currently waiting 2+ hours for rental past my prepaid reserved time. Budget do better read more

These people don't know how to keep a reservation. I reserved an SUV (RAV4 "or similar"). When I got there I was told that they don't have anything like that. The agent claimed they only had two vehicles, a convertible Mustang or a Chrysler Pacifica. I said "that's not what I reserved", to which he replied rather rudely, "well that's all I have". He then claims that their policy is that they can only guarantee a vehicle that is the same size or larger than the one you reserved. If I reserved a RAV4-sized vehicle, why would I want to drive something twice that size? I won't be using Budget again, especially at the St. Pete/Clearwater Airport! If you want the exact car you reserved, I suggest trying Turo. You can pick the exact car you want and be sure that's what you'll get! read more

Need to automate the reservation process for pick up and drop off. Or hire more people. You operate at an airport. Ridiculous wait times even with pre paid reservations. read more

We rented with budget, got a upgrade to a Santa Fe, Hyundai. Chris was our guy! He was very friendly and funny! Nice job, Chris! There was an issue with the suv, mechanical wise. We called in the morning, they asked if we needed to be towed, which wasn't needed. We expected to have a big issue when we returned it. No way, returned the car and quick and easy, and we were on our way! We would rent with budget again! 5 stars! read more

My experience was absolutely awful. I'm A travel agent and never will I ever book through budget rentals ever again. I reserved a car, weeks if not over a month in advance for 7 people for them to tell me the day of, hours before we set off on a big trip across the states to help my grandmother move.. that they have no car for us and to just have a good day.. and that wasn't going to fly w me, so I told them we needed a car and that's that.. we reserved it for a reason and travelled all the way from Maui HI, I need that car.. so we wait and wait and wait and finally they find one after saying they could not help me, and they don't even rent out cars that big?? That it was impossible that I made the reservation, although I had my confirmation email in hand. Finally, we get a car and it was filthy.. had dog hair all over, melted chocolate in all cup holders, could not even see out of the windows it had so many fingerprints everywhere from kids, and a dog.. and of course had expired tags. (Got pulled over and budget did not care at all) I was then three minutes late to drop off and they charged me $158 but completely disregarded that they were 3 HOURS late getting me a car that I had reserved ahead of time. Customer service, from desk, etc did not show much compassion at all or empathy.. left a bad taste. So ridiculous, save your money and go elsewhere because budgets all around service was horrible and I hope that no one else has to go through the array of issues we did w this company. Nice going budget. read more

Why can't car rentals have a faster and quicker check in process? We rented a vehicle did all the pre check ahead of time on their website and was told by an agent on the phone that there would be a key rack with keys and you wouldn't have to wait in line. Gentleman was very rude and said they don't do that here! Why were we told they do the pre check but they actually do not. Love this airport easy access and nice airport. Rentals are so frustrating! read more

If I could give this budget rental a 0 star review I would. We flew into St Pete's and the man working would not help anyone. He said no cars go to Tampa it's a 10 min drive. This was the first lie. Tampa is half an hour away. He did not bother to change our reservation and did not bother to keep the kiosk open. We proceed to Tampa and wait 3 hours, and we're told that we cannot get a car because the guy at St Pete's did not move anyone's reservation (they had multiple people have this issue). We proceed to have to wait another full day, and did not get any type of reimbursement, or even an apology. For wasting a full day. Budget is what you pay for. They will not have a car for you and tell you, it's not their problem. read more

Stay away from TPA Budget and Budget all together. When we arrived at TPA they first tried to give us a car that the cushioning in seat was falling out. We eventually received a different car after wasting time at their rental office to complain. Even worse, after returning the vehicle and receiving a receipt after I got home, I was charged $90 for gas even though I returned the vehicle completely full.... this is stealing!!! I can't comprehend why you would charge me for this! The person who inspects the vehicle when you return it has two jobs: check for damage and check full gauge! DONT RENT VEHICLES FROM THIS SHADY COMPANY read more

Do not EVER rent from these liars. I specifically rented a convertible for a weeks trip to Florida. They have NO convertibles - a Jeep Wrangler or a 300 with double sunroof. They NEVER had a convertible for me to rent And I specifically needed one for our trip from Sebring Fl down the east coast of Florida to the Keys. Such DECEPTIVE website and advertising read more

We picked up our car at another location and returned it to the St Pete airport. Be aware that there is highway construction outside the airport and construction in the airport parking lot/rental car pickup and return area. Returning the car meant following the usual signs plus dodging the orange cones and construction activities. There is a small Budget sign that tells you to take your keys, mileage and gas tank reading to the desk inside the terminal. There is no one in the lot to assist you. A more prominent sign(s) would be an improvement. read more

Waste of time go to Enterprise rent a car. Had a rental reserved and called ahead to make sure I didn't need a credit card, the man said no all I need is a debit card and $200 deposit. When I got there to check in, the lady at the front desk wouldn't let me use my debit card. Went over to enterprise and they welcomed me with open arms. read more

If I could avoid one star I would. RENTERS BEWARE! I returned the car in pristine shape. 60 days later I received a letter stating that there was damage to the INTERIOR of the car done by a dog. I don't own a dog and there was no one in the car with a dog. What a scam!!! Fighting this BS!!! read more

i was price gouged by this location after Hurricane Irma. I flew into Miami Airport on 9/12/2017 shortly after it reopened. I had a reservation for a rental car for 24 hours for a price of $53.05 for a one way rental from Miami to St Pete. Due to hurricane there were no flights into Tampa or St Pete on this day. This price was reconfirmed on my contract at the counter in Miami. When I got back to St Pete, I checked on my house and luckily no damage but I had no power and some debris in the yard. I decided i was going to return the car early that day because I didn't need it anymore and I needed to go to work first thing in the morning. There were gas shortages. It took me a while to find gas. I filled the gas tank up 4 blocks away from the Budget neighborhood location on 66th st N where I was supposed to drop off car. They had sign on door they were closed and they did not accept after hour rentals. I called Budget at 5:15 PM and told them of my situation and they said St Pete airport was open and I could take car there. I dropped car off at St Pete Airport parking lot at 5:45 PM and walked keys to counter to man at budget counter. He could not give me an invoice for my rental because everything was done manually at Miami due to computers being down due to hurricane. I left Miami rental car terminal around 11:15 am with the car and dropped it off at St Pete airport. I had car less then 7 hours and they billed my credit card $283 rather than the $53.05 that I was quoted. They billed me as if I had the car for several days rather than 6 hours. Adding insult to injury they said I didn't even fill up the gas tank and I have the receipt to prove it. I recognized the man I gave the key to from another rental I did at St Pete airport in January 2017. He was a very unprofessional sales rep constantly trying to upsell me on coverages that I didn't want. This same rep is the one responsible for this overcharge on this rental as I gave him the key. read more

I will not use budget again. I set up a reservation for a car and wanted to use my debet card for the rental. I have done this severl times with Enterprise and other agencies. With budget if you want to use a debit card they run your credit. I have a reasonable score and I was also willing to provide the additional $200 dollar deposite. It was declined based on my credit...again which is pretty fair. I was directed to a competetior that after reading reviews was less than desirable. Thank goodness for Enterprise! We went to them and rented a car no problem! Budget has lost a customer for life! If I could give budget less than one star I would. 5 stars to Enterprise! read more

These people are thieves. My girlfriend and I rented a car from them on the 26th of last month and upon return she left her photography camera in the back seat. It's a very expensive camera and it's for her business. We have tried for almost 2 weeks to contact someone at the airport or budget and have gotten nowhere. I have been given the number for Avis's lost and found, 4 different customer service numbers for budget, and I had one gentleman put in a case number for me ( 34385818) that was supposed to be resolved days ago. Budget claims that it will get handled when they "get around to it" and that it is "not a priority for them". Don't throw your money away using this so called service, their version of customer service is to send you off shore and have them instruct you to just wait and see. Complete bullshit. The other reviews on here back this up as well. Enterprise or Hertz at least care. Budget should be ashamed of how they take care of their customers. read more