A group of us rented a car to drive to Virginia, with one primary driver and one additional driver on the paperwork. The process of getting checked in was mostly smooth. We noticed a smoke or cigarette smell in the car, so we told the staff members about it. They seemed to not be very concerned, telling us that it was likely just the type of air freshener they used. We asked that they would please notate it, which they finally begrudgingly did. They did not offer a different vehicle or any type of additional cleaning. In particular, one employee named Francis was not very pleasant or cordial with us. She seemed to be irritated any time we had questions or concerns. She had a bad attitude every step of the way. If I were running that place, I would not have someone like her working there. Everything went smoothly during our rental, the car rode smoothly, and was good on gas mileage. Upon the return, who should check us in but, guess who? Francis. She wasn't much nicer this time around, and turned away from us before I had a chance to make sure we had crossed our t's and dotted our i's. We started walking away, going over the paperwork when we saw what looked like an unknown charge. So, we walked back and by this point two different ladies had taken the place of Francis. They were very helpful in explaining the charge, which all made sense in the end. My takeaway: An overall OK rental experience, a bad Francis experience on the customer service end. read more

I wish I would have read the Yelp reviews before renting here but how difficult could it be... it's a car rental? Tips 1. No Fastbreak or Avis Preferred service even though they are both posted on the booth. 2. Neither Avis or budget are with the other rental car companies, and there are no signs indicating that; OUTLANDISH! 3. The quoted wait time is an hour 4. No same day rental sign posted I'm a budget business owner and after this (and ATL, DCA No Fast Break), I'm switching to another service. Corporate has to know this is going on; the reviews on ever platform are despicable; but perhaps since it's at union station and for that reason, making money. There is no motivation to do anything about it. read more

Budget - Car Rental Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

I made a reservation weeks in advance and when I showed up to the counter they tell me they don't have gas cars, only electric vehicles but not fully charged and if I don't make it to my destination they are not responsible I would never rent with budget again and will highly recommend other people to about Budget read more

Said system had been down for a week and that I could not get the car I had reserved. They offered no solution. Budget customer service was terrible. read more

Terrible location to rent from. The booth is in the parking garage beyond the bus depot and a fairly long walk from the main part of the station. Advertised open at 0900, not open until 0920. Said to have Fastbreak cars, but didn't actually have that process. Everyone had to wait in the long line. Only had one slow employee working while many other staff came in to distract her but not help. When I arrived at 0900 there were 8 families ahead of me waiting for the staff to open, took 45 minutes to get my car. I would not do this again. read more

0 stars. Do not recommend. I called customer service to ensure my reservation was accurate and there were cars available. I was assured that there were "plenty of cars" and that my preferred vehicle would be available at my 2: 30pm pick up time. I arrived before 2:30pm to two men in the rental kiosk with the window closed and 5 people in line. The two staffers said nothing and did not acknowledge any of us. After 15 minutes of waiting, the person ahead of me tapped on the window and the staffer said we all had to wait until the other person returned. A woman strolled up about 4 minutes later and started helping the first person in line (the other 2 staffers continued playing on their phones in the kiosk). In total, it took 25 minutes for the woman to check out one person! I had to wait over an hour for my turn then I was told my prepaid compact car was unavailable and I had to pay more for a van or a luxury SUV. I had no other choice at that point so I paid for what turned out to be a disappointing Lexus SUV and left. When I complained to the staff onsite and referenced my call they said the Budget customer service team doesn't know anything about the actual on-site inventory and they will always tells customers what they want to hear (in regard to inventory and wait time). I must agree as the staff answering customer calls are completely out of touch with what happens on the ground. I will never return and will actively dissuade people from patronizing this establishment. read more

I have never seen slower service for renting a car. We were all made to use a paper form like if QR codes and computers no longer exist

Zero point Zero. Please close down. If you are going to just leave families with kids without cars, after making reservations and paying in full, then just close. I invite any of the corporate executives to answer to how they allow the people who represent them to run their business lake that. Joe Ferraro PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Joe Ferraro was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer for Avis Budget Group in June 2020, following a six-month period as interim CEO. Prior to this, Mr. Ferraro served as President, Americas, for Avis Budget Group. In this role, Mr. Ferraro was responsible for the Company's Avis, Budget, Payless and Zipcar brands in North and South America, including Latin America and the Caribbean. Mr. Ferraro was previously Senior Vice President of Operations, North America, where he oversaw all Avis and Budget car and truck rental operations in the United States and Canada, including airport and local market locations. He has 40 years of experience with Avis Budget Group, holding various positions of increasing responsibility. Brian Choi CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Brian Choi was named Chief Financial Officer for Avis Budget Group in August 2020. Prior to this, Mr. Choi served on the Board of Directors of the Company from January 2016 to 2020. Mr. Choi was a partner at SRS Investment Management, LLC and certain of its affiliates and served in various roles at SRS from 2008 to 2020. Previously, Mr. Choi served as an analyst in the Leveraged Finance Group at Lehman Brothers. Mr. Choi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Harvard University. Izzy Martins EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, AMERICAS Izzy Martins was named Executive Vice President, Americas, for Avis Budget Group in June 2020. In this role, she is responsible for the Company's Avis, Budget, Payless and Zipcar brands in North and South America, including Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to this role, Ms. Martins held various strategic and financial roles with the Company, including Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Americas, from 2014 to 2020; Senior Vice President and Acting Chief Accounting Officer from 2010 to 2014; and Vice President of Tax from 2006 to 2010. Ms. Martins was Director of Tax Planning and Mergers & Acquisitions of Cendant Corporation (as the Company was formerly known) from 2004 through 2006. Prior to joining the Company, she served Deloitte & Touche LLP for seven years. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a Juris Doctor Degree from Seton Hall University in New Jersey. Keith Rankin PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL Keith Rankin is President of International, at Avis Budget Group. In this role, he is responsible for overall leadership of the company's international region, which includes Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA), Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Mr. Rankin joined the Company in June 2019 from Barloworld in South Africa, where he held the position of Chief Executive for the automotive division since March 2015. Barloworld is a distributor of leading global brands, providing integrated rental, fleet management, product support and logistics solutions - and a licensee partner of Avis Budget Group. Mr. Rankin began his career at Avis in 1998 and was appointed Chief Executive of Avis Car Rental Southern Africa in 2004. In 2007, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of car rental, part of Barloworld's automotive division that included southern Africa and Scandinavian car rental operations. Mr. Rankin holds B.Com and B.Com (Honors) degrees from the University of Stellenbosch, in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Ned Linnen EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER Ned Linnen is Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of Avis Budget Group, a leading global provider of mobility solutions. In this role, he oversees Avis Budget Group's global human resources activities including: organizational development, labor and employee relations, talent acquisition and diversity strategies, total rewards strategies, equal employment compliance, health and safety, and employee engagement initiatives. Mr. Linnen joined Avis Budget Group in 2001, and has since held positions of increased responsibility, including Senior Vice President of Human Resources for North America, Vice President of Labor Relations, Vice President of International Human Resources, Vice President of Domestic Human Resources, and Field Human Resources Director. Prior to joining Avis Budget Group, Mr. Linnen served in various positions within human resources at Kraft Foods Inc. and Nabisco, Inc. He holds has a Master of Science degree in Organizational Development from Misericordia University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resources and Psychology from King's College. Jean Sera SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL COUNSEL, CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER AND CORPORATE SECRETARY Jean read more

Want to wait 40+ minutes lined up in the summer heat for a subpar vehicle? Look no further than Budget rental car at Union station. Arrived 10 minutes early for my slotted pick-up time and there was a line wrapped all the way to the elevator. For any competent company, this might not be an issue, though Budget begs to differ. Consider this a warning--abandon hope all ye who enter here; Budget says they want to give you a car, though what they really want is your time, sanity, and presumably, your soul. In plain English--DO NOT GO HERE. read more

Budget - Poor souls lined up for a voyage of the damned down the river Styx - Car Rental Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

PLEASE Please PLEASE inspect your car prior to taking off. I got a car Wednesday of this week through today, Sunday while my car gets fixed. Wednesday evening after work once I got to my destination, I noticed the hubcap on the rear passenger side tire was missing. And I thought this was extremely unprofessional of a company, and planned on providing feedback once I returned the car. It wasn't an extremely big deal because I was just using the car to get to and from work. The cloth seats were also very dirty Once I returned the car today, I got a call a few minutes later from the manager stating the tire doesn't look the same and the hubcap is missing. Uh yes! This is what you all gave me. She stated that this could not have happened because they inspect the vehicles after every return. And now I can be held reliable. I am willing and ready to get a lawyer, for being accused of chainring a tire??? A missing hubcap?? I want to see the inspection report for the vehicle prior to me. I want to see photos/ video footage. Because I assure you, I would not change a tire. Nor did I cause a hubcap to come off. Someone did not do their job! I will update this review once I get this resolved I will NEVER use Budget again read more

The car selection and prices were reasonable and the location is convenient with later hour options for pick-up and drop-off. The customer service was lacking. I arrived and went straight to the check-out counter before being informed that they could not help me at the check-out counter because there was a check-out counter that I had to first go to in Union Station (adding an additional 20 minutes to my time between walking down there and back). At check-in they had me checked-in an hour earlier and told me I had to return at that time rather than the actual time that I was checking in. Additionally, they also had the tank of gas as full, but when I pulled out I noticed that it was less than half full. No issues with the car and the return was convenient. It was frustrating having to call their office and be transferred several times to flag the issue with the gas. read more

Horrible customer service. Piss poor quality of vehicles and they don't clean the interior. I made a reservation well in advance and they didn't have the car available. Made me wait an hour to receive a vehicle. Don't go here. At all!!! read more

I've been renting here since 2014 and the reason this location gets any customers is because they are cheaper than their competitors. Beware the extra cleaning during Covid is just a marketing ploy. In my recent rental the previous customers sunglasses, rental agreement and dog hair was all over the car. They randomly charged me for four days extra rental plus late fees. I sent them a photo of my returned car with date stamp and mileage showing the mistake. Now I need to send them my bank account statement showing the extra charge. I'm now on day 3 and several frustrating phone calls with people saying things like 'I can offer you a 30% refund' or ' how does $197 dollars sound'. I asked for a refund for the full amount the guy said he would have to get his supervisor I stayed on hold for 1 hr 28 mins the photo shows on hold for 1 hour 10 mins, really nice way to treat a customers. It turns out photos of the vehicle returned on time weren't enough to get me a refund. They have now have asked for three additional documents rental return slip, frequent mileage statement and return flight? This is all too bizarre, how are those documents more evidence than a photo? I feel like nothing I supply is going to get me a refund so I have taken my complaint to my credit card company and filed a complaint with Better Business Bureau. This weeks rental was with Alamo. read more

they over book, run out of cars, and won't honor your reservation. It's hit or miss whether they'll have a car for you or not even if you reserve one weeks in advance. read more

The management of this Budget location should be ashamed at how terrible their customer service is. After arriving 15 minutes early for an 8am reservation and waiting in line for 20 minutes while the man behind the counter (Will, I think) was on the phone, I was told to head upstairs to pick up my car. The folks upstairs yelled at me for a mistake in the paperwork and told me to head downstairs to have it corrected. The mistake that they pointed out was that I had reserved (and paid for) a mid-size, but that model wasn't available. Okay...it seems stupid to allow customers to make reservations on cars you don't have, but what do I know? At this point it was about 8:15. After walking back down to the car counter in Union Station, the man behind the counter was back on the phone with a buddy making weekend plans despite a pretty long line of customers (check out the picture). After sitting in line for 15 minutes, I finally got to the front. I figured they could correct my paperwork within a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, with me standing 2 feet away from him, the guy behind the counter decided that he needed to call his buddy once again. This time, he was on the phone for close to 20 minutes and completely ignored all of the complaining customers. What is the point of having someone working the desk if they spend most of their time on the phone? Finally, the guy corrected the "mistake" in my paperwork. At this point, I learned that they also did not have any of the type of car they had downgraded me to. I had plans and was desperate to get anything that could physically get me out to Maryland at this point, so I basically just accepted the downgrade, waited 10 minutes, and finally was told that I could go upstairs to get my car. To their credit, the folks upstairs had my car ready instantly. Unfortunately, that car was a tiny, beat-up Hyundai that I wound up paying full mid-sized price for. It was about 9am by the time I left. Thanks for wasting over an hour of my life and dropping the ball on pretty much every facet of being a rental car company, Budget! read more

Budget - Hard to tell, but the guy behind the counter was chatting on his cell phone. - Car Rental Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Picked up my car from this station and though they were nice and helpful at the counter, I couldn't believe the car I was given. It had was so dirty you could barely see the scratches on it and covered with bird poop. The inside was no better, the chairs and a white film on them and the floors covered in sand. The car also smelled like someone had been smoking in it. When I mentioned this to the gentleman helping me notate the scratches all he would say was "Yep, this car's been through alot". No offer to clean it. Don't rent from them. read more

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The staff was helpful but they didn't have the car I reserved. WTF? The only option was to bump me down to a smaller car and pay more or pay more for an upgrade. Or wait and maybe I can get a car that I reserve. Why is it my problem if they have a computer system that can't reserve cars properly? read more

Absolutely NO stars if possible. The manager, name I could not understand bc he kept saying it extremely fast, was so horribly rude. I dont understand how he got the management position. Due to a miscommunication from Budget customer service, I drove to Union station to return the car before work. The manager at Union station yelled that he is not accepting the car bc he has no space and told the other renters to beep their horns at me. I had to pray because I wanted to throw the keys at him and leave the car. I spoke with customer service and they tried to talk to him. He yelled at them and told them "NO!" The woman from customer service asked me to bring it to another location and she was notating the situation in the system. I ended up having to drive to DCA that has much better customer service. When I spoke with the airport manager, he could not believe my experience. There are 2 great managers for Budget: 1. Brandon from DCA 2. Aponique from DCA Budget should definitely consider firing that rude short man from Union Station and promoting Brandon from DCA to become the main manager at Union Station. His customer service is wonderful. read more

I had a similar experience as another Yelper where Budget charged me more than my quote without telling me. I reserved a compact car online. I showed up to pick up my car the next day. The person behind the desk tells me that she has a midsize car available and ready if I want it. I think she is being nice and is offering an upgrade, so I accept. It turns out she wants me to pay more for the midsize. She doesn't mention the fee at all. I notice the additional charge in my paperwork. Lesson for anyone who rents here. Read the paperwork in detail. You can't trust the people behind the desk. read more

Made a Prepaid reservation Friday for 12 pm Saturday to pick up a vehicle for family road trip, when I arrived I was informed that no cars were available I should try another location ( Reagan national airport) "because they always have cars"smh. Another suggestion was come back before we close we may have a few returns. I chose the latter to come back before closing around 330 , Upon returning its one vehicle available The outside is wet like they just rinsed the vehicle I do a walk around to check the vehicle and accept the car, when I get in the car I notice it's only a quarter tank of gas in the car really ? I informed the representative at the front she jots something down. already 2-3 hours behind on my trip I pull out of the union station garage the sun shining down inside the car and the car is filthy!!! The 2 customer service reps were good I can't blame them! I'm going to go with hertz next time, Also I got charged a refueling fee @ $9 a gallon read more

Avoid this Budget car rental like the plague. They stoled $83 from us. When they tell you that the full coverage insurance is $55, they're lying. Their front desk person told us that the limited insurance was $50 and that the full coverage insurance was $55, my husband and I explictly asked "The full coverage is only $5 more?" We were told yes and so we told them to charge us for the full coverage. It was a one day trip and this insurance seemed like a decent deal. The paperwork was shoved into our face and we instructed to sign, so we did. When a Budget car rental place tells you $55, treat it like an alternative fact. They picked our pocket for an extra $83. In addition to their being thieves, this Budget car Rental was a pain to access and navigate, so if you have any disabilities that make mobility an issue, please keep this in mind. When you get off the escalators and follow the arrows, there is no signage telling you that you must first check in at the counter--which is out of sight to the right while the Union Station signage is navigating you to the left. We walked all the way up to the budget stall on the 2nd floor only to be told that we'd have to go back downstairs and check in at the counter. Why don't they just allow for people to check in there? The people at the counter upstairs and downstairs were rude and Will, i believe his name was, is the person who gave us the misinformation and charged us the extra $83 before having us sign. When I called budget's customer service to get our money back, I was completely stonewalled. The first customer service persons answer to my question of why their counter person would tell us $55 if they were going to charge us $138 was, "I don't know. I wasn't there." When I asked to speak to his supervisor, she aggressively talked over me and told me "there's no one above me to help you." She talked over me so aggressively that when I asked her to transfer me to someone who could help me, she couldnt hear me and kept talking over me. I had to hang up and call customer service again to lodge a complaint. They indicated they could knock off 10% of what we were charged, but otherwise were completely unhelpful. When I asked if anyone was likely to contact me back I was told "probably not" so I actually had to explicitly request a follow up Don't rent from Budget. They sell themselves as cheaper on the front end but will have you paying out the nose on the backend. Don't fall for it like we did. For other car rentals with another company, be sure you carefully examine your agreement, don't sign anything that you weren't quoted for, and make them change the amounts right then and there if you see anything above what you were quoted for that isn't taxes. Don't let them rush you. read more

SO BAD. charged us over double what we were supposed to pay and then customer service guy was anything but helpful. will never rent from here again. AVOID AT ALL COST. read more

Would give zero stars if possible... YOOOOO... when a person rents a truck, they probably have a bunch of other arrangements scheduled AROUND that truck rental... Don't call me an hour before and tell me it's not available. I made my reservation days ago. You didn't have the time to get your ducks in a row? My middle finger is up at this whole business. Shout out to Penske for saving the day. read more

I've never had such bad customer service. Even though we had a reservation, they ran out of cars and on top of that were rude to us. Instead of trying to help us find another car, at another Budget, they closed the window on us and let us deal with their problem on our own. Will never again rent a car from Budget. read more

Absolutely not; do not ever fall for Budget's initial "low price" - spend the extra money upfront and rent from a real car rental place, you'll spend less in the long run, I PROMISE. I reserved a car online for a little less than $200 (for a Friday-Sunday weekend, which is already a little insane but it seemed to be an expensive weekend; fine) and went to the Budget in Union Station in DC. I decided last minute that I wanted to bring my bicycle where we were going, so I asked how much it would be to upgrade and was told $15/day. Great, sold. I get handed the receipt (and I will say this is a little on me for accepting this but I'm still a little appalled that it happened at all) and all of a sudden my total is $300? The guy told me it would be "cheaper that way." It was silly of me to accept this, but it was covid times, he stood like 10 feet away with a mask on - which I don't condone of course but I couldn't hear him at all, it was freezing cold outside and there was a huge, slow moving line behind me so I just said whatever I'm going to take this and figure it out on the phone. It was my mistake, in the end, to walk away with this of course and I've paid the price for doing so; but I have to believe it really shouldn't have happened in the first place. Leave the Budget rental and DC and start to call Budget, but no answer. Kept calling all weekend, no answer! On Sunday I returned the car and informed the manager of my situation and she told me I was only going to be charged the $300 if I returned it on Monday; since I returned on Sunday, I was good. Great! I go over to the booth after returning the car to make sure all is well and I see her in there fighting with the guy who originally gave me the car. After about 5 minutes of me just standing there, he opens the window and says "you're good." Silly me again! They charged my card the $300, obviously. How could I not have seen that coming? I tried to call again and email and received nothing back except for one email from Dawn Stuart, who appears to be DC's manager for Budget, who told me I was wrong (obviously) and I was charged for some other reason, and then failed to answer any single one of my responses. No response to this day after my repeated attempts to respond to her. It's really customer service at its finest. I don't know how my price went from $200 to $300 with a simple car upgrade and I tend to think the guy thought he could pull one over on a young woman who appeared very much to not be a car or rental expert. And he pulled it off, totally got me. Got an extra $100 from me that I haven't been able to take off. I paid $100 extra for two days for my $15 upgrade. I went to Enterprise on Georgia Avenue for a Christmas rental car and there was a small timing delay on getting our car day of, so our price went from $500 total for an entire week to $300 because of the inconvenience. It was astonishing to me based on how I had been treated at Enterprise. I paid less for the car I had for a week at Enterprise than the car I had for two days at Budget. Don't make my mistake, friends! read more

As many other reviewers have noted, the front desk essentially scams you and they nickel and dime you with bs fees. Like many others, I originally went to the kiosk in the rental garage, and was forced to walk back to Union Station to get processed, and then back to the garage again, wasting a ton of time. This resulted in me being in a rush to get to my destination and not having time to hassle with the lady at the front desk. First, she said the only available car in the class I chose was a Volkswagen Beetle (I have a feeling this wasn't even true), and asked if I wanted a different car. I said yes, I would prefer another car, and she said, "sure, we'll get you another one." I assumed this would be free, and they would just give me a different car. Nope. They charged me $9/day without telling me until the receipt was printed out. I didn't have time to deal with another 30 minutes of hassle to get a different car or the Beetle back, or whatever they would have made me do, so I ate that $9/day. Secondly, when I booked online, I had a return time selected of 10PM on Sunday. I got the car at 7:30AM Friday, and specifically asked her at the front desk if there would be any charge as long as I returned it by 7:30AM Monday (every rental company I've used charges in 24 hour increments). She told me that returning by 7:30AM Monday would be fine. I get back Monday at 7:20AM and they charge me a $20 late fee. After everything a $150 3 day rental became a $208 3 day rental essentially due to scams. All their phone customer service rep would refund was 50% of the upgrade fee. If they get back to me and give me a larger refund, I will adjust the review, but all in all this was a ridiculous experience. I would say that the front desk lady should be put on notice, but based on all the other reviews, this is probably done intentionally by the company to charge lower fees in online booking, then make up some of that by scamming you at the front desk. Not cool Budget. read more

The women behind the desk went the extra mile to help me find a cell phone i accidentally left in the car there names were kim and chrystal and i am writing this to say thanks. Other than that i think this is a standard rental car place. It is very convenient though because its in the train station. the price of the rental car i had was the same as everywhere else in dc so it makes sense to rent from them rather than elsewhere if you are taking the train to travel read more

Wrost fucking customer service.. my visit to dc has been upsetting thanks to these slow minded ladies.. my reservation online was 90 and this "lady" wanted to charge me twice the price. Reserve online.. or just avoid this place. read more

Shout out to Dave Blango at Union Station,DC who hooked us up with a car when there were none to be had anywhere in the city today. Our NY flight to Atlanta was cancelled, we took a flight to D.C. Only to be left without a connecting flight. Can't miss a special wedding happening tomorrow and DAVE is making it happen! read more

They charged an extra $100 when we returned the vehicle and would not explain why. They did not provide a receipt. I just found out they didn't register I had returned my car, and they then charged another $1000 onto my credit card. read more

TL:DR: ALWAYS read the Yelp reviews ahead of time! They are VERY accurate in this case! If I could give negative stars, I would. I arrived at 11:00 AM. The attendant told me I would be charged for 3 days since I was early. I told her that I would just leave and come back; she told me not to leave, that she would take care of it. She then told me that my car wasn't ready yet, but offered to upgrade me to a Taurus. After being offered a number of different price points and telling her 'no', I finally agreed to a $5/day upgrade, for two days. I did sign off on the contract, but when I asked about the 3 or 2 day charge, she said it would be based on being hours late. In the past, I have been late with Budget and have never been charged. Nonetheless, I was going to try to make it back by 11:00 AM, despite my original time in and out of 1:00 PM. I felt very pressured to take the car at 11:00 when I arrived, despite saying I would come back at 1:00 PM, and her insisting that I rent it now. She also did not explain to me that the car didn't have a full gas tank, and how that worked. She was very evasive and seemed like she was trying to trick me into extra items; things were $5, then $6, then $5, and included or not included (satellite radio, etc). I returned to Union Station a little late (around an hour). There were absolutely NO SIGNS directing me where to return the car, nor were there directions included in my rental contract as many places throughout the US do. I was then 'caught' in the traffic circle in front of Union Station, causing me to be even later. I called the Manager from the business card I happened to grab, Sean Lee. I explained where I was and asked for his help. He told me, "Ma'am, I'm not in the car with you, so I don't know where you are." He said this in a snarky tone, despite my very clear explanation that I was sitting right in front of Union Station in the circle. There is only one Union Station in Washington, DC. I even asked if the return area was to the right or to the left of the front of the Station. He would not tell me. I finally took a chance and went to the parking garage (again, no rental car or rental car return signs, until you were already IN the parking garage). I arrived, and the woman working was very sweet and offered her sympathies. She was the *only* Budget employee that was pleasant. She got me all checked in, and said I could talk with Sean inside, as he was working at the rental counter. I went to the rental counter, and Sean was no where to be found. The employee on duty, Will, had no desire to help me, and told me I was out of luck, and that Sean had just left (which I found convenient for him, since I had just called). Will said he reached Sean and was going to give me an hour refund, leaving me with still an hour extra charge. If we were going by the number of hours, I lost an hour via Daylight Savings Time, so I didn't get anything from this counter that really wasn't deserved if they charged by the hour as they said that they were doing. My main complaints: 1) I offered to come back at 1:00 PM, but the employee insisted that I stay; she pressured me very hard. 2) She then told me my car wasn't ready, but I could pay what started out as $15/day, but turned into $5/day for a 'much nicer car' (which I disagree with; the Chrysler 200 is the car I planned on from the beginning). 3) I was treated rudely by not just one employee, but by three, including the manager over the phone. 4) I have rented cars all over the United States numerous times, and I've never had an experience this poor. The lack of signage makes it seem like the rental companies there, including Budget/Avis, want people to get lost returning the cars. I cannot recall one airport or location that didn't have clear returning instructions. 5) I feel very taken advantage of; this was not a good end to my longer trip to DC. This experience actually epitomized what many people think of big city people trying to take advantage of out-of-towners. read more

I pre-paid for 1 day for an SUV to drop my children off at 2 different colleges. I was charged a $100 fee upon picking up the vehicle, that I normally get back within 2-3 days after returning the vehicle. I was told to bring the vehicle back with the fuel level on empty, I brought it back with 1/2 tank full. Subsequently, I was charged $26.29 for a 1/2 tank of gas and the $100 was not refunded. I called the Customer Service Department and was told that it was nothing that they could do. I asked if I could submit my rental agreement and the representative told me that it may not do any good and hung up on me before giving me the number or email to submit my proof. So, I have paid $186.73 for an overnight rental of an SUV. I have contacted them several times, all of my contact information in my profile is correct and no one has reached out to help rectify the situation. Two days later I received an email saying that the refueling cost of $9.90 is a hefty price to pay and basically, that I should've refueled!!! Now if the vehicle that I rented has a 15-gallon tank and I brought it back 1/2 full, how is it that I have to pay an ADDITIONAL $126.29? This is ridiculous!!! read more

Customer service is terrible arrived early for a noon reservation and they we're out of cars so they had a group of people waiting for over half an hr to finally get assisted. Didn't even bother getting the paperwork done while we were waiting instead the clerk just sat at the desk making phone calls and staring at a computer screen. read more

Help me to help you. Never, never take Budget - not at Union Station and not at National Airport. The last three times I have been there I have waited a minimum of one hour while the staff tells me they have no way of knowing when the rental care will be available. This time it was two hours late before I gave up. What is the point of asking people when they want to pick up their car if it doesn't matter? Staff are not friendly in either location, minimally knowledgeble, and it will be more trouble than it is worth. Look into other options instead. read more

Rip off! I was upgraded to a car, Mustang, after being told that the difference would only be $3 dollars a day difference from my reservation of a full size car, to find out what they really mean is that there is a $70 a day difference between the class of car I reserved, which they didn't have in stock, but that I did reserve. Shrugged shoulders and passing the buck, customer service was little help. At one point in the conversation Lynn (customer # 32203) told me that I was to "think about it" and see their point of view for justifying the charge, bypassing the point that I made that I was misinformed of what an $3 dollar a day difference really means, in Budget terms. The up sell wasn't $3 a day, but more $70 a day, only of which only $75 will be returned. Which shows that they know they've made a mistake. Suffice to say I will never book with Budget ever again. There is nothing "Budgeted" about they're misguided and underhanded approach. Bad experience. read more

Beware, Budget charges $13/day extra to add a driver. The counter person did not verbally tell us this when we requested it. Instead they wrote it into the contact and did not bring it to our attention. I felt underhanded. (Tip: Hertz, in my experience does not have additional fees for adding a driver.) read more

Terrible customer service and incompetent employees. Make sure you walk out with a receipt to review all charges. I did not get a receipt because lady at the counter had no paper and she misread the fuel reading. I brought the car back with fuel gas and instead was charged a fuel service for an empty fuel tank. They need to pay attention to details. Also make sure you get the damages checked - my car had all these scratches/fender benders and I had to tell one of the guys to add that to the list. Like the proximity to Union Station but not worth the hassle. read more

Rented a small car for $131 for 3 days. When I looked in my bank account, the total was $272! I called, waited on hold for almost 30 minutes, to be told I not only was charged $110 dollars for both an additional day AND a late fee.... for returning the car after the 9 am drop off (when I called I had asked for 9 PM, not AM)... but that there was also a $60 insurance added that I do not remember asking for. I let the customer service agent know I was never made aware I'd be charged over $100 for returning the car a few hours late... which is kind of important information when people are DRIVING and experience traffic and other inevitable delays. I have used many other rental companies and they only charge $15-30 for a late fee - not an additional day PLUS a late fee. I ended up paying double the amount I agreed to pay for a tiny dirty car. The agent was rude. Do not ever rent from this company. read more

Don't choose them! The staff are not courteous and are very rude. The place to return a car was a maze! It took me half an hour to find the right place. It took us about an hour to get the car in NYC , and They didn't tell us that we have to go inside a parking garage, that it's also a bus garage, to return the car in Washington DC. And so, after calling them and finding it out over the phone I could finally find the right place to return the car, but I was TWO minutes late. Exactly two minutes! The staff was still there, but Even though it only takes seconds to take a car back, the lady made me go back to the hotel and didn't take the car. I literally begged her, but she completely ignored me. I was in an unknown place for the first time, and wasn't easy to go and come back. We paid $60 for overnight parking, spent another 1.5 hrs to return the car the day after; and on top of all these, they charged us $20 late fee, even though it wasn't even 24 hrs, since we got the car! Very disappointing! Very Poor customer service! Unfair extra charge! read more

Horrible. The staff acts as though customers are a complete inconvenience. Really, the CUSTOMER. There is also a man working the car return who should be fired. This person's manager must to be aware of his behavior as I was witness to it twice in one rental period. The manager should be fired as well. When we were leaving with our rental car, the only indication we had of the exit (no signage!) was another customer trying to get the automated arm to rise so that she could drive through. Now, any normal human being would walk over to her car and help her back up and roll forward to activate the arm or investigate if there was a problem with the arm (like my husband was doing, who does not work for Budget!). But no. This embarrassment to the human race starts screaming at the woman, from 25 feet away, to back up. Now this poor woman cannot back up as this idiot has parked a car so close to the exit that 1. she runs the risk of hitting the inappropriately parked car and 2. making it impossible to make the turning radius for CUSTOMERS to exit the garage. Probably the reason she could not get the gate arm to activate in the first place! Upon returning our car, we again could find not figure out where to park the car. No signage exists, so we were driving around looking for a staff member to direct us on where to park the car. I guess the staff in the booth have their butts glued to the seats. I heard yelling and there he is. Same guy. Yelling at us, the CUSTOMER, as though we are deliberately avoiding the return area. Same behavior. Still not fired. Clearly budget needs to clean house at multiple levels. WILL NEVER USE BUDGET AGAIN read more