186 views
New Reviewer
0 comments
stars-rating-full stars-rating-full stars-rating-full stars-rating-full stars-rating-full
1.5

Reservation # 3399****US0

Budget is probably one of the worst I have ever dealt with. I had a very important trip with my young son for him to play in Cooperstown, NY. I had reservations for over 1 month and took a private driver from my hotel to this location near LaGuardia Airport in NY, after staying in NYC for 4 days. My plan was for me to rent a car & drive to Cooperstown. I arrived on Friday, July 22, 2016 prior to my reserved time of 7am. The lady at the counter (don't know name, but have attached picture) was emotionless & had no interest in helping me out. She had an immediate attitude from the beginning & asked me for my drivers license & credit card. I gave her my license & VISA debit card. She said that they don't take debit cards & if so would have to pull a full credit report. I asked her why and told her I've rented numerous times & have never had a problem + I was never told when I made the reservation that my VISA debit card would not suffice. I am renting the car...NOT BUYING IT! I told her if it was a problem, I could pay the full rental amount up front. She didn't like my line of questioning & deciding to make me pay for it. She looked at her screen & said the credit report came back & was denied!!! Keep in mind that I never gave her my SSN. I thought she was kidding & she said no. I asked her how she was able to get a credit report without my SSN#? I also explained my situation & that my son & I needed to be in Cooperstown by the next morning & I had a child with me. She didn't care, so I asked for her manager. He wasn't any better. His name was Darius Caston - Budget Airport Manager. He didn't care & said it was a policy & I asked him if there was a way to bypass that or make an exception? He said no. I pleaded with him over & over again & explained that my son was outside & we had no other form of transportation! WE WERE STRANDED IN QUEENS, NY!!! I asked for a business card & he didn't have one, so he wrote on someone else's card & handed it to me. I told him I will let everyone on social media know about my experience. We were not offered a shuttle ride to airport or anywhere else. That was it! ----- In trip planning, I had a car rental backup - which was Avis. However, when I received the manager's business card (see picture attached) I noticed that it said "avis budget group!" So I called Avis & after being thrown around from rep to rep one c/s rep said that it was a new policy to not accept debit cards as deposit. I will never use Budget and/or Avis & will make sure I let everyone I know about my horrible experience. I would never wish this experience upon my worst enemy. I will email Budget Corporate & know the non-response or canned response I will get. I will not give up and will get an apology letter written to my son before this is over. After 2 hours of making phone calls outside the Budget location, I found Enterprise Car Rental in NY who rented to me without any problems and with the same Visa debit card that Budget turned down. It was also $200 cheaper - so it was a blessing in disguise! I WILL NEVER USE BUDGET OR AVIS CAR RENTAL. This company has no respect or appreciation for it's customers & it's policies and not customer friendly.

Your debit card policy is unique to your company only and really puts responsible customers as myself in a bad predicament. You have no valid excuse, since my debit card is tied to my business checking and has over $50,000 in liquid funds.

Reason of review: Poor customer service.

Monetary Loss: $720.

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution.

Budget Rent A Car Cons: No flexibility, Manager enjoyed turning me away, Horrible customer service, Service, Rude and condescending, Left me hanging in another state.

Location: Queens, New York

Do You Have Something To Say ?
Write a review

Comments

chat-icon

Please avoid publishing any personal information and promotional content

You will be automatically registered on our site. Username and password will be sent to you via email.
Post Comment

Budget Rent A Car Reviews

  1. 324 reviews
  2. 109 reviews
  3. 31 reviews
  4. 15 reviews
  5. 5 reviews
Budget Rent A Car reviews