Budget Car Rental — Attraction in Burbank

I rented and prepaid for premium crossover vehicle. I get there and had to wait in line for about 1 hour. I finally reach the counter only to be told , we don't have that vehicle in stock? I ask them what do you have ? The had economy small compact cars . I had just landed from a 24 hrs flight I was like ok thats fine , I walk out to the car lot find the car. But it doesn't turn on . I had to go back in there and and speak to those employees that seemed to be mad about everything? I explain the situation and I am told just go back and try it once again? I go back and finally after several times it turns on. While turning it on it makes a weird grinding sound. I drive up to a security guy in a little booth. Who verified that the rental was mine based on the receipt and your Id. He walks around and saids whats that noise? He gives the car an inspection . And saids girl look at this ...Half the bottom of the bumper all around the car and the grill were hanging off the car? When I got on it was intact as I drove away I heard a grinding sound ? I must of been the bumper and front grill coming off. He gives me a piece of paper and tells me to turn around and go back into the rental place to get another vehicle. I go back in only to wait another hour!! I hand them the paper that the security guard gave me. Once again they don't have a vehicle for me? I asked what do you have ? He saids a luxury elite suv (which is a GMC Yukon). I respond thats fine. I just wanted to get out of the place. I had to pay more because of their inconvenience of not having enough of vehicles on hand? I drive it for a few days only to have the check engine light and weird sounds coming out? I then drove it to the closest Budget rental. And I asked for a different car? They literally had the audacity to say oh its just check engine light . It can be a oil change, maybe it needs a gasket is what I am told . I then tell them I am no mechanic and I am guessing neither are you ? I tell them why would I wait for this vehicle to break down? Once again no vehicle in stock besides a Pickup Truck. I tell them yes please. By far this is the worst customer service for any car rental company. I had to waste so much of my time and energy. Not to count the extra money I had to pay ? And to top it off having to deal with all the disgruntled employees? Don't rent from this place. I work for a corporate company and I mentioned all these issues to them .They literally sent our a memo to all the colleagues and to our division that handles contracts where we get a bit of a discount and they were told to cut all ties with Budget Rental company....

Renter beware! This place is run by scammers, and they will steal your money.

When I went to pick up the car - a Mazda CX-9 SUV - I noticed extensive damage to the car. When I mentioned it to an employee nearby, she told me that I should go ahead and take it, have the security guard at the exit note all of the damage, and I wouldn't have to worry about anything.

A gut feeling told me I would regret this, but I was running late to where I need to go, so I went ahead and did that. Before I did though, I walked around taking photos of the damage to the vehicle. There was also a smell inside the vehicle that was nearly identical to that of a college dorm room - you know the smell. 18 years old, forgot to clean your sheets for half the semester, dirty clothes piled up somewhere, and the smell of hangover sweat. Oh, and a bunch of sand in places that I honestly don't know how the previous driver got sand into.

In retrospect, I should have returned the car and asked for my money back. Instead, I went ahead and drove off after the security guard circled the damage.

When I returned the car, I made sure the person I gave the car back to was aware of the various issues with the car. His abrupt and very rude reply was almost like he immediately dismissed me and acted like my existing was offensive to him. He snapped "it looks like normal wear and tear to me." and then refused to acknowledge my existence afterwards.

Fast forward a month. A letter came in the mail telling me they were charging me $119 for damages done to the car, which, honestly, I'm impressed they could find only $90 in damages, and the $29 admin fee seemed a bit steep since I don't think the people who handle most of the admin side of things are US based. This means it likely cost them about $0.25 plus postage - twice - and they pocketed the rest.

I sent an email to Budget letting them know I believed this to be incorrect and that they should not be taking the money out. I asked for photos of the damage and an explanation, and instead I got an email back that more or less told me to get lost. The explanation was that since I didn't buy the damage waiver, I had no rights, and they didn't take photos of small claim damages.

Basically, they punished me for their poor maintenance practices, and then furthermore decided that since I didn't buy their damage waiver, they would find a way to force me to pay for that anyway.

If visible damages exist like this, how bad is the maintenance on the engine, etc? Do not rent from here unless you wish to be forced to pay for...

Worst rental experience. Worst customer service experience. Shamika, you are the worst customer service agent I have ever met, and I truly hope you lose your job, you should never work with people. she also was recently suspended for the same issues. The manager witnessed her absolute disrespect to My friend and I, and simply told her to leave us alone and that it was a miscommunication. The only employees that were any good, was the guy we dropped the car off too, don’t know his name, but he was great. Then Manuk was great, knowledgeable and able to fix our issues. Here’s the back story. Not only was there only one person at the counter for Avis/Budget, it was Shamika, who had attitude the entire time, never told us when we were waiting at budget (right next to her) that service was through her line in Avis, we finally caught the hint, and got in line. (30 minutes wasted). My friend rented the car in advance, paid it all down, and only needed to pay a deposit on arrival. She was going to use my card for the deposit since she paid for the car, they don’t allow that, no big deal. My friend goes to pay with her debit card, Shamika very rudely told her she couldn’t do that, and started catching attitude when my friend started asking questions. My friend became fed up with this level of rudeness and asked for a manager to which she scoffed and went to get her manager. (yes, just like the movies.) An older asian man comes out, and as we're explaining the issue, shamika quite literally starts yelling at us, and the manager. it was unbelievable, she literally had another customer in front of her and was cursing in front of the child. the manager brushes her off, basically cant find our reservation and tried to charge us over 800$ on my friends card for the rental she already payed for!! my friend explains again that she already payed, etc. ended up showing receipts proving she payed. the "manager" couldnt seem to figure out the system and called manuk from the back to help. after a good hour and a half of time wasted we finally got the rental, manuk upgraded us to a nicer vehicle and we had no further issues. i will still never forget how we were treated initially, and will never rent from...