Budget Car Rental — Local services in San Bruno

TERRIBLE MANAGEMENT! TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE! MIN THANT IS A TERRIBLE MANAGER!!!!

This was easily one of the worst experiences my family encountered renting a vehicle. The operations manager named Min Thant only made it worse. Below is a breakdown of our experience:

AFTER WAITING AN HOUR IN LINE. We get to the counter to receive the vehicle we reserved weeks prior online. We initially booked an electric car which was supposed to be either a Tesla or an electric Ford Mustang. Upon arrival, the representative tried to give us a Hyundai. After showing him proof of the confirmation he gave us the Electric Ford Mustang. The rep stated the car couldn’t be charged to a 100% and we will receive the charge at 70%… we asked him about the charging of the mustang since this would be a new experience for us. He gave us a paper containing a QR code and said “just scan this and it’ll take you to the charging station for your specific vehicle”…. He wished us a merry Christmas then directed his attention towards the next guest…

Once we got to the car, we noticed the vehicle was NOT charged to a 70% as the rep stated. Instead it was at a 53% charge which meant we would have to stop to charge the car in the middle of our 2 hour drive. We attempted to go back to the counter but were told to get back in the same line we just spent in hour in. Whatever. We bit that bullet and just took the car.

we attempted to use the QR code the budget rep provided so we could located a compatible charger for the mustang. And this is when the nightmare started…. WE WENT TO 8 DIFFERENT CHARGING STATIONS AND NONE OF THE CHARGERS WERE WORKING. Not a single one!!! Why would budget send us on this goose chase knowing these charging ports are inactive?!!… we basically ran out of battery going to each of the charging stations budget recommended. This ruined our day and delayed our trip. The level of stress this caused while being stranded in a new city/state and being sent to charging stations that don’t work basically ruined our trip.

Once we returned to SFO, we decided to speak to a manager and that’s when we met the operations manager named Min Thant and the exchange we had with him made it apparent why this location is in such shambles. Min Thant was extremely unprofessional, unhelpful, and clearly intellectually incapable to manage any department. Corporate should really revisit training him and coworkers… All we wanted to do was voice our complaints in a civil manner and his response was “I cannot give you a refund”…. Dude, we never asked for a refund. His belittling, unsympathetic attitude proved to me he should not be in a position of management. He shouldn’t even be in customer service.

The icing on the cake was Min Thant threatening us with fees for not bringing the car back charged at a 70% level…. I had to remind him since he clearly wasn’t listening to our complaints that we never received the car at a 70% charge (we received at 53%). AND I had to remind him again that the charging ports his company recommended to us were NOT WORKING!!!… talking to Min Thant was useless. He’s not management material and the fact he’s an operations manager is quite laughable. Also when I asked for the number I can call to complain he literally wrote down the phone number of the location he was working at instead of the proper department. Everything Min Thant did that day was unethical on a personal and business level.

For anyone renting the mustang. DO NOT USE THE QR CODES THE REPS GIVE YOU. They don’t work! Save yourself the stress.

Min Thant if you are reading this and I really hope you are. Please do society a favor and leave customer service. You clearly don’t value the people bringing money to the business. Instead you’re belittling them for following the faulty directions provided by your employees. I don’t know what mental space you were in the day we dealt with you but please take a moment to self reflect and focus on being a better person. The person we met should not be face of any company. Zero...

I rented a car from this location on March 9 around 7:30A.M. The car was not functioning correctly, so I went back to the location to exchange the vehicle.

Once arriving back to the rental car location, I pulled the car into the "returns" section. I kindly asked the employee numerous questions and ended up deciding to exchange the Tesla Model Y for a different Tesla Model Y.

The employee doing "returns" printed out the ticket I would need to exchange the car for a different one. She explained I just have to go to the "Avis Preferred" counter on the 3rd floor.

Before exchanging cars, Employee1 pointed my husband and I to the direction of another Tesla Model Y. He told us it's possible to switch to that one if we like it; and everything works.

As soon as my husband and I reviewed the new Tesla Model Y, I walked to the "Avis Preferred" counter and informed the employee I am here to exchange a car. Before I got the chance to hand over my paperwork, Employee 2 rudely asked what car am I trying to get. Then, said we don't have that car here. I explained that Employee 1 allowed us to see the car already; and it's parked in the garage. The employee then smirked and rudely said "Well go tell employee 1 to rent you out the car than." Employee 3 chimed in and said can you bring us the key for the new car; and they can search in the system if the car is available or not.

After walking back in the garage and retrieving the car key, I arrived to the counter. I did not even have to hand over the key, Employee 2 states "Oh. We have the car available." Then, he finally decided to take my "exchange receipt" and proceeded to read my name "Tseng Mathis" off of the paper. He whispers to me "Are you Asian?" At this point I felt racially profiled. Employee 2 proceeded to process the vehicle exchange .

While I was at the counter doing the vehicle exchange, my husband calls me from the rental car garage and says, "Someone is putting their belongings into the new Tesla." I explained that is impossible as the employees told me to retrieve the keys from the car prior to doing the vehicle exchange; and they were completing the request to switch cars. Employee 2 informed me to tell my husband to tell the customer that the car is already rented out to us.

My husband and I begin to put our items into the new Tesla Model Y. Another employee pulls up in a Tesla Model S with his manager standing outside the car. I informed employee 1 what was happening; and he informed me that he gave the Tesla Model Y to the gentleman(the new customer). His manager was confused as I explained what had happened on my husband and I's end as well.

The manager explained that the situation is not our fault; and the customer was given another car.

All in all at this location:

I felt disrespected and like my time was wasted(walking back and forth to a parking garage just to have an employee tell me the car was in the system; and I didn't have to walk back and forth to obtain the key).

This location lacked proper communication between employees(Employee 1 says the car is available, I can inspect it to see if that's the car I will exchange with the current car I have, then gives it to another customer without informing me.) Employee 2 states that the car is mine. The exchange contract is complete.

I felt racially profiled by Employee 2 for whispering am I Asian based off my skin tone, features, and last name.

My husband and I were celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary that weekend; and we are in the process of deciding between a Tesla Model Y vs Model S. So we intentionally booked a Tesla Model Y in advance.

To have felt racially discriminated, disrespected, and inconvenienced trying to rent a car from Budget was a horrible kick off to a beautiful weekend. A process that should take up to 20 minutes delayed us over an hour. I can assure we will never rent from Budget or Avis again after...

This was by far the worst rental car and customer service experience I have ever had. I get to the rental counter a little after midnight, and when reviewing the rental agreement I notice the total is $70 more than what my reservation said it would be when I booked it (I have a confirmation email that showed my total would be $129.54, and the agreement they tried to get me to sign was just shy of $200). The agent and I go back and forth on this for almost 45 minutes and he finally got within $6 of the price I reserved. I had an hour drive ahead of me so at this point, I just wanted to leave. I agreed and signed for $135.95.

I then go out to the parking lot, find my Jeep Gladiator which is the last truck they had left in that car class (I was offered a larger truck for an additional fee which I declined, but they said they had tons of full size trucks available). The tires on the Jeep Gladiator were completely bald and unsafe to drive on. I walk back inside and tell them I want a different vehicle and speak with another agent who tells me he is going to look for another truck. Keep in mind, there’s probably 30+ full size trucks I walked by to get to the Jeep and the keys are in all the vehicles. The agent is gone for another 30-45 minutes “looking for a vehicle”, and during this time, all other agents ignore me and do not offer to help or check in on anything. The agent finally comes back and said he couldn’t find me anything. I told him that upon check in, I was offered a full size truck upgrade at an additional fee because there were tons available, and that I walked past dozens of them when I first went to the parking lot.

Believe it or not, the customer experience actually got worse. Mid conversation, the agent looks at me and says “Oh look, it’s time for my break. See you in a bit”. And he walks away from the counter, leaving my ID and reservation info in plain sight. I could not believe it, and nor could the other customers waiting in line. It’s now 1:30am and he never did return to the desk to finish helping.

It took another 20-30 minutes to find someone else to assist me and they finally get another truck on my reservation. So I walk out to this new truck, and this truck is completely dead. Won’t turn over, no accessory power, nothing. So I go back inside AGAIN, and at this point I don’t care what I drive; I just want to leave. Another employee finally puts me in a Silverado, and it turns out this truck has 0% oil life, zero windshield washer fluid, questionable tires and expired vehicle registration. As I’m leaving, I mention all of these concerns and am told by the gate agent to continue on and drive anyway.

It took me about 2 hours from the time I first spoke to someone at the rental counter to the time I actually left the rental car facility. I was first put in a Jeep Gladiator that was completely unsafe to drive. Then I was put in a Dodge Ram that was completely dead. And finally, I was put in a Chevy Silverado that had questionable tires, expired registration, zero windshield washer fluid and 0% oil life.

This series of events left me with zero hope that Budget/Avis care about the safety of their customers or their customers in general, nor do they care about maintaining their vehicles. I was completely let down by every single team member at this facility and will NEVER return to SFO Airport Budget/Avis, or any other company location for...