Budget Car Rental

Ryan Zilker

If you want to be treated poorly and talked down to, this is the rental location for you! Diane is incredibly rude; she didn't wear a name tag and didn't bother to introduce herself. Despite filling up the gas tank 18 minutes and 10 miles before I arrived, the gas gauge read just below full. Per Diane, that translated into a $29+ fuel charge. I was (I think understandably) frustrated. She was unwilling to do anything to help me. She held the line and said I could take the car and fill it up or pay the fee. I had to get to work, so I left frustrated. I called Budget corporate - they asked me a few questions and immediately refunded the fuel charge. I don't understand why this woman was so unwilling to help me and created so much work for me. I even called back to ask her why she didn't help me the way that corporate did. Diane said she wasn't able to refund the charges. I then asked her why she didn't suggest I call corporate, and she said because I was "debating" the charges and she wasn't going to discuss it with me over the phone and then hung up on me. Needless to say I won't be using this location again. The only reason I'd consider Budget again is because of the good experience I had when I called. It's just that I never should have had to call... Get it together Budget Tacoma!

Marcus Williams

Hidden fees everywhere. I did my reservation through Expedia and it was supposed to be $60 dollars for just a day with a 42 dollar charge for the accident thing, my Expedia price was not honoured and My total came out to be $203.04, along with the $200 deposit with the car. be careful when renting a vehicle anywhere. Especially here. The reason why I gave it 3 stars is because the woman there is so nice, and professional and helped me get my car right away. She can't help that there are hidden fees, it's not her fault. So she gets my stars not the company. your service was great ma'am thank you.

matthew jennings

Ive been renting from these guys for years, when Ruslan ran this place i never had a problem. His service was good and billing was always upfront. Then that all changed when he left. My first rental from them after he left was horrible. My wife picked the car up and after being checked in at noon she didn’t leave there till 12:45 (waiting on them to clean the car) They rented us a car with expired tabs, drove into Idaho and was pulled over. I then had to drive that car 1+ hour (one way) to the Spokane airport to swap the cars out. When my wife returned the car to Tacoma we were charged over a $100 in services we didn’t opt into (roadside service and xm radio) along with a late fee for returning it at 12:30. I called the 1-800 number and complained, it took awhile for them to return the $100 in service fees. After all that hassle I thought the nightmare was all over, but I was wrong. A few weeks after the rental I received a letter saying I was being charged a $250 cleaning fee for “DIRT in the smoke smell of the vehicle.” The car was clean when we returned it, no excessive dirt and nobody in the car smokes. I called and complained to the 1-800 number again and am waiting back from them.

Bob Builder

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the quality of service provided on four separate occasions over the course of my 53 day car rental. First, on the day of pick-up, the sales representative (Miriam) at the pick-up location knowingly attempted to rent me a car lacking a vehicle registration slip. By informing her this was illegal, she provided me a different car and I addressed this with the manager (Jason) at a later date. The manager agreed to take care of this internally. Second, the vehicle provided had a slow leak in a tire on 16AUG, therefore I drove 2hrs round trip to/from SeaTac to pick-up a replacement vehicle, as neither Tacoma nor Lakewood locations had any replacement vehicles available for pick-up, the vehicle did not come with a spare tire, and emergency roadside assistance would only agree to tow the vehicle and pay for my Uber to the airport (i.e. they would not bring a spare tire and replace on scene). Third, on 11SEP my replacement vehicle key fob battery and car battery both died, requiring emergency roadside assistance and towing. Fourth, there was a discrepancy between my original rental car agreement and charges made to my credit card amounting to $126.64. Budget Customer Service assured me via email on 19SEP that the management team (per my request) would review this case and respond within 72 hours. It is now 24SEP with no response. I disputed the charge through my bank and they are currently investigating. Budget without a doubt has some of the cheapest car rental prices. However, is this hassle worth it? Rent with caution, folks.