Budget Car Rental

Igor Iglin

I'm writing about 800 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, US (Union Station). They set up a car wash business at their car rental shop. I mean that they actively used Customer Notice in the rental agreement about EXTENSSIVELY DIRTY, STAINED INTERIOR, PET HAIR or AROMA OF SMOKE IN THE INTERIOR. We have returned our car after around 3 weeks of usage. Of course it wasn't perfectly clean. There was dust on the outside and some sand on the floor of the driver side and on the floor of the front passenger side, which can be easily removed with a regular vacuum cleaner. The worker said that he will charge us $75 to clean the interior and showed us that same red colored Customer Notice in the rental agreement. We showed him that it was only dust and sand. It is easy to remove and is a common dust from normal use. He said it's dirty. Then we said that we will clean the car ourselves. A vacuum cleaner can't cost $75. He said us that he will charge us for 1 day extra if we late. In our car agreement was specified returning time 12:00 PM. The time at that moment was 11:00 AM. We tried to find car washing, but there was hard traffic. We didn't find a car wash during that 1 hour. We just shook the sand off the carpets and returned the car, but the worker still insisted that the car was dirty and will charge us extra money. Then we went to another worker who gives out the keys. But when they started talking to her, she didn't even look at the car. She showed us the same clause of the lease agreement. We realized that they were colluding because she very quickly found that same agreement with red letters and even did not listen to us. I'm very sure they do this with many other people and they set up a car wash business. We saw that worker with a flashlight examining other cars and having long conversations with other people.

Matthew Vincent

Charged a $50 no-show fee after we called over 24hrs in advance to cancel our reservation, which we were forced to do when they moved our pickup time three hours later, much later than when we needed the car. This was conveyed to us over voice mail they left right as their office closed for the day. Did not respond to multiple phone calls or texts.

Duane Brady

The LA Union Station offers a great/easy transition from Amtrak to rental car. BUT, what is disconcerting is the narrow staircase you have to walk -- with luggage and homeless people following you -- to reach your vehicle. And the weird gated area -- with little or no signage -- you cross while leaving and returning your vehicle. Better signage and verbal instructions, please.

Heidi Calvert

Warning!!! Do NOT book online or through their app and pay in advance then try to change your reservation!!! This is what happened to me. I booked a reservation last week and paid in full. I did not choose coverage as I have my own. Today I tried to change my reservation to pick up the next morning after my original reservation. When I did so it gave me the same rate which was fine even though it was one less day. I already paid anyway. I noticed their app automatically checks off ALL coverage which comes to more than the rental itself. I made sure to uncheck it. I got an estimate that said “coverage $0, not selected”, and gave me the same total I already paid along with the amount I paid, the balance being 0. Well after I clicked “apply changes” it THEN added on the coverage again and completed my reservation this way, saying if I had prepaid the remainder would now be charged. I tried to change it several times and it kept doing the same thing. Finally I called, held for a long period of time, did this and spoke to FIVE different people including supposed managers. They all said they couldn’t do anything. I was forced to cancel my reservation, and the agent said he’d waive the $50 cancellation fee. My reservation was cancelled but it said I would be charged $50 still. So now I’m without over $600 til the refund goes through, and don’t have money for a new rental. Plus I lost out on $50 and the discount for paying in advance because that is now not an option since my money is in limbo til the refund clears. If you need to change your pickup or drop off I highly suggest to call the rental location instead of trying to change it online. You won’t be able to do so without getting cheated out of a lot of money! And worse, they will not fix it for you!