782 reviews
- Yes
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- No, I received a worse vehicle
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- No, I received a better vehicle
Booked on the Budget website for 4 days at A$444. At the counter, decided to add Excess Deduction and was told it was A$45/day. When I returned the car, the final bill was A$772. It turns out with all of the taxes and surcharges, the Excess Reduction was more like A$70/day. So their quoted price is very misleading. Also, they had added Road… Read more
Side Assistance which I absolutely did not request. This was an extra $48. I contacted Customer Service to have this charge removed and they said I had approved it. On the check-in form, it only shows as "RSN" which is also deceiving and seems to be an intentional scam. Would not recommend renting from Budget with these types of shady business practices.
Website has lots of info about hiring and that you will be charged for lots of extras in certain situations but fail to provide any documented pricing info The pricing and Payments section only talk about payment and still zero details on actual prices to make pre-informed decision. customer service not any more helpful and still don't provide a… Read more
price list and supports the other complaints about lots of excessive charges and poor customer service and a good reason to avoid this company
I rented from Budget Melbourne Airport, Tullemaine. During the one week hire period I caused a small dent in the left hand wing of the car. I followed procedure by reporting the damage, along with photos. As the car was still drivable it was agreed that I would continue with the rental and fill in paperwork when returning the car. This is when… Read more
the problems began. To cut a long story short, when I returned the car and completed an incident report I explained that I had third party excess cover and understood that I would pay upfront for the damage excess and would need a damage invoice in order to recoup the amount from my insurer. I paid AUD1740 upfront and was told I would receive the damage invoice by email. Then it took 10 weeks to get a damage invoice. At one stage I was provided with a quotation, but this is not the proof I needed for my insurer. I was told, after I had left the country, that it could take up to 8 weeks for the damage invoice to be provided. However most third party insurers have a 60 day limit for a claim. In my case my insurer was patient - more patient than I was. After a month I emailed weekly requesting a damage invoice. The replies always came from a different person in the claims department who clearly had not read my previous correspondence. Budget Customer Service also ignored me or sent me pathetic little notes saying they had not yet generated the invoice. After nine weeks I contacted the Australian Car Rental Conciliation Service - a marvellous organisation which has a car hire customer charter, which Budget was clearly in breach of. They achieved a result in one week - a return of one third of my upfront payment and a full damage invoice. I believe it I had not been persistent and had not used the Car Rental Conciliation Service, I would still be waiting and might never have obtained the invoice. I wonder if this is their normal practice with customers who have third party excess insurance cover. My insurer, AIG Ireland, another marvellous organisation, reimbursed me within two days of receiving the damage invoice. I hope this review helps anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation.
Reviews with attachments
Terrible! We bookwd a car using Uber rental, when booking was confirmed, Uber send us a message saying that be at airport budget at 8:00 pm with your drivers license and 200 dollar as deposit. We paid 70 dollars for taxi to get there and when wanted to pick up the car, their manager Fabio said that you must pay 1500 as deposit! When we showed… Read more
them the uber confirmation and policy, he said that its your problem with uber, our policy is different! and we cant do anything! Then I showed them this platform and said your reviews are very bad and your clients are not happy, he said I don't care. An unbelievably terrible and disappointing experience. Fara
Booked a Kia Cerrato. Was told in arrival none available in Cairns. Were given a Corolla Hatchback. It would not fit the luggage. Both men at the counter refused to help. I saw a Kia Cerrato hatch back in the car park. They said no, that's a sedan. We were then told we had been given a similar car to what we booked. The website states the category… Read more
will hold 2 large bags and one small bag. The Budget man said it's a website mistake and still refuses to assist us. The only option was to cancel and go somewhere else, or pay for an upgrade. Zero customer service skills on display.
- +1
I found the staff member working at sale budget on the 9th of May to be very combative and standoffish when I asked any questions about the rental he ask in a very aggressive tone to weather i had a problem as if he wanted to fight me. Their attitude made the experience uncomfortable and unwelcoming. Next time, I’ll be taking my business elsewhere… Read more
the door latchers where broken doors would not open the car seats where stained but the car was very easy to drive.
Beware – Booked a mystery car , not really cheaper but was looking for a change at Sydney Domestic. My mystery car was an old Mitsubishi Mirage, hub cap missing stone chips and cobwebs . Not enough room for my luggage even though a mystery car had room ? . After some haggling I got a Toyota Yaris and was told “ well the Mirage was a mystery “. Back at the airport and $106 added for premium drop off . Never again
Potentially Dangerous! – My wife and I rented a Budget car in Mackay, Queensland. It was a Corolla so a very reliable car that gave me no trouble. However both front tyres were bald to the extend that the braided steel wires in the inside edge of the tyres were exposed. So not only was the tread worn to the point that it was illegal to drive the car, but the steel wire… Read more
bands were exposed as well. This is a gross violation of Budget’s responsibility to ensure that any car rented by their customers is kept in a roadworthy condition. Luckily for us, there was no rain during the time that I hired the car over Christmas 2024. Had the roads been wet, we could have been placed in a very dangerous situation as I drove the car on very mountainous and windy roads west of Mackay. I completed an incident report but don’t expect Budget will respond or ensure that their fleet of cars are roadworthy. Budget should not be trusted and if you hire one of their vehicles, check the tyres!!
Latest follow-ups
Hired a car whilst my wife's was being repaired. I told them the return date might have to be extended, depending when the repair was completed. No problem they said. Turns out I did need to extend an extra 5 days, so I called them. (Blackburn,… Read more
Victoria branch) Nobody answered the phone all day. I called 8 times and left 3 messsages. I finally called the 1800 number and the guy who answered (in India) said he had arranged it all no problem. Next day we receive a threatening SMS saying the car was overdue, no longer insured, and would be reported to the police as a stolen vehicle.
Follow-up · When we got the SMS I called the branch ( 4 times before they answered the phone) and outlined the events up to that point. The lady I spoke to said she didn't know how that SMS was sent, but she would sort it out and extend the contract for another few days. She did that, and sent me a receipt by email. As to the charges and insurance, there was no issue with that as I knew what they were from the contract.
They advertise and give you a total prize for a 6days rental at $298 and then charge you $890 at pick up . I hired the car for or my son and payed it as pack deal flight &car rental . And I was told I didn’t pay .. my son was stressed because he… Read more
needed to be at an appointment . I had no other option then to pay up as it was late and he just flew in from other country with a child . It is disgusting to do something like that and it is false advertising ‼️‼️not legal either ‼️and $600 plus more on top off as you where quoted is daylight robbery especially if you’re on a budget ‼️‼️.Stay away from from them. I still have to call and complain to them as it was on a weekend
Follow-up · 4 weeks into nothing been resolved and due consumer rights because the didn’t include all the extras at pick up and wasn’t listed in quote I have the right to get the refund if service wasn’t hold up ‼️ They pushed me from one person to another first the airline.. then budget NZ back to Australia where vehicle was booked and picked up up to 8… Read more
Positive reviews
Fiona the lady in your Bairnsdale office was very friendly and extremely helpful. Unfortunately the man (Mat), I think that was his name in your head office was appalling, my husband asked a question he said take it up with your insurance company and then proceeded to just hang up. Obviously he is in the wrong business (no people skills). That’s putting it mildly. Show details
Arrived at Melbourne airport and had a car booked with with budget and our customer service officer Fabio was amazing he found an error on our booking fixed it saved us$33 and was so accommodating 5 stars for fabio Show details
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Tom Fink at Budget Maroochydore airport gave exceptional customer service. He was very clear about every step of what we needed to do, was friendly and quite frankly a I'd love to poach him for our business. Awesome work Tom Show details
Negative reviews
Terrible experience! DO NOT RENT through this company!! When visiting my family in Newcastle, I was wrongly given a parking ticket while using one of their cars. The fine was overturned & I did not need to pay, however, Budget still wanted to charge me a $42 processing fee for the fine that was no longer valid. I am aware of the terms and… Read more
conditions. I asked that they make an exception, given the nature of the circumstances - they decided that the one-time fee was more important than my future custom. Really distasteful and poor service. Will never rent through Budget again.
I hired a car from the 22/02/2026-27/02/2026 and extended the rental until 03/03/2026 I paid $126 for extra days They took a deposit of $200 , I took the car back a day early and the put a charge to my account on 05/03/2026 for $235 so in the end I’ve lost my deposit of $200 , $126 and also $235 and they said it’s for the extra charges. So I’ve paid an extra $561 on top of the $760 I paid to get car . STAY AWAY THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF Show details
Booked car on web site in Australia, pucked it up in LAX. Spoke to receptionist [Name Removed] about said car went through all cat details. DID NOT ACCEPT EXTRAS OF LIABILITY, WAIVER ETC....went on our way return car back to another location all ok. Overnight received a receipt for extra charges of all the things we verbally said NO to. So the… Read more
extra charges came to be about the same amount we booked the car for!!! Went to office they said say they have form at doubt that at LAX!! Told had to ring customer service. Well what a lot of good that was got a partial refund they said you should have read before signing we said [Name Removed] should have done what we asked NO EXTRAS! Don't book budget again and get printout before signing and DON'T trust the guy behind the counter. Worst customer service as well. Never booking BUDGET again.
Recent reviews
Hit with a request for $1000 deposit because I wasn't local and supposedly hadn't rented with them before. I realised afterwards that I had. Sounded like a scam. Directions link didn't work. Phone link didn't work. Numerous emails, not all of which had my reference number on them. If you tried to search anything on their access email, it just sent you into an unproductive loop. I was so overwhelmed I just cancelled the whole thing. Show details
These guys are completely incompetent. I removed all of my staff from their system after our company account was locked out we tried to get access . Despite providing full email and identification, proof of ownership, and authority, they refused to restore access because i didn't have an email with a specific number i would have received an… Read more
email for 20 years ago. Its not possible for a company to operate like this in this day and age.
You cannot reset a company account using only “family details” — a business account requires a registered company contact number that we received over 20 years ago . I own and operate a large company and, in all my years, I have never encountered a provider that refuses account access despite full verification.
This has been an ongoing issue for years hence why i pulled another major contcat as soon as this company was mentioned i advised to hard to deal with and used Europcar instead. We spend over AUD $2.3 million annually on hire cars, and after my PA advised how impossible they were to deal with, I needed to experience it firsthand.
She was right. once again
As a result, we are moving all business back to Europcar. A company of this size lacking basic commercial common sense is simply not fit to service corporate clients. But they don't care we are just the past these days .
Absolutely appalling I will not be renewing with budget direct they’ve taken my car and cannot give me an estimate on when it will be assessed let alone fixed that’s just not good enough for me. I’m sorry and also your customer service lady lied outright to me which does not impress me either shocking company wish I’d never come over to you.
Budget Car Rental - Goldcoast Airport The rudest ‘customer service representative’ I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Engaged with a 20 or so year old girl with a superiority complex who clearly hates her job. Her gruff, rude and condescending tone from the very first engagement was absolutely appalling. I witnessed two customers… Read more
before me experience similar rude behaviour. Highly recommend the staff at GC Airport Budget Car Rental are trained in basic customer service and maybe shown how to smile and speak politely to people.
I have been trying to book a small moving truck for four days now and no one is calling me back to actually book it even after i have been chasing them on a daily basis at the two locations (welshpool and Burswood).. Very annoying / frustrating at such a stressful time! I had the days off work , people booked to help with my move etc (its a… Read more
massive amount of stuff) and all i have had is the run around for days now and still no truck or a call back after 4 x days from Burswood! I spoke to multiple AI’s and various call centre office ladies but no one was competent to make an actual booking and just promised that someone from the Welshpool branch will call me back in a couple of hours,No one ever did!Then the next day i called the call centre lady said will need to be Burswood so someone from there will call as it cant be booked from the call centre accuracy of availability. Can’t believe how hard it has become just for a simple truck booking! I called Monday morning to be able to secure a truck for the Wednesday and Thursday no worries but as i am getting the run around for days my plans got ruined very quickly.. Very frustrating as you cant call store and speak to a person with their new system, it is now four days later(Thursday) and still no truck and not even a call back lol…. After all the time i wasted on all the email using the online links the AI sends or all my other calls and communications and nothing actually ever got done! At least get back to your customers and let them know what is going on so they can try and fix the ruined plans and all the booked people ! Absolutely appalling and still to this day no one has even bothered to at least get back to me.
Stay away if you want to hire a small moving truck, plan things and need a reliable service or if you actually want to speak to humans at the location you are trying to hire from. Very annoying experience especially when it took me 5min to book a truck today over the phone with another provider! I hope they read this and make changes or improvements to avoid this from happening and stuffing around other potential customers.
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Disgusting customer service . Fraudulent transaction, chatted on the phone agent don’t listen - management doesn’t call back. You’ve been reported. Horrific dealings Show details
We landed in Dubai. Took ages to find the office. When we did we were told to go pay insurance at the other office first and then come back. Would not give my grandson permission to drive as hes 24 but has been driving for 7 yrs. Nor would they give my son permission as his driver's licence has both C class driving. And HR which is on the same… Read more
licence in Australia. The staff member argued with us about that despite other rentals saying that was fine . So we asked another company if they would accept us so went with them . Could not get a refund on Budget rentals but the insurance refunded me. I would definitely NOT recommend Budget rentals .
Terrible company no customer service at all. They will charge you "no show" fee even if you have death in the family. No human consideration just looking to fill pockets. disgusting.
( Gave me a quote then claimed more money out off my bank than the invoice stated )They fixed the problem since, now I am happy with them. Took I while but we got there in the end.
My son and I hired a car at Townsville Airport in the beginning of October. The staff at the airport were good. The trouble began after we returned the car with a stone chip. They wanted an extra $1,500 in case a new windscreen was needed and by the time all the charges were added, I needed to pay almost $1900! The chip only cost $60 and I had to… Read more
argue about getting the rest of the money back and the money was pending in my account for days until it was released. I waited nearly a month for the refund! I’ll never, ever book Budget again!
Like MANY other customers i'm left feeling ripped off. Deposit was taken and NOT returned. Was rudely told its standard and it may take up to a month for them to return the money. Staff advised me that this is a known regular occurrence and problem with Budget but I still wasn't advised at the time or rental... and still haven't received my money… Read more
back! Would NEVER advise anybody to use BUDGET as they effectively steal money. Would advise using a different company with customer service and care for the customer.
I booked a vehicle with Budget Rent a Car Tivat Airport over four months in advance, selecting a Skoda Octavia (or equivalent) – a mid-size car clearly listed as part of a higher class suitable for our family and four large suitcases. Upon arrival, the experience quickly went downhill. The staff first tried to hand me a much smaller Skoda (model… Read more
below the Octavia), which was clearly not fit for purpose given our luggage and booking class. When I refused, they then offered a Dacia Duster, a completely different and lower class of vehicle according to Budget’s own listings.
To make matters worse, they charged me significantly more than the confirmed quote for the higher-class Skoda Octavia, and when I questioned the difference, they simply claimed the Duster was “the same class.” It absolutely is not — both common sense and Budget’s own car classification charts confirm this.
I was given no refund or price adjustment, and despite multiple emails and following their stated 10-day complaint process, Budget has failed to respond.
This experience feels like a classic tourist rip-off — overcharging, downgrading the vehicle, and then stonewalling any complaint.
I’m now taking the matter up with my credit card provider for a chargeback, supported by all documentation and Budget’s own pricing and class comparisons as evidence.
If you’re hiring a car in Montenegro — especially at Tivat Airport — avoid Budget/Avis at all costs. What should have been a simple pickup turned into a stressful and expensive scam.
Booked my vehicle got good price go to Mackay airport to pick it up and the chick asks me are you a local I’m like yes why’s that oh that will be $1000 extra screw you budget never again disgusting service to and service staff are rude so wat if im a local I needed it urgently to visit my mother not drive around Mackay Show details
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