Philadelphia

I've been renting cars abroad since 2008, renting cars around twenty or thirty times. Apart from a few notorious companies, I've rented from most major car rental companies. The Philadelphia Budget location has the worst service of any company I've experienced. This summer, I rented from the Philadelphia Budget location three times, and each time there was an issue. I chose Budget due to its low prices, but you get what you pay for. The first time, I had just arrived at Philadelphia airport. It was raining heavily, and there was a long queue. Two attendants were taking their time and were very impatient. I waited for over an hour. Finally, it was my turn, and I told the staff not to add any extra services. I was alone with a child who was exhausted, it was raining heavily outside, and it was getting dark. Eager to leave, I didn't carefully review the agreement and later found out that the staff had added a $60 roadside assistance service. Usually, other companies try to push extra services and insurance, but they respect your decision when you decline. This was the first time I encountered someone sneakily adding charges. When I called customer service, they said this was common, and since I had signed the agreement, the company wouldn't acknowledge my complaint. The second time, again at the airport location, there was another long queue, and I had to wait at least half an hour. Before signing, I noticed a $50 charge without an explanation. When I asked the staff, they said it was a fee for arriving 20 minutes early. I told them I could return the car 20 minutes early, and they removed the charge. Then, they gave me a car with someone already inside, and I had to go back to get a different car. A few days before my rental period ended, I wanted to extend the rental. I asked a nearby Budget location if I could handle the extension there. They said I could by placing a new order through the rental platform and then handling the extension. I was told I could do this anytime and didn't need to wait for my current order to expire. However, when I went to the nearby office to extend with two days left on my current order, the staff said this was wrong. They had prematurely ended my current order and charged over $300 for the new two-day rental. I asked why the remaining two days from my previous order were voided, and they pointed out that it was because I did not select their location as the pickup point in the new order. When I refused the new charge, they told me I couldn't take the car unless I signed and paid the $300. This was the worst service experience in my two months in the U.S. Feeling like I had no choice, I called customer service. After lengthy discussions, they told me they couldn't change the order, leaving me with two options: leave and rent another car elsewhere or pay the $300 and contest the charge afterward. I ended up paying the $300, and after my rental period ended, I contested the charge and got $100 refunded. All car rental reviews in Philadelphia were generally good, except for Budget, which had two negative reviews. Now I know why. If you have a choice, avoid Budget. If you must rent from Budget, carefully review every charge before signing.