Rubbish

They kept pushing their own insurance, and when I didn’t buy it they seemed a bit unhappy about it.

The car provided was very good and new.

I am a seasoned car renter for the last 4 years renting cars at different parts of the world but this time I had the worst experience towards the end of the rental process after returning the car as I was accused of damaging the car tyre by Budget’s staff the next day after returning the car. It was disheartening to find that the accusations came without clarification with the client and proper checking by the check-in staff. It impressed upon me that Budget is only trying to punish their clients who did not purchase a Zero-Excess Insurance from them and they would use dirty tricks to cheat money by falsely accusing the driver of damaging their car AFTER they return the car. The odds are always against the Drivers as the rental Company could easily find thousand and one reason to penalise the driver on any car system error anytime they want. For my case, when I return the car it was in good condition but the Next morning my rental company received an email that I was being charged almost 3 times the car rental for damaging their front tyre. That is so absurd as the car was alright all the while as i drove from Manchester to and fro Edinburgh without any issues at all. If the tyre was damaged I would surely noticed it and reported straight away and it wouldn’t be possible to drive back safely over few hundred miles journey. Through this experience, I became very sceptical of car rental companies and initially I was planning of renting another car however that incident changed my mind. Unless car rental companies start stepping up on their integrity, all renters would be wary whenever they rent a car. I hope they reflect on this incident, especially Budget.

Thankfully I have Wendy Chen assisting me to follow up with the case, coordinating both with the rental company (Budget) and my Insurance company (AXA). Without her help, I would have been penalised another £150 innocently. She is amazing.

I would have preferred to have known about the security hold ahead of time

The car provided was totally unacceptable. Unfortunately numerous issues I noticed shortly after leaving the rental location. The car was dirty inside and out, significant damage to the exterior, and was not full of fuel (despite being marked otherwise on paper) - essentially the car was clearly not prepared for hire. After booking a medium hatchback I was provided with a 1.0 ltr Fabia estate which had some mechanical issues. Due to lack of "availability" at my local branch I had to drive 60 miles to get it replaced. Definitely won't be renting with Avis/Budget again anytime soon.