Budget - Madrid - Plaza De España Information, Car hire Instructions & Policies

Since I needed to drive 100 kilometers to another city and return to Madrid on the same day, I was worried about wasting time by going to the wrong store. Therefore, I took my order to the Budget car rental at Madrid Atocha Central Station a day in advance to confirm if this was the correct pickup location. (When booking online, I specifically chose a car rental near the city center station. The website only provided an address but no specific store name, and based on the online pickup instructions, I assumed it was this location.) The staff looked at my order and confirmed that this was indeed the correct place. However, when I went to pick up the car the next day, the same female staff member took my order, driver's license, and passport to start the process but then suddenly told me it was not here but another store, four metro stops away and a 15-minute walk. When I arrived at that store, the staff looked at my order and had a long discussion in Spanish, seemingly about some issue but did not inform me. Finally, they directed me to the basement to pick up the car. I found the car model did not match what I had reserved; I had booked a 4-door Fiat because we were two adults, a child, two large suitcases, and one small suitcase, so I didn't choose a microcar. But the car I received was a 2-door micro Fiat. Attempts to negotiate with the rental company were unsuccessful—they said it was the only vehicle available. Due to time constraints to head to Segovia, I had no choice but to take the car. The next day, when we were leaving Madrid for another city, we needed to carry all our luggage, but since the car only had one door, we couldn't load the luggage. The tiny trunk could barely fit one piece of luggage, and we couldn't close the rear door. Ultimately, we had to put the small suitcase on the back seat and leave the other one at a friend's place in Madrid. We drove for several days with the rear door not closing properly. At restaurants and tourist spots, we didn't dare to park because the door wouldn't close. This was a terrible experience.

Very satisfied