Budget Car & Truck Rental

DO NOT USE BUDGET in downtown Vancouver to rent a car under any circumstances. We rented for one day this weekend as it was near to our hotel. It took my husband 1 hour from going to collect the pre booked car to actually getting this due to the slowness up of the staff and constant up selling. Also the original quoted online price of $ 25 turned into $ 80 somehow. On returning the car late at night in the same condition as picked up, you have to drop off the keys yourself because the office is closed. The next day my husband receives an email stating there is damage to the car, along with photographic evidence. We have forwarded them photographic evidence back that this damage was not on the car when we left it. They are trying to pull a fast one but are messing with the wrong customers this time. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!

Do a little research and you’ll find that Budget scams its customers. Note that Avis owns Budge and Zipcar. I’d avoid all three at all cost.

Reservations mean nothing to Budget.
Car booked one month prior with air miles.
Couldn’t pick up the car before 530pm on pick up day (arrived at yvr 445pm). Budget rep told me over the phone to pick the car up the following day no problem. 850am the following day «Moe» told me that because I was a day late there would be a 65 $/​day Day premium. «Today’s rates are $ 65 higher, your reservation are yesterday’s rates, which are no longer valid». That worked out to be more than double the prepaid rate. Not because of penalties but because «I would never be able to get the prepaid rate today.» After several minutes of myself trying to explain to him why that shouldn’t matter as I had prepaid for the previously agreed rate, he interrupted me to rudely state how I was «clearly not understanding him» then continued to talk down to me for several minutes. Finally he went back to speak with his supervisor and returned to inform me that they have made an exception and went on to tell me how lucky I was to be getting my already paid for earlier rate and that I would never get this price again.
I left with a terrible taste in my mouth and put a negative tone on the rest of my vacation.
I will never be returning to Budget again nor will I recommend them to anyone.
¹⁄₁₀

Horrible place to do business. If anyone looks at my Unilocal reviews, they’ll find that I always find something positive to say. However, this establishment is awful – mainly because they attempt to swindle you!

All around a slimy place. They charge extra for leaving the province and a whole host of other things that should not be charged for. Before handing me the keys, the agent asked how many people I would have in the car. She said it wouldn’t be big enough and suggested an upgrade. I declined the upgrade and she proceeded to give me a gigantic car anyway, assumedly, because that’s all they had. It seems disingenuous to do something like that, knowing full well that she’s giving me a family sedan.

ABSOLUTE WORST CAR RENTAL COMPANY. A 27.95 car rental balloons to over $ 100 with all their hidden fees and taxes. Took 45 mins to get the car — which was a Toyota Yaris that was 10years old — when I booked a late model Ford Fiesta. Car was also filthy inside and felt cheap. Worst money I have spent EVER. The condescending staff dont help either — the guy ADMITTED that they don’t add the fees to the cars so when you book them online you think you’re getting a deal! THEY CHARGE AN ADDITIONAL CHARGE FOR ENTERING NEIGHBOURING STATES OR PROVINCES — the only company in town that does — TAKE THE «UNLIMITED KILOMETERS» A GRAIN OF SALT. Do yourself a favour — go with another car company. Other quotes for the same rental were HALF as much as this! I only gave them one star because I had to to post this!

Warning double check the contract before you sign.
I am EXTREMELY disappointed with Budget car rentals (YVR). I have been renting cars from them on average 3 times a year. I have always found their pushing of options annoying when you pickup the car, but I tolerated it as they always had the best rate. Well any saving I may have received in the past went out the door with my last rental. After telling the agent at least twice witnessed by my co-​worker that I didn’t want or needed the extra coverage he was selling, the agent proceeded to slip in a $ 400 addional charge on to my rental agreement. Unfortunately I missed seeing this charge when I signed the contract. So you can imagine my surprise when I returned the car and the attendant handed me the invoice for twice what I was quoted. I respected the manager tried to address the issue by crediting me back part of the this unwanted charge. Still the fact that they would do such a thing has lost any trust I may have had in Budget car rentals. If you are renting from Budget, again double check the contract you are signing. If the agent does slip in a unwanted charge make sure you alert the manager.

Understood the previous reviews and advice to join their Rapid Rez membership service, but who needs to be a part of another loyalty club?
I waited 25 minutes to get served in a line up of one person ahead of me, and counted 9 employees working on a Friday morning. Everything was upsell, upsell, upsell, from the convertible Mustang which was double the rate of the car that I reserved, and again to a model higher to my original reservation, to the striking fear of God insurance coverage, even though I was already covered by my credit card company and work. There were no perks, no bonuses, my BCAA didn’t help and neither did my Airmiles membership.
After I survived the barrage of upselling, I still had to wait another 25 minutes to actually get the keys to the car. It turns out that the original car I reserved was overbooked, and I had been awarded a «complimentary» upgrade to the car class they were just trying to upsell me 40 minutes previously.
I can’t wait for Über to come to this city and shut down these types of places that refuse to adapt to what customers are looking for. The biggest reason why I had to rent from here was location, and everyone else was booked by the time I had to make my reservation. I now know why there was availability here. Definitely avoiding this company at all costs.

Bad service, poorly clean cars, Martin the manager got an attitude problem, grumpy old man! They try to play politics with what cars they have available to force you take the more expensive ones, if you must rent from this location make sure to check the inventory online… worst rental experience ever!

HORRIBLE!!! Reviews are here for a reason people. I was like you and thought hmm… I am sure I won’t have the same experience that these people HAD but I did and I’m so mad at myself.
DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY!!!
Let me tell you exactly what happened: I rented a car for 3 days and after showing up 7 minutes to return it, 9:07am, they told me because I am late they are going to charge me another $ 100. Of course I understand policies but to squeeze out whatever they can last minutes is pathetic. I explained that I don’t mind paying for another hour but not a full day and they returned with a «that’s our policy“and laughed.
I don’t need the money but I do expect good business when I chose a company that offers a service. It takes a lot to upset me but this was it. I am so mad at myself for thinking that I would experience something better than all the bad reviews that these other poor people had to go through.
Since I ended up being forced to pay for another day of rental I took the car back and I am literally writing this review in their parking lot while the manager is staring at me through the window.
Never again Budget

SCAM ARTISTS!
Rented a minivan for the May long weekend. I got a call from the sleaze ball manager at the place, saying there was a smell in the car and that they were charging me a $ 200 cleaning fee. When I said there must be a mistake, he said that the smell was so strong that even cleaning it didn’t take it out. When I asked what it smelled like he said «ummm… I don’t know, maybe fish?» I had three other people in the van with me on the trip, there were never any fish in the car, or anything smelly, and I checked all of the passengers, and they said it had a new car smell, nothing fishy or off smelling AT ALL.
Needless to say, I got a lawyer involved and before he even sent a letter, the charges were dropped.

All the terrible reviews on this page are true. Unfortunately I did not read them first.
They will waste your time, tell you your car won’t be ready for a long time and then almost force you to up grade at you own expense. And if that’s not enough they will charge you for things you didn’t even want, when you return.

Close your eyes and imagine this. You want to rent a car for a few days. You go on
and reserve a car through Budget. The rate is $ 40/​day. You reserve for 3 days, buy insurance through Orbitz, and go to pick up your car, expecting to pay about $ 150 total. You arrive at Budget. A young man calls you up to the counter. He is well-​dressed, well-groomed…perhaps even donning some mascara for that added sparkle. You are impressed by… though a little suspicious of… his grin. You hand him your credit card. His grin grows larger. «I’m sorry, we don’t accept that card.» You have no other card. But your friend does. He is under 25 though. «Oh, young friend, we will gladly accept YOUR card,» remarks the man at the counter. He prints out a sheet for your friend to sign. $ 460 for 3 days! But you and your friend thought it was $ 150. The mascara gentleman grins with even more enthusiasm now, sensing your dissatisfaction but trying to retain his professional, million-​dollar smile. Fake friendliness that thinly masks condescension. «Yes, $ 460. We added a $ 25 charge per day, because even though your friend isn’t the driver, we used his credit card. But since you are ACTUALLY the driver, we added ANOTHER $ 10/​day charge. Oh, we also added a charge for A, for B, for this other thing, C, that we didn’t tell you about, and of course, for D. Will there be anything else?» «Yes,» I replied, «why are you billing me for insurance on the car if I already paid for it though Orbitz.» The man at the counter was now grimacing like a rabid dog, the tone of his voice as if talking to a child…“I don’t know anything about that.“
I’ll give it 2 stars because the man in the lot inspecting the cars was a kind, gentle soul.

Can you give less than one star?
Budget is the WORST.
I reserved a cube van for the first of the month to move. I had to cancel, so, I called to cancel. They told me the reservation number I received in the confirmation FROM THEM was not valid. I was unable to cancel after hours of phone calls and my card was charged. I now have Visa on the resolution trail.
I called the local depot I reserved with and they gave me a corporate 1−800…which had my name misspelled and again, confirmation number that THEY provided incorrect… F budget. Worst experience EVER.
PLEASE go elsewhere. Budget is the worst.

I’ve rented from this location on countless occasions and I’ve had very few bad experiences. To everyone reading these reviews you should know that half of these customer service problems disappear if you invest into Budget’s Rapid Rez program. Let me explain:
The front line employees are through and through salesmen. Their job is to sell you the nicest vehicle you didn’t book and make sure you have all the «can’t do without» add-​ons. I had to deal with this the first few times, and at the very least it’s mildly irritating when you know exactly what you want. Rapid Rez is Budget’s program to make your reservation process as hassle-​free as possible. It’s free, easy to sign up, and remembers your booking preferences to make reserving and picking up your car a hell of a lot easier. When I get there, I go to the express Rapid Rez line and my car keys are ready to go… no spiel, no fuss, just fast and efficient service. That’s exactly what I need, and that’s exactly what I get. Even the one time they forgot to have my car ready they recovered the situation fast. Their prices can be extremely reasonable, and I have been upgraded complimentary on a few occasions (most likely to my model being overbooked, no doubt).
Downsides to booking here:
1) It is operated by themselves and they have set up the quirky rule that «novice» drivers in BC can’t rent from them (other Budget locations allow them to rent).
2) Budget charges $ 15/​day for driving to the US from Canada. Why? Budget operates in the US as well, and my insurance covers both countries. No other rental company in Vancouver does this as far as I know.
As a last note, make sure you always always ALWAYS check the car before and after you leave the lot. Don’t get caught with damage fees for pre-​existing damage.

Agence catastrophique les prix né correspondent pas à la facture a éviter absolument c’est vraiment une arnaque nous avons réservé depuis internet.

Avoid this place. They over charge and will rip you off. They are very rude. They never say thank you for doing business with them. This is first and last time doing business with them. Do not come again.

NEVER AGAIN!
I’ve rented several times from this Budget and Thanksgiving weekend is the LAST time! Every time I go, it seems they get me for something. This last go-​around, they talked me into the gas option, where you return the car and they top up the gas for you, just for convenience-​sake — oh and they advertise this as discounted from what you would pay if you went to the gas station! I asked in 3 separate ways, if I return the car and it has a half-​tank of gas left in it, you will just charge me for the other half, right? So, you will refund me the price of the half that I don’t need, right? I got yes, yes, yes to all of my questions … I would only be charged for the amount of gas that needs to be replaced.
WRONG. They had given me a decent deal to upgrade to the Volvo car that they have (extra $ 15 per day rather than $ 25), and dang is that car good on gas! I drove it up to the Shuswap and it still had just under a half of a tank of gas. Drove it around all weekend and then when returning to Vancouver, I stopped in Kamloops and gassed up. It was at about ¹⁄₈ of a tank at that point and so filling it right up cost $ 48. Not bad! Drive it back to Vancouver and the tank reads that it is still ³⁄₅ full. Now here is where I get swindled. They tell me the $ 92 charge ($ 92!!!) is non-​refundable for the full tank of gas even though there was only ²⁄₅ missing. They tell me that I must have misunderstood the sales guy. I know for a fact that I did NOT misunderstand him. Either he is misinformed or he flat out lied to me.
I argued and argued, saying that this $ 92 itself is a total effing scam as I just filled it up basically from empty for less than $ 50, and now I’m returning it above half. I lost this argument. But they’ve lost my (and my company’s) business forever.
UGH I’m mad all over again! Stay away people!

At first I tried to book a car rental with Hertz in Vancouver, but no such luck… they had no cars available during my trip. So, when I learned that this Budget location was right down the street from my hotel, I booked it despite that it seemed kind of pricey.
When we arrived today to pick up our vehicle, there was a wait. It wasn’t bad… only about 15 minutes, but it’s never fun waiting in lines, especially when it’s unexpected.
We made our way through the line and met Bryson, the sales guy at the counter who was up next to take care of us. It turns out Bryson is the king of attempting to upsell.
— «It looks like I can upgrade you to a hot new red Mustang if you’d like…» To which we responded, «no thank you — we’re not the Mustang types.»
— «How about a Volvo sedan with more leg room and leather seats?» Our response: «No — we’re fine with our mid-​size standard vehicle as requested.»
— «Will there be an extra driver?» To this one, we realized that yes, my husband would also be driving, so we said yes… until we got to the contract and learned that it’s an extra $ 10 a day. (Bryson forgot to mention that). So we took that off.
— Next Bryson tried really hard to push the insurance even though we are covered with insurance by our credit card.
Once we finally made it through the contract and turned down all of the upgrade attempts, it then took another 45 minutes for us to get our car that was supposedly «getting cleaned and would be ready in five minutes.» And the topper? When we finally did get our car, it was wet on the outside, but those Budget car washers missed a bunch of stuff on the inside. It had a stench of stale smoke as well. But instead of waiting in yet another line to talk to someone about it, we chose to roll the windows down and got driving.
Perhaps I’m spoiled by being a gold club member at Hertz, but I’ve also had better experiences with Enterprise and Avis and I will stay away from that Budget operation in the future (which by the way, isn’t so easy on the budget!)

Glad these guys got busted by CBC News:
They charged me $ 1200 for a few rock chips but when I asked for evidence, they sent me photos of closeups from a different color car. Lucky that my Visa covered it.
Shame on Syd Belzberg and Allan Fung for scamming so many of their customers. hope you guys get sued royally.

Not sure what the hate for the place is all about as our experience was nothing but steller. We had the Concierge at our hotel make a reservation for us for 2 days. Looking back, we would have done this trip differently, but we took the car with us on the Ferry to Victoria and to Granville Island and well, everywhere. It was a new Volvo.
We were in and out of there in a jiffy and liked the car we had a lot. One tip– check with your car insurance company prior to renting a car here to see if your policy covers international or you will be stuck paying for extra insurance «just in case».