Penske Truck Rental

Let me start by saying — this review has to do with BUDGET TRUCK National, not any specific local location. In fact, this particular franchise bent over backwards to assist me.
WWW​.BUD​GET​TRUCK​.COM is the ABSOLUTE WORST place to rent a moving van. This is only surpassed by their so-​called «Customer Service» team. If you go to their website, they proudly display a jpeg that touts «Choose your truck size, Choose your rental location, Choose your pickup time». Nothing could be FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. Oh you can choose it alright, you’re just not guaranteed ANY OF IT. You’re merely selecting your «preferences». That’s right there in the terms and conditions — this reservation is NOT A CONTRACT. That is unless you no-​show then they’ll ding you $ 50 but forget them providing you any sort of service.
This begins with displaying the locations — try and rent a 10′ truck one would think they’d display locations that generally HAVE 10′ trucks. Nope. Nada. They’ll display everything and down load your reservation to your «preferred location» which will then have to run around like a one-​armed paper hanger trying to FIND a truck from any of the franchises. So, within 24 hours of making your reservation you’re probably going to get a beleaguered phone call telling you it’s not available (hint if you still want to take on this challenge and want a bigger truck, opt for the 10′ price ’cause you’ll probably get a 16′ truck for the same price ASSUMING there are any trucks available, period).
Next, as customer service will point out to you, they’re a «self move» company and can’t guarantee that someone who has the truck rented before you will return it on time (that’s how lean they run their business). Don’t at all be surprised that even if you agree to accept a different truck size than «choose your truck size» — that the size they agreed to provide to you will be there for your chosen «pickup time».
Be prepared to have to drive to a DIFFERENT franchise because after all, as customer service will point out to you, this isn’t a contract and you merely designated your preferences for rental location, sized truck and pickup time.
Now let’s assume you’ve run the gauntlet and somehow managed to score A rental truck at SOME Budget Truck location at SOME TIME on your designated rental day — don’t expect a CLEAN truck. That must be a check box I forgot to click on or maybe that’s a preference. I got a truck with a marijuana roach in the driver’s door and an empty coke caffeine free (hey you wouldn’t want to be jacked up on caffeine and pot at the same time).
In wrapping up this lovely experience, I will say that the local Austin location has grown tired of Budget Truck’s gamesmanship and is severing their ties with them. I’ve gone the extra mile and reported them to the Texas Attorney General’s Office as this is flat out w-​r-​o-​n-​g on so many levels. If it’s not a contract then how can you levy a $ 50 no-​show fee? if it’s not a contract, how can you display a «Choose» your truck size, location and pickup time jpeg on your web page? I’ve had crappy customer experiences before but Budget Trucks tops them all. Oh and perhaps you’d like to take the advice from the Lewisville, TX branch that was my designated pick-​up location (Austin was my drop-​off), when I asked if there were ZERO trucks available how was I supposed to get to Austin? They told me «Try U-​Haul»!