THE WORST RENTAL CAR COMPANY EVER !!!!!!!!!!
Advantage Car & Truck Rentals Inc Also Know As Economy Rent a Car
Contact :
(905) 672-2063
Address :
5830 Campus Rd Mississauga, ON , L4V1G2


I had a very similar experience.
We arrived in Toronto called the local number 3 times finally got someone to answer, when they finally decided to have someone pick us up a beat up van pulled up. The driver stepped out opened the back doors and made us put our own luggage in the back (I’m 5 months pregnant). Got into the van and it smelled like smoke!!
Upon arrival the "manager" tells us that the require a $500.00 deposit that it's stated on the website and No it does not!!! They also fail to mention what credit cards they do accept!!!
After all that finally got a car enjoyed our vacation went to return the car and yet again another surprise!!
He had folded the receipt and handed it back to me and walked away I looked at the charge and it was $327.00 for a four day rental!! WTF!! When I booked it was only suppose to be $159.00. He had gone and charged us $25.00 a day for full insurance on the car. When he explained it to us at the beginning he told us " it's $5.99 a day for ZERO coverage" when I questioned the said that he fully explained it to us saying the it was $25.00 a day for a Zero deductable He is so full of Shit it is unbelievable !!! Needless to say he would not remove the charges so I called EXPEDIA when I got home to complain the EXPEDIA Rep was also unable to Help me!!
So... I would STRONGLY recommend NOT renting a car from this company and I would be a little weary of using expedient only because if you have a problem they may not be able to help you!!

Budget has one of the worst customer service. Beware of the promotions! Up to 40% discount applies only after you have booked, driven and return the car - but they could apply as little as 5%, that's what I got instead of the assumption. No one can tell you what you will get - not even when you call! I even had a double registration number for 2 different bookings and landed up being treated as a walk-in despite having printed the copy of the reservation! STay away from Budget - National/Alamo is one of my favorites now followed by Hertz and Avis.

I rented a car for a weekend trip in 2007 at the old Indianapolis International Airport. Our flight landed about 12:30 am, and we proceeded to pick up our car. We were promised a Ford Explorer (7-passenger) or similar. Well, we were told we were getting a Ford Freestyle (now Ford Taurus X, now discontinued) and we complained. We were told that if we wanted a different car, we had to discuss it with the crew over at the pick-up/drop-off center. We took a shuttle bus over to the place, and they said that if we wanted a different vehicle, we'd have to upgrade to a different class. The Ford Taurus X is NOT a standard SUV! IT'S A CROSSOVER! We stuck with what we had. All in all, it was pretty nice with a premium stereo, 6CD/MP3 changer, heated front seats, sunroof, and leather seats, and low mileage. I was also charged hidden fees when I got home to my credit card. Never rent from Budget again!

Rented a car at Sea Tac airport for a week. Had reserved it online, rate, including all fees was $465.99. Landed at Sea Tac, got to the counter, signed the contract, everything looked ok, was supposed to be a Ford Focus or similar. We went to pick up the car, and it was a Lincoln Town Car. I didn't see anything on the contract about an upgrade, and the agent never said anything verbally about an upgrade. We figured they must have been out of small cars, since all we saw in the lot were big cars and SUVs.
Car ran fine, returned it on time, full of gas, no damages. There was no attendant at the lot when we returned it, since it was 4:30 am. This I feel was a big mistake, but we left the car and keys as instructed when we rented it. I will never return a car like this again. I want to deal with a real human being, who gives me a receipt.
When I got home, I discovered that my credit card had been charged for $744.11! I finally got through to someone at Budget (no easy feat, believe me), and was told that $30 per day had been added for the "upgrade". An upgrade we had never been advised of or agreed to. He transferred my call to the "management" in Seattle: it was an answering machine. This was at 3 pm Seattle time. They haven't called me back yet (haha yeah right!)
As far as I can tell, Budget does not HAVE any customer service. You can't get through to them, they don't answer emails. I can't believe any company does business in this manner.

I'm very leary of 5 star reviews following 1 star reviews. Anyhow long story short rented a car online through Budget @ the Seattle Airport. When we got there guess what no car for us, but they would offer us an ugprade for $20 bucks. I said other companies give you the upgrade for free he said well go to them and believe me I would have, but nothing was available. We were already late for a meeting and they told us they didn't know when we would get our car. Long story short it was $20 a day that he didn't disclose. I have written budget 3 times now with no response. So our reservation of around 100 bucks ended up costing us 200 bucks by the time we paid the gas on an 8 cylinder vehicle. To not even respond to my e-mails just tells me they don't care about my business so add another customer who will not come back to budget to the list.

Had a Budget Truck reservation at Watson & Taylor in Austin, TX. Did as Budget suggested and called the pick up location not ONCE but THREE times to confirm they had my truck. Flew in, took a taxi from the airport and NO TRUCK! The manager I spoke with was there and blamed Budget, told me it was "first come, first served" suggested I try another location which would have a truck. I asked him to pay for the taxi (he refused) and to call the other location to confirm that they had a truck before I took another taxi. He then told me he was sure they didn't as they had already called him looking for more trucks! They accepted NO RESPONSIBILITY, offered NO ASSISTANCE, and told me too many other straight out lies to list in a post. NEVER RENT FROM BUDGET! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

Not worthy of even 1 star!! I rented from Budget Rental from Orlando Airport. I am not surprised to see all the negative reviews of this company. On their website they "guarantee" that you will receive the price provided when you reserve online. I went to the Budget counter with my reservation in hand and made it clear that I only wanted what was included in the reservation. The agent was completely dishonest with me and to make a long story short through total fraud my week's rental cost ended up being almost double what I expected to pay. I have contacted Budget Rental and the response to my complaint only further confirmed how crooked this company is.
Consumers beware....skip Budget Rental and find an honest company that values integrity AND cares about its reputation!

I, along with my wife and 14 month old, arrived in Orlando about 10:30am on Saturday May 30, 2009, excited about our family vacation. We collected our bags and made our way to the Budget Rent A Car counter and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Javier checked us in with the online reservation made through Hotwire.com. He gives us the sales pitch of upgrading us to an SUV for $10 more dollars a day, but we felt fine with our “full size” reservation. He then tries to get us to buy the insurance telling us this was what “most people” do. I decline and decide to give him a break as it is probably part of the required sales pitch. We take our rental agreement across the street to the garage to pick up the car and this is where our experience takes multiple turns for the worse.

As I was given the keys, I noted that they were for a Chevy Malibu, which according to the EPA classifications is a mid size, and I thought there had been some mistake. We make it down to the space and sure enough, it was a Chevy Malibu. I was confused as our confirmation from Budget Rent A Car’s website listed a Full Size car, Chevy Impala, Hyundai Sonata or similar. I understand the “or similar” but there is a great deal of concern that a Chevy Impala and a Chevy Malibu are considered similar, which are not considered similar by EPA or General Motors whom both classify the Impala as a “Full Size” or “Large” and Malibu as “Mid Size.” The trunk space alone is nearly 20% smaller in the Malibu as compared with the Impala. While I have highlighted the comparison with the Impala, it is similar with the Sonata, which is also classified as a full size.

After recognizing what I thought was a mistake, I went back to the key counter, passing five Hyundai Sonata’s and two Chevy Impala’s. I was then directed back across the street to where I signed my rental car contract. I went back down and talked with Javier again who greeted me with “Not big enough, need a bigger car?” I would not want to think that he purposely issued me the smallest car he could in a malevolent attempt to have me to pay more money for an upgrade. I pull out the rental confirmation and detail for him the differences between the Malibu and the Impala and Sonata, and he only attempted to have me agree to a Mercury Grand Marques for an additional $35 a day. At this point Javier became rude and dismissive telling me that the Malibu was what I had, unless I wanted to “pay more money.” Sounds fairly close or “similar” to extortion to me. I thank Javier and inform him that I needed to call Hotwire.

I called Hotwire and spoke to a very friendly and helpful young man, it was quite the contrast. After he made multiple attempts to reach customer service at the Budget Rent A Car there in Orlando, he called the main office, which only gave him another number that never got answered. After being on hold with him for 30 minutes he informed me that he had noted the complaint and gave me the number to customer service to continue trying. I then called the number and left my name and number along with rental agreement number, and have yet to hear from them. Not exactly the glowing example of promoting quality and service of Budget Rent A Car’s Mission Statement.

At this point my 14 month old had been in the parking garage for over an hour, he had drank just about all of his water and eaten all of his snacks. He was hungry and starting to fuss as he had growing tired of his stroller, but there isn’t really a clean or safe area to walk or play in a parking deck. Frustrated, we go to the Malibu to install the car seat and the car reeks of dry, hot and stale, cigarette smoke. I refuse to subject the health of my child to a situation resulting from others failing to properly clean a car. Again I head back to the key counter in the garage only to be referred back across the street to the rental counter. This time Javier would barely even talk to me. I told him that the car reeked of cigarette smoke and he referred me wait for the next available agent.

Miraculously the new agent now had a Hyundai Sonata, a “Full Size” car available. I was then able to go back over to the parking garage, pick up the new keys and load up my family. The new as well had an odor of cigarette smoke, but a hungry, crying toddler along with some airing out with the windows down convince us that we need to get going. Finally about 12:30pm, almost two full hours since collecting our bags, we were leaving the Orlando Airport to start our vacation. While there were no major concerns with the Sonata, we had to continuously be sure to air the car out before we loaded our family in it due to the smell. I also believed that I would be called by customer service, since I had left them my number, and the car could be sorted out afterwards. Much to my chagrin there didn’t appear to be much customer service present with the Budget Rent A Car in Orlando.

I reserved a car for 3 weeks at the orlando florida airport budget rent a car. Told the agent that I wanted to waive all insurances, and my visa would cover it. Told him that my husband would be picking up the car and he had never rented a car before and was nervous about travelling alone, and I wanted to make sure that everything would be ready for him upon arrival, so that he would just have to show his identification, give the credit card and pick up the car. When we dropped the car off, I got the bill for $1900 for the 3 weeks rental. They had charged the Insurance, but the Liability for a total of almost $50 per day. When I tried to fight this issue, was ignored for 3 days after multiple calls and no replies. Then when I finally spoke to someone, told me there was nothing that could be done.

Highly recommend that everyone stay as far away from Budget Rent A Car as you can get.

I was treated rudely at the Budget in PA, but gave them a second chance. I now wish that I had never given them that second chance.

I would leave negative stars if possible.

These guys are the worst. Book it online with a confirmed rate? What a joke, Just wait until they overbill you when you drop it off with a bunch of hidden fees. And then after waiting for a 1/2 hour and spending another 30 minutes trying to resolve they issue, they bill you for an extra hour.

Try to clear it up when you drop-off and before they bill you? Forget about it. Here is what you get... "We are an independant agent, you will need to clear up the overbilling with the corporate office." But good luck trying to get anything done with corporate office. After being on hold for an hour, they simply state that you agreed to the charges and their is nothing they can do.

NEVER NEVER RENT FROM BUDGET!!!!!

I Attempted to use budget on my honeymoon to Hawaii and happen to be under the age of 25 but am in the military. The corporate website states that I would not have to pay the underage fee so long as I am 21 years of age. I arrived and was told that I would have to pay the underage fee because this was a leisure trip. I told him he was incorrect and the corporate website spells the policy out. He still refused and I left the rental office angry to say the least. After repeated calls to customer service, I was told the issue was resolved and that I would be able to rent the car. I returned to the office and went through the line again. When I approached the counter, I was told that I was incorrect and I would have to pay the "non-leisure" government rate or just pay the underage fee. When I tried to dispute this the manager decided to "disappear" and left one of his employees to ask me to rent a vehicle or leave the office. Mr. Celebrato you ruined my first night on Maui and I hope anybody reading this review will avoid Budget rental since they seem to put the customer last.

I took a rental car from Budget during a trip to Wichita from September 29 to October 2, 2008, which was authorized by my compamy's client based on the daily rental price.

As I normally do, I took my personal GPS (a Tom Tom GO 720) to get around without having to pay the additional cost of a rental GPS system.

When I returned the car, I got to the airport with just enough time to catch my plane and I unfortunately forgot the GPS, which I left in the rental car. I called Budget's customer service's office in Wichita that night but it was closed so I had to call again the day after. Budget advised me they had not found anything in the car and offered to check with the person who had already rented the car. Ten minutes later I got a call to inform me that my GPS had not been found and that Budget was not responsble for lost items. I am certain that the GPS was left in the car as it would have obviously been noticed in the airport during the security check.

Budget did not make the minimum reasonable effort to provide a solution to find and return the GPS and as a result the person who found it managed to keep and hold a nice portable GPS with Budget's acquiescence

The next time I will definitely choose a company different from Budget even if it costs a little more but hopefully will provide the service with more responsible and honest staff

The worst customer service EVER!! They are a disgrace to the entire industry. They don't even deserve one star. They deserve no stars. I have always used UHaul, but I went with Budget once becasue it was cheaper. Boy what a mistake! I have never been so pissed off in my life. The "24/7 Roadside assistance" is a joke and it turns out that they CHARGE you just to CALL them! Are you f-ing kidding me?!?! They didn't even do anything!!! Must be nice to change for NOTHING! They left me stranded in a tropical storm with a truck that wouldn't work and "nothing they could do" Do not even think about using this company. YOU WILL REGRET IT!!!

BUDGET IS SHIT. I had the worst experience with them.Totally
unprofessional behaviour. Rude attitude. Agents very rude in answering. I had booked a car for myself as next day i wanna go for an interview near by to an airport location everything was fine. They booked it and i was suppose to get a pickup from them. The most worst thing was they never bothered for the pickup even after having conformation number. On calling them their agents said call up the local budget guy from where u were suppose to get the pickup. when i called him on the given number i got a harsh answer we dont pickup u have to come take the car so finally running out of time i decided to go at his office and asked him to wait as it was his closing time but when i reached it was closed. i wasted my money on cab and my time too.again i called up the nationwide centre where i made my booking from and those rude bloody agents diconnected my call thrice and on the top they were yelling on me. this is customer sevice provided by BUDGET CAR RENTAL in California LA.Beaware of these people DONOT TRUST THEM!!! WORST EXPERIENCE

This company is horrible from the dealers who rent the trucks to the corporate management. I reserved a rental two months in advance, and up the morning when the truck was to be picked up only to be told that they did not get a truck. The dealer was EXTREMELY rude and NASTY. He said there was nothing he could do, and lied to and disrespected me. When reporting this incident to corporate, they said that this happens a lot, and would not provide me with ANY compensation the additional costs or lack of responsibility. DO NOT GO TO THIS COMPANY. They are UNRELIABLE, and do NOT CARE about their customers or their promises.

We rented a vehicle from Budget Rent A Car at the Orlando Airport. Upon return and passing the exterior check, we were told we needed to proceed to the Budget window? Why? There were concerns on the mileage. We had unlimited mileage. We had rented it for 10 days and had about 1300 miles on it. We drove to Ft. Lauderdale and back for a conference and did some minor local sight seeing. Thank goodness the line was not long as it had been to check in on day one. Don't, Don't, Don't! I'm back to Hertz!

DONT RENT A CAR FROM BUDGET THEIR WORD IS WORTHLESS
In June 2007 I rented a car from Domicar, Budget representative in Israel to receive it Vienna in order to travel to Slovenia.
During the e-mail writing before the reservation I verified if the price is final and include the extra for entering in Slovenia. I receive as an answer that the price is final and there is no extra for entering in Slovenia.
When I arrived to Vienna airport the Budget personnel charge me an extra of 10 Euros per day for entering in Slovenia.
When I returned in Israel a ask from Domicar-Budget for the reimbursement of the extra paid but they ignore my request

I would never recommend this company to my worst enemy. The customer service and roadside assistance support is horrible. We had a blow out on our trailer and was told that they would ahve someone out to fix it in an hour. Well, and hour and half went by and I had to call them to find out what is going on and they said they paged a guy but he has not responded. So we could ahve been left for dead on the side of the raod in 110 degree heat and they could care less. They have no follow up skills whatsoever. After four hours of waiting and having the repair do his thing were finally on the road. We were also transferred to customer service who took some notes and said once the truck has been returned you can call support again and they should reimburse you. Again you have to call these people to get anything done. 3 weeks after our move we are still trying to get reimbursed from them. So if you want this kind of treatment in a time of crisis and want absolutely no support I would rent with them. Otherwise I would never rent anyhting from this company.

used it once at lax, pick up from airport is OK, but waited at the office for an hour and half to get my car. There was a long line of cumtomer waiting but only 2 staff working in the office, it was Monday morning.

  horrible customer service.  i was lied to about the price.  i called and was told it was 25.99/day.  Come to find out they didn't mention another %35 worth of taxes and fees on top of that (partly due to renting it at airport).  Even though I asked repeatedly when making the reservation if there were any other charges on top of the $25.99/day (plus standard sales tax) and was told NO.  Either liars or ignorant of the facts, either way terrible customer service!

On top of that when I showed up at the airport I was given attitude by the clerk when I explained that I was not told of the 35% tax/fee issue and was not happy about it.

Watch out for Budget. I filled the car with a full tank of gas (7 gallons) before I returned it. The guy checked the tank and said it was fine and printed me out a receipt. Three days later I got a bill for $64.70. They said they had to put in 10 gallons of gas (yikes! I paid $2.19 for the gas I put in). I called customer service. They said that unless I had a printed receipt the best they could do is credit me half. I said that I had a credit card statement showing the 7 gallon purchase 3 miles from the airport 5 minutes before I returned the car. Not good enough. This is a rip off of class action status. Think about it. Millions of customers all ripped off and then credited half. Its worth millions to them. Any attorneys out there? Im in.

Incredibly poor customer service, slow, dirty cars, hidden charges, no accountability. The worst car rental company I have experienced in 25 years..

I'm through with Budget rental. We recently picked up a car from Budget in Fairbanks, AK that had extremely low air pressure in some tires, and other tires that were overfilled, creating a dangerously imbalanced car that we had to drive over already sketchy Alaskan roads for miles before discovering the problem. When I complained to customer service, we received a miniscule discount. They also never informed us that the cigarette lighter in the car didn't work, making it impossible for us to recharge our cell phone, and creating hassle for our trip.

No guarantee for specific car.

These people are terrible, bad service, lie on your face, greedy and no respect for consumers.

These people are terrible, bad service, lie on your face, greedy and no respect for consumers.

Horrid customer service at time of rental, negligent roadside assistance for over 7 hours on a major interstate in the early morning hours. Don't bother calling budget's roadside assistance for help, you won't be back on track for a day or more.

Complete lack of pickup busses at airport locations along with a complete cancelation of the award program had in place was enough to make me take my companies business to the competitor

Haven't had any real problems to speak of, but they seem to take forever to validate a credit card and get the car ready.

Reserved a Mid-Size SUV (Ford Escape or similar) at Seattle location for a trip to the San Juan Islands. After first being told that no vehicles in this class were available and offered a minivan instead, 45 minutes later was told my vehicle was ready. Instead of a SUV, my vehicle was a Pontiace Vibe, which is in no way similar to a Ford Escape. A complaint to the manager and subsequent emails to customer service after returning were to no avail. I will not rent from them again.

We had very good experiences with them in Hawaii.

Tried them once, picked the car up at Gatwick, it took a while, and ended up costing more than the major companies. Won't bother again.

I've been very pleased with my rentals from Budget. They have very competitive prices and their online reservation system is a snap. A couple of months ago I tried the special they've been having on Ford Ranger pickup trucks for only $20 a day and that's exactly what it cost me $20 a day, (if you don't get their insurance) no extra charges, and the truck was great, it gave me no trouble and I must've driven it least 4,000 miles.

I recently rented from Budget and had a very easy experience. No hassles, got what I wanted and needed and they didn't try and screw me for some hidden charges, which I've had happen before at other places. Nice, clean, new car, what more is there to say!