Budget Car Hire SA Reviews 29

They are robbers ,They will steal your whole money on cancelation in a 2 min transaction. Stay away from these robbers .They say in fine print that you will get your money back within 24 hours but that's not thru

Bunch of criminals at Tambo Johannesburg
Deducting money from my creditcard without any explanation
Writing mails I should transfer money to some account
Unbelievable
Do not go to Avis/Budget Johannesburg!

Collected my vehicle on 1 Feb at Cape Town Airport. Online system was down so got a handwritten contract copy hardly readable. Then on arriving at the car in the bay, the assistant couldn't get into his app to record additional damage not previously shown ( some dents had white rings drawn around them. Imagine driving a car around looking like that?). There was also no sheet in the folder to hand record the damage, so he wrote it on the cover, very vaguely! I've tried emailing budget Cape Town Airport since 1 Feb ( now 11 Feb). Received an automated response but nothing since. Tried calling multiple times with 30 minute waits and no response. Still not sorted. Has to be the worst car rental experience I've had in 40 years of international travel. Never realised tourism service in South Africa has got so so bad. Shameful!

Shocking! Arrived and had very poor handover of car - have requested contract 4 times via email and telephone, communication is non existent and I feel very vulnerable and left in the lurch. I’m looking at cancelling and going to another rental company as I’m on day 2 of 21 days of car hire and NOT HAPPY!

On 13th March 2025, we rented a vehicle from Budget Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport and were sold Extended Roadside Assistance as an extra.
On Sunday 16th March, our way back to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport the vehicle broke down.
I telephoned the Roadside Assistance number and stressed the urgency of the situation as this was around 14:20 and our flight departed at 17:05.
They told me that they would get back to me and, eventually, having had to call back, they informed that they were sending a tow truck from Nelspruit.
I informed them that, if we had to wait for a tow truck, we would miss our flight.
Again, after having HAD to call back, I was informed that they were sending a vehicle from their Skukuza branch.
Again, I informed them that would take too long, and we would miss our flight.
I enquired as to why a vehicle wasn’t being sent from Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport branch, especially as we were only 30 minutes away from it, and was told that there was only one person on duty, and he couldn’t leave the desk.
I asked for the contact details for the person bringing the vehicle from Skukuza and was told that it would be WhatsApped to me.
After twenty minutes and not having received the contact details, I again called back only to discover that the person I had been dealing with had finished for the day and gone home.

Eventually the vehicle from Skukuza arrived, by which time we had had to change our flights to the following day (as that was the next flight to Cape Town) and had to book accommodation for the night at a total cost of almost R25K for the six of us.
When I returned the replacement vehicle to the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport branch, I discovered that there were two people on duty so a vehicle could have been brought from there.
I was given the e-mail of Sam Lamani, the Regional Manager for Budget and e-mailed him the above requesting compensation.

He subsequently made three telephone calls to me and, during the first call, apologised to me saying “this wasn’t the way that Budget did business and the matter could have been handled a lot better.”
He also asked me whether I would accept 50% of the additional expense we had incurred as compensation.

That was on the 31st March and in a subsequent e-mail he also said he would arrange for the return of my deposit which I hadn’t received.

On Friday 4th April I received the e-mail below from him:
“Thank you for your patience while we reviewed the details of your request.
We can see that our team jumped on it right away after you reached out, and we resolved things within
2-hour window, even considering it was after hours and needed a bit of extra coordination since the breakdown agent was not in the office.
Given that, and because our standard policy does not cover accommodation bookings in situations like this (as we mentioned during our call), we will not be able to offer a credit for this instance.
We totally get that this situation might have been a hassle, and we really appreciate your understanding of our processes.”
Budget are very quick to sell add-ons (as are most rental companies) but do not believe that they are required to offer the service that you paid for. Considering that I collected the vehicle on a Thursday and was returning it on a Sunday the chances of the break down cover coming into effect after hours was high.
Budget’s website also states that “If you have an emergency or require roadside assistance, or in the unlikely event that your rental vehicle breaks down, please contact us on the 24 hour number below”
If it is a 24 hour operation, but I was told that our breakdown was out of hours.

To add insult to injury, I am still waiting for the return of my deposit although I have received a further
e-mail today stating that my deposit will be in my account within 3 to 5 working days. That will be over four weeks after the return of the vehicle.

My advice to anyone considering using Budget based on my experience is not to touch them with a barge pole. From the moment we broke down I was lied to and to say that “our team jumped on it right away” is incredible considering that initially I was given an apology and told that the situation could have been handled much better.

The Avis/Budget South Africa company has charged me ZAR430 for traffic violations that don't exist. They attempted to send proof of these violations but used a claim number that doesn't exist. This is in my opinion either a scam or a fraud.
I have attempted once already to resolve it with them (no answer) and sent a second email today giving them 24 hours to reverse the charge and rescind their claims.
Very disappointing, especially when they use a legal issue like an alleged traffic violation as the methodology of their incorrect claims.

I rented a car with Budget Durban Downtown 13 - 19 Dec 2024. Today 14 Jan 2025 have not received my refund. Made 4 telephone calls and promises were made that it will be sorted but nothing. Visited their offices again today to be told it was posted against my bank card on 10 Jan with another 7 - 10 days wait. Totally against their own 7 - 14 days refund period. When making calls you spent anything from 12 - 25 minutes.

They charge extra money after a few days. They just hold your deposit.

Extra money for:
- going to another country we never went.
- time, we returned the car on time, even on there own papers. Still we need to pay for it.
- fuel and servicecost. They charge a lot of money for 0,8 liter!!
And we tanked the car full next to the return point.
- extra sevice cost + taxes. No idea which one??

And they never told us about extra cost at the check out. Everything was OK, they say.

Twice now in successive years I have rented from Budget South Africa for five weeks.

This last year my booked rental model was not available when I arrived at the Budget desk. Seems there was a shortage of vehicles because someone somewhere had overlooked renewing quite a few road tax licences! I had to wait an hour for my rental which to be fair was an upgrade when it came.

As always with Budget rentals exceeding 31 days, two Rental Agreements were issued. Two Rental Agreements means two contract fees and two separate charges for an additional driver although the Budget blurb clearly states, “Additional drivers can be added for 525 ZAR per rental”. So, a customer books a continuing rental from his first to last day and Budget creates two separate Rental Agreements to tweak up revenue. Last year I successfully contested the additional driver double charge. This year I did not specify an additional driver to avoid the hassle of again contesting.

However, …..

Two successive rental contract means that, absent the return of the vehicle at the end of the first period, it needs the customer to advise the odometer reading for that point in time. Two days before the first end of period I received Budget’s sms request for the odometer reading and I immediately responded. Three days after that first end of period there was another sms request requesting the odometer reading and again I immediately responded. Of course neither of those odometer readings were for the actual end date of the first contract. That was too much for someone or the system to interpolate resulting in two nonsensical invoices for the two Rental Agreements. No matter, except that I was overcharged. Once again, I had to contest with the Budget people to get a refund. Next year if I go back to Budget I will know to provide the odometer reading on the actual end of first period date.

One lives and learns.

They charged me for damage which was on the car when we collected. It was even noted down by their colleague and a picture taken. On the day of returning the car there was no issues, until a few days after we returned home when they took $300.
Customer service is non-existent when you explain the damage was there and noted on the form. Corrupt, is all I can say.

Hired a car from budget/avis from CPT International Airport for my duration in cape town I've booked with these guys for the last 3 times and have never had a problem at all very friendly staff when you arrive and depart will always help you

Twice now I have rented from them. Both times the cars were returned in immaculate condition, and both times addional charges were levied after I was far, far away. NO walk around/sign off on the cars prior to rental was available and NO appeals process was provided to challenge the inaccurately assessed damages. This company makes its money off of unsuspecting customers. Be aware that they will charge for spuriously assessed damages.

I rented a car from Budget in PE. I was promised a Renault Kiwi , but instead I was given an automatic Suzuki Spresso.
When I returned the car on the date as per agreement ( e30 mitutes before the time), the inspector said there was a chip in the windscreen. As I was aware of the chip and it was not indicated on. the pre inspection , I signed the form.
Two week later Budget deducted the same amount as was originally paid from my account .
When a asked about it the said I owed them money and that the original amount was only a deposit .
After begging them 3 days for a detailed invoice , they send me an invoice , charging me for an extra day and a misc item for R 4970 . When I asked them to explain the item it took them another week to send me a detailed invoice claing the amount was for a winds reen replacement .
I got quotes from a number of windsceen companies and the highest quote was for R1999.
Be warned , Budget is not what they advertise to be . Stay away , I warn everybody

Double charged over different drop off, and inappropriatly added a valet service. I Felt intimidated by staff and backed into a corner. There was also a magic contract fee despite paying in advance that was added

Selected and paid a extra for a Group C or equivalent car (stated as a Toyota Corolla Quest).

What we got: a 3 cyl. 1.0 L 52kw Renault Triber -grossly underpowered, 7 seats we didn't need but seats too small, no boot.

What we wanted: The Toyota Corolla Quest is a 4 cyl. 1.8 L 102kw with x 4 comfortable seats and a boot.

Expectation: anything Quest sized and above 75kw with 4 seats and conventional boot would have done the job, but not the hopeless and underpowered Triber. We complained to Budget but they were unmoved. I've asked for a refund between class B and class C cars. There has to date been no response.

All the staff that waited until 1 am to receive us at CPT airport and took our outbound return were brilliant - it's not them.

Please take pictures of your car on returning it ..... we did not think it was necessary as we had it washed and valeted and we KNOW there were NO marks on the car !! Within a week of returning to the UK our credit card had been debited £ 314 as there were scratches on the car ..... this was totally incorrect BUT because we did not have return photos we could not prove it and after dozens of emails , they rightly say we cannot prove anything !!!!!!

I have used Budget Cape Town Airport on numerous occasions and all has been satisfactory. Last March I returned the car after a 2 month rental during which time an avis/budget driver had hit my car in a hotel car park. We exchanged details and I notified the company immediately. Despite having all the details of the other driver they took approx 250 pounds from my credit card to pay for the damage despite the other driver admitting it was his fault. Numerous emails later I am still waiting for a refund so I have now instructed Amex to claim the monies back on my behalf. Have also emailed Avis/Budget head off in the US who are apparently looking into it. I think unfortunately they are scammers looking at any way of taking monies from you. They have now lost my custom.

Paid upfront for a vehicle. Charged a second time without any explanation. Unable to get a response from Budget.

I booked a weeks car hire for a for a holiday in Zante, I was unable to fly and collect on the first day of hire and wanted to collect the following day. I was told that I could not do this and lost my booking and not refunded any money. This is appalling, as I'd paid for the car for the whole week and should have been available for me during this period. Also when rebooked with Avis (which I have since found out is the same company) an employee got in the car next to my daughter without a mask and touch the gear stick and steering wheel during this Covid pandemic! Won't ever use this company again

Professional and friendly at both Cape Town and Johannesburg. Collected a car that was exceptional at a great price. It then served me from Cape Town to Johannesburg for a 16hr drive on the final day, in an urgent situation (to escape ZA before border closures). I explained to Budget in J'burg that I had no choice but to deliver the car to the wrong location (1,500km north) and they completely understood. Waived the charge and filled the car for me at a fair price. Budget have one more happy customer and I look forward to using them again. Thank you from myself, wife and 1 year old son.