Budget España Reviews 

Budget Malaga Airport. As I’ve been through a few car hire companies there it seems to be a hotspot for exorbitant prices when you pick up the keys. Car hire pre paid through British Airways which a good idea £110 including the insurances. cost at Airport for breakdown cover and excess insurance to cover the 1200 euro insurance excess was £220 including taxes. Advise buy excess insurance before you go at about £50 per week and don’t be up sold at the airport.

I use Budget in Seville Spain . as the service from the staff is always excellent plus they do not charge for cross border visits e,g, Portugal . When I dropped the car off after 3 weeks the staff in the drop off are are fantastic with a special thanks to Sonia the manager she was excellent,

Avoid Avoid Avoid at all costs!!!
I rented a Car from Budget Madrid for a weekend, drove to gated villa and back to airport. Returned car at 7:15am, which i thought was fine as office opened at 7am. Nobody available to give keys on arrival. In Terminal, the lady at the desk told me "they're not in yet" and to "put keys in deposit box". One week later, without any notification, received credit card statement with a charge of €440 claiming a dent in the car, with attached picture. All 3 subsequent e-mails to Budget asking for further evidence all completely ignored and they told me they do not have enough workforce during peak periods. An allocation of one member of staff at main terminal desk is the total! As an American Express Platinum card member I am covered for all damage and I made this clear when car was collected....
Not taking their damage waiver insurance, the office not opened when it should have been, the inconclusive picture and refusal to give any more info, nor an invoice for the repair, concludes this review. Take video footage of car when dropping it off!!!

I rented VW POLO 1,2 for 7 days in Las Palmas. Booked for 42,30€, at check in I was charged +19€ for pre-fueling(rental car always full),OK I agreed, so I ended with 61,30€. Before return car refueled, at return I signed protocol all good for 61,30€.
2 days later I have beed charged 157,80€(96,50€more)...I rang Budget Las Palmas and they said a mistake and will refund it back what is over.
I checked online Invoice and they just reduced the charge to 117,80€. Still 56,50€ missing.
Invoice wrote refueling Services....
1. I refueled 8,82liters for 151km(49mpg)
2. Budget refueled for 46€(30litres) for 151km(14mpg)!! for VW POLO + surcharges 16,9€+8,81€

I rang desk in Las Palmas, answer you didnt refuel!!!
I rang customer services and answer you didnt refuel!!
I rang customer service in UK,a nice voice lady took my details and rental details.
I have been sending emails to all possible email addresses for Budget every day.
Finally the UK customer Service helped me and put it alright!
God bless UK and all fair People.

My Budget Car hire at Malaga Airport – April 2019

I rented a car for four days from Budget through CarTrawler for 80 euro at Malaga Airport. I have rented lot of cars from different companies. I am an experienced car rental user. I never say yes to extra insurance at the front desk when I hire a car. I am covered up by my private insurances.
That is why I always said no to extra insurance. So also this time. All good. No papers. I was then asked to sign digitally on a small pad. Could just see the signing in big letters. Did that.
Delivered the car after four days. Full tank. Nothing damaged. The signing on the same pad and the person informed me that all documents will be delivered to my mail address. When I arrived home, I go through emails and see the Budget documents. There is coming up an extra payment of 288 euro ex fuel!! I contacted Budget and they say they can do nothing because I have signed the contract.
Yes I signed, but they have put extra cost and insurance in the contract that I have said NO to. The digital signing was a manipulation and the whole thing looks like a fraud. I booked Budget/Avis because I trusted them. Now I feel cheated, tricked and swindled. How can a big global company operate like this is a mystery for me? I will never ever again use Budget or Avis car rental neither privately nor in business.

Stay away form Budget Car Rentals in Malaga. They are thieves.

I reserved a car for one month from Budget Car Rentals at the Malaga train station in Spain. My reservation confirmation clearly that the rental price included 6,200 free km. When I returned the car I was told they could not give me a receipt for payment right away since they did not have anyone to check the car in, but that I would receive my receipt in a couple of days. When I got the receipt it showed that they had charged me an extra €229. for mileage driven of 1,722 km, which was the total mileage I had driven - and for which there should have been no charge per my reservation confirmation.

When I returned to the rental office I was told they did not have the authority to do anything for me. It is odd that they had the authority to fraudulently overcharge me but somehow did not have the authority to reverse the overcharge when I showed them my reservation confirmation which clearly stated I had 6,200 free km included in my rental fee. They indicated that I would have to take my case up with Budget's Customer Service office in Spain. I did that and did not hear back from anyone. So when I returned home, I called Budget's international customer service line to voice my complaint and then I called my credit card company to have them file a dispute for the fraudulent charge. It was only after I called my credit card company that Budget finally credited my VISA account for the extra charge - two months later.

The Budget Car Rental people at the Malaga train station are corrupt. Stay away from this place!

Returned car to Tenerife South depot with full tank and no damage. Received credit card statement 2 weeks later with 19 euro charge taken by Budget.

Was told it was a refuelling service charge but no refuelling was required!

Scandalous, almost as bad as Goldcar! Bad practice that should be stamped out immediately.

UK Head Office agreed it was bad practice and refunded the charge straight away.

Avoid at all costs.

Charging 18.99 for nothing after returning a FULL Car with no damage. Taking 18.99 euro days after asking for my opinion about them (Iwas positive - because they took additional money after that).

To me this is fraud and gives budget (Here Gran Canaria) a very bad reputation. For me never again.

Worst car rental ever. I have been travelling quite a lot in the recent years. Never had any problems. I thought you cant do anything wrong with a car rental. Well, we arrived at the airport. The car rental is not there, you have to share a bus with 30 people to the rental place. We arrived at around 21:00 at the rental place, they had 2 employees for 50 customers. It took 2,5 hours until we finally had a car. This is absolutely not acceptable. They should know, how many customers they had this evening and sufficent staff members. I will never book with this company again. Apart from that everything was okay.

Never felt so confused about a car hire as a week or two ago at AVIS / Budget in Malaga. We had rented a standard car via CardelMar (with full coverage) at Budget at Malaga airport. We got a nice upgrade to a DS7 and it was a great car for the 6 days we were there. When the car was returned, even after my request, nobody came to look at the car and everything was fine, they said. The next day, € 1,973.85 was debited from my credit card and that was for damage to the car, which in our opinion really was not. After having mailed back and forth for almost two weeks, I got pictures of the damage today and it turns out to be just polish that was still on the plastic of the car. That was indeed true when we rented the car and I pointed it out afterwards. There is no scratch on the paintwork and there is a black spot of asphalt or something on the rim. Because of the damage, the airport surcharge was also increased by a further ten (!!) times. I have also informed CardelMar that this smells like a scam and that it is all about fraud. Never, but never again, AVIS or Budget! Scandalous!

One of the worst experiences ever. Me and my partner live in Germany and travel often to France, Italy, Spain... So we use rental cars on a monthly basis. We book through budget.es in August but when we arrived to Rome Ciampino airport, there were no cars available. They deducted our money a month before but they did not have cars... After writing to the Customer Service in Spain, they told me they will reply within 10 days and almost a month has passed without an answer. Unbelievable!

Rental went without any problems, during both pickup and dropoff of the car. The car was almost brand new, in an excellent condition. Staff is kind and professional.

Budget desk on Palma de Mallorca airport charged me 62,62 Euro more surcharge than what has been agreed by a contract /voucher, even though the guy at the desk told me no extra charges will apply and i shoud just sign the receipt for the rental car.
How it happened: I booked a car - fiat 500 - for 74 Euro online via check24.de. The agreement /voucher said, it was the total price, except for the deposit of 1200 Euro which will be returned if the car is okay when returned back. The rental company is Aurum Cars (Munich, Germany) but since they have no rental desk on Mallorca Airport, I would have to pick the car up at Budget/Avis desk. So I did. The employee at the desk tried:
1. To sell me a car upgrade - I said I didn't want it.
2. To sell me an additional insurance - I refused again.
I also said I don't want any of additional extras, I just wanted the car I booked online, and nothing more. After a long time, I had to leave my credit card details, and he gave me the keys. I asked him to explain me exactly the bill / the paper that I had to sign upon receipt of the car keys. Everything seemed to be okay, the credit card details I had to enter because of the deposit in case of an accident.But he assured me I would get it back if the car is ok. This happend on 4. July 2018 in the evening. I unfortunatelly have no name of the desk employee at that evening, but Budget will know for sure who it was...

After 4 days I returned the car to the airport and asked the person who took it over if everything was fine and if there is any extra money that he would have to charge extra. However, since everything was ok, the fuel tank full, no car damages, he said that everything is just fine. So I signed again and left and was happy that it worked fine.

BUT!!! After approx. 4 days I got an extra letter directly from Budget (not from Aurum Cars nor form Check24) - it said that they charged my credit card with extra 62 Euros! For nothing, it just said "service fee"!?
Can just any company who happens to have my credit card number charge the money from my credit card??

It was in beginning of July 2018... THREE MONTHS AGO... Since then, I was trying to get any information about it, and my money back. I wrote to all parties - to check24.de, to Aurum Cars and of course to Budget/Avis. And to my credit card bank (Hanseatic Bank - I can not recommend them either, they were of no help). Nothing happend for 2,5 months, all inquiries were in vain. I only got automatic e-mails from everywhere that said that it is being worked on, blah blah blah....
Than I decided to involve the german Verbraucherschutz (state consumer protection center) and to write a review on Trustpilot. Only three days after, check.24 wrote me an e-mail which was not just an automatic reply! Wow... they pay attention when higher levels are involved, but if you are just a normal "small" customer, who is trying to fairly earn his money to be able to afford a short holiday - well they just ignore you, you are not making big money for them, and they know that you will give up soon because it just takes too much time and health and nervs. However, they promised to re-charge me the 62 Euro, because it eventually would take even more time to clear the case with Aurum Cars and Budget. Ha! I knew that myself!
Conclusion: never ever check24 again, never ever Budget in Spain... and most ceratin nowhere else in the world anyway :)

The budget employee on the Palma airport was very unprofessional (and not very friendly at all!) and the Budget company itself as well. Not to mention Aurum Cars. I really do hope for all of them that this is not the way they make business and the money for living...

P.S. I am really wondering if I will ever get an answer from Budget to all my inquiries, phone calls and e-mails... if they will ever position themselves and answer.

We rented a car in Madrid in June. We got a new car, 5000 km on the dashboard, super clean.Everything was very easy from pick up to return, friendly staff and very helpful. Only deposit they took was 93 euro, in case we dоn"t bring back the full tank, which we did and got our money back.
Everything was more than great and all that just for 140 euros for 11 days.
Budget will always be our future pick.

I picked up a Budget rental Fiat 500 at Jerez Airport in the evening after a long hot day of travel. The agent was far from fluent in English. I already had a collision damage waiver, but the agent stated that the excess in the event of any damage ( eg tyres, stone dents,) was €1400 . That's right, one thousand four hundred euros. The extra INSURANCE to avoid this was a MASSIVE €14 per day, exorbitant when the rental charge itself was €17 per day and FirefIy at the same location charge ca €6 per day. I signed theBudget documents because I was exhausted, but returned and complained a few days later. Budget's reply was that Budget in other locations charged even more. They should not be allowed to use the name "Budget" which implies low charges and good value for money. I extended my rental with Firefly....much better

Avoid Budget / Tenerife Reina Sofia Airport

During drop-off the car was marked ok by Budget employee, no damages. However, after a month they charged 185€ extra from Visa for damaged front grill. They didn't provide any evidence that I would have cause the damage. Appeal process is still ongoing.

I highly recommend tourists avoid renting cars from Budget Barcelona at Carrer del Rector Triado, 104, 08014. Through American Express Platinum Travel Service, I rented a car for 6 days and I was extremely careful driving and parking every day. When I rented the car, I did not accept Budget's insurance because auto insurance is covered by my Amex Platinum Card. During the 6 days, the car never touched anything and I was very happy to return the car in the same condition as I rented it. I checked the car the day I returned it and there was no damage worth noting. I had a successful trip and was very satisfied with the rental car, until I met Bettina Ivonne. Ms. Ivonne is the Budget person I returned the car to. I was very happy to inform her that I filled the gas tank and return the car to her. She immediately asked me "did I take insurance" and I said "NO" because I'm covered by American Express. She then said I will have to pay for the damage. I said "there is no damage" and she showed me the most minute scratch which must have been on the car before I rented it. It was so tiny and barely visible that normal inspectors would not even notice it. I disagreed that the minute scratch warranted an extra charge which she kindly said would be an extra 255 euros. I was absolutely shocked. I'm a global traveler for both business and personal. I fly 100K miles a year and rent cars all of the time. I'm very well experienced in traveling and will pay damage fees when they are reasonable and fair. I have never ever been charged extra for damage let alone the most tiny minute scratch. I wish I could post a picture of the scratch because it really is negligible. After debating this with Bettina Ivonne, it became clear to me that she was taking advantage of an Asian tourist. After I returned the car, I showed the picture of the scratch to my local Catalan friend who was absolutely shocked that I was charged for it. He told me if I were local, then no way I would have been charged. It's because I'm a tourist. So, if you are a tourist, be safe and avoid Budget Barcelona because people like Bettina Ivonne will take advantage of you. Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in the world; it's unfortunate that theft is an issue on the streets, however, I never imagined that I would be ripped off by Budget rental car. It's such a terrible feeling when you are a victim of aggressive business practices.

We were given what was, supposed to be a brand new car with sat nav after upgrading our car. The car provided looked like it had been involved in a pile up and was dirty inside and out. The number plate was falling off. This is after a two hour wait. Budget car hire at Barcelona...avoid like the plague

Never use them again. They told me to get a Polo, but I got a Ypsilon (very small car). The charged me extra 58 i surcharge and sold me protection for 16€ a day, which wasnt incl vat. So I ended up paying 250€ in Madrid despite having a booked it from home (incl insurance) and had already paid 200€. It was the worst car I ever had which I ended up paying the most. And the guys at the tilt just looked strange at me when complaning

Hi, have just returned from Malaga, having had a Seat Leon tdi for a week from Budget Car Hire from the airport...Must say this is the best experience of car hire from Spain up to now. Very helpful, new car, affordable £95 final cost, also they was one of the only rental companies that would take a debit card as opposed to a credit card, just had to leave a small deposit off the card which is only deducted if you damage the car. It also a good idea to take out full waiver cover out from this country (uk) before you go as it only cost about £24 for a couple of weeks, from Spain it could cost you this daily.