Richmond Car Rentals

Unprofessional

Pros: I liked the vehicle and the unlimited mileage.

Cons: Unprofessional and rude employees who did not value the customer. First and last time with Budget Rental because company appears to devalue customers. Terrible value for the money spent.. Not a good recommendation.

Pros: I liked that the car had CarPlay so that GPS directions from my phone came through the sound system. I liked the backup camera.

Cons: I had asked Carmen at the desk if the car would include an EZPass, and she assured me that it would. It did not, and I went through several open toll lanes without knowing it. When I turned the car in, I was told that I could get the number for EZPass at the 'office' in the garage. I was given a number that did not work. I found another number for EZSPass, which I called, and they need the License number. The contract that Carmen gave me is blurred, and I cannot read the number. I emailed Budget asking them for the information, and I hope I get it soon, so that I don't get fined by EZPass. No one at Budget has been particularly helpful. Thank you.

Cons: They didn't have a car ready. Had to wait 50+ minutes to get a car ready. Not just for me. Had no cars available.

Wrong size car provided

Pros: The roominess, condition, and readiness were great, I just didn’t receive the type of car I requested.

Cons: My only real complaint is that I requested a Toyota Corolla (or similar) with the intention of getting a rental that was not a gas guzzler, since we would be traveling a long distance. Instead we received a Dodge Journey and had to fill up the tank multiple more times than we should have had to in a smaller car that I requested.

Worst customer service of my life, bar none

Cons: I chose to fly to Florida instead of drive because i found a good deal on a convertible out of RIC airport into FLL airport in Florida. Because I was getting a fun car, I decided to splurge a little and rent the car for an additional day so as to get to drive the convertible around Richmond. When I arrived in Richmond to rent the car on trip day, the AVIS front desk agent (it was a joint Budget-Avis desk) says to me we don't have that car today is a sedan ok with you? She smiled condescendingly when I explained that I had planned the entire trip around that convertible and I would otherwise have flown instead, and informed me that there was nothing she could do. At this point I suggested to her that she check other rental facilities on the drive (95 from Va to FL is bound to have a convertible) to see if we could trade our car in. At this point she seemingly forgot how to use the computer system and became dependent on ME looking up the phone numbers to call different rental car agencies and put her on the phone to try to get us the car we wanted. After 20 minutes of this charade, she told me that I should just go and show up to any Budget rental on the way down and that they'd be happy to help me. I was suspicious that she was trying to delegate the problem away but decided to take her up on it so as to not delay my trip any more. I took the prius they offered me and started driving. To make the rest of the anecdote brief, I spent over 4 hours on the phone with customer service getting convoluted (and sometimes contradictory) information about the fees involved for trading out a car. It became clear to me after the first hour being on hold that the woman at the RIC AVIS desk at overtly lied to me to get me out of her hair. It also became clear to me that most individuals I talked to at Budget were neither trustworthy nor willing to help me. Two days later I returned my Prius that cost me the daily rate of a convertible without a refund, the car I had signed up to rent, and anything positive to say about Budget or AVIS. Last time I ever use either of those companies.