Budget Rent a Car Reviews 

I booked a car and when I came to collect they didn't accept my debit card. However the car was paid up front. No problem, I hired from Enterprise, who were great.
However, when I tried to get my pre-payment back, the problems started. I was advised to phone the call center, who take 30 minutes to answer, and then sometimes cut you off. I was eventually promised a refund, but it has been weeks without the refund arriving, and when I email the address the agent gave me, I don''t get a reply. I'm not phoning them again, it is too painful.
To not be able to process something as simple as this feels like a scam. It should have been done automatically. Reading there reviews it seems I'm not the only one who has issues getting refunds.

Update 21/7/26 - they finally refunded me.

8I've very bad experience with budget rent a car , I've rented a car for two months , during the delivery they requested me to pay 315 Dhs , I refused first but later I paid , the deduct all the deal money from my visa card.
During the payment of second month I've checked when the deduct the delivery charges again ( 315 ) Dhs , after I made my call they said its by mistake. At the end of the contract they told they're coming to take the car , I said ok , suddenly the deduct 315 Dhs for taking the car back and the most chocking issue is that they deduct more 315 Dhs just because the car need a cleaning.
For 315 Dhs return the car charges its not mentioned in the contract but they still need to take it , for the car cleaning I think its the most expensive car cleaning ever and ever .
This my story with budget rent a car , unfortunately I'm ready to go till the end to get my right back.
IF POSSIBLE TO RATE LESS THAN ONE STAR I WILL GO WITH NO STAR AT ALL.

1 star is more than these criminals deserve, but here is my review. It's going to be short since the criminals at Budget Rent A Car have already wasted my entire day, giving me the runaround about something that could have easily been cleared up with a single e-mail from them with an invoice in it that actually complies with FTC regulations. I purchased extra coverages on my vehicle at San Antonio International Airport in Texas on a rental contract that already had agreed-upon pickup and drop-off times for the rental. Those agreed-upon times were 1:00PM on May 27th, 2026 for pick up, and 5:00PM on May 29th, 2026 for drop-off. The vehicle was picked up at 12:40PM on May 27th, 2026, and dropped off at 3:41PM on May 29th, 2026. After being given the run-around for all of today by Budget, including them wasting my time with pleasantries and platitudes, and sending me an "adjusted invoice" two times today (which had no changes on them whatsoever), and one of their reps telling me, in writing, that I was being billed for 2 days, their final e-mail to me said that I returned the vehicle 3 hours past the due date/time, and that I was billed for 3 days worth of the optional coverages. None of this was sufficiently itemized on their invoice, as required by the FTC, and they still showed that they were unwilling to generate a properly itemized invoice. I will never use Budget Rent A Car again and will go back to using Enterprise, which has never treated me like that. The FTC will also be getting a complaint filed with them by me, as well as the Texas Office of the Attorney General. Nothing but a bunch of criminals who shouldn't be in business.

Likely a fraud!
DO NOT book with Budget in the UAE.

The fine for the alleged traffic violation is exactly the same as the deposit! They don't respond to inquiries and send links that don't work.

Budget Dubai charged 1000 AED from my account one month after returning the car, claiming a “parking fine” without any proof or official document. I parked legally and paid for parking. After checking online, I found many similar complaints from other customers. Very poor transparency. Check your bank statements carefully.

I booked a rental car with Budget Rent a Car in Dubai via Check24. What followed was one of the most chaotic and unpleasant rental experiences I have ever had.

After arriving at Dubai International Airport (Terminal 3), I waited over one hour trying to locate the Budget counter. No one answered the phone, and the counter is not located in Terminal 3 nor clearly signposted anywhere. I was left wandering the airport with luggage, completely on my own.

Eventually, I managed to reach someone by phone and was told to meet an employee near a supermarket outside the terminal. The person who showed up was not branded, not identifiable as Budget staff, and gave no confidence at all. Contrary to any reasonable expectation, I did not receive the car at the airport. Instead, we drove about 10 minutes away to an off-site location, where I had to wait again.

The vehicle I finally received was a smoker’s car, poorly masked with aggressive chemical fragrances. Due to the heat, the smell intensified, and during the drive back to my hotel I became nauseous and physically unwell. I later explained that I react allergically to such chemicals and had trouble breathing.

The next day, I complained about the vehicle. After long discussions and resistance, a staff member finally admitted that someone had clearly smoked in the car. I was then told that if I wanted a replacement vehicle, I would have to drive 15–20 minutes somewhere else first to collect it. This was completely unacceptable.

I asked for a simple solution, such as an upgrade. This was refused. The car I was given was old, worn down, full of dents and scratches, with a damage sheet so full it looked like every panel had already been marked. Without exaggeration, this was the worst rental car I have ever driven.

This experience confirmed everything that is wrong with low-cost rental providers at Dubai airport: poor communication, misleading logistics, substandard vehicles, and zero customer orientation.

Never again Budget.
Unfortunately, this experience fits perfectly into the long list of negative airport rental experiences in Dubai. Absolute headache — and something I have never experienced at this level before.

Very bad customer serivse with william aslo he is rude and he doesn't know his job

Rented gas power SUV was not available when we got there. The only available thing was a 12 passenger van which is too big to drive around and basic electric cars which are not easy to understand and you can't find chargers in remote areas. After much hassle and arguments, they gave me a comparable SUV which saved our trip!

Absolute scam artists!

Booked a vehicle with them for 8 days. Got charged an extra day for returning the car 11 minutes late even though this is within the booking day.
A typical days rental is from 9am to 9am the following day. My flight back was at 2am so i had put down i will be returning the vehicle at 11pm. Because of the traffic in dubai, i returned the vehicle at 11.11pm. At the time of returning the vehicle, they didnt say anything whatsoever. When i returned back to the UK and swiched my phone on, cha-ching, money taken out! After numerous emails, still no reply from them. Absolute thieves and scammers. This company deserves nothing but everything bad to them and the staff. Really wishing this company dies!

Please, whatever you do, do NOT booking your vehicle with this company!

difficult to pick up from DXB T3 staff not branded or holding customer name boards and as no desk wasted 30mins looking around the airport for someone. Called customer service in the end who connected us. Also had trouble dropping off as they kept me waiting 45 mins and out of pocket as had to pay for parking while waiting !!!. noone cares about the service they are giving or answering complaint letters. The car wasn't bad but a lot of marks on it. The hassle wasn't worth the money I saved.

I genuinely regret ever renting from this company. During the handover, the staff explicitly confirmed that the car included certain essential features, which turned out to be completely false once I started driving.

When I raised the issue, I contacted customer service more than 25 times by email, phone, and WhatsApp. Each time I was either ignored, lied to again, or promised a solution that never came. It took several days before a replacement car was finally provided, despite being assured multiple times it would be handled immediately.

Even after all this, I was charged for fuel I did not use. There was no apology, no accountability, no compensation, and no sign that anyone cared about resolving the issue properly.

This company’s only priority is profit, not its customers. They will say whatever is needed to close a deal and then completely disappear when problems arise.

I am a repeat customer, and even that made no difference whatsoever, which says everything about how little they value loyalty.

If you are considering renting from this company, do not. You will save yourself a great deal of frustration, wasted time, and money.

i paid in advance for 2 baby seats( cost me like the car itself) and was waiting at the air port for 3 hours to get the car with them while my kids was crying in the heat of the Dubai.

If you rent from budget please insure you have full insurance. Even with that make sure you get a police report for each scratch doesn’t matter how small. If no report you will have to pay for it on return.

Do NOT Book with Budget UAE – Absolute Scam

I had one of the worst experiences of my life with Budget UAE.
Despite reading many negative reviews online and having serious doubts, I decided to give them a chance. I even emailed the main Budget UAE office multiple times before my arrival, asking for confirmation of my booking – just to be sure I wouldn’t face any issues.

They replied to my emails and reassured me that the car would be waiting for me at Abu Dhabi Airport.

But when I arrived – there was NO car.
No apology. No explanation. Just a rude response from the staff saying they had no obligation to provide me with a vehicle.

This is not just bad service – it’s fraud.
They confirm your reservation, take your details, and then leave you stranded without a car. It ruined my trip.

⚠️ Please beware – DO NOT book with Budget in the UAE.
They do not deliver what they promise.
This is outrageous and completely unacceptable.

The Agent at Dubai Airport was not interested at all and changed my credit card and didn't block for deposit. Until now ( 6 weeks later) I have not received the deposit back. Email will never be answered. I am visiting the UAE every 2 month but have to yet find a good rental car company. Both Hertz and Budget are now off the list.

Misleading all the way
They DO NOT HAVE A PICK UP OR DROP OFF IN TERMINAL 3 in Dubai.
The booking was very clear that I drop the car in terminal 3.
Everything they said- took at least twice to do it- includes side road assistance

Very bad experience booking at budget. First thing people know for clear that they don’t have car pick up at terminal 3 secondly you will need to travel all way to terminal1 all across to pick you car.
When you book you mention terminal 3 but once booking come it show pick up terminal1
They don’t give you same car which shows in booking but they play with words of similar car without names mentioned online while booking
Bad experience and I suggest prefer dollar and others budget got sick old now

“My experience with Budget at Dubai Airport was extremely disappointing. I booked and paid for a car online, but upon arrival, the car wasn’t available, forcing me to wait over 4 hours with my young child, who was exhausted. They offered a lower-quality car than the one I reserved, with no refund for the price difference. When I returned the car 30 minutes late, I was charged an excessive fee, nearly half the weekly rate, which felt unfair. The company lacks punctuality, transparency, and fair pricing. I strongly advise against renting from them.

Avoid – Untrustworthy experience with deposit refund

I rented a car from Budget Rent a Car (Sharjah Airport branch) between February 27 and March 6, 2025. Everything seemed fine at first – the car was acceptable, and the pickup/drop-off process was smooth. I paid a 3,000 AED deposit, which they promised to return within 30 business days.

Unfortunately, more than two months passed, and the deposit was not refunded. I sent multiple emails to their support addresses, which were completely ignored. I had to send a final, firm warning, mentioning complaints to authorities and a chargeback request via my bank. Only then did they finally return the money.

It is completely unacceptable for a customer to go through so much trouble to recover a deposit that should have been refunded automatically. I do not recommend this company – absolutely no communication, no accountability, and no professionalism after the car was returned.

Unjustified Charges, Hidden Fees – Avoid Budget UAE!

I rented a car from Budget in Abu Dhabi, and after returning it, I was shocked to see multiple unexplained charges on my account. First, they charged me 690 AED for a supposed traffic fine—without providing any proof like a radar photo or an official record. Then, to make things worse, two more additional payments were deducted from my account without any explanation!

I have repeatedly requested clarification, but Budget UAE has failed to provide any justification for these charges. This is completely unacceptable and feels like a scam.

If you’re considering renting a car from Budget UAE, be very careful! They will charge you extra without proof or explanation. I strongly advise against using their services unless you want to deal with hidden fees and an unresponsive customer service team.

#BudgetUAE #CarRentalScam #HiddenFees #UnfairCharges 🚫