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February 2024 by Michelle Nguyen
Highly recommend- friendly staff, positive experience! Definitely a reliable place for car rentals.
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February 2024 by Pamela Allen
Extraordinary Service!!!! I followed GPS to the wrong location and ended up on a closed road surrounded by homeless. It was not safe at all.When in arrived at this location, the correct Budget location, the staff was over friendly and extremely helpful. He escorted me to gas station so I wasn’t alone, and switched out my rental car super fast! He gave me a choice of what I wanted so I could be comfortable.All rental cars aren’t perfect, they’ll never be, hundreds of different people drive them. But when the service is exceptional, And staff is smiling, it leaves a lasting impression.Thanks to you all for your hard work. I’ll for sure use you again.
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January 2024 by Katie Gatlin
A lovely experience, great location, and very good selection for a smaller (non-airport) lot. The folks at the counter were very nice and helpful. We're so happy we found them instead of driving all the way out to the airport as originally planned-- we will definitely use them again if ever needing a rental in the area!
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November 2023 by Franz Waltenberger
I have rented four cars at this location over the past months and every time the process was exceptionally easy. It's not the busiest branch so things usually move quickly and I never had any problems such as extra fees etc.
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October 2023 by Frances T.
Just reiterating all the other reviews about how awful this place is. They were very nice when I picked up the car, but when I came to return it they wanted to charge me a cleaning fee for pet hair, even though there was never a pet in the vehicle while I had it. Because they were so friendly at the beginning (and because I didn't read these reviews!) I wasn't careful enough about documenting the few pet hairs that were in the car when I got it. Don't make that mistake--they're trying to take advantage of people, and they're rude about it. If you can go anywhere else, do! If you can't, take pictures of everything and be wary.
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September 2023 by Beetle G.
I had a very pleasant experience renting from the Budget car rental at Milvia and Kittredge in Berkeley. The car was new and clean, and the staff (possibly the managers, apparently husband and wife) could not have been more polite. The waiting room was clean and nicely appointed and the bathroom was spotless.
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June 2023 by Lee Michelle
They don't vacuum the cars. The car they offered to rent me was absolutely disgusting and I asked if they had a vacuum and he said no. He then proceeded to be very rude and said this is not how we rent cars. You have to just decide. So I am going to Enterprise. Very rude horrible customer service.
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April 2023 by Lenard Rüde
I had a bad experience with this car rental branch.On the pro side:- it is located nicely within Berkeley- it has good opening hours.On the contra side:- The manager of the car rental company complained he had no information about my booking details- He gave me the wrong fuel policy and kept more deposit back than agreed in my contract.- When I returned the car, he complained there were dog hair in the car while it was clear there were no (see pictures). He threaten me to deduct 150$ from my deposit and I should call the customer service to complain. Even other customer agreed with me that were no dog hair. According to other reviews it is a common problem at this branch.- The car entertainment system was not working properly (iphone could not connect because the add button did not work)- The roadside assistance should be included according to our booking but the manager said it would not be included- The manager was very unfriendlyOverall, I cannot recommend to rent a car at this car rental agency.
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January 2023 by Tracy Phillips
On January 5, 2023 at around 11am, I had the most shocking and traumatic experience trying to return a vehicle to Budget located at 2000 Kittridge St, Berkeley CA. After noticing a service engine light, I called the Budget corporate customer service line who then advised that I turn the vehicle in to the closest location which was the Budget on Kittridge street. When I entered the facility, I encountered a male employee behind the counter wearing a Budget uniform . He was not wearing a name badge and declined to provide his name. He appeared to be of Indian descent, 50-60 years old, dark hair and speaks with an accent. I explained the situation and how I was instructed to return the vehicle at this location. This male employee appeared annoyed almost immediately and yelled at me stating that this location was independently operated and that I would incur a one way drop off fee and later accused me of not filling up the tank which he soon discovered was not the truth as once he took the time to read the rental agreement. Given that he appeared very volatile and I was alone with him, I felt very uncomfortable and threatened by his language and posture toward me, I tried to diffuse the situation by suggesting that he either read the notes that were provided in the system or to call the corporate office for clarity. This seemed to anger him more and he replied that it was not his responsibility to do so. He then forcibly shoved the keys back across the counter at me and yelled at me to get out!! At this point I am dumb-founded and quite frankly scared as there were no witnesses present. I then ask him to stop talking/yelling at me as I agreed to make the call. He then leaves me unattended and goes to an adjacent room out of view for the next 30 mins as I wait on hold to speak to a manager. Upon speaking with the manager, it was confirmed that everything I told him was the truth. The manager ask to speak to him but he refused to get on the line. I was then advised by the manager to leave the keys and the vehicle and to leave the the office immediately. I happily obliged and will never return. I do not recommend that any person, male or female, subject themselves to type of treatment. It was disgraceful and whomever this unnamed male is, he should be ashamed of himself and should not not be unleashed on the public. Notice that i did not refer to him as a man. If you are management of this location, you should strongly reconsider having this person represent your business. Sent from my iPad
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January 2023 by Imani O.
Buyer beware! On January 5, 2023 at around 11am, I had the most shocking and traumatic experience trying to return a vehicle to Budget located at 2000 Kittridge St, Berkeley CA. After noticing a service engine light, I called the Budget corporate customer service line who then advised that I turn the vehicle in to the closest location which was the Budget on Kittridge street. When I entered the facility, I encountered a male employee behind the counter wearing a Budget uniform . He was not wearing a name badge and declined to provide his name. He appeared to be of Indian descent, 50-60 years old, dark hair and speaks with an accent. I explained the situation and how I was instructed to return the vehicle at this location. This male employee appeared annoyed almost immediately and yelled at me stating that this location was independently operated and that I would incur a one way drop off fee. He later accused me of not filling up the tank which he soon discovered was not the truth as once he took the time to read the rental agreement. Given that he appeared very volatile and I was alone with him, I felt very uncomfortable and threatened by his language and posture toward me. I tried to diffuse the situation by suggesting that he either read the notes that were provided in the system or to call the corporate office for clarity. This seemed to anger him more and he replied that it was not his responsibility to do so. He then forcibly shoved the keys back across the counter at me and yelled at me to get out!! At this point I am dumb-founded and quite frankly scared as there were no witnesses present. I then ask him to stop talking/yelling at me as I agreed to make the call. He then leaves me unattended and goes to an adjacent room out of view for the next 30 mins as I wait on hold to speak to a manager. Upon speaking with the manager, it was confirmed that everything I told him was the truth. The manager ask to speak to him but he refused to get on the line. I was then advised by the manager to leave the keys and the vehicle and to leave the office immediately. I happily obliged and will never return. I do not recommend that any person, male or female, subject themselves to this type of treatment. It was disgraceful and whomever this unnamed male is, he should be ashamed of himself and should not be unleashed on the public. Notice that i did not refer to him as a man. If you are management of this location, you should strongly reconsider having this person represent your business.
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July 2022 by KaTyris Byrd
Pleasant staff. Very easy check in and check out. Car was showroom quality.
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March 2022 by Ted Lee
Prompt, professional, courteous. Rented a Nissan Sentra that is clean and drives well.
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November 2021 by Sage Hope
I prepaid for a car for two weeks including insurance. I get there and of course they don't have my vehicle. They don't offer to upgrade me for free, but say for $140.00 more they can give me a SUV. I agree he gets on the computer and says my credit isn't good enough, nevermind I've already paid in full. So I ask for a refund and he says no that I have to call this number. Which I did got transferred again and am waiting for a callback.
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October 2021 by Jim H.
I've never posted a review before but after my experience this morning at the Kitteridge Budget Rental location I was so angry that I need warn others. Seems like there is a real theme in these reviews and I wished I had read them before making the reservation at this place. The man running the place was rude, aggressive, unreasonable and said flat out he didn't care what I thought, who I called or what reviews I posted. My issues was he wanted to charge me $250 to clean the car because there was some pet hair on the floor in the back seat and the car was "excessively dirty" because there was some shoe debris on the passenger floorboard, no mud, nothing unusual, just normal dirt that you bring into a car getting in and out. On the rental counter there is a sign that details when you get extra cleaning charges and the issue regarding pet hair was "excessive pet hair and dander". This was not the case! The woman returning the car just before me was incredulous when she was also told there would be a pet cleaning fee for her car - she drove off with her car to clean it. My take on this place is that it is run by a man that has no understanding of customer service and is willing to fabricate issues in order to make a lot of extra money by say the cars are dirty. DO NOT RENT FROM Budget on Kitteridge in Berkeley.
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September 2021 by Helen Wang
Pros: Great price was undeniable for a one-way rental with pickup at this location (at least $30 less than competitors through Expedia), and the car got the job done. I appreciated that I wasn’t pressured to add supplemental insurance (I have my own) or gas in the way I usually am.Cons: The the car had a bit of trash inside as well as fingerprints marks and grease all over the displays (during COVID). Perhaps it wasn’t cleaned after the last renter. I tried to pay with a chase sapphire card to take advantage of the included collision coverage, and was told the mag strip didn’t work. I know this isn’t the case, as it worked before and after at different locations. The staff member on duty told me it was probably my card, but that it’s sometimes the reader, and to try to change the payment method at the return center (there was no opportunity to do so). I told him he or I could enter the number, which he said wasn’t possible. I ended up using a different card, but I still find the whole thing absurd. The location needs a new mag reader or to update to a chip or contactless given the hard requirements to pay with a card (a sign up on the wall reads, “no swipe, no rental”).I guess you get what you pay for!
