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November 2023 by Nathan Geiger
This place runs a classic bait-and-switch scam operation. I reserved a car to visit my family for Thanksgiving, getting the most gas-efficient car. When I showed up, they first tried to claim the car I reserved was unavailable and upcharge me more money for a less fuel-efficient car, then Debbie became extremely unprofessional and refused to rent to me at all after I called customer service and secured a refund bringing my rental total down to the original price.I checked online on their website and the car I reserved (and they claimed they didn’t have) is currently available to reserve for today for $10 LESS than the original price I had reserved it for. And plenty of small cars just sitting in the lot!As a result of this issue and their refusal to rent one of their many cars to me, I went from a 9am planned rental to currently being on a bus to Indianapolis at noon in hopes that I can rent a car there and then drive back to Bloomington to pack my things into the car. Not how I was planning to spend my day!
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November 2023 by Libby Benson
As can be seen by my review and other recent reviews, this is one of the WORST businesses we have dealt with in Bloomington. Debbie is a heartless woman who has caused extreme stress to my partner who was just doing his best to come visit me over the Thanksgiving holiday. Debbie, you should be ashamed of yourself and I hope you have a wake-up call that life would be a lot nicer for you and everyone else if you conducted yourself with more decorum.Details: my partner and I are long distance and have been looking forward to spending the Thanksgiving holiday together. His pre-reserved rental agreement was for a compact car (w/ good gas mileage!) for $80. When he got to the Budged car rental store in Bloomington, Debbie and the other employees told him they didn't have the car he reserved and quoted him a *substantially* higher price for an "upgrade" with far worse gas mileage, which he did not want. He acknowledged that they couldn't rent him a car they didn't have but did not think it was fair to have to pay a different price from the rental agreement. Their response was to throw him out of the store in the pouring rain to contact Budget customer service. Well, customer service totally agreed with my partner and said they would cover the difference. When my partner went back in the store, Debbie threw a fit at this and threw him out yet again, refusing to give him a car. I myself tried to call to see if I could smooth things over (and actually even offered to pay the upcharge - which is exactly what they wanted), and both she and one of her employees refused and hung up on me, which is so rude. I even tried to explain that we were long distance and could they please work with me given the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, to no avail.What made me extra upset is that after getting hung up on twice, I went on the Budget website for the Bloomington store, and it still showed that they had the compact cars available from that location, and for only $60ish dollars, which is even less (not more!) than what my partner's rental agreement was for. So overall, it seems like there are some really sketchy things going on at this location, and that their business in general is a total scam.Shame on you to all the employees at Budget for treating people so terribly. I hope my review will help other families from experiencing such abuse and disappointment in the future.
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November 2023 by Sam S.
The Worst! Their computers are NOT linked with the national Budget so when you reserve something even months in advance, it's often not available.
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November 2023 by Kaitlyn Cain
The Budget Rental establishment @ 912 South Walnut St. Bloomington, IndianaAre seriously some crooks. I have been trying to get a hold of somebody at their establishment since the day I picked the truck up with no luck. I tried reaching them over and over to extend my rental with no luck due to having been the only one available to move my entire apartment by myself with a 16-ft truck from one apartment to another taking longer than expected. I was threatened via txt message and email with police involvement, to drop the truck off. I couldn't get there until After hours I left a note not only on the keys when I put them in the drop box, but on the steering wheel of the truck when I parked it to get a hold of me on my phone so we could arrange payment. I received no call. But I did get an overcharge for $898 on my card. I only had it for 8 days and my total only should have been around $728.92. But it turns out they added in an extra 2 days to my actual rental time and they also added extra insurance without my knowledge and took advantage of my disability having issues reading. Unfortunately this is not the first time this is happening to me. It happened once again for years ago while renting a car and I've heard it happen to other people as well. These people are nothing but crooks. I had to sit online with a customer service rep for almost 3 hours doing math to prove that they owed me at least. $169.08 over and over again. What a nightmare.
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October 2023 by yasmin Abdi
I recently had an extremely disappointing experience with Budget Car Rental in Bloomington. Despite making a reservation online, my family and I were met with a series of shocking issues upon arrival. The person at the front desk, named Debbie, was not only unhelpful but also shockingly rude.To start, the car we had reserved was unavailable, leaving us in a lurch without any suitable alternative. Despite our frustration, Budget Car Rental staff, particularly Debbie, showed no willingness to rectify the situation.What made this experience truly distressing was the blatant racism we encountered. It's disheartening to realize that in this day and age, such prejudice still exists, let alone in a customer service setting. The lack of respect and empathy displayed was not only unprofessional but deeply hurtful.I strongly urge Budget Car Rental to address the issues at this location promptly. No customer should ever have to endure such treatment. As someone who values fairness and equality, I am appalled at the way my family and I were treated. I hope others are spared from a similar ordeal in the future.
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September 2023 by Steph Gman
Debbie was really helpful, knowledgeable, and professional. I have rented twice at the S. Walnut location. She has been a pleasure to deal with both times. Her coworker handled a difficult customer with ease. The Altima I rented was clean and fun to drive. Would highly recommend Budget!
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September 2023 by Eric Nichols
Sometime last year, I rented a car at the airport in Indy and returned it to the Bloomington Budget. I also ended up going in to extend the reservation a week.There were no problems with price or the car or anything, but the experience was surreal as the worker made me feel unwelcome. Even the office was ugly and run-down, felt nothing like a normal car rental location. I wasn't even sure I was in the right place for a while. The worker was really rude for no particular reason. Phone service was similar when I tried to deal with the reservation via the phone.Overall this was a horrible experience, and I don't know why they made it that way. It gave off the "we really don't want customers" vibe. Not just the one employee, but the whole experience from the ugly space to the bad phone service. It was stressful enough I remember it often when I drive by and see this place on Walnut.I was shocked, but not altogether surprised, to read in other reviews here that Budget had threatened to call the police when customers arrived and Budget wouldn't honor a reservation. I definitely felt like I was "doing something wrong" just by entering the lobby and paying for the car, since the whole atmosphere is "you're not welcome here, leave or else". Really surreal.I've never been back, and always rent elsewhere, of course. Budget corporate: you should really tear this place down, fire everyone involved, and start over.
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September 2023 by Pablo Honey
The man behind the counter repeatedly called me "goofy" and tried to get me to venmo him 35 dollars as a "tip" he then followed me out to the parking lot and tried to sell me bootleg fireworks out of the trunk of his car. He ended up renting me his own personal vehicle (07 Hyundai) which he demanded I pay cash for. I was pulled over by the police the 4 times for expired tags. When I returned the car, the man made me take several door dash orders for him before he would give me back my security deposit.
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September 2023 by Ashley S.
Poor service and organization of business. Unhelpful and rude lady at the desk. Untrustworthy and unreliable rental confirmations- the lack of transparency regarding business policies is embarrassing for this branch.
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September 2023 by Kristen Alexander
I had filled out a reservation online because it said it would save time. I prepaid and went to go get the car, but the guy at the front desk was very rude to me. I had never rented a car before, and he was talking to me like I was stupid. I understand everyone has bad days but it was very unprofessional, and made a stressful situation even more unpleasant. I will not be renting another car from this location.
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August 2023 by Erin Sorcher
Waited in line for 2 1/2 hours to be told there were no more cars available. There was a line of approximately 60 people behind me who also had prepaid reservations. Had to take an hour long UBER to destination then was charged $300 more for the same car picking it up at a different location the next day. Its CRIMINAL what they are doing.
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July 2023 by Shyla B.
0 stars...The staff was very rude and unhelpful. Called and made a reservation and got there waited forever for the lady at the front desk pretty much to tell us to leave because "they didn't have a car for me and she was too busy" they didn't explain anything to me I was even treated rudely by the man in the garage when I first pulled up. The place is busted anyways. We will not be going back. Enterprise came through in the end. We would have gone there first but they didn't have anything but called us within an hr to tell us they had something for us from a cancellation. Anyways I do not recommend budget..
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July 2023 by Clancy Alexander
It took longer than I planned to get the car, but the guy at the desk was extremely helpful. The phone center I called to make the reservation didn't tell me that they might not have anything for same day rentals, or that I would need two forms of picture ID for doing the same day rental. Fortunately, the guy at the desk was very helpful and was able to get me what I needed so I was able to rent the car. He was great I don't know what his name was but I would definitely recommend him for employee of the month.
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July 2023 by Ben Nanny
Booked a reservation a month ago. Show up to pick up car and they don’t have one. Called two days in advance to confirm our car was available, was lied to and told me they had plenty. Absolute joke. Avoid at all cost even if you gotta pay more.
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July 2023 by Aidan Elliott
Says online you can call to arrange after hours drop off, well, I called for 5 days straight and no one answered the phone. I then drove in and asked when i got in to town with the rental and they acted like i was crazy. I rented the car at 9pm so i wanted to keep it til 9. They close at 2 on weekends and told me theyd charge an extra day if I dropped it off after close. Horrific service.
