Budget Car Rental Ireland レビュー 

Für einen nicht selbst verschuldeten Schaden der Windschutzscheibe hat Budget (Payless)meine Kreditkarte mit Eur. 1256.12 belastet,ohne mir eine Rechnung oder Quittung zu senden.5 mal per Email dazu aufgefordert.Keine Reaktion.Betrug.
Nie mehr Budget oder deren Tochterfirma Payless.Finger weg!
Budget reagiert auf Email anfragen nicht.Bisher keine Reaktion.Die Angefordeten Dokumente (Rechnung)oder Quittung für die angebliche Reparatur nach 12 Tagen immer noch nicht erhalten.2 Telefonanrufe von mir ,wurden nicht angenommen.
Lediglich eine Reaktion von Budget auf meine 1 Stern Bewertung.Das hingegen klapp seht gut.

I had a terrible experience when I hired a car from Budget for two weeks in Dublin Airport. Great service getting the car which was only one year old but had many dents and scratches which I photographed.
I had no incidents during the rental but when I returned the car, I was rudely told there was a tiny chip on the windscreen. When pointed out I did see it but would not have noticed it during my initial review. It was a tiny surface chip which is repaired easily by glass vendors for around €50. However, Budget decided to bill me for €881.
When I asked for details, what I got was an estimate detailing that the windscreen should be replaced. The estimate was from another car rental company in the airport not from a functioning garage. I asked for an invoice showing the work had been completed but was told that Budget is not obligated to share any further information with me. In fact, under Irish and Eu law charges must be supported by evidence and reflect actual loss.
I suspect there is an ongoing practice of ripping off customers for repairs that are not carried out.
I believe this may constitute fraud by misrepresentation and I will be reporting this matter to the Gardai Siochana as well as the CCPC and ECC.

Horrible. Charged me for gas even tho tank was full until I protested with Amex - thanks Amex. Insisted I sign a consent to an accident - I didn’t have one - and when I refused fillowed me to the terminal to try to force me to say I had damaged a wheel cover that had no damage. DO NOT USE

In response to their response, I have emailed this address below instead of Budget Customer service which has had an open and non resolved ticket since August.

MAJ : Ils ne remboursent pas l'essence comme annoncé, 10 jours toujours rien reçu.
Comme pour les autres avis, une arnaque bien ficelée. On t'annonce sur internet une centaine d'euros avant le voyage. Arrivé sur place on t'emmène via mini-bus dans une zone industriel pour récupérer la voiture et la c'est plus de 500€. On vous facture tout un tas de suppléments les 100€ ne comprenais que la location de base en plus il faut compter plus de 100€ pour "payer l'entreprise " plus une assurance qui coute 2 fois le prix de la voiture. Si non c'est 2000€ de caution.
On se croirais face à des mafieux qui vous isolent pour vous détrousser.
Vu les commentaires j'ai bien fait de prendre des photos des defaults de la voiture quand je l'ais recupéré.

Avoid at all costs the Budget rental car office in Galway, Ireland. From the start, the customer service was horrendous and the entire interaction felt like a bait-and-switch scheme.
The only reason they even have 1 🌟 is because there is not an option for negative stars.

They tried to inform us that we had prepaid our reservation and we were unable to make any changes to the drop-off. We knew we did not pre-pay the reservation because we never do. A quick call to our credit card company confirmed that no such pre-payment had been made. This blatant lie was infuriating and extremely unprofessional. Additionally, the staff attempted to pressure us into purchasing extra insurance, claiming that our credit card only provided basic rental
car coverage. They wanted to either put a £3000.00 hold on our card for entire rental period or make us pay £60/day for rental coverage. Once again, our credit card company confirmed that we had full coverage, not basic. When we confronted them with all of this information, with the credit card company still on the phone, Budget suddenly changed their story about our reservation being prepaid, but still claimed they couldn’t make any changes to our rental.

Ultimately, we went to our reservation online, while standing in the office as they were telling us they could not cancel or make any changes from their computers in the office. We canceled the entire reservation online, more proof we did not pre-pay the reservation.
We then asked them to book a one day rental to Dublin. The guy at the counter told us it would be £700+ for the one day rental.
We checked booking it online and it came to £200, including all taxes and fees. So yet they lied again. In the end, we just took the train to Dublin. We refuse to do business with crooks.

As I said before, avoid this rental company at all costs. We will never use Budget for any rental car future needs. I hope this review helps others avoid a similar ordeal.

Worse rental experience ever. It took longer to fly to Dublin than to hire the car. Queued for the desk in the airport, queued (for best part of half an hour) for the bus to the rental pick up location, queued to check in at another desk, then queued to be given the car keys (as the car needs to be driven to the rental location?!) Takes well over 2 hours to pick up a car!! Strongly suggest avoiding

I wish I would have read the reviews before booking a car rental with Budget At the Dublin Airport. The service is terrible. The car they gave us was a 2020 Skoda which had scratches everywhere. We paid for full coverage. The car sounded like a wagon while being driven. I’ve used Sixt, Emterprise and Avis before. This is the first time I’ve rented a car from Budget and will not rent from them again.

Worst experience
Firstly they charged me 60 euro a day for insurance because I booked from a US site.
Then I got a Fiat Panda which feels like a car from the 1990's. There is no dashboard screen to connect the navigation system from your phone to.
The car was a manual. I haven't driven a manual in years and asked to change (assuming I would have to pay more) but they didn't have any automatics (on a random Thursday afternoon).
For the amount I paid I could have had a luxury car from any other car rental service.

I have always used Budget when holidaying in Ireland.
And i always pay the extra for the full insurance.
This time though (July '25), I booked thru' Ryanair (as they were cheaper than booking direct) and paid £138.77p.
When i picked up the car, I was charged 250 euro's for the full insurance which was nearly twice what I paid to hire the car.
I feel that the charge was excessive and was inflated as I didn't book direct with them.
I felt scammed, and there was nothing that I could do, as I was not willing to have thousands blocked on my card.

Underhand company. They apply unnecessary insurance to your booking if you don't have a credit card. Annoying and expensive. The solution is to not rent from them. Why did I rent from them again? Forgot about the last time. Anyway. Avoid them

Budget rent a car is one of the worst companies I’ve had to deal with in the state. I rented a car from them for use by my partner via company benefits portal. The car was competitively priced and I assumed Collision insurance was included as it wasn’t an option to select on the portal page.
Well turns out the car wasn’t insured by default and the scammy company wanted another €200 per day to cover the insurance cost when my partner went to pick it up.
Avoid this company at all costs, it appears to be predatory.

Very poor experience renting a car this summer with Budget Car Rental Ireland. I paid for a higher vehicle class than the one I received. Desk staff didn’t bother showing me to the car and had me sign a ‘no damage’ agreement before I’d even seen it. I returned the car with a full tank 16 days ago and still haven’t received the refund for the advance fuel payment. The final receipt was supposedly available online within 36 hours, but my rental agreement number isn’t even recognised on their website. Apart from a few words from staff at drop-off, I have no written proof that I returned the car or what the final bill was. Attempts to get answers by phone or email have gone nowhere. I expect this review will get the standard stock response — the problem might even be resolved eventually — but I have never had an experience like this with any other car rental. There are better options out there.

As many other reviewers note, the Galway location is absolutely terrible and way overpriced. I rented from Enterprise (a short taxi ride away) last year, and my experience was exponentially better and waayyy cheaper. Budget rental in Galway was FOUR TIMES the cost due to:
1) higher daily cost (Enterprise €31 - Budget €43)
2) forced collision damage insurance (€441)
3) forced theft protection (€181)
4) forced charge for 3rd party rental (€102)
They were bullying me to accept all the other extra insurance options as well, and threatened that if I returned the car "with even a little extra scratch, we will take the entire €2000 deposit."
Also, you will have to tote all your luggage several blocks to the garage to pick up your car.
I called for assistance during my rental and was told to email customer service. I emailed 2 separate email addresses, and no one replied for an ENTIRE WEEK.
This location has the worst customer service I have ever encountered with a car rental, and I have rented cars in numerous other countries and all over the USA. Do yourself and your wallet a favor and find any other car rental option in Galway.

Expérience catastrophique avec Budget à l’aéroport Dublin. Dès mon arrivée, les deux membres du staff se sont montrés froids et désagréables. Ils ont refusé ma carte bancaire classique (à débit immédiat), imposant l’usage d’une carte à débit différé… que je n’avais pas.

Derrière cette “exigence”, en réalité peu claire lors de la réservation, se cache une pratique abusive : on vous oblige alors à souscrire une assurance supplémentaire qui coûte deux fois le prix initial de la location. Aucune solution proposée, aucun geste commercial, juste une attitude sèche et inflexible.

Résultat : une facture finale scandaleuse et la sensation d’avoir été piégé.
Je déconseille totalement Budget en Irlande Dublin : c’est inadmissible et à la limite de l’arnaque.

This review is about Budget Car Rental GALWAY. The location of the office is convenient, at Eyre Square. They gave us a nice car. But the scam is that they charged - at the pick-up - 146 euro's for a full tank! This is the very last time we're going to rent a car in Ireland: there are always hidden costs and none of the rental companies that we had during the last few years (when prices started to soar in general) could deter themselves from putting extra costs on to the original price.

Non posso dare neanche una stella un servizio pessimo, dopo la prenotazione fatta ol line siamo andati oggi all' autonoleggio e ci aspettava una fila x firma e solite garanzie su carta di credito, finito questo ci è stato detto di attendere 15 min mentre ne sono passati 120 e cioè due ore..un pratica mezza giornata buttata per la loro scarsa organizzazione

Puts additional charges on without any communication. Impossible to get ahold of for further communication. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY.

THEIR REPLY BELOW IS ALSO A LIE. HENCE, DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY.

Budget Car Rental are the worse company I have rented a car from in 25 years. We collected the car in Faro airport. The car was damaged in a number of places including a small crack in the windscreen. On day 7 of the rental the crack grew to half the windscreen. I emailed Budget Ireland which was the email address on the documentation and never received a reply. When returning the vehicle it was inspected by a member staff who looked at the windscreen and said it was ok. He then inspected the interior of the vehicle and told us there would be a €85 charge as the car would need extra cleaning. The car had sand in it as obviously we were on a beach holiday. I took pictures of same and refused to pay for extra cleaning. The following day I received an invoice for €1074 in Portuguese. I contacted Budget Ireland who told me they could not help and I had to contact the office in Portugal. I checked my bank account and €1126 had been taken from it (unauthorised). I have emailed them with my complaint and photos. I have called them every day for 2 weeks and the phone is engaged. I then checked my bank account and the amount had gone through for €1477. The payment is being disputed with my bank . I will NEVER use this company or Avis again . WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

Ho noleggiato un suv per 13 giorni, ma dal primo giorno si sono presentati problemi, la ruota posteriore destra si sgonfiava ed ero costretto a regolare la pressione, una volta capito che non fosse un caso isolato (visto che il problema si presentava tutti i giorni), ho provato a contattare il servizio clienti senza ottenere alcuna risposta (Ticket ID — 591898).
Passata un’altra giornata, ho riscontrato che l’aria condizionata era scarica, dopo alcune telefonate senza risposta ho potuto finalmente esporre i miei problemi all’addetto, il quale mi ha consigliato di andare a fare il cambio della vettura all’aeroporto vicino.
Con la nuova vettura non sono neanche uscito dall’area dell’aeroporto che si è accesa la spia di rischio rottura del motore, quindi l’ho riportata immediatamente indietro.
La terza macchina che mi hanno dato appena le temperature si sono alzate, ha ripresentato il problema dell’aria condizionata non funzionante e oltretutto si presentava con le ruote posteriori altamente usurate.
Doveva essere un viaggio “on the road” all’insegna del relax (ho anche pagato l’extra assicurativo per evitare qualsiasi pensiero) ed invece a causa dei mancati controlli pre-consegna mi sono trovato a viaggiare con delle auto non perfettamente funzionanti che mi hanno fatto perdere tempo e soldi durante il viaggio.
Alla fine del viaggio, come consigliato anche dall’addetta del ritiro dell’auto, ho scritto al servizio clienti (Ticket ID — 594924 e 594925), è già passata una settimana e non ho ancora ricevuto nessun feedback.

Hired a car from Budget Belfast City via a third-party travel provider. Was incorrectly told to return it an hour earlier than the confirmed, prepaid return time.

Shortly after joining the motorway, the vehicle began rattling over 50mph and emitted a strong burning smell. Pulled over to check — nothing visibly wrong — but the smell persisted. Couldn’t reach the rental desk by phone. The 24-hour helpline connected me to the AA, who then transferred me to a “Duty Manager” who was clearly unprepared and frustrated to receive the call.

Eventually, another location arranged a replacement car, which arrived after about 40 minutes. While that effort was appreciated, the overall experience was chaotic and concerning from a safety perspective.

To make matters worse, an unexplained charge was later applied to the payment card with no receipt or explanation. Two weeks later, Budget has still not responded to the formal complaint — only automated messages. Completely unacceptable.

Updated response (30Jul25):

1. Booking Time Discrepancy:
You state that when booking via a third party, it is important to ensure the correct times are selected. I would like to be clear — the time I booked was correct: 10:00 collection to 11:00 return, and this was confirmed in my documentation. The issue lies not with the booking but with the agent at Belfast City Airport, who informed me the car must be returned by 10:00 or I would face additional charges. Please explain why I was advised this, when my confirmation and payment clearly included the later return time. This is not a third-party issue — it’s a failure of internal communication or training.

2. Vehicle Condition and Contact Issues:
I appreciate that vehicles are routinely checked and serviced, but even a recently serviced car can experience faults — which is exactly what happened here. The car began rattling and emitting a burning smell shortly after joining the motorway, creating a serious safety concern.

What I find more troubling is your reference to contacting your team “should an incident happen.” I attempted to contact the Belfast City Airport desk, the very location I collected the vehicle from, but no one answered — despite the number being listed on all your documentation. If customers cannot reach your teams in an emergency, then that number should not be promoted as a contact point. Please explain this failure in communication.

Furthermore, the AA could not fully assist, which is why they transferred my call to a Duty Manager — who was clearly unprepared to take the call. This is not the level of emergency response I would expect from a company of your scale.

3. Unexplained Charge – M50 Toll Reference:
You suggest the charge may be related to the M50. Could you kindly explain how this would be possible when I travelled from Belfast City Airport to Sprucefield? At no point was I anywhere near the M50 motorway in Dublin. Please clarify exactly what this charge is for, and why no receipt or communication was issued regarding it.