do NOT rent from Budget Trucks
Very long story short, I had a "reservation" to pick up a moving truck at the Smith/9th location. Secured with a credit card and all. Show up 30 minutes early (8:30 am), and am told that they are running a bit late. Notice there are 3 others waiting. We wait, and wait, and wait. We quickly realize, they have no trucks. At all. By 10am, there are 5 people waiting, all with credit card secured reservations, and they have no trucks. At 11am, I'm finally told that they don't have anything for me, in all of NY, for 2 days. No sorry, just, "not my problem." They were rude and didn't care. Just unreal. I still can't believe it.
Turns out, I guess Budget is all run through a central location and they double book truck rentals to ensure that, if they have a no show, they can still rent the truck. If you read reviews, this kind of thing happens all the time.
I called Penske who arranged a truck tomorrow and were great. Oh, and while on the phone with Penske, before even saying Budget screwed me, the guy said, "Oh, let me guess, Budget made you a reservation and had no trucks, right!" Penske said it happens all the time.
What a nightmare.
Comments
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wow thats messup.
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Yea. It's nuts. I'm normally not someone to go ballistic and post crap about businesses... as I recognize that everyone screws up. But seriously, after reading reviews (I was stupid not to do this beforehand), this happens all the time.
We had movers here also... luckily enough they were amazing and didn't charge us and moved to tomorrow. (can't say enough good stuff about Intense Movers: they've been amazing through all this Budget cluster@#$).
Filed complaint with BBB... whatever that's worth. If anyone else has any ideas for how to complain, love to hear. -
Definitely, spread the word and add your experience to Yelp and other sites.
Feel free to vent all you want, I would have gone ballistic too. -
Makes me want to move just so I can snub Budget Rentals! Glad it worked out for you.
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86 people have read this. This makes me happy. Maybe my title should have said "free booze."
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Better yet, since most were probably robots:
Free Oil -
75% of the time I've rented trucks, regardless of the company, my experience has been a mirror of yours. Uhaul has been the most egregious offender.
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Good to know, thanks!
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This is why I use a reliable man with man.
....no hassles.
[name of said man with van disclosed via PM upon request] -
whynot_31 wrote: This is why I use a reliable man with man.
....no hassles.
[name of said man with van disclosed via PM upon request]
Hey dude to each his own, I don't doubt the reliability of your Man with Man action. As long as Mrs Whynot is ok with it.
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yes,
man on man, in a van.
Ah, the Chelsea Piers in the '90s -
I just checked out my3cents.com and looked at rentacar reviews. Every company received bad reviews, but the Budget reviews were overwhelmingly horrible. I'm convinced - and will never rent from Budget.
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U-Haul is notorious for crap like this, but it sounds like Budget takes it to the next level. Good job, Budget!
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I agree with those who say all the truck rental companies suck. Just like the cable companies.
Years ago I reserved a budget truck to move to NY (long distance move). Called two days before to confirm and was told they lost the reservation (we had confirmation numbers and all). They only had a truck bigger than we had tried to reserve but we got a much cheaper rate, extra day for free, and the bigger truck was a lot easier to pack. I was horrified that they lost he reservation but thought they rectified it well.
Have had Uhaul trucks that broke down or the overbooked experience--"sorry, we're out of trucks". -
Anybody have a moving company they like? I'm moving across the country and will need to rent a truck soon. Budget is looking about $100 cheaper than Uhaul and Penske...
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I usually stay away from the big named companies. When I moved from Williamsburg I used a local guy with a truck and staff who was quite cheap. In the end I saved a ton of money on what I would have paid the big name rental companies.
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Budget Rentals: Not a bargain.
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Have you thought about using PODS? No experience with them, but it seems like an easier move.
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PODs is extremely over priced. I would not recommend them unless you have deep pockets.
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There are cheaper PODS-like services. I used one to move here several years ago, but the name escapes me. I'm sure google can handle a search, though, and it's a hellava lot less scary than driving a giant cube down thousands of miles of highway.
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This is good to know, thanks! When I moved down to NYC four years ago I avoided UHaul because I heard stories like this, but hadn't heard it about Budget. I rented from Budget, and for what it's worth I had no problems, except that the place where I returned the truck (in Queens) gave me a huge hassle (Look, buddy, if you can't handle the trucks then don't be a rental location. Wasn't my problem that you had a lot of returns to park.)
Anyway, something interesting that the guy said was that over time, trucks get displaced--too many end up in the North in the summer, and too many end up down South in the winter. These companies end up shipping empty trucks all over the place just to balance supply and demand. After he told me that, I started to notice the occasional transport truck loaded with rental trucks.
I'm not making excuses for it at all, but I wonder if Budget has cut back on that repositioning due to high fuel prices.
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Downward puppy- I'm happy to use a smaller company but it seems like they only do local moves. Do you know any that go long-distance?
Homeowner and shek- thanks for that recommendation. I'll keep looking, but it seems the pods-like companies I've seen so far cost even more than uhual, penske, budget. And how would that work in brooklyn? I can understand dropping off a pod in a drive way, but just on the curb?
I only have a small one bedroom and don't mind driving a truck. Perhaps hiring a company with a driver would be cheaper if I lump all the furniture and boxes myself?
Thanks all
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People I've known on tight budgets have seemed happy with those companies that load lots of people's stuff into one truck. You get one section, have a time frame during which you (or hired helpers) load the truck. Once all the sections are full, the truck then goes and stops at each person's destination. It can take a little longer to get your stuff but might be a good way to save money.
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