Budget Car Rental Ireland Reviews 567

We decided to rent a car during the Christmas period to visit family. We prebooked our rental (everything included) but were charged almost double the amount when we arrived at the airport because we didn’t have a credit card.

When we realised this additional charge was on top of the prebooked amount, we decided to return the car (within 2 days). We called to be sure we would get most of our money back. Both their Athlone HQ and the Dublin office confirmed we would get most of the money back.

However, after we returned the car we got less than 1/3 of the total amount back. Then we hit a wall because of their terms & conditions. This was disappointing since we would have kept our overly expensive rental car if the person on the phone confirmed we would only get 1/3 of the amount back.

Don’t book with Budget since they will say one thing but do something else. We only had the car for two days but were charged for twelve days.

When picking up the car, I had to pay 2000 euros upfront. This wasn’t possible due to the maximum credit card limit, and as a result, I was forced to take extra insurance. I have never experienced this with other rental companies. I feel scammed. I will never choose Budgetcar again.

I booked a VW Polo and was given a Dacia Sandaro. It was an old car with just under 100,000 kms , badly scratched, broken boot lid cover and poorly operating petrol cap release
The amount I paid for the car hire I thought I was buying the vehicle
The car provided was not an adequate alternative by any level of consideration and really was fit for the scrap heap. We were amazed and relieved it did not breakdown !
I will seriously consider not using Budget again

The worst company you could deal with in Dublin.. A very simple scratch on the car does not cost 150 euros to re-polish and paint, but they took 1080 euros from me!! When I asked them for receipts to prove that they spent this amount on repairing this scratch, they refused to give me the receipts.. A company that steals people's money in a legal way

Be careful, quotations do not include VAT. Extra driver rate is per day. So extras add up.
Staff at collection and returns very polite and efficient apart from the man in the return car park who was rude, sarcastic, quite abusive and unhelpful and all within 5 minutes. Hard to believe really .
We only wanted to know where we could fill up with petrol that was near by. He insisted we had passed a garage ( which we hadn’t) then gave us directions which were hopeless.

Avoid please
They tell you that there is no fees when your on site but at the end, when you receive the last invoice, the add what ever they want. Forget about the customers service it is a big ZERO

They force you to pay for their own insurance even if not needed or required. Absolute scam of a company. Avoid

Absolutely shocking scam by Budget at Dublin Airport. I booked through Opodo for 3 days at £20 per day. Upon arrival I discovered that my sister's funeral had been put back by 2 days. I asked the man on the desk how much it would cost to extend by two days, and explained about my sister's funeral being delayed. He assured me THREE TIMES that I could just bring the car back 2 days late and I would be charged the same rate as I had paid the agent (Opodo) This should have come to about £43. I asked him to email me that but he refused, saying he couldn't email out on his system.

I asked him a further THREE TIMES to promise that I wouldn't be hit with a big charge for extending. His response was "At budget we understand that people's plans change, you will be charged the daily rate that your agent charged" he even gave me condolences on the sudden death of my sister.

Unfortunately for me he was lying. Budget took €292 from my credit card for the extra two days.
As someone who rents cars at least 8 - 10 times a year I will never use Budget in any country again. They have totally refused to deal with my complaint properly and continue to say that they didn't add any extra charges.

I'm my opinion it is nothing short of a scam. AVOID BUDGET CAR RENTAL UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE SCAMMED TOO.

they say the deposit for the damage is 2000, my credit card was able to cover it, but then they forced me to pay the fuel deposit as well on the same card so I couldn't pay with my credit card and I was forced to do the insurance 30euros per day. This is never happened to me before, I was able to pay the fuel deposit with another debit card.
so budget terms and conditions are misleading and it seems they do this on purpose since it happened to another couple while I was queuing.
The condition of the car was very poor:
-tyres worn on the legal limit and -I had the tyres pressure warning light all the time on.
- front seat wet
-steering tends to the right
- very weird engine noise, the first day it was not able to reach 2000engine rpm

I rented a car for 21 days in August from Budget Ireland at Dublin airport. I go to Ireland 5 to 6 times a year and always rent a car. My credit card covers the car insurance so I always refuse the insurance coverage offered by the rental car companies.

The car I received (after waiting for more than 30 minutes after completing the paperwork because no car was ready even though I had a booking) had numerous serious scratches and dents that were not recorded on the paperwork provided by the company. I took photos of the visible scratches, dents and broken side mirror.

Upon returning the car on August 10th the person inspecting the car asked me what happened to the side of the car. I showed him the photo that I took that confirmed that this significant scratch along the full side of the car was already on the car. He then asked me about scratching at the back of the car and I showed him the photo I had taken showing these scratches were also on the car when I picked up the car.

He then pointed out a tiny dint on the door, so small that I had not seen it when I picked the car up. The dent was ½ mm. I measured it after the representative rudely told me that he was under no obligation to measure the dent in my presence or to provide me with a policy on the minimum size scratch under which a renter is liable.

Because my credit card would pay for any damage I got the impression that the employee was obligated to nail anything at all on an unsuspecting or unprepared renter.

I then had to fill out an “accident report”.

Budget Ireland did waive the damage as a "gesture of good will" after I made the case that this dent was ridiculously small on a car that had serious damage that they had failed to document.

This was all pointless and stressful.

Does budget Ireland have a policy of renting scratched and damaged cars that are not documented in the paperwork to renters who cover their own insurance? I see from the reviews that there appears to be a pattern of this type of behavior. If I had not documented all the scratches my credit card insurance would have been on the hook for thousands of euro.

Why is there no transparent policy on the size of scratch or dent over which a renter is liable? Other Budget franchises have this policy clearly outlined in the T and Cs. Without a policy the renter is liable for every miniscule dent. As I pointed out a ½ mm dent is so small that even upon a close inspection, this could be missed. My car was wet when I picked it up and it could have been mistaken for a drop of water it is so small.

What is the point of engaging in such business practices? I will avoid Budget Ireland if I can , losing out on potential future revenues from me. What about the damage it does to the wider tourism industry in Ireland? It leaves a bad taste leaving Ireland.

Added Oct 3rd.

Budget Ireland's response to my review is indicative of a company that is tone deaf to its customers. They are sorry for my review, not addressing that I did get a car that was seriously scratched and dented and clearly was not inspected before providing to the customer.

Also they did not address why there is no transparent policy on what damage a renter is liable for.

Rented a Fiat 500 size car for three days from Pisa airport which was approximately €180. Got a phone call regarding collection and personal details. Was asked if I wanted full cover for €46 and I said yes, At the collection desk, the lady very quickly went over the cover and guided me specifically to the fuel cost, full tank return.
My bad for not looking at the LIST of extras put on for "full cover" had agreed €46 the day before. While looking at the envelope later that day , I found seven extra charges totaling €459. Recommend arranging your own full cover form home which costs €50 apparently.
They must be payed on commission, stupid me.

Will never use this company again. Staff were extremely rude when we was collecting the car. Didn't give us any information about the electronic toll roads. Gave wrong information about where to return car. Had I had listened I would have faced another charge. (Luckily I looked it up myself where to go)
Car was FULL of scratches and bumps as well as being filthy, then laughed at by staff when I went over to report it and complain.
Hidden charges when I collected the car... the list goes on.
Never again will I use this company from Dublin airport!

I hired a vehicle from 31/08 - 02/09/2024 from Budget at Dublin airport. The queue in the terminal was handled quickly and instructions were clear. The wait for the minibus was a bit of a joke as we had been waiting about 10 minutes and other customers arrived after us. When a minibus eventually arrived it pulled up halfway down the stance and other people were able to get on before us. My self and one other of our company secured seats but had to wait for the rest of our company to arrive on the next minibus. On arrival at the pick up desk I was informed that the comprehensive insurance I had taken out with Booking.com (at the same time as the car hire) was not enough and they would have to put a hold of over €2000 on my credit card. This was declined so I had to pay £220 from my bank. The next problem however, was the vehicle we were given. A Dacia reg number 231-D-5841. about 2 minutes into the journey I noticed the clutch was slipping. This became progressivly worse and I then found it almost impossible at times to change gear as the selected gear would not engage. The warning light for loss of tire pressure also illuminated.Because I was on route to a wedding and had quite tight timescale to get to my destination I was unable to return the vehicle right away. The vehicle was not used the following day and only used on the Monday to return us to the airport. The clutch continued to slip, gear engagement was extremely difficult and at one stage the vehicle jumped out of gear into neutral. I reported the issue to the staff at the returns desk and recommended that the vehicle should be checked right away as I felt the clutch was about to go completely and this would obviously been dangerous if a driver was unable to select a gear on the motor way. This was met with complete indifference bordering on rudeness by the staff at the desk. They chose only to note the milage of the vehicle, hand me a note of this and tell me to go back to the desk and close the booking!

I reserved my car from 'Budget' through the Economy Car Rentals website in July, with a pickup location at Basel Mulhouse Airport. I arrived 20 minutes early, but the woman at the desk informed me that the car wasn't ready yet and recommended I return in 35 minutes, which was 10 minutes past my original pickup time. Not the perfect solution when you're travelling with a child. When I returned, no one accompanied me to inspect the car, and I felt rushed to sign the paperwork without even seeing the vehicle. The car was dirty on the outside, but fortunately, it was spotless on the inside when I got it. Upon returning the car, I noticed that I had been overcharged €130, as the original price was €350, but my final payment was €480! When I inquired with the lady about the extra charge, explaining that I returned the car in immaculate condition and had even paid for a car wash right before returning it since I had collected a dirty vehicle, she informed me that the additional fee was for the cross-border card, which was already included in the package price from economycarrentals.com! It has been a month, and I am still awaiting a response, apology, and my refund from any of the companies mentioned above. I’m not sure who is at fault, but there needs to be better communication to prevent situations like this from occurring in the future.

I booked a car with Budget Dublin (through Discovercars, reservation number DC-8219326), and the total price online was €418.92. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the Budget desk in Dublin, we didn't have the required €2,000 credit card availability (the card had a daily limit of €1,000 and the bank needed 2 days to update the amount), so they charged us a total of €797.21. I offered to pay with a debit card, but Budget refused it. I had already paid a deposit of €139.44 online to Discovercars, but Discovercars refused to deduct this deposit from the final total. As a result, the total amount I had to pay reached €936.65. This amount is 120% more (€517.73) than what I should have paid. I find Budget's behavior absolutely unacceptable; they exploited our oversight and our fatigue after the flight to overcharge us. Do not book with Budget Dublin, terrible service.

1. I rented a "ford focus or similar" in Cork airport and was given a Dacia Sandero which to my mind is a size smaller than a Focus. The staff were friendly.

2. I damaged the rear light and was charged 913 EUR for the replacement. What particularly annoyed me is that the charge was made without any communication whatsoever.

Update 29th September

Budget refuse to give me a refund. They add to contract without giving me a price for an additional driver then say I agreed to a charge because I signed an agreement just as you always have to to take out a rental car. What shysters. Cheats. Be very wary with these people. I won’t use them again. I reported to my credit card company that Budget took an unauthorised payment. Also referred to Irish Consumers org. I won’t give up on this. I’m outraged.

Update 25th September

Budget refuse to acknowledge they charged me without my authority. They ignore my claim and continue to insist this extra charge is justified. Now they just ignore me. Remarkable really. I wonder if budget desk staff are paid a bonus for raising extra revenue at the counter. My advice is beware of these tricks. I want my money back.

Update 17th Sept
Although Budget stated no extra charge for an additional driver at the check in desk I was charged €45.40 on return of the car. After numerous emails and soothing words from Budget customer services they refuse to refund this unauthorised charge. What can I say? Shysters.

I prepaid for a car with Budget at Knock Airport. On arrival I was asked if I wanted full insurance. Then told to return the car on 3/4 of a tank rather than a full one. How to judge that?? Not easy. Then I was asked of we wanted an extra driver. No charge. Of course we did.
After retuning the car I saw Id been billed €45 extra. Turns out this is €11 per day for the extra driver. The Knock airport office manager refused to refund this charge. Im outraged!!!!!

I wish I could give this car rental company zero stars because that's exactly what they deserve. My experience with them was a complete disaster from start to finish, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
When I returned to the rental office to sort this mess out, the staff was even worse in person. They were unprofessional, unhelpful, and seemed more interested in their phones than addressing my concerns. To add insult to injury, they tried to slap me with hidden fees and bogus charges for things like "extra cleaning" and "minor damages" that were clearly pre-existing.

In short, this company CORK is a complete scam. They rent out unsafe, poorly maintained vehicles and treat their customers like dirt. Save yourself the headache and money—go literally anywhere else for a rental. This place is a total joke and should be shut down immediately. Avoid at all costs!

I’ve completed an online request to hire a car for a family trip to Ireland. I’ve selected all the relevant boxes stating my age (23) and completed payments ect and received an email with my confirmation. On my arrival to Ireland I was told by the customer service lady that I will be allowed to hire a car due to my age which has left us in a terrible position when in a foreign country. We had to pay for a single taxi to our location for 120€ and now will have to spend more money to get around Ireland.
Poor service, not happy with the situation I’ve been left with. Should have not let me continue with the booking due to my age.

The personnel at the airport are incredibly unfriendly. They scream at customers, stress you out, speak quickly, and force their accents to make it difficult to understand. My theory is that this is done so you'll pay extra without questioning it. If you don't want to pay for additional insurance, be prepared to be screamed at and wait a long time. They will tell you to step aside as they serve other customers.

I highly recommend not using their services.