Budget Truck Rental - Palm Harbor, Florida

Spencer Smith

I was looking for one way trip from Palm Harbor. Dale was the representive and I have never had such a poor experince as this one. He could not answer my questions and could not answer barely any question I asked. My much needed / specific reservation was changed and the attitude and ignorance during the conversation was beyond dreadful. Budget is so poor, and their customer service is so bad that it is a wonder they have any customers left - I would leave minus stars if I could. Shame on you Budget! DO NOT rent from this company!

Rahim Imeri

DO NOT RENT FROM HERE!!! I rented a truck from here and the experience was horrible it rained inside the cabin and in the cargo area damaging my new tv and my mattress resulting in over 6k in damages and their corporate offered me only $80 which isnt even a whole tank of gas. Spend the extra $200 and get a uhaul I will not make this mistake again. It wouldn’t let attach the video.

Brian

Wow...what a lousy company. I’ve run a business and usually give companies that try but have some issue a break as I know it is tough but oh my!! I got there at 8:25 AM to get a 12' foot truck for the day. I was on a tight schedule and when I declined their insurance coverage I was given a form and the guy behind the counter said "You will probably need to call your insurance company for the info". The form requested to know what tonnage limit my insurance allowed, what was my personal injury coverage, my liability coverage, collision coverage, etc., etc...there was a full page of questions and yes I did call my agent as I don’t have that info in my head…do you? They don’t open till 9:00 and the national number put me on hold and I just couldn’t wait so I paid for the insurance. The truck was fair…the lighter/ outlet didn’t work so I needed the battery charger I brought to use my phone for a map and the driver door didn’t close properly and finally when I stopped for gas I saw there was no gas cap!!!…I missed that on the inspection focusing on tires and any big dents. When we returned we had the insurance info but the kid behind the counter said we would have to call corporate to get a refund. We did and after were told it was a legitimate charge. I had thought this was a poorly run franchise…nope it IS a poorly run company in total!! I’ve rented trucks at other companies with no issues like this at all and if they had simply put the form and question on the reservation site even their extra picky policy could be tolerated. And how good is it for the gas and engine to have the gas tank open to the dust, dirt and especially rain of Florida?

Anthony Santore

The worst experience in my life. I have been working with Budget, Uhaul and Penske for 30+ years and never in that time was i treated with disregard to my own safety. I was rushed. I was taken advantage of in a very serious and could of been a life threatening situation. Do not deal with them at this location. He never offered me any insurance because i put the bill on my American Express card and he said it was unnecessary. That Amex has insurance. Yes they have car rental insurance but not truck rental. Thats not the point. He put me in a truck with previous and ongoing problems. Half the truck must of been in the snow and ice with 99k miles or in A Hurricane Katrina type flood. I was told from Josh that the reason why he didn't offer me insurance was because i was on the phone. He tried and im not 100% sure about budget as of yet but i have been taken advantage by some many principles of the organization. The rims and the entire under carriage is rusted. The rim is bent so bad on the passenger rear that the tire (which is dryrotted so badly it blew and I could of flipped the truck. Im lucky im okay, im upset and shaken as any normal person would be. Stay away from buget. They are trying to flip the bill on me. I have also waited 3 hours for them to come out. They think by just replacing the tire that everything will be fine. How will the tire hold when the rusted rim is bent beyond repair and needs to be replaced. This truck needs to be towed.

I will keep everyone posted on what happens.

Worst experience of my life and dint want it to happen to you.

Leticia Viana

This was the first time  I rented a truck with budget rental. I made a reservation for a  12ft truck. I called before I went to pickup the truck  and was told they had the 12ft truck. When I arrived they said they didn't have a 12ft truck. They gave me 16ft truck that had no air conditioner.
I refuel the truck about 3 blocks from the location until the pump stopped. I was told the gas was not full so they charge me a refuel charge and gas.
They gave me a $5.00 credit for not having air conditioner in the truck.
This was a RIP off. I will never rent a budget truck again!

Donna Speck

Never rent a rental budget truck from this location. They claimed the truck was in perfect condition for our move from Florida to Pennsylvania. To make a long story short, within 5 miles from Palm Harbor (and had truck loaded) my husband could not keep the truck on the road due to steering problems. Two mechanics deemed the truck unsafe in South Carolina. 4 days later, we arrived in PA. The 2nd truck had the check engine light on, broken windshield, no transmission fluid, and the fan and a.c. did not work so we waited 36 hours for truck number 3. Customer service was horrible to deal with. To my friends, never use this location for truck rentals. To my enemies, go for it. I even had a staff member at this location hang up on me!!

Kelly

Beware! This company is unreliable! Was due to pick up a rental that I booked two weeks in advance and they called me one hour before my pickup time to tell me that they didn't have my 26-foot truck available but they could offer me a 16-foot truck. Really? A 16-foot truck when I booked a 26! If I needed a 16-foot truck I would have booked a 16-foot truck so the day that I'm due to be moved out of my house after selling it I have no way to move! I was called by a supervisor who said I could drive from Dunedin to St Pete to pick up a truck there at a discounted rate. I had no other choice so I reluctantly agreed to Dr 45 minutes out of my way and then 45 minutes back but little to my surprise when I got there after waiting in a 20-minute line and making my way to the front I was told that my total had gone from $95 to $300! I could have rented with their competitor for half that price and picked up around the corner from my house. If you're looking for an unreliable service that cancels on you the day you're supposed to pick up your truck then please go ahead and book with Budget truck rentals. Filing a corporate complaint definitely not letting this go thanks for screwing me budget!

Karen R. Capobianco

pre- rented a van from u haul. The guy swore he Didnt knew nothing about our reservation, Sent us down the street. The van was sitting in the lot. Had to call u haul for them to call him, and then he got the keys. He made me feel like I was trying to steal something. Buy its ok to sell STUFF, to the regulars with a smile! Very rude and discrimination person.