Complaint Review: Budget Rental Car

I rented a compact car from Budget Car Rental. At the airport I waited in front of an empty budget shuttle for 1/2 an hour before the driver came over and said "oh, do you need a shuttle?". The car blew a tire with less than 10,000 miles on it (every mechanic I have asked said this is due to faulty upkeep and servicing) causing me to miss my flight. I called in to return the car to a different location since I did not feel safe driving on a donut. The location I returned it to had NO RECORD of my call and was going to charge me extra for returning it to a different place.

I also was told I could contact customer service about having to keep the car two extra days since I missed my flight for a refund (I was charged a higher fee for the two extra days than the first day even though it was Budget's faulty upkeep on the car!) The Budget employee at the return point to exchange cars was literally screaming at a customer at the top of his lungs!!!!!! I have NEVER seen anything like this in my life. Finally, when I returned the car (two days late, with a flight change fee, and two missed days of work, all because of a blown tire!) the agents were rude and wanted to know why I kept the car two days longer than I had a reservation?! Because again there was no record of why. I had written twice with no response, then the response on my third email clearly showed that the rep did not really read nor car about the issue.

Heidi
Mesa, Arizona
U.S.A.