Book Budget car hires in Edinburgh

Cons: I felt pressured to upgrade to a car model that I did not need for my trip. When I arrived I was told that the car I had reserved many weeks in advance would not be ready for quite some time, but I could upgrade for minimal cost. In the end the minimal cost turned out to be much more.

Difficulties with reservation

Pros: Making a reservation was easy, prices quoted looked great.

Cons: I couldn't change the name on my reservation, and had to cancel the original and make a new reservation in order to accomplish this. My confirmation email was never sent to me, and the actual price at the counter appeared to be more than my reservation price. I also tried to reserve a midsize SUV, but ended up getting a Volkswagen golf (which is supposedly a size larger than what I reserved.

Gave damaged car & overcharged

Pros: Very little because they are very frustrating to deal with.

Cons: Damaged car needed to be exchanged, cutting into vacation time. They then tacked on damage charges that wee already documented on pickup. Budget has since refused to send an itemized bill explaining their crazy charges. Very frustrating!

Cons: Worse than average rental car gouging. Reservation was for car from 9:30am to 9:30am -- exactly 9 days. Total base price was approx $216. However, adding a second driver, whose only effect on Budget was to reduce chance of accident from driver fatigue, raised total price to about $368. We arrived at pick-up a few minutes early, and were logged in at 9:12am. However, we were given a defective car and the process of discovering this and getting a replacement car meant that we really didn't have our car until after 9:45. Our return receipt shows that the car was returned at 9:49 (19 minutes late), although at least ten minutes of this time was waiting for agent after we arrived. Bottom line -- we actually had use of our rental car for a few minutes less than 9 days, but we were charged for TEN full days days -- that is, approximately $40 more than in our original agreement -- because they calculated that we had it for 9 days and 0.6 hours. Previous experience with Avis, last year. Declined all extra insurance coverage with clear oral agreement at rental counter, but didn't read contract carefully and missed that I was being charged for it anyway. This almost doubled price of the rental, and Avis was adamant in refusal to correct the mistake -- or deliberate deceitful and exploitative behavior? -- of their counter agent . Budget/Avis - a good company to avoid!

Overcrowded but relatively efficient

Pros: The person taking the car back noticed an incorrect extra charge and removed it. The drop-off process was quick and efficient once I got to the front of the line, and they called me a cab back to my hotel.

Cons: The reception area was small and line was spilling out into the street. But it moved relatively quickly. Also, there weren't enough places on the street to leave cars, so several people were double parked.