(July 17, 2023, 9:11 am)
Great service at this location but unfortunately your Orange city partner is making you lose long term customers.
I wanna start by saying I’ve used budget for almost ten years whenever we travel. I’m aware that different locations have different requirements. I understand that traveling throws you through some hoops and not everything goes as planned. We’ve had issues in the past and they always get resolved. Inconvenient at times yes, but when dealing with cara and humans that calls for some flexibility. That being said Nelson, in orange city, should not have a job.
We initially exchanged our rental just a couple days after picking up due to a dead battery and brake issue. We had no problem at the Stanford location with this exchange. The gentleman was extremely helpful with the process and extending our rental. Thank you!
Fast forward a few days later…. A rock hit my windshield in the van. I thought no big deal, I’ll let them know on drop off. The next day I woke up and due to the Florida heat the crack had grown. So I called budget and they advised me to exchange bc the heat will crack the windshield completely before we leave.
I spent all Saturday morning running around to 4 different budgets bc the gentleman (at orange city) who helped me, processed a return not an exchange and then started flipping out on me saying I asked for a return. He was rushing to go get his car from the Toyota dealership. And that’s why he messed up. We had laughed about the Florida weather and cracks. I clearly told him I would have kept it till the end of my trip but BUDGET advised me to come exchange. He laughed, mocked, and was okay leaving me and my little niece stranded. He was gaslighting and refused to admit his mistake. He was lying to his district manager and refused to let me speak to him. Said he will call back in two mins.
30 minutes later he rented me the same “damaged” vehicle for an extraordinary rate. When I corrected him he said he was adding the initial discount I had. When I got to the car I realized he was charging me by hour and day not weekly. The next location didn’t have a vehicle to exchange. When I went to the closest airport to exchange they told me orange city reported the car overdue and stolen and the paperwork he gave me wasn’t accurate. He didn’t apply a discount he rented the car for one day. Smh! They couldn’t help me. I would have to drive 40 mins to Orlando. It was already past 1 o clock on a SATURDAY. I will never rent through them again. I never had issues that weren’t resolved until this ORANGE CITY, Florida location. Nelson needs to take accountability for his mistakes! Budget needs to hold him accountable or fire him.
This exact manager, which isn’t his title but what he called himself(also owner), has many bad reviews, recent bad reviews, about exchanges gone wrong. Budget needs to retrain or kick him to the curb asap. You’re loosing valuable customers and will continue to share this horrific incident and waste or my weekend everywhere.
Please let your district manager or corporate office know that this I harming your reputation.
