Beware of Budget Car Rental !!

Well, this is just a bit off-topic, but my wife made advance car rental reservations with Budget Car Rental, flew into LaGuardia in New York. She proceeded to the Budget counter, only to be told that they won't honor her reservation. Why? She has a debit card, not a credit card. Just last week she was in New York and rented with Avis with the same card with no problem. A month ago we rented a minivan with National, no problem. Budget? Big problem.

The Budget people were absolutely no help at all. Customer service? Doesn't seem to exist at Budget. So my wife has to go elsewhere to find a car, with no advance notice. National came through with a relatively decent rental rate, considering the circumstances.

We have rented many cars, and never have had this problem. The "supervisor" at Budget huffed and said, "Nobody in the Northeast takes debit cards!" I guess nobody told Avis and National that.

So ... the next time you're getting ready to make car rental reservations, beware of Budget. Who knows what other shenanigans they'll pull. Maybe it's their name - I guess you get what you (try to) pay for.