Boo for you Budget!
I rented a vehicle via Priceline for the Thanksgiving holiday. Priceline guarantees the price which effectively means that Budget agreed to the price as a grand total.
Well Budget had decided to rent all of the vehicles I had agreed to rent and instead of offering me a nicer vehicle at the same price they told me that I was going to have to pay $2 more per day. Now I know what you are saying "Evey, $2 a day more is not a big deal" and if price were the heart of the matter I would agree with you completely; however, the real issue is that they knew I was coming, they had an agreement in place, they got rid of my car, forced me to rent a more expensive car, and it wasn't even an upgrade.
I was supposed to have a 2010 Chevy Aveo or similar car; I received the 2011 Chevy Aveo. That's not an upgrade.
I had also used an upgrade code that my insurance company provided to me that Budget was supposed to honor. The upgrade was from the economy car to the economy plus or whatever it's called.
When I pointed out the issue and the verbiage on the contract I had printed out the manager dismissed everything I said.
Frankly if I hadn't paid in advance for the car on Priceline I would have walked away and rented from another company.
The one and only good thing about Budget at the airport - the shuttle service is fantastic as were the two drivers I had interactions with.