What to Expect When You Move with Budget— Karolina’s Move

It’s tough to beat Budget Truck Rental when it comes to pricing on local moves. As one of our top moving truck rental companies, Budget continually provides easy solutions for DIY moves.

To learn more about what it’s like to use Budget, we helped Karolina and her boyfriend, Ryan, take on an East Coast long-distance move. They explored Penske and U-Haul as potential options, but were drawn to Budget’s pricing. They even received 20% off base rates by using a promotional code they found on the Budget website.

While the pricing was a high point, Budget unfortunately dropped the ball on customer service. When the couple picked up the truck, they were met with a heavy cigarette smoke odor in the truck cabin. Despite their attempts to get another truck, Karolina and Ryan were not able to change trucks or be compensated.

Keep reading for a full breakdown of Karolina’s experience with Budget Truck Rental.

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Before landing on Budget as her best fit, Karolina researched other moving truck companies online. After getting higher quotes at both Penske and U-Haul, Karolina decided that Budget’s price point was too good to turn down.

Initially, Karolina and Ryan thought a 12-foot truck would be suitable for all their furniture and boxes. But after taking stock, they decided that a 16-foot truck would be the best option. When it was all said and done, it was the perfect size—with a few feet of extra space to spare. Their initial quote from Budget was $774.76 to rent the truck from July 8 through July 13.

In the table above, you’ll notice that Karolina’s initial quote was only $.04 less than the actual cost she paid, which means that there were no hidden fees or surprise costs during her 870-mile move.

The actual cost of the truck itself, including unlimited mileage, was $390.40. Other costs came from taxes, a Physical Damage Waiver ($149.95), Roadside Safety Net ($65.95), and Supplemental Liability Insurance ($89.70). In addition, Karolina opted to rent 12 furniture pads to help protect her furniture in transit. Most Budget locations offer furniture pads, hand trucks, and other helpful materials you may need.

On top of that, it rained on their two-day drive to Westfield, Massachusetts. After some time, Karolina noticed that rain began to leak into the cabin on the driver’s side, with another leak in the back of the cabin. Luckily, there were no leaks in the trailer, and their furniture remained dry.

When Karolina asked for a discount, she was redirected to the national phone line and was never connected with an agent.

As one of the top-rated moving truck companies on our site, it was jarring to see such poor customer service with Budget Truck Rental. Though plenty of people have had positive experiences with Budget, it’s a shame that Karolina and Ryan went through such an ordeal.

Better customer service training and more attention to detail in cleaning and preparing trucks for rental would be the solution, but unfortunately for Budget, they may have lost a customer.

Budget delivered with strong pricing and truck size options, but fumbled badly with customer service for Karolina. Understandably, Karolina said that she would not recommend Budget Truck Rental and will not be using the company in the future. In the future, we hope Budget can fix these mistakes and provide a strong customer-oriented experience for others.

Even though Karolina had a rough experience with Budget, it may be the right solution for you depending on your location and price range. Check out our full review of the company and our comparison to other top moving truck rental companies.