I rent from different Budget locations in the US every couple of weeks. The past two rentals, Knoxville TN and San Diego CA, the car I received did not have a full tank of gas. The contract they give you states it is leaving full and needs to be returned with a full tank of gas.
Is this some new corporate policy to scam customers out of additional dollars? I give the folks in Knoxville credit. They were very apologetic about this and gave me a credit towards my current rental. The same cannot be said for the San Diego location.
Make sure you check the fuel level before leaving the rental location. If the car isn't on full, make sure they are aware of that and that you will not be returning it full.
