Rentalcars.comReviews 1,141

Tried to rent a van for a trip to PEI this summer. I got a really good deal thru the website. When I pressed confirm to book the van, the site indicated the van was no longer available. I left it as is and when shopping on another site. In the meantime, there system booked a car (not a van) for a different weekend and billed me of 600$ for this car rental, which was ridiculous. When I finally got my credit card statement in the mail - it showed an amount for the car rental (that I never booked). I tried to get a hold of someone at the company - it took a couple of days for someone to get back to me. I had about 6 different people reach out. They would not reimburse me for their booking that the system was so kind in booking. Still waiting for my money back - they have considered this matter closed. I am out over 600$. Still fighting to get this back - PLEASE DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM - HORRIBLE SYSTEM - HORRIBLE SERVICE. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. They are thieves.

This company doesn't even deserve 1 star. Our flight got re-routed and we were late picking up our car. We tried calling as soon as we found out we were going to be late and couldn't get a hold of anyone, so we sent an email, which no one responded to. When we got there, our car was still available, but they wouldn't let us take it since we were late. After speaking to several different people in their customer service department, they said we could file for a partial refund after our trip, which we did. The response to the claim we opened basically said "We're sorry you had a bad experience" and then the claim was closed. I tried calling in again to follow up, but they are now telling us that there is nothing they can do since the claim is already closed.

Flight was delayed 3x. I got in 5 hours late. My rental car? Gone. Sold out from under me. No refund from rental cars.com. All cars on the island are booked. Only solution is a refund. They talked in circles. They basically said they can't refund because their system doesn't allow it. Try that with any other business? That's game playing.

Sorry I can't refund you because I can't refund you. I'm absolutely furious. I lost $617.41. Plus the extra costs of taxis I now have to use. $1000 gone. Plus precious vacation hours per day vs having a rental car.

Total waste of time. Took my booking and full payment. Email received saying booking will be confirmed in 24 hrs. Was not confirmed after 3 days so i called Rentalcars.com who asked me to wait 3 more days. I did. Then I got email to say wait another 7 days. I called Rentalcars.com several times asking for my booking to be confirmed as they had already taken full payment. They kept on telling me to wait.
I asked to speak to Manager = No.
Do you have an Escalation policy that I may follow = no.
Do you have a Complaints Policy that I can follow = no
Can I speak to anyone in UK so that someone can take a look at my booking = No we don't have UK number.
I gave up at this point and directly rang Budget Rentals who were going to provide the car.
They told me that they only have 2 types of vehicles for Phuket and not the SUV I made booking for.
So in short. RentalCars.com are selling rentals that they cannot honour. I was told by Rentalcars.com that my car was guaranteed and I should not worry.
It took me just ONE phone call to Budget Car Rentals to sort this out and get clarification. I had called Rentalcars.com about 8 times.
So I booked a car and fully paid for it but there was no car.
Its the most ridiculous service I have ever experienced.
They are not hiding behind a website but their Customer Service, though very polite, cannot do the simplest action by contacting Budget and get an update.
RentalCars.com - STOP selling rentals that you cannot honour. You're just attracting customers to your site fully knowing you are listing cars that are not available and hoping we will select something else. Its a good tactic and I got roped in but didn't fall for it.

I originally reserved a medium size sedan thru RC.com using Dollar for a period of 19 days. After 3 days into the reservation I had to return home to attend surgery on my wife and turned in my car where it was first picked up. Upon return I was charged by Dollar $89 for the the mileage etc. My original cost for the reservation from Rentalcars.com was $481. When asked for an adjustment in the total cost, Rentalcars.com advised me to read their 6 page contract under 'early returns' where it stated, that no refund or adjustment would be made for an early return. I paid $500 for 3 days use of the vehicle. I protested to my Credit Card, Capital One who did nothing to assist me other than read the replies from me and the vendor, and say they can do nothing. The only reason I gave a rating of "1" was because there is no negative choices or even zero. Buyer Beware! Find another rental company.

I rented a car for a week through this company, when I came to pick up the car at Dollar, they told me that they don't have any cars and I have to demand the money back through the company I rented the car through. The next day I called this site and explained what happened and they told me that they would start working on my case and I would be informed about it within a week, they never once sent an email about my case, and a week later I called to see what was going on, the communication with them the people have zero points, no willingness to help, they hung up on me three times without any answer, and it wasn't until the fourth time that I got someone on the phone who told me that they would send me an email and that I had to wait 28 working days to get my money back, and the same after 30 days I didn't get a single email or a cent back, so I wrote to them again why I am not informed about my case and how long it will take for them to return my money, I didn't get a response from the customer service because they don't know, simple this site is a disaster! Do not pay in advance because they will try to rob you like me! And don't even rent a car through this site!

If you read this, you could be in my case when I discovered the reviews too late. If not, you get a great chance: DO NOT BOOK FROM THEM. They will be very quick to take your money, and when you arrive to pick up the car, the nightmare begins. I was asked to provide a caution of around 200 USD, but ONLY with a CREDIT CARD. I offered 500 USD cash or a debit card, it was a NO-NO. So I had to take a car from a nearby agency. I tried to contact them by email: they said to call. I called, they said to contact by email. I have been in touch with "six" different people, all with the same copy-paste text and request to provide my booking number, pick-up date and location... to prove my identity. And that I should go through their website to cancel my booking. Which is impossible because it's marked as "running". Or that I should read their refund policies. Or that I should call them. I can't understand how they are able to operate. It's clearly an organized scam.

DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY

I read the reviews and decided to use this company to rent a larger vehicle. I needed to transport a service dog for the children's hospital I work for in South Florida. Our new service dog was in training in Georgia, and I thought a small SUV would be more comfortable for her on the 8-hour trip to her new home.

When I arrived at the airport to pick up my rental I was asked where I was going and when I said Georgia, I was told that I could not take the car out of state. OK, no problem. Please refund my money as you have to pre-pay, and I will use another rental agency.

Problem #1 – The contracted company at the airport has no means to give a refund and gave me 2 phone numbers to call
Problem #2 – Nobody that answers the phone can do anything to help. I was even told "this is a loss for you". They were rude and argumentative. Perhaps they have done this to other people so they have experience.

So, I was charged the moment I booked, did not receive the vehicle and then a refund was refused. Sound like a customer serviced focused company to you?

I finally got someone to respond to an email and was asked for additional information. That was 2 days ago and no response.

I recommend that you use a reputable company when you need to rent a car or risk getting taken for a ride!

Booked and paid for a car from Valencia airport to arrive on the 1st of August. Plane was delayed by 3 hours and the collection office was closed by the time we arrived. No contact number, offices closed. Decided to return the next day only to be told we were a "no show" and the rental has been cancelled and there would be no refund. Customer service was shocking just repeated that there was nothing they would do and company policy. They bare face stole my £550 with zero shame. How do they sleep at night.

We had rented a car from Geysir (at Keflavik Airport, Iceland) on June 17 – July 5,2022. They gave us a car with two bedly worn front tires. When we questioned the tire's condition, the reception said that tires were fine and no worry.
However, on our road trip on July 1, a police officer stopped the car because he saw that the tread of car's two front tires was very bad. He ordered us not to drive anymore.

We finally change the tires, and enable to continue our trip, but with one day delay.
How Geysir can rent a car with such bed condition to people? It would cause fetal road accidents. During the drop-off process, we requested Geysir for a partial refund. They e-mailed us late on and agreed to refund us 1.5 days renting cost.

However, since then, we didn't receive any refund and any response from Geysir. They ignored our several-times request for updating the situation.

If you are considering rent a car from Geysir, please carefully check the car's conditions, especially the tire's situation.

We contracted a service with Rentalcars.com, a special all inclusive offer. At the time of pick up, Europcar charged us for the same insurance a second time 10 days after we returned the car even though we already had one included with Rentalcars. The receptionist had everything ready to sign (only in French - service contracted in Spanish). We assumed it was what we had bought online (Car + Insurance, not car + insurance x 2). Don't even try to contact customer service, they respond like robots and Rentalcars didn't even try to get in touch with Europcar to sort out the problem. We are now in the process of a formal complaint. We are talking about 400 euros for an insurance service sold twice (Rentalcars and Europcar).

I came to the rental point at time. They provide me Panek car. I already rented cars in Poland and using Panek directly overall, but in Panek office they said they can't provide me with a car, because I don't have EU passport. But there's nowhere such a requirement on their website so I was left without a car and that spoiled my plans.
Moreover the customer service is terrible. 4-5 different persons wrote back on my email claim and asked the same questions about me and my booking and in the end sent me to their site to make a claim by my own. But why then they asked me details?
In the end they didn't refund me already paid money.

Wish I had seen the comments on social media before booking with them! STAY AWAY! The WORST customer service EVER! They're just after your money, and when you need them, they'll spiral you into nowhere!

It gets 1 Star as I can not put 0.

I arrived at the car rental office and they refused to hire the car to me.

I had paid the entire rental upfront in good faith and when I rang and complained about the situation the agent told me that I will have to pay for 3 days of the rental as a penalty for cancelling the booking which I did not wish to do. I am now being told that they will not repay any money even though they cancelled the booking not me!

KEEP WELL AWAY FROM THIS SITE!

In their rental contracts, Rentalcars has a fine print that says something like "you can get partial refund if you cancel your rental up to the time your contract starts". This is exactly what i tried to do. Phoned them several time right in front of the rental agent. Nobody answering from rentalcars, just prerecordings looping and then a voice saying the office is closed and hanging. When i managed to contact them the day after i was told it was too late and all my money was lost. This is not how one treats costumers! To me this is dishonest behavior tantamount to scam. Too bad, I have been a faithful (and satisfied) rentalcars costumer for 10+ years. Will never use it again. STRONGLY DISCOURAGE ANYBODY FROM BOOKING ON THIS PORTAL!

Rentalcars.com were really good in the early days, but since they've been bought by booking.com, the service has deteriorated massively.

It's easy enough to book a car online with them, it's a slick sales operation and the rates are competitive. But if anything goes wrong, or anything needs cancelling or changing, woe betide - you're screwed.

Try phoning them … ain; t going to happen. Even if you *can* find a number which is other than a message or out of service, you won't get an operator. Just a recorded message telling you how to negotiate the web site.

Personal issue here - I had to cancel a booking in person at the SixT counter in Manchester airport.

No problem, said SixT - we won't charge you, you haven't used the car but you booked it and paid up front (£750) through rentalcars.com so you will need to contact them to get your refund. We won't charge for it.

Bad luck, said rentalcars.com when (after 3 days of trying) I finally got through to someone. The app doesn't let you contact us until the rental period has finished. But you have to contact us at the time the cancellation is made. You have to wait until the expiry of the rental period. By which time it's too late, they say.

This is a really slippery operation now, seriously

Of course, as you can probably guess, rentalcars.com email you (you can't reply to the email - it's read-only) to tell you that even though the rental car company isn't going to charge for the cancelled reservation, rentalcars.com will keep your money because their weasel clauses - the small print - are very Weasley indeed! They won't repay me my £700 even though SixT (who were great, btw) didn't charge for the rental as I didn't take the car.

I've used these guys (rentalcars) for over 20 years, but since booking.com took them over and got rid of the personal touch, the phone lines, and indeed dropped any sort of customer service, I will never use them again, and I would and will advise anyone else who considers using them, to be very careful indeed, as this new iteration of a once-good company is now an unreasonable money-grabbing, mechanized outfit with zero customer service.

In circumstances like this, we - the customers - are buggered. Rentalcars.com take your money up front, and their small print is ridiculous. They email you from unmonitored email addresses to tell you they're robbing you. There are no proper customer service numbers. 20 years of being a good company (in the old days, when you could phone them directly, they were a great company - helpful, on the spot, etc …) now they're just an automated part of a hug money-making operation, and frankly they are complete $#*!e.

Hot tip. Do a deal with a rental car company direct. They still tend to be honorable folk. I'm a decent, honest reasonable man, but I can tell you this absolutely - Rentalcars.com are absolutely not honorable, slippery as eels, and I will never touch them again.

Por error hice una reserva equivocada en mi móvil con la app de Rental Cars, en la cual tenía dada de alta mi tarjeta de crédito. Al darme cuenta quise cancelar de inmediato, pero me encontré que las cancelaciones no procedían antes de 48 horas. Tenía poco tiempo pues estaba de viaje de trabajo y al no encontrar el teléfono de "Atención a Clientes" llamé entonces directamente a la arrendadora Enterprise en el aeropuerto de Bilbao. Ahí me entendieron y me ayudaron ANULANDO (no cancelando) mi reserva. Hoy, al ver que el cargo de cerca de 1,000 euros si había sido cargado por Rental Cars, la gente de Enterprise me dijo que no me preocupara, que la reserva estaba anulada y no tendría problema y me dieron el teléfono de Rental Cars para llamar.
En el número de "ATENCION" a Clientes, me atendió un señor Federico (que no quiso dar su apellido) y al explicarle y comentarle que Enterprise había anulado la reserva, me dijo que lo lamentaba pero no me regresarían mi dinero! Increíble! Nunca usé el auto. Cerca de 1,000 euros perdidos por la intransigencia de esta empresa! En Enterprise me quisieron ayudar pero Rental Cars, a través de "Federico" mostró altanería, prepotencia, no quiso entender y simplemente me dijo que no. Qué impotencia!
Quiero compartir esta pésima experiencia, para advertir las malas prácticas de esta empresa.

These guys charged my credit card without authorization when they had indicated that it doesn't work. They keep going in full circle, avoiding to reimburse me. They misquote their own policy to try to make a case. They keep referring you to different people, just buying time. In the end, they disappear. It's clear that it's their strategy because others have said the same thing on this platform. Stay away from them. If they reimburse me, I may be able to modify this post but until then, this stays as is.

This was the worst rental car experience of my life. I booked through their site with Ace Rental Cars. I prepaid for a 5 seat vehicle which cost $580; due to a larger party, I upgraded a month later to a 7 seater, which cost an additional $780. Upon arrival in the middle of the night, we found they gave our 7 seat vehicle away and only had a 5 seat vehicle to offer. The clerk was rude and told me to take it or leave it. When asked for the price to be adjusted, he handed me the manager's business card and told me to call in the morning. Repeated calls to the manager at that location as well as emails to both Ace and Rentalcars.com corporate went unanswered. When I complained to Rentalcars.com after coming home, they said that since I took the car and signed the rental, I am out of luck. I could have saved the extra $780 if I'd known they would do this. Rentalcars.com allows unethical car rental companies to continue to do business. I will never rent with them again and I suggest everyone else do the same.

I paid on the website with my debit card for renting a car in Italy from July 14 to July 16,2022. I Received from rental voucher number *******. With this voucher, I went to the Avis car rental office in Rome. This rental point refused to accept my debit card. But I used this card to pay for rent in Rentalcar, and there was enough money on this card. Avis also refused to return my money, because they did not receive money from me, but my booking received it. They advised me to go there. But all my attempts to somehow contact rentalcars were unsuccessful. There was no response to the phone, to the letter by mail, or to my review. So my money was simply appropriated by Rentalcar, I didn't get a car, my vacation was disrupted. Perhaps this is their business strategy. Collect money from customers without providing services. Do not contact this company. Your money can just be taken away. There is no guarantee that you will get a car. And you will never contact any employee from this company to express at least some complaints.

Sincerely, Art

P.S. By the way. Rentalcar does not provide purchase receipts. To confirm the purchase, you can only download a document called Proof of purchase on their website with scant information