This website seems to be closed. Find similar businesses
  • Bookmark

    Rentalcars.com

Rentalcars.com

Is this your business?
Write a Review

Overview

Rentalcars.com has a rating of 1.1 stars from 1,140 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Rentalcars.com most frequently mention customer service, credit card, and cancellation fee problems. Rentalcars.com ranks 240th among Car Rental sites.

  • Service
    378
  • Value
    354
  • Shipping
    193
  • Returns
    263
  • Quality
    308
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 3.3%
Positive
1
Neutral
0
Negative
29
View ratings trends
128
See all photos
How would you rate Rentalcars.com?
Top Positive Review

“Very good”

James M.
12/25/19

Used rentalcars.com on my vacation to the UK. They were great and went above and beyond to make sure I was a happy customer Will use them again

Date of experience: 12/24/19
See positive reviews
Top Critical Review

“Deposit hasn't paid back on time”

Deren I.
10/25/23

We haven't received any payback yet. It has been 17 days that we returned the car. I have never have such problem with other companies. I will certainly not recommend this company to anyone. Their explanation was not enough and didn't satisfy. I have all rights to write about this awful experience to online comments in every car hire platform..

Date of experience: 10/25/23
See critical reviews

Reviews (1,140)

Rating

Timeframe

Other

Reviews that mention popular keywords

credit card (199) customer service (228) car company (90) debit card (43)
Thumbnail of user factuallyc
GB
2 reviews
12 helpful votes
  • Send Message
May 6th, 2017

Had a long conversation with the contact centre manager. Booked a car weeks ago and was suitable size for passengers as we are all tall. The booking had been changed to a vehicle that was much smaller. I had by chance called the contact centre the day before and guess what. They could not amend the booking. After being on the phone for almost an hour, listening to apology after apology, the suggestion was to cancel the booking and book with somebody else. You can guess my response which had outlined the fact that any booking even a tiny moped would be more expensive than the booking that I had done ages ago. The contact manager then suggested that I book externally and pay the premium price quoted for a BMW that I had originally booked, then pursue a complaint seeking compensation for the value of the rental. The contact manager had said this was not guaranteed. Enlightened with the options that were presented I suggested as they admitted they were at fault that they should pay the difference on vehicles that are still advertised on their search results. Im sure you can see the manager was trying to be extremely helpful with the response "are you willing to pay the difference?" That pretty much sums up the customer service. Rentalcars are cheap but you get what you pay for. A completely botched up booking which they make you pay an absurd rate for due to their incompetence. Looking at the rest of the reviews I wish I was unique, but alas Im just another number.
Spent an hour on the telephone and requested the contact centre manager to listen to the original booking conversation (as all calls are recorded for quality and training purposes) Unfortunately I get a call back 10 minutes later advising myself that they can not access the call. This was on a Saturday evening before the morning of my flight. Cavalier attitude as they gave me the impression that their social life comes before the customer.
The customer service is borderline comical with their incompetence.
Like I said cheap, however you get what you pay for. Wish there was someway I got paid for wasting my time booking and time spent to amend to no avail.

Date of experience: May 6, 2017

Thumbnail of user eugeneg16
Spain
1 review
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
June 9th, 2017

They will cheat you anyway possible. Just don't use you will end up paying way more than the teaser cheap price advertised.

Date of experience: June 9, 2017

Thumbnail of user charlesl1127
Indiana
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
October 2nd, 2021

Do not do business with this company. Impossible to amend or change reservations via website or phone.

Date of experience: October 2, 2021

Thumbnail of user ayakaoutar
France
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
October 5th, 2023

Avoid B-rent customer service 0 staff so mean and rude. They took the money and never accepted to deliver the ca.

Products used:
An other company

Service
Value
Quality

Date of experience: October 5, 2023

Thumbnail of user emileb36
Canada
1 review
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
August 14th, 2019

They owe me 600$ and do nothing! I will NEVER contract again with this company in the future! NEVER!

Date of experience: August 14, 2019

Thumbnail of user samsont1
Netherlands
3 reviews
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
May 26th, 2016

Rentalcars.com are cheats. The slightly lower prices are a tease. The modus operandi is to hook you with a lower price. When booking you look at all the options available and never question the fine print because one simply assumes the details they supply are enough to decide to rent.
What happens when you get to the car rental agency is the opposite of good customer service.
I booked through rentalcars.com and the car provider was Alamo.
We were scheduled to pick up the car at 9:30 am but received the car at 12:03 as they could not find the correct vehicle.
The manager of the Alamo kiosk at Brussels attended to me. So let's not assume it was a new intern.
The first point he brought was to purchase insurance and I refused because my credit card provides the needful. He said that was between me and my credit card company.
He put a liability of Euros ******* against my name and held me liable for loss, damage etc.
He also put an hold of Euros 1500 on my credit card.
All this to pressure me to buy insurance.
When I refused, this man pulled the limitations clause and said the the policy of rental cars.com allowed only 550 km for my 5 days.
After that it was Euro 0.18/km.
Nothing could be done.
I could refuse the car and forfeit $284.00.
Or accept the hold and the liability of Euros *******.
And pay 18 cents extra per km
Now, Rental cars is not accepting responsibility nor is Alamo.
I found out that the milage is 150 km and the surcharge is Euros 0.12.
Rental cars replies each mail through a different person and their replies do not have. Contact telephone number.
They are aggressive and constantly change their version.
Never again. Zero out of 5.

Date of experience: May 26, 2016

Thumbnail of user anitavert
Nebraska
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
March 30th, 2023
Verified purchase

40+ days to get my money refunded, save every phone record for evidence, be persistent, never again!

Service
Value
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: March 30, 2023

Thumbnail of user motil1
Greece
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
June 19th, 2022
Verified purchase

Stay away from this company- speechless! No service, not accountable to anything, rude and unhelpful

Products used:
car rental

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: June 19, 2022

Thumbnail of user victorias230
Chile
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
March 20th, 2019

They charge me doble.
For 8 days Usd1,725 and usd 3,000 as warranty
I've been fighting since January and I still have nothing returned to my account.

Date of experience: March 20, 2019

Thumbnail of user jefn1
Australia
1 review
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
April 4th, 2022

I tried to book a car on march 28th. They took my money and no confirmation. Hard to get money back.

Tip for consumers:
Do not trust them unless you want a lot of pain. With homework and calling 3 of the rental companies direct at Phuket airport none of the vehicles advertised where available. When you email them they will keep sending you the same request for the same information that you have given them in the email they responded to. Just a horrible horrible company with no morals.

Products used:
None, they couldnt get the vehicle confirmed and they have no cancelation button

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: April 4, 2022

Thumbnail of user jimm1217
Australia
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
May 2nd, 2020

Had to cancell booking in july caused thru virus simple proscess and money refunded in under a week would use again

Date of experience: May 1, 2020

Thumbnail of user richardg1342
New York
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
November 3rd, 2020

Careful! This site will let you book a car, and when you are done it and you pick up your car you will be hit with all sorts of charges locally. DO NO USE THIS SITE

Date of experience: November 3, 2020

Thumbnail of user brianb1326
GB
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
December 22nd, 2019

We hired a family saloon car for our trip to Dortmund via Rentalcars.com. When we arrived at the Dollar desk, we were informed that we could only have the one car that they had. It was a 7 seater van, meaning that the 1st row of passenger seats were facing backwards. This meant we would not be able to see our baby and toddler in their baby seats. I said I cannot take the car as it is not the family friendly car that we had originally booked. I was told by Dollar to take or leave it. While at the desk, I called Rentalcars.com and spoke to someone who, after themselves speaking to the Dollar staff, confirmed what I was saying, and replied said that I could hire a car from another agency and that they, Rentalcars.com, would pay the difference, and the original booking fee. The only other car I could get was through Europcar and cost about 460 Euros. Before I took it, I again contacted Rentalcars.com and thrice confirmed the refunds due, and then booked the car suited to a family of 4 with two young children. I had been informed by Rentalcars.com, that as long as I show the receipt to them, that I would then get my refund of the original booking, and a refund of the difference in cost of the new booking.
So on our return to London, I forwarded the receipt as advised, and then got an email to say no refunds would be forthcoming. I called Rentalcars, and was again advise that I would be due a refund by the different staff members I spoke to, and that they would look into it. I advised them to read the transcripts, and listen to the recorded conversations, and understand that I was told several times that refunds would be due. I was told that they would have to investigate it and it would take up to 4 weeks!? All this despite all the conversations I have copies of, and the conversations being recorded, showing the facts. I am still awaiting reimbursement of the refunds, or any communication whatsoever. Terrible terrible service. I will go to small claims court pending the outcome of their investigation.

Date of experience: December 22, 2019

Thumbnail of user rustomk
Mexico
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
May 18th, 2022

I booked a car with rentalcars.com in Mexico city and paid the total price of $240 CAD by credit card including insurance, which was supposed to be excellent with total coverage and no deductible. Their partner insurance company also indicated in their voucher that the coverage was totally valid in Mexico. And finally in addition, they also at time of booking promised free cancellation.

When I went to the car company (Europacar) in MEX airport terminal, they would not accept the insurance coverage that rentalcars.com had provided and would not release the car unless I bought insurance from them for 240 US dollars. In other words, Europacar expected me to purchase insurance again a second time or they would not release the car. Obviously I was not going to agree to such an absurd idea.

I tried to cancel the rental car booking (and even the booking time of pickup had not started) but their online system would not let me cancel the booking at all. I had no choice but to abandon my entire plan of renting the car and just caught the bus to my destination. Later I asked rentalcars.com to refund my money and all that is happening is me being transferred from one agent to another. It seems clear they want to steal my $240, since their partner never released the car.

So not only did I suffer enormous inconvenience, but now I am engaged in a struggle, with my credit card provider to disallow the charge so I can get my money back from these parasites, who are clearly dishonest on two counts i. E. (1) they don't keep the deal they agreed to and (2) they don't even let you cancel.

The whole thing is a nightmare. Don't ever deal with these people.

Date of experience: May 18, 2022

Thumbnail of user vijaim
GB
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
August 11th, 2022

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.

Service
Quality

Date of experience: August 11, 2022

Thumbnail of user furiousc3
Denmark
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
June 3rd, 2017

First of all, we were given a terrible car... smelly, full of scratches on the outside and stains on the seats, and very unbalanced wheels. The steering wheel shook like crazy on the motorway. The GPS was so old that it didn't contain updated motorways and roads. We did not know where we were going for a while...

We had made the reservation to include a different drop-off location on our way back. We drove around the Pisa Airport for about 45 minutes, looking for the Ecovia drop-off location. We asked various staff there working for the rent-a-car companies and no one had ever heard of Ecovia. We NEARLY missed our flight back to Denmark because of this incident. Finally, we called the local Ecovia number. Hearing my desperation over the phone, they calmly agreed they would pick up the car at the airport. And we had full insurance. However, they later charged us a penalty fee of 60 euros since they "hadn't been able to find the car" and it had been in "an insecure area" (whereas we had parked it in monitored parking garage and had clearly told them over the phone).

After our trip, suddenly 200 euros-worth of extra charges appeared on my credit card bill. First of all, for the above-mentioned 60 euros penalty. Then, another invoice included a charge for the different drop-off location (which we had already booked in our original reservation) and an overpriced GPS rental of about 30 euros. (and, again, old and not updated with new roads).

When I tried to dispute all of this with a representative at Rentalcars.com. They said that they had "warned" of the different drop-off charge in a roll-over icon as I made my reservation. I NEVER did see that icon, nor was that extra fee ever included in my original reservation and payment. (although we had specified the different drop-off location).

I will never again use this shady company.

Date of experience: June 3, 2017

Thumbnail of user jameso1556
Canada
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
October 11th, 2023

No way to pick up your booking or contact anyone. No one answers the phone, or returns calls, or anything. No vehicles even at site. No people. Scam

Tip for consumers:
Just because sites like Air Transat promote them it doesn't mean they are legit

Products used:
Got stiffed for a rental car. No one at abandoned office. No one answers phone. Just voicemail and never return call. Beware

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: October 11, 2023

Thumbnail of user cfpytravel
Hong Kong
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
September 13th, 2023

Delayed services. I booked a car in May for my trip to New Zealand in September, but a typhoon disrupted my plans one day. I informed customer service to keep my booking and pick up the car later. The provider was Europecar. When we arrived at the counter in Queenstown at 14:45, the staff told us our car wouldn't be ready until 20:00, leaving us curious about what happened in between. We had already fully paid for the rental fee.

Wrong type of car provided. We had booked an AWD (All-Wheel Drive) car and had contacted their customer support with Ryan Christopher and Cresden Leilan, who confirmed my booking was indeed for an AWD car. However, Europecar staff informed us that Rentalcars had booked a 2WD (Two-Wheel Drive) car for us. We demanded that Rentalcars arrange the AWD car, as per my original booking. They simply asked us to make a new booking and promised to refund the credit. We were travellers and needed the car, it's no use they would refund us! We couldn't believe their response, as we spent around three hours dealing with the issue, and it felt like they were just repeating the same words. One particularly odd part of the conversation was when they claimed that the function of the 2WD car was similar to an AWD, which indicated a lack of knowledge about their products and an unwillingness to rectify the mistake made by the rental car company. They kept pushing the responsibility onto the customer to resolve the issue themselves.

Service
Value
Quality

Date of experience: September 13, 2023

Thumbnail of user nonokitac
Brazil
1 review
4 helpful votes
  • Send Message
February 12th, 2015

I booked a small pickup car with RENTALCARS.COM for the Carnival period, in Brazil. I did it 3 weeks before the desired dates and soon I received an email confirming the pickup, and the total rental amount was charged on my credit card. Just 3 days before the beginning of the rental I tried to print the booking voucher in the website but, surprisingly, the booking as
Turned into "awaiting confirmation" status! They deceived me! I paid for a pickup car which they had confirmed but the car was not available, they just gave me another car. This is a huge mistake in the reservations administration process and a radical violation of the consumer rights as the service was already paid and was not avaiable! To cancel the rental would be a disaster for me as there was no more pickup cars avaiable at the time I found out the pothole. Although they gave me another car (not a pickup one), it does not eliminate
The severity of the situation, and did not satisfied me indeed. Therefore, I DO NOT RECOMMEND RENTALCARS.COM UNDER NO CONDITION, they do not know how to work, they do not honor the rental commitments and do not provide a standard of quality as it should be offered due to the prepayment they impose on their customers.

Service
Value
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: February 12, 2015

Thumbnail of user alexs390
Spain
2 reviews
6 helpful votes
  • Send Message
December 29th, 2016

Cancelled two of my bookings with no warning or explanation. No email to contact them and demand explanation. Disgusting!

Date of experience: December 29, 2016

Thumbnail of user susandavies449
GB
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
August 21st, 2023

There was no car available after we spent £65 to get a taxi to them and £399.99 and now it's impossible to get our money back

Products used:
Only 1 star as can't do none

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: August 21, 2023

Thumbnail of user leec85
GB
1 review
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
September 11th, 2017

I wrote to rental cars several times and received no help:

Hi Alex
Thanks for coming back to me.
I don't agree that it's the customers responsibility to ask for an explanation of charges except in the instance where the agent has already proactively explained the charges through verbal explanation and pointing on where in the document these charges are hidden.

I reiterate:
1. The agent added on charges which I did not request
2. The agent did not verbally explain the charges
3. The agent did not point out where in the paperwork the charges were hidden
4. The agent rushed me (impatiently) to sign the document

By taking this approach, rentalcars are not protecting their customers and are contributing to the poor ethics this industry has.

It is the agent's responsibility to ensure the customer has understood the t&cs and this did not happen, irrespective of my signature.

This is exactly the same as all the customers (including me) that signed for PPI without it being requested or being explained and look what happened next.

Further when you take a loan or a mortgage, it is also the responsibility of the advisor to ensure the customer is verbally and contractually clear BEFORE they are asked to sign the document (re Key Facts document under FCA).

I again request a refund of these unauthorised charges which have been taken from my credit card under protest and that have been levied upon me.

Can you honest say that you'd be happy if you were conned in this way and the retailing organisation hid behind "well, you signed the document". It's a cop out which continues to bring the industry into disrepute.

If I don't get suitable recompense from rentalcars then I'll be initiating a section 75 complaint to initiate a chargeback and escalating the complaint further.

Date of experience: September 11, 2017

Thumbnail of user missye8
Georgia
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
February 26th, 2019

I would give them a"0" if I could.So were pick up our car on Jan 17 in Liberia at the Budget Counter and the rep for Budget says the Liability insurance provided by you guys is insufficient and we will be charged $5000 if we so much as nick someone's car. SO frightened w and he says"GO AHEAD AND BUY THE ADDITIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE AND YOU WILL BE REIMBURSED BY US WHEN GET BACK AND FILL OUT THE CLAIM". He assures me he has noted all conversions and there is also a recording of our conversation and exactly what he told me to do and that we'd be reimbursed. I do as he said and purchase the extra $114.94 insurance ONLY because I was told we would be reimbursed. Get home, fill out the form, get a letter via email from Rental cars.com that they are processing my refund. Never see it show up. Then I get an email today that "they have reviewed the case" and will not be reimbursing us. A a top sales travel agent I will be posting for our 6000plus agents to suggest no one use this company. Terrible service., and directly lied to the customer. I am a travel agent and want to make everyone one aware not to use them!

Date of experience: February 26, 2019

Thumbnail of user ccc18
GB
1 review
3 helpful votes
  • Send Message
September 25th, 2016

Be aware of these people. They say they will give you a car but they will find ******* reasons not to give you a car AFTER you pay and FORGET THE REFUND

PS i wish there were minus stars..

Date of experience: September 25, 2016

Thumbnail of user manosm2
Greece
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
March 4th, 2020

I rented the car in dusseldorf through rentalcars.com.
I paid a deposit through credit card and i photographed the car that had scratches prior to rental.
When I returned the car, the emloyee told me that I had made the scratch. I showed him the picture I had prior to rental snd he said ok.
When I csme back to my country, i found out they kept 609 euros from the deposit for the scratch!
I complaint and sent the photo I had and they never answered.
I believe RENTALCARS.COM has the same responsibility as the car rental company because RENTALCARS.COM hosts SCAMS like this, DESPITE OFall complaints that they steal your money.
NEVER RENT A CAR FROM RENTSLCARS.COM
NEVER. BEWARE!

Date of experience: March 4, 2020

Sitejabber for Business

Gain trust and grow your business with customer reviews.

About the business

Find the best rental prices on luxury, economy, and family rental cars with FREE amendments in over 53,000 locations worldwide, reserve online today!

How do I know I can trust these reviews about Rentalcars.com?

  • Sitejabber’s mission is to increase online transparency for buyers and businesses
  • Sitejabber has helped over 200M buyers make better purchasing decisions online
  • Suspicious reviews are flagged by our algorithms, moderators, and community members
Have a question about Rentalcars.com?

Is this your business?

Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and manage your listing.

Claim Your Business