Cars Cartrawler Reviews 

Quick update: Refund received from CarTrawler after follow-up. Thanks to those who advised the EU Small Claims route—preparing the claim helped resolve this quickly.

CarTrawler kept my full prepaid amount even after Europcar confirmed a refund — I’ve started EU Small Claims today.

CarTrawler sits between Jet2 and Europcar as a commission-based intermediary. In my case, they didn’t just keep a commission — they kept the entire booking amount after classifying me as a “no-show” because I couldn’t show a return flight at the desk. That requirement is impossible when you’re moving to the country where the rental was supposed to happen, which was my situation.

Europcar acknowledged this at the counter and later by email, confirmed the hire failed on their side, said they weren’t holding funds, and that I should receive a full refund.
CarTrawler still refused, repeatedly quoting generic T&Cs. If they’re an intermediary, at most, they should keep a commission — not everything. Keeping the full amount feels like unfair retention and deeply undermines trust.

I’ve started the EU Small Claims process in Dublin today against Etrawler Unlimited Company (trading as CarTrawler).

If you’re in the same situation, here’s the fast path

Gather proof: your voucher/terms, the supplier’s email confirming refund/that they hold no funds, and CarTrawler’s refusals (emails/chats).

File EU Small Claims (Ireland – Dublin) against Etrawler Unlimited Company (t/a CarTrawler) at their registered Dublin address.

Form choices: Claim Basis = Services → Claim Goods = Other Services. Claim amount = your prepaid total (principal).

Case Party Information (Defendant)
Party Type: Registered Company
Role in Case: Defendant / Respondent
CRO Number: 93433
Name: Etrawler Unlimited Company
Trading As: CarTrawler
Solicitor Firm: (leave blank — you’re a Litigant in Person)
Solicitor Address / Email: (leave blank)

Address of Party (Company)
Registered Office: Yes
Address Line 1: Classon House
Address Line 2: Dundrum Business Park
Address Line 3: Dundrum Road
Town/City: Dublin
County: Dublin
Post Code (Eircode): D14 X9F9
Country: Ireland
Email: customercare
Telephone: +353 1 499 960
Mobile Phone: (leave blank)
Contact Consent: No

Explain clearly: service not provided; supplier accepted responsibility and confirmed refund; intermediary kept the full payment.

Screening first: the Small Claims Office must accept your claim before you pay anything.

After acceptance: pay the €25 fee only then, and upload your documents (or send them by email if instructed).

Outcome: once served, many cases settle quickly — refund + fee + statutory interest — without needing a lawyer.

CarTrawler’s handling here is not how a fair intermediary behaves. If your supplier has confirmed a refund but the broker keeps your money, stop the back-and-forth emails and use EU Small Claims.

Deceptive business practices – legal action may be necessary
We are Swedish customers who prepaid a car rental via CarTrawler/Norwegian (provider: Goldcar, Milan). Despite presenting valid ID (passport and driver’s license), the car was withheld due to a sudden and undocumented demand for a national ID card — not stated in the rental terms.

We rebooked a new car with the same dates at a much higher cost, based on CarTrawler's assurance that a refund would be possible. After over six months of delays and contradictory responses, our claim was rejected.

This appears to be a recurring pattern, with many similar reports. We filed a claim through the Small Claims Court in Dublin, and after service of process, CarTrawler quickly refunded the full amount, including interest and court fees. Please note this is for EU citizens.

We share this to prevent others from being misled and having their holidays ruined.

If you’ve experienced the same:

You can file a complaint using the EU Small Claims Procedure. It costs €25, is handled entirely in writing, and you take no risk — you won’t be liable for the company’s legal costs if you lose. No lawyer is required.

More info & form: Search for european small claims procedure

CarTrawler company details for the form:

Company name: Etrawler Unlimited Company (trading as CarTrawler)

Company registration no.: 93433

Registered address: Classon House, Dundrum Business Park, Dundrum, Dublin, Ireland

Court where we filed our claim:
Dublin District Small Claims Office
First Floor, Áras Uí Dhálaigh, Inns Quay, Dublin 7, Ireland
Email can be found online.

I'm writing this to encourage others to push for refunds and for someone to pick this up as a legal challenge. I rented a car through EasyJet for 3 days in Naples, Italy. Car was provided by B-Rent, but I've since discovered CarTrawler are the intermediary. Long story short, B-Rent took an extra £100 from my credit card without permission and without explaining why. The Italian lady at the desk spoke very good English, she could have explained, but chose not to. I've been going around in circles sending emails repeating my demand for a refund each time CarTrawler says they cant not help/refund. But, every time I email them it opens a new case for them to have to deal with.

"Do not use this company. We were forced to pay €270 for an extra insurance at the airport, even though we had already paid for insurance when booking. We were given the choice to pay or lose the car and forfeit the rental fee. Afterwards, they simply say that we signed for the full insurance, so they refuse to refund our money. This is a complete scam company hiding behind another company!!!"

4 Months, No Refund – Trawler/Holiday Autos Is Not to Be Trusted

It has now been 4 months since I cancelled a car rental through Holiday Autos (run by Trawler), after my flight was cancelled. The rental provider, Dollar, confirmed that the booking was cancelled, the vehicle was never picked up, and no services were provided. I followed the steps. I provided every piece of documentation they asked for—multiple times.

Trawler has still not refunded me.

Worse, they publicly replied to my review claiming they already refunded me. This is false. They also emailed me to say the refund had been issued. Again—false. I have the emails. I have the screenshots. I have the case number.

What’s happened over the past four months:

They ignored evidence from both me and the rental company.

They claimed my case was "new" even months after it began.

They demanded I re-send documents that were already sent and acknowledged.

They closed the case prematurely.

They lied—in writing and in public—about issuing a refund.

This company uses delay, denial, and dishonesty as strategy. Their system is designed to exhaust customers into giving up.

If you're thinking about using Trawler, Holiday Autos, Argus Car Hire, or any of their white-labelled brands: don’t.

You risk paying for a service you’ll never receive—and then fighting for months to get your money back.

AVOID CARTRAWLER, THEY TAKE YOUR CREDIT CARD DETAILS, TRANSFER MONEY WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION, DO NOT RETURN THE MONEY, THEY ARE CROOKS!

This company is a scam and will get you to pay double insurance for the car you are renting!!. Their insurance is especially a big scam because they are only a middleman who give you false information about what they actually cover. When you are on vacation, you will feel helpless when you find out that the company which owns the car, would charge money directly from you for any damage if you can't provide them a "police report" for it. So basically, if you park car and go to hotel and someone damages it, this company won't pay a penny unless you have a police report on it. Imagine you are in a foreign country, would you really use your time or days wandering around a police station where people dont even understand english. But this company never tells you about it. They will only tell you to buy "premium" insurance from them where they promise to cover everything, but its not true. Their price is much higher then the actual price from the owner of the car, you dont get the car which you are suppose to get and you will end up paying double insurance for no reason when you go through this company. They will not even refund you even if you tell them that you were "forced" to buy insurance directly from the owner because they hide information from you in the begining! All they say, "Sorry, we don't refund for insurance or investigate matter when you buy insurance directly from the owner". This is how they scam people, based on information they hide from you. I was suppose to get a fully insured car from these scammers for 250 € total for 7 days, but ended up paying around 430 €. I dont want other people to experience the loss like i had so please, stay far away from this company! I will tell everyone about what this company is all about! If i knew that the insurance i am paying them for, is totally USELESS, i would rather buy insurance and car directly from the owner and never pay a single penny to this company.

Attention de prendre la voiture avec eux c'est des arnaqueurs attention attention

If you need to change your order for instance due to a delayed flight, the change will be impossible and you will lose the money.

Just rented a car via Norvegian homepage, in connection to a flight from CPH to Montpellier, FR. During the ordering process I was prompted to apply for an insurance via AXA. It appeared natural and the price was fair. I paid 712 dkr. - close to 100 €. At the pick-up in Montpellier at Hertz, Hertz would not accept this insurance, and I had to pay a similar fee to Hertz to be insured. CHEATED. AXA will not refund me and claims that I should have contacted them at the airport. Has anyone ever been in a que at a car rental, and contemplating that trick? Most people just pay and moves on with their holiday. CONCLUSION: Always order and pay the insurance directly at the rental company.

Everyone who lost the money to CarTrawler, write review to CarTrawler, not here.

I paid online for a week of a car rent through Cartrawler. At arrival I got no car, but also the money was not returned. After 20 days I received a reply that they will not return me my money which they did not earn. They are thieves.
Getting someone's money and not providing a service is a theft, whatever your terms and conditions state. No company is allowed to steal a customer's money. The this website, Facebook and X are full of messages of people who lost their money scammed by CarTrawler.

Scammers They Are Hand In Hand with AXA & An Rental Company !.
Resulting in partiually ruined vacations & they could not care less !!!.

DON’T RENT CAR WITH AVIS AND CARTRAWLER

Be careful, thoses companies are thieves.
I booked a car with Avis with reservation number AE557578480 for 3 weeks in Dubai.

Be careful before rent.
I paid online with my debit card and of course the payment went through.
When I got there, the Avis agent refused to rent the car for me because I needed a credit card.
The majority of cards in France are debit.
So I couldn't get the car and Cartrawler refuses to refund me 660€.
THEY ARE THIEVES.

I collected my car and found the petrogauge not on Full, i adressed this and was bounched between 3 or 3 people, who in the end told me, to make a claim when your return the car. Well strange of course, but here is where Cartrawler starts to take your time and apply their tactics which you will find in the end similar.
So after the weekend use, i return the car, claim at Car return, but no we can't do anything, you have to make a claim online.... I will make a note is what they tell you... So after gettign home you make the claim online get a case number, an automatic reply from customer service your case is cretaed.
An that is where is stays.
Reminding them numerous times, but replies with a standard reply.
In the end i send the reminders till i got fed up with it.
Exactly what they are hoping for.
I think they get away with a lot of business rental an very little to no public car rentals. They can'' t be bothered to attend the public......In future i rent my car by diretly at Hertz, Sixt, Avis.
Don't go through CARTRAWLER,... it is indeed trawler...

CarTrawler are an absolute disgrace. Save your money, CarTrawler stole mine Reference: 01532136
CarTrawler are an absolute disgrace please do not use this company save your money and spend it with somebody else. They have stolen my money for a Car hire service I could not even use and was cancelled.
CarTrawler customer Care Case Reff: 01532136
I will update this post with further evidence received from CarTrawler.

Still no reply, my case is from April 2019.

Absolute scam as a company.

Pathetic.

We booked the car rental thru Norwegian and Cartrawler. Cartrawler is booking cars with Firefly that is a very bad car rental company and Cartrawler is selling bad insurance thru Axa. I mailed Cartrawler that they are selling bad "products" but they never answered.

I will never use Cartrawler and their boooking service again

Look at all bad reviews for AXA and Firefly here at Trustpilot.

Booked a taxi for Bangkok (BKK).
Did not turn up. Tried calling the number - It’s a Chinese number (they sent a sms 21 mins after driver was meant to be there).
The UK NUMBER doesn’t ring.
This was booked through Emirates, and they have no details to pass on complaints.
The email address doesn’t deliver messages.