Carwiz Reviews 

Without a doubt, the worst car rental experience I've ever had.

When I arrived at the Carwiz desk, the customer before me was already arguing with the staff about unexpected charges and misleading information. That immediately made me uncomfortable, so I agreed to take their additional insurance to avoid any issues.

I had already purchased the highest level of insurance available through Ryanair (AXA Premium), but I was told it wouldn't cover common situations in Sardinia, such as damage from loose stones on roads leading to beaches or in the mountains. The staff strongly recommended their own insurance instead.

Before paying, I asked at least five times whether €100 of the amount I was paying would be refunded when I returned the car undamaged. Each time, I was clearly told that it would.

The car itself was in a shocking condition: the seats had cigarette burns, the steering wheel was badly damaged, and the vehicle looked far from properly maintained.

I returned the car on time and without a single scratch. I was again told the refund would be processed shortly. It never arrived.

When I contacted customer service, they simply claimed they don't issue refunds, completely contradicting what I had been told when purchasing the insurance. Their after-sales service was dismissive, unhelpful, and showed no interest whatsoever in resolving the issue. My follow-up emails were either ignored or answered with vague, uninformative replies.

Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this company. The entire process felt misleading from start to finish, and the customer service after payment was extremely poor.

WARNING! This i a fraudulent car-rental service. All they do is to try to scam you. DO NOT USE!

Unreliable
Unprofessional
Unfriendly
Poor customer service
Unwilling to work with customer
Worse car rentals place in Italy

Staff did nothing to try and resolve the simplest thing. Had to wait at airport for over 45minutes and once at the rental place, was unable to pick up rental due to credit card not having full name spelled out. Example: John B. Jones, they wanted full name spelled out John Bruce Jones.

Never again!

Flight delay updated constantly, car booking cancelled after 2 hours over expected time. Booked with a competitor RecordGo(who are good). As car Wizz were now bitter at not being able to rent me a car at their elevated non agency price, they made us walk along a busy dual carriage way to get to the other company. Their bus passed the competitor on the way back to the airport!

These guys will scam you. Avoid them at all costs!

LISTEN TO ME!!!!! I decided not to listen to the reviews and I’m now outside with other 10 ppl waiting for a car. They say they don’t have it, they don’t car, they are rude! They said: well good luck finding another car somewhere else. I rented a Tucson, there was a Mitsubishi SUV on the lot, and she said that it was a lot more money, so she couldn’t give it to me. Really? It’s been an hour, I got mad and she said that she was going to cancel my reservation. DON’T Try It!!!!!!!!

Rude staff from start to finish. Overheard them trying to force added insurance onto an elderly couple. Forced us to pay charges for damages that were already there and said to us “how else are we expected to make money?”. Avoid at all costs!

I recently used Carwiz at Catania Airport, Italy and overall the vehicle itself was fine with no complaints regarding its condition or performance.

However, the key issue was the lack of a proper inspection process at pick-up. No joint inspection was carried out when collecting the car, and the follow-up email documentation did not include a clear or complete list of existing scratches and damages on the vehicle. Fortunately, I had taken my own time-stamped photos of the car at pick-up, including all visible marks.

On return, I was told that some scratches on one side of the vehicle were new and allegedly caused by me. This led to a dispute, which I was able to resolve only because I had photographic evidence proving those scratches were already present at the start of the rental. Without that evidence, I would likely have been charged hundreds of euros.

From my experience, this approach to documenting vehicle condition is very poor practice and can put customers at risk of unfair damage claims. Whether intentional or not, it creates a situation where customers may be left unprotected unless they independently record the car’s condition in detail.

My advice to anyone renting from this company is to be extremely cautious: always take comprehensive photos and videos of the car at pick-up and ensure you have clear proof of its condition before leaving the lot.

Very poor experience with Carwiz Bari Airport.

The vehicle was handed over without any proper pickup inspection report, even though issues with the car were mentioned at collection. Later, a €260 tyre replacement charge was applied at return without clear evidence showing the damage occurred during the rental period.

Communication was unclear, and getting documentation related to the charge was extremely difficult.

If you rent here, make sure to take detailed photos and videos of the car, tyres and dashboard before leaving the parking area, and insist on receiving the full inspection report immediately.

NEVER EVER rent a car from Carwiz! We rent a car via stressfreecarrental and got a car from Carwiz. We had taken an insurance with stressfreecarrental beforehand, Carwiz very unfriendly forced their own insurance on us. Upon arrival, there was no option on the 7-seater we had agreed upon, but a 9-seater was forced upon us instead. They tried to offer extra insurance, which we refused because we had already taken one. The man then became very unfriendly. They subsequently made a fuss about the absence of a first name on the credit card, even though it was a valid Visa card. The initials and surname were correct. They said the insurance we had previously taken was invalid and that they would not provide a car unless we paid nearly 500 euros (!) on top of our previously agreed amount. Given the late hour and the practical lack of possibility to rent another car for 6 people (including 4 children), we felt compelled to take the car for the extra amount. We were backed into a corner and ultimately just went ahead with it. When signing electronically, the man assured us that all docs would be sent to my email address. This later turned out to be just a proof of payment. Fortunately, nothing happened en route. We dreaded the thought of being held liable because the correct documents were missing... (We departed from the airport to another destination in Sicily.)
When returning, we were received very unfriendly. The lady only checked which insurance we had. (We read in other reviews that they look for damage that isn't there, for which the driver was held liable anyway.) Because we had taken out their expensive insurance of an extra 500 euros, she didn't check anything, didn't speak. There was a snap at us for 'sign for full tank' and that was it.

We only read bad reviews afterwards and regretted not having done our research on Carwiz, beforehand. They are scammers! And they get away with it every single time. Pls read reviews first about Carwiz (unlike us 🫣😁).

They do not accept a creditcard without your fully written first name on it, unless you pay fot the full insurance.
Insurance costs more than the car rental.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY they are fraudsters.
I hired a car from them from catania airport. They were not impressed that I didn’t take their insurance
When I returned the car without any issues or damage the lady behind the desk came out to check it and went straight to the wing mirror and said they was a scuff on the plastic. This had not been done by me!!!!
It was so slight you could hardly see it.
She then said I would be charged 120 euros to repay it. When I asked to see the repair quote/charge she refused saying they didn’t do that it would be repaired next time it was serviced.
I refused to sign the piece of paper she gave me re the damage and said I would report them. She just replied “do what you want”
They put the charge through on my credit card and I’ve taken it up with my bank. I’ve since found out they have also don’t this to a friend of mine and charged her 350 for a scratch UNDER the car which she didn’t do and they were accusing the guy in front of her the same thing.
AVOID at all costs. They need to be reported.

I booked a CARWIZ rental via WizzAir, including premium insurance. The voucher clearly stated that no additional insurance was required at the desk.
Despite this, at pickup in Catania I was told that extra insurance was mandatory in order to proceed with the rental, and I was charged an additional €175. It was not presented as optional. Only later, after carefully re-reading the voucher, did I realise this contradicted the written terms.
In addition, the vehicle provided was old and heavily worn. Pre-existing damage was not jointly recorded at handover; I was instructed to locate the car myself in the parking area, without a proper condition check or written damage report.
Customer support did not respond for weeks and only reacted after escalation. Their replies rely on signed paperwork but do not address the core issue: an optional service presented as compulsory, and poor handover standards.
Be very cautious at the desk, read your voucher in advance, and do not accept verbal statements that contradict it.

Terrible experience. At Bari Airport(whick the car rental is far away from airport) they didn`t want to give us the car we booked because we didn`t want to pay extra insurance. Then they gave us car with not full tank and charged extra on our card despite returning the car with more fuel than it was given to us with.
Thankfully we booked through Discover Cars and got a refund but the experience was very poor!

Thanks to Carwiz rent a car in Bari, the staff is friendly and professional. Everything is done at the highest level.
Recommendation ❤️

Typical Sicilan car insurance scheme. Renting of a car is in reasonably price range, but if you dont buy their insurance they charge you allot for anything possible. The worst thing is that they don't provide you with the necessary documents to make a clame with your insurance. When you try to contact them via email they just do not reply. Avoid them!

We rented a car from Carwiz to be picked up at Fontanarossa Airport in Catania. The scheduled pickup time was 10:00 a.m., but due to extreme flight delays, we didn’t arrive in Catania until 9:00 p.m. — after a total of 37 hours of travel.
At 8:00 a.m. that same morning, we called Carwiz to inform them about the delay and asked if they could hold the car for us until the evening. They assured us that this would not be a problem.
However, when we finally arrived at the Carwiz rental office at 9:30 p.m., we were told that the car had been rented out to someone else because they “don’t usually hold cars” if they aren’t picked up on time. The woman at the desk claimed she didn’t believe we had called, and when we showed proof of the call on our phone, she said we shouldn’t have contacted Carwiz directly but rather the website we booked through.
When we asked why we weren’t informed of this when we called, she replied that “it’s written in the agreement.” When we asked why their staff told us it was fine to pick up the car later, she said no one could have said that and that we must have misunderstood. She offered no apology or empathy at any point.
Fortunately, we managed to find another car with a different rental company just before closing time.
I would strongly advise against renting from Carwiz at this location — they come across as unreliable, unprofessional, and lacking in customer service.

We ended up renting from Carwiz Catania after being shafted by Target Rental, who cancelled our booking and refused to refund. Desperate, we went back on the search engines and got a deal for £40. Bargain and, mildly suspicious, although likely cheap due to being last minute.

Carwiz is at the very back of the Car Hire complex. We entered a very small office and were almost greeted by two bored looking women and a man. The first women to deal with our booking tried to sell us the insurance (as all car hire companies do, so fair enough). I stated that we didn't need it and was happy for them to hold a deposit of 700 euro on my credit card.

We proceeded with the booking, at which point I was informed that my Virgin Credit Card was not valid due to the nature of their booking system. Luckily I had another credit card which they can accept, however after three attempts I was told that the card would not approve the transaction. Odd, since I had three text messages saying the transaction was approved. I was told that I could use my debit card instead but I would have to purchase insurance for an extra 350 euro. Funny that.

Undeterred, I rang my CC company and after 30 mins of investigation was told that all transactions had been approved and there was no reason for the issue. By this point the original woman, who couldn't have been less interested, had left. So it was handed to another woman who 'entered it manually' and the card was approved. Now it may have been perfectly legit, but I have since read other reviews where the same problem lead to people being forced to pay by debit card and purchase insurance. So...you decide.

They tried harder this time to sell the insurance, warning me that even the smallest scratch would cost 300 euro. She then tried with roadside assistance warning me that tyres often blew on Sicilian roads and if that were to happen they would take the car and that would be that. I held fast despite the mild anxiety. Eventually they gave us a Fiat Panda and off we went. Without any paperwork.

Now thankfully I know to take videos of hire cars and highlight any marks or scratches. My partner also took photos. Had we not done this, things would not have worked out well. Two days before we returned the car I had an uneasy feeling, so I googled the reviews for Carwiz and was horrified by what I saw. Panicked, I cleaned the car from top to bottom, outside and in. I wished I had taken an interior video and was aware that I had no paperwork to prove previous damages. Luckily, I had the videos.

Upon return the woman inspected the car thoroughly and then (and no car hire company has ever asked this before) demanded to see the videos I had taken. She scrutinised them for several minutes, before taking us back outside and pointing to a tiny scratch on the hub cap of one of the wheels. My heart sank and I felt a battle on the horizon. Luckily, she had not checked my partners phone which had a photo of the wheel and, when we zoomed in, the scratch. As soon as we showed her she went 'ok fine', looking somewhat ashamed as if we had caught her out. She did not look happy, but refunded the deposit.

She claimed to email me the paperwork (which I had to ask for) but after two attempts it didn't arrive so she printed it, which I appreciated. I inspected it and noticed that on the first page (which highlights the damage before pick up), many things were not marked. Therefore if someone turned up without video or photographic evidence, they'd be screwed.

I've given them two stars because we were lucky. I won't necessarily blame the women as I imagine they are on a rubbish wage and need commission to survive. But for that reason I would never use this company again under any circumstances. Even if I have to walk to Milazzo.

I have a terrible bad experience in Bari. They dont accept my debit card, so the agent calculated a double priced offer. I had a full insurance with RentalCover. The arrogant lady said, she will arrange to get back this money soon. It was 1,5 months ago… I wrote them 3 emails but received no answer. This „lady” promised this transfer 2 times, secondly when I gave back the car. So probably she lied to me 2 times. This is their procedure. The HQ did not answer either. Never chose this company!

I had an extremely disappointing experience with Carwhiz. Our airport pickup was delayed by 40 minutes due to the absence of an on-site office and needing to wait for their shuttle bus. On the return, they claimed a wheel cover (not the rim) was damaged and have charged me €325, despite the rental car having > 10,000 km and normal wear being expected. A 2024 Fiat Panda Wheel Trim Cover, suitable for the hybrid model we rented, is available online (e.g., eBay) for less than €30.
They also requested video proof from before the rental, which I find unreasonable. I strongly advise avoiding this company and choosing a rental service with proper airport support that doesn’t attempt to overcharge for minor issues.