Differental Reviews 461

Booked via EnjoyTravel along with the fully comprehensive insurance, foolishly do not read company reviews before collection, and forced to authorise a €800 deposit. Overall the car was ok, steering a bit off, and did have a lot of small scratches, and we did get the deposit released within 8 days.
We were very vigilant and did take a lot of photos and videos on collection and drop off, and insisted that the confirmation email stating the car was returned in a satisfactory condition was sent before we left for the airport. Staff were quite stand offish and didn't seem to like us taking as many photos! Really wish we had paid extra to book with another reputable company, the worry of them taking our money did linger over our holiday.

I would give them no stars if I could. I am stood at their office just outside Malpensa, right now. Absolute scam of a company just bleed and bleed money from you.

Unfortunately, we got a flat tyre on day one of our rental. They provided no spare. We had to replace it or face a €300 - €500 towing charge.

We got tyre replaced for just short of €200. Returned car only to be told new tyre had new damage and we would be charged, and we apparently had to tell them about tyre change.

Then they started charging for minor damage to the car.

Absolute scam. AVOID. AVOID. AVOID at all costs.

Unauthorised €965 Charge by Differental / DoYouItaly – Beware of Mis-Sold Extras

I booked a rental car through DoYouItaly.com in April 2025 (Booking Ref: DYI-168992202) and paid £589.75 upfront for the rental. My rental voucher clearly stated that a refundable deposit would be required unless the rental company’s insurance was purchased.

When I collected the vehicle from Differental (AutoUnion) in July 2025, a £1,136.07 refundable deposit was taken from my card, which I fully expected and agreed to. However, I later discovered that on 28th July 2025, DIFFERENTA* took an additional €965.00 (£866.50) from my account.

This extra payment was:
• Not disclosed in my rental voucher or original booking.
• Not explained at the rental desk as being non-refundable.
• For products such as “Platinum Cover” and other extras I did not knowingly request.

When I raised the issue with DoYouItaly, they claimed the insurance I had booked with them was “cancelled” when I “opted” for the supplier’s cover — but I was not made aware that this would result in a €965.00 charge. No breakdown of the cost was provided before payment, and I was not given the option to decline.

As a result, I am now disputing this charge with my bank as unauthorised / mis-sold.

Key advice to others:
• Double-check all paperwork and pricing before signing anything at the rental desk.
• Be wary of being told you “must” take extra cover without being given the cost in writing.
• Take photos of all rental documents and your card transactions immediately.

Unfortunately, based on my experience, I cannot recommend DoYouItaly.com or Differental. This has been a stressful and costly situation, and I am still awaiting the return of my £1,136.07 deposit and a refund of the €965.00 unauthorised charge.

I have to be honest, car rental in Italy generally can be a bit hit and miss, I hired a car from differental using a broker( Orbit) who are great!
Differental sent me a little video via WhatsApp to guide me to the bus pick up point, the car had no damage, was clean and I had no issues on return on the car. I would use them again, my only comment would be about the general trend in car hire,not just Differental ,you hire a Focus/Golf/Astra and end up with a Puma/T-Cross/Mokka which I believe are based on supermini models. But that's just my opinion.

Awful. AVOID at all costs. Cars are dirty, damaged. They give you a spiel at the start to take out extra insurance. They try and strong arm you to the point you can almost guarantee if you don't take it, they will try and charge you on return for anything they can find which they will because their cars are so old, damaged and decrepit. Dishonest bunch. Never again.

Avoid this car rental at all costs. We rented three cars, returned them in perfect condition, and then got hit with fake damage claims. Total scam.

They clearly have a routine of inventing damage and draining money from customers. The company charged us over 200 EUR for “scratches” on the front right rim of one car and 300+ EUR for the exact same spot on the front right rim of another. Different cars, same story.

This company is dishonest and will try to steal your money. Please take photos and videos of every inch of your car if you make the mistake of renting here.

Never again! This is not just bad service, this is outright fraud!

Avoid at any cost.
Charging people extra money even though they have prepaid full insurance.
They will do anything to push holiday makers into paying additional fees.
They give out dirty cars inside and outside.
They are rude, cheeky and very unprofessional.
They also blame your online car hire providers for everything and say that you made a horrible choice hiring a car through websites like Discovercars or Enjoytravel.
Do not be fooled by isolated positive reviews and perhaps pay extra online to book elsewhere.

Worst experience ever. The rudest employees I have ever seen. Unrealistic charges.

Excellent customer service.Saved my trip. After being jerked around and almost scammed by recordgo for 4 hours I decided to give differental a try when i met Louanna. After walking in and telling them my experience entering Sardinia she was very prompt to make up for her competitors mistake by giving me excellent service and a beautiful brand new Alfa Romero which I had enjoyed driving around the island very much. Thank you Louanna and thank you Differental, saved my trip!

Never ever!!
I highly recommend other car rental Companies!!

My experience with Autounion (via DiscoverCars) at Milan Malpensa Airport was extremely disappointing.

When I arrived to collect the car, the staff told me that my credit card was not acceptable (despite meeting all the requirements), unless I paid an additional €240 for their local insurance. If I refused, they would not give me the car and I would lose my €200 prepaid booking.

This was not a choice — it was coercion.
To make things worse, I asked them to show me the Terms & Conditions that state dual cards are treated as debit cards. They refused to provide any written documentation to support this claim.

I ended up paying the €240 just to avoid being stranded — and ironically, the same card was accepted immediately after the insurance was paid.

DiscoverCars refused to help, saying the insurance was "optional" — but it's not optional if you’re told you can’t get the car otherwise.
This company uses unethical tactics to push extra charges on customers, and I will never rent with them again.

Noch nie so betrogen worden! Wir haben im April über Check24 gebucht, vor Ort wurde unsere funktionierende Kreditkarte angeblich nicht akzeptiert. Uns wurde der Wagen nur gegeben, wenn wir eine überteuerte Zusatzversicherung abschließen – zum doppelten Preis. Drei Monate später dann eine weitere Abbuchung wegen eines angeblichen Bußgelds, ohne jeglichen Nachweis oder Dokument. Unbedingt Fotos machen bei Übernahme und Abgabe des Mietwagens!!

Never been scammed like this before! Booked via Check24 in April, but at the counter they falsely claimed our working credit card wasn’t valid. They only handed over the car if we paid for an overpriced extra insurance – double the original cost. Three months later, another unauthorized charge for an alleged fine, with no proof or documentation. Be sure to take photos when picking up and returning the rental car!!!

Horrible customer service, they’ve kept my deposit for almost 2 months and they keep taking payments out of my card, when I ask for proof they send me an invoice which they made with vat on the invoice. Very dodgy company and untrustworthy!

Just returned our car to Differental which we had for one week. We hardly used it. He found the tiniest stone chip in the side and charged us €649. AVOID THIS COMPANY!! Absolute disgrace.

Terrible experience – avoid this company.
We were charged €460 for insurance without any prior notice, mention on the website, or explanation at the time of booking. When we tried to dispute the charge and requested a refund, we were denied. It felt like a scam. Completely dishonest and unprofessional. Stay far away from this company.

Booked through a broker and took the extra insurance out. Told when we got there that the insurance is not recognised with them and we have to take there’s out.
We booked a bigger car jeep size so we could get both suitcases in and was given fiat 500. We were told that they go on boot size and the jeep is the same as the 500! However they did change this for a bigger car so we could get the suitcases in as we took there’s insurance out.
Then after returning the car with no issues and going back home a few weeks past and we received an email stating we have a fine and they had already taken it from my card. The fine documents were a headed letter from differental not the actual fine?! When asked for it they said it will be posted to me. It’s been a month and still nothing!

Differental partners with Autounion and this review is all about Autounion although Differental has a responsibility with who they partner with.
All billings also came from Differental so I guess they are tied pretty close.

It’s all a scam. Do not use this rental service ever. If you don’t have a credit card that is only specified as a credit and not as debit card and credit card which is what you get in most countries then you are forced to pay for full assurance 870 euro extra on top of what we have paid for the car. On top of that we witnessed a couple who actually had a credit card only but it was denied due to some numbers on the card what a bit blurry. All numbers are stored on the chip so how can a credit card be discarded. They do everything to make you pay the extra amount. This was in Rome. Thugs and thieves. No more no less. Stay away from this rental.

good experience overall with Differental