National Car-rentals Reviews 

Do Not rent a car with National.

I have recently rented a vehicle with National car rentals at the Edinburgh Airport location and can say this was one of the worst experiences I have ever had.
Firstly, the vehicle I had booked was not big enough to take all of my luggage as I was travelling through the UK. When I spoke to the agents, they had explained that they did not have that type of vehicle available, but they would look at whatever else was available. They then had another vehicle which was large enough available to take my all of my luggage and when we checked the car for damage the fuel filler cover fell off when the agent was doing the walk around. The agent quickly then tried to reattach the cover in which did go back on, and he said that it was fine, and he would add this to the report. I then jumped in the vehicle to start the car and the service light came on to say it needed a service. I then approached the agent and advised that the car needs a service and he came back to the vehicle and reset the service light on the dash. He then looked at his iPad and said he can guarantee that the care has had its last service. So I took him on face value and then proceeded to drive the vehicle from the carpark but as soon as I applied the brakes, a large metal scrapping noise could be heard and the brake pedal went to the floor. I applied the brakes 2 more times hoping this was just a little condensation on the discs but this kept happening. I asked my wife if she could hear this as well in which she agreed. So I drove the car straight into the rental carpark and mentioned this to the agents. They said without looking at the vehicle that this was just water on the discs, I then had a look at the front drivers side disc and it had a 3 cm gouge on the disc and looked in very poor condition. As you could imagine I was not happy and said that I am not driving this vehicle and do you have something else. The agent apologized and gave a me a third vehicle which was a 2019 SEAT Atteca Small SUV which was luckily big enough for our needs but the agent did not go around with me to check the vehicle and as I signed the ipad for the third time I thought nothing of it as it was not a new car but it will be fine for my needs. So my first experience with National was not off to a great start but I had a vehicle and went on my way.

When returning the vehicle 5 days later, I dopped the vehicle off at Edinburgh airport and I had one of the agent do a quick check of the vehicle as all hire company's I have rented with do. All of a sudden, he has indicated that there was some damage on the right rear quarter panel. It looked like 2 large scratches with dents and a very small amount of paint missing but to be honest it just looked like some damage that any car that is 5 years old would have. He said to me that did I have an accident, I replied at no time did I have any issues and that the car was secure the entire time of my rental. He then said to me that he would need to have a look at some photos of the vehicle to see if the car had this damage before. Conveniently he had a number of photos of the car but nothing of the rear quarter panel in which was damaged. I said you have to be kidding me if you think I have damaged the vehicle in which he said do I have photos of the car to prove other wise. I said no as I believe that rental car company's have condition reports for all rental vehicles, in which he replied no this is usually done at the time of the pick up of the vehicle. So I had already paid more to have my excess reduced to 250 pounds at the start of my rental agreement and National takes an additional 200 pounds off every customer as a hold until the vehicle is returned. I had a flight to London that I needed to catch so I asked the agent to do some more investigating into if this vehicle had damaged before and to contact me via my mobile later that day. I was contacted later that day and was told that he could not find any photos to basically prove the vehicle was damaged before and that I would need to pay the additional 50 pounds. As I was driving another rental car in England and with a reputable hire car company in which I have used before and had no issues within the past, I asked for him to send me all of the details of photos and documentation of the damage so I could then take this up further with the Damages claim department and said he could charge the additional 50 pounds.

I have a number of issues with the process as detailed below.

- All rental vehicles should be inspected for any service issues before issuing to customers as a matter of safety and overall customer experience.
- If National are to rent out vehicle to customers they should provide a condition report either by hard copy or electronic, so customers are confident in the vehicles condition on return.
- If you cannot prove the car was in good condition before any rental, you should not charge your customers.

Please refund.

I am an Emerald Club Member since many years and usually traveling twice per year to Manchester. On February 21st I rented a car at the Manchester airport National rental station.
When bringing back the car on February 24th I stupidly forgot my 300 Euro Sony earphones in the car.
I immediately called the local office the day after and they confirmed to have found the earphone and the item would have been sent out the following day.
After more than one week without post, I called the local office again and received as a reply that they are sending out forgotten items only twice per week. Ok, I waited again other 3 weeks without receiving anything.
New call, this time the lady is telling me in an annoyed way that they are sending out forgotten items only once per month. On my remark that previously she had told me “every two weeks” her answer was: “We are not responsible of the Items you forget”. From “we are sending them out tomorrow” to “we do not care”!
Now I contacted the claims related email address receiving as an answer a lot of apologies and the information that the item was still there and they would send it to me at soonest. This was already on April 8th.
Needless to say, after several other emails, today May 23rd I am still waiting for my earphones. They say the item has been sent but cannot provide any tracking code. Terrible service!
My mistake to forget my property on one of their cars, but not being able to take care of this in more than 3 months (sending it to me at my own expenses) is sign of a terrible lack of respect for their customers. Definitely, next time I am flying to Manchester, I will rent my car somewhere else.
Now I am expecting a reply stating that it’s not their fault and with a lot of useless apologies.

National stole money via my credit card for an unjustified claim...
I did not cause any damage at all to the car, but National Toronto put the claim on me and deducted 600 CAD from my credit card.
Do not trust this company...do not use this company...
They feel powerful and take what they want...
A real disgrace !

National Car rental (Malaga Airport, Spain) rented me a hybrid car without a charging cable. I fuelled it as agreed. When I returned the car without the cable (that I never got in the first place) they are charging me 200€.

If you consider renting from them, make sure you film the car inside and out. All the hatches, glove box, spare tyre.. And even with that, you are powerless to prove against them.

A mixed experience today with National. I had hired a car for three days for business use from their Glasgow Airport branch. My plane from London was delayed, so I actually arrived at the hire desk an hour later than scheduled only to find that the hire car booked in advance was not yet ready.
I was firstly offered a Nissan Juke which I rejected as this was a group lower than the Vauxhall Insignia (or similar) which I had booked and paid for. After hanging around for half an hour I was eventually provided with a literally brand-new Subaru 4 x 4 estate. The car was okay although a bit underpowered and not at all economical (25mpg).
To be fair to National although things did not get off to a good start they emailed me later in the day acknowledging that I had had poor experience. They said they wished to resolve any complaint I had so I suggested that perhaps when I returned the car they would like to waive the cost of the fuel I would be using. This they agreed to do.
As many businesses try to deflect complaints and not acknowledge when they have messed things up National’s attitude was quite a refreshing change and I would certainly consider using them again.

We rented from National Oxford branch. Charlie took great care with us, upgraded our vehicle, took the time to explain the workings of the various electronics before I left the site. The Mercedes was exceptional, new, clean, safe. Just what my family and I needed. And we all loved Charlie's "can do" attitude! Great experience and we will return.

As a Travel Agent who as brought business to National, I would never use National Car Rental again. I called to make some changes on my corporate account and the reps were very rude. I had to be trasfers to 3 different departments none of them helped me. The last one actually hung up the phone after providing me wiht a number (847-440-7586) that doesnt even work anymore.

I completed an online form to rent a car from National Car Rental in Cancun, Mexico. I later completed an advance online check-in, and I received an email confirming my rental two days before I arrived in Cancun. Upon arriving at the National Car Rental counter at the airport, I was told no car was available because I had not paid for it. At no time during my online check-in was there an option to pay for the rental. I ended up renting a car from a competitor, who indicated that National had run out of cars. My advice is to steer clear from National Car Rental.

Do not use National car rental . I paid for a minivan rental on Priceline . Went to pick it up at Omaha Epply airport had my 4 year old son with me. They asked for a card for $300.00 deposit I handed them my debit/Mastercard they took ran it for the $300.00 deposit. The money came out of my account then they said we cannot take this debit card kept my $300.00 and gave me no car /minivan 730 pm with my 4 year old son 50 miles from home had to wait an hour for a ride to show up . They said it would be 2 or 3 days to get my money returned to me . I needed the rental to make an 8.5 hour trip 2 states away to pick up my 6 year old step son . Once again they took my deposit car now fully paid for then denied me a vehicle and would not instantly return my Moira I could have I would have rated them a negative 100

The customer service was excellent! Ariah was the wonderful woman who helped us. She made our late night airport experience stress free and simple! Thank you!

Best Car Rental company always. Had another great experience in Spokane this past week. Easiest to deal with, easy to get car and go. No other car rental company can consistently compare.

Today is my daughters wedding 17/9/23
I was to set of to Newcastle, the vehicle was to be delivered between 10am - 12 pm
I’ve called office 3 times before 1.00 pmand nothing has been done on my last call they cut me off
This service of yours is disgraceful upon booking you take the money but up on delivering the vehicle no one seems to know what’s happening. I am truly upset with this company and will never be using it again

It’s now coming upto 2 months and still no luck with my refund despite several calls and emails

It’s coming up to 2 months and my money still has not been returned.
Despite several calls and emails I am not getting any kind of response on your end all I’m hearing is the the matter has escalated to another department. I’m sorry to say but frankly I’m sick of hearing same thing over and over again.

Pure rip off company. Hired a car in Port Hardy Canada and told that only CDW option for UK drivers had excess of C$500.
At end of hire agent ‘found a chip on windscreen’, not noticed by us it was so small. In UK would have been done free but I was told that ‘the policy’ was to replace screen and I would have to pay for it. Asked for copy of this policy and complaints procedure - neither provided. Just received invoice for cost, it states that it took 3 1/2 hours to replace to screen and cost of course was said to be above C$500.

National Car Rental Malaga is a fraudulent company!
Avoid at all costs.

Like every other review on here they come up with damages that dont exist. Mine was tyre tread despite the car being used for less than 100 miles and the evidence photo showed 5+mm of tread!

The police need to investigate this company.
I rent a car around the world weekly and ive never experienced anything quite like this.

AVOID!!

Very bad customer support, not responding to emails, no follow up after calling them.. frustrating company. This was Gatwick airport.

They had a nice selection of cars that suited our needs at the best price. The staff was helpful and knowledgeable, especially helpful since we were traveling from the US. At the time of returning the car, Remi went above and beyond to help us get a taxi to our hotel, while being very courteous and patient as we scrabbled to find the hotel address. Thank you Remi!

Rented a car for the 4th August in Asturias airport only to find out when I went to collect it that the booking had been cancelled due to lack of availability of cars!!! Was not given any other options and had to rent a car for less days at a much higher price. Unforgivable...

Picked up our rental at Southampton and two days later scratched the passenger side door avoiding a head-on with a truck traversing a narrow stone bridge in Wales. Door & mirror still worked fine and car was good so we reported the cosmetic damage and continued travelling for the next couple of weeks with no issues. When we returned the car damage was noted and our £200 damage deposit was refunded but they charged us £5,000.00 as a repair “estimate” saying we would be refunded the balance. Since then the only itemized bill was to replace the tire, about £180 including a bogus “admin fees” of £60. So they are holding £5,000 of our money but charge the tire repair to our CC on file. Presumably since the deductible was supposed to be £1,500 they send us a notice that they are refunding £3,500 but never process it. When we request the repair estimate they refuse and send us a page with four lines of numbers including the tire repair which was already billed and paid, another bogus “admin fees” and even the old con “loss of use” charge that was exposed and cost, I believe Hertz, millions decades ago. (They need to prove that every car in their fleet for the entire country was rented that day in order for them to claim they lost revenue while the car was being repaired.) Anyway, they credited our account for some, unsubstantiated number (around £1500) but refuse to supply any detailed documentation. We have insurance to cover any loss but how do you claim for amounts just pulled out of thin air? When we ask for documents they just send the same rental agreement, damage report, tire repair (done and paid for) and keep our remaining £3,500. Beware!

We hired a car from National and we were surprised to find they have just decided to debit our credit card 4 weeks after the car drop off claiming there was damage. No evidence of the damage was provided. They had already refunded our deposit.
As money has been taken out of our account we have asked for evidence of the "damage".
When we have checked our own photos the so called damage is clearly visible before we even got into the car.
I have heard about car rental companies using these tactics to make money.
We are now actively trying to get our money back.
Take photos of everything as they will try anything to make money. It is so unfair and constitutes fraudulent tactics.

Horrible / voiture ps disponible et service inexistant.

Aéroport de Cancun