Drivalia UK - Maidstone Reviews 

We rented a great car for our week's holiday. The lady in the office was very efficient and helpful. Made it all simple to book and the price was very reasonable. Would definately use this company again.

Great staff and prompt service

Great experiance at the Maidstone West branch, the women that helped me was very friendly, professional and knowledgeable and made the whole process very easy. The car was clean and of good quality and i would recommend this company to others.

Great service great people easy to deal with

The staff were extremely helpful friendly and professional. From the owner to Debbie who put me at ease. I highly recommend this company for car hire

Had an excellent car hire experience from Drivalia @ Maidstone East station 🙌👍
Service from Debbie and her Boss was 1st class 🤩
Got an Upgraded car from the one I originally booked, so I got to drive a Renault Clio which was super clean and drove really well 👌
Would highly recommend for a really great service and excellent value 🙌
Many thanks ☺️

Really easy to find, right by the station. Jeremy, who checked me out and in is a very friendly chap and nothing was any bother. Everything handled in a relaxed and professional way. None of the hard sell and microscopic inspection of the car on return. He’d insisted I take video of the car before I left so I didn’t miss anything.

The car was excellent, recent model, clean and tidy, and very economical.

Highly recommend this company, a good disrupter to the big players, and a lot cheaper.

Rented a Jeep Compass from Drivalia. The process could not be anymore simpler and anymore friendly. Great customer service during the whole process. I would most definitely recommend them. Debby who served me was fantastic.

The cars are good value for money, I extended my rental easily and no quibbles at handover. Good experience

Easy to book on website.
Great staff on both collection and return.
Great price and lovely car!
Have used many rental companies over the years and Drivalia have been by far the best!
Would thoroughly recommend to anyone looking to hire a car!
Thankyou!

Extremely poor experience – I would not recommend.

The receptionist was rude from the start, didn’t greet me, and spoke in a very condescending way to both me and her colleague. Despite uploading all my documents online, I was told to do it all again.

I was then told I had to pay a £1,500 deposit by credit card—this was never clearly explained when booking, and I had already paid extra for insurance. When I questioned it, I was told it was “not her issue.” When I said she was rude, she replied, “yes I am.”

Even when my husband returned with a credit card, they refused payment as he wasn’t the main driver—again, not explained beforehand. No solutions or alternatives were offered.

I later found there were other payment options that were never mentioned. I tried to cancel before the rental started (which I’m entitled to), but was not helped.

I was left stranded with my child and had to book elsewhere. The difference in service was shocking.

Very misleading terms and extremely poor customer service.

Very poor and unclean vehicle quality. Original vehicle wasn’t available second car was well below the standard of the hired vehicle and had a puncture. Car given was again nowhere near the agreed standard. Extended hire from our destination and was charged double the original rate. Simply told I should return vehicle at original time and that I had agreed to the new hire rate but what choice did I have when I needed to stay an extra day and was a 5 hour drive away from home.

The customer service at the branch was absolutely appalling – genuinely some of the worst I’ve ever experienced.

Before attending, I phoned at (4:15pm) to explain that I’d made a genuine human error with the booking dates (pickup and drop‑off entered incorrectly by a matter of hours). The staff member told me the branch was closing at 4:30pm but said he could change it if I came down immediately. When I arrived, I discovered the branch actually closes at 5:00pm, which strongly suggests he simply wanted to leave early.he was rude and blunt from the off- I should have known!

From the moment I walked in, there was no greeting and no professionalism. I was met with rudeness, dismissiveness, and a completely uncaring attitude. I was only then told assumtively, there would be a £35 charge to amend the booking, when I asked if there was any flexibility or help available as its a matter of hours and the car coming back is the same and this wasn’t mentioned. The response was entirely unprofessional.
The staff member began scoffing, making sarcastic noises, and speaking to me in a mocking tone. He repeatedly stated that he “didn’t make the rules” and that's just how it is, he showed absolutely no empathy or willingness to assist. When I asked again if there was any way he could help or advise, he spoke to me in a patronising manner, explaining how contracts work as though I were stupid, simply because the booking had been made via a broker.

There was zero empathy, zero customer service, and no attempt to resolve the situation. He said he would "ask VIP cars on my behalf" to waive it, but this was said in such an undertone and he had zero interest in actually helping. I was treated like an inconvenience rather than a customer and like a nuance.

Ironically, when I contacted VIP Cars immediately afterwards,(the broker) they were actually helpful and professional – the complete opposite of the Maidstone branch. I made sure to explain just how poor the service had been.

For context, I had planned to hire a car from this location roughly once a month for a long period of time. After this experience, I will never use this branch again and will actively advise others to avoid it.

I ultimately cancelled the booking (which cost just £3) and it was completely worth it to avoid dealing with that level of service.

To be clear, this review relates specifically to the Maidstone branch. I can’t comment on the wider company, but based on this experience alone, the customer service was completely unacceptable for any customer‑facing role. He should not be there speaking to customers if he gets so frustrated and annoyed by any matter of conversation.

Mistakes happen, and I fully accept responsibility for making an error when booking. What is not acceptable is the complete lack of courtesy, empathy, and professionalism shown by a member of staff. A situation that could have been handled calmly and respectfully was instead made unnecessarily unpleasant and in the end led to a cancellation.

I don’t suppose this employee wi care much as he really had a “ I can’t be bothered” attitude. Manners and customer service don't cost a thing - except business I guess!

Great service, good cars no problems.
Debbie is a very friendly and helpful lady.

Definatly recommend

Over charged me £75 for fuel. Said they’d supplied full tank not half. Untrue. Documentation showed error in dates ( added my booking to the one before). Had to chase for six weeks - no apology. No explanation. Trying to talk to a real person impossible. Systems seem inefficient. Prices are misleading. Use someone else.

I had a smooth experience with Drivalia. Booking online was quick, and the staff at Maidstone were friendly and helpful. The car was clean and in excellent condition, and returning it was hassle-free. I would definitely rent from Drivalia again and recommend them to others.”

I rented a vehicle through Stress Free Car Rental a subsidiary website for Drivalia.
First, the Good Points.
I picked up My Vehicle from Sittingbourne office. I was treated very well by the office staff who were helpful, courteous polite and professional.
Bad Points. It took an hour to sort out my booking because the system would not accept my credit card. Eventually a link had to be sent to me via email to process £1500.00 holding deposit required to rent my vehicle.
When I received my vehicle to be hired, I was told to ignore the oil service warning light as it needed to be reset by a mechanic. I accepted that at face value.

I was shocked that the vehicle was absolutely filthy inside. There was dirt and dust everywhere. Carpets and seats not hoovered or cleaned to a satisfactory standard. I would include photos taken if able. The car smelt stale and slightly damp. What was amusing there were paper mats put on-top of the floor mats as if it made a lot of difference to the poor standard of cleaning. I did not have time to complain about this as I was already late getting away.
Once I started driving I noticed that the balance was off - hence, the vehicle started to shudder and shake at 70 miles an hour and above which was not only unsafe but uncomfortable. There was also a noticeable Knock on the engine when it idled. Having an on going Knock on the engine can lead to engine failure. Having been a part time mechanic in another life; it was clear the car was in desperate need of a thorough service as well as a deep clean.
My booking was due to end at 2pm two days after picking vehicle up. I wanted to extend drop off time for 2 hours as traffic being a bank holiday weekend was very bad. Going into the App you are forced to make a booking for a second day with no option to amend drop off time. This I felt was most unfair.
Would I use this service again? Definitely NOT!! Very disappointed and unhappy with the overall experience. I have hired many a car in my time and I have never dealt with this level of poor and unsatisfactory service. I'm very shocked that this day and age, proper checks to maintain good standards of hygiene and standards of mechanical service are failed to be carried out to insure/protect the health and safety of honest paying drivers.

Would never use again. Booked a weeks hire, picked the vehicle up and returned it on day 2 as it felt like the engine was going to fall out of the vehicle when pulling off, the clutch was worn and the steering wheel wobbled excessively at higher speeds altogether feeling very unsafe. Whilst I believed it only morally right to pay for the two days hire as opposed to demanding a full refund, I was fairly laid back and asked for the remainder of the hire to be refunded, I called customer services a week later as I had heard nothing to be greeted by a representative who told me he didn’t take complaints and to wait the 14 days that they have to reply- over 3 weeks later, no reply. Too busy to chase this company but if that’s how they treat their customers, good luck. I should have used a reputable company. Word travels fast Drivalia.

I had a quote of £135 for 6 days hire, Sounds Great Value however I only had a Debit card not a Credit Card, The only way I could still hire the car was by paying 125% Extra so the total was £305. I am sure this probably is in the T&Cs however this was extremely annoying . The Staff were great The car was fine clean and ready to go. I would still use Drivalia but only if much cheaper than my usual Enterprise.