Drivalia UK - MANCHESTER AIRPORT Reviews 

If I could give 0 stars I would!
! I had a shocking experience with Drivalia.
having used this company for years i will never use again! Extremely poor customer service and an even poorer, ruder manager called Imad ( if that’s even his real name ) They provide misleading information and try to take every penny possible from you even thou they provided false information. Whilst I was there other people came in complaining about the cleanliness of the cars and also that some of them were only 1/4 full. After all the extra costs and excesses they tried imposing on me they then gave me a smaller car that was not not what I ordered then got argumentative when I mentioned that I would be doing a review. One minute they said i couldn’t cancel, then they cancelled themselves and banned me when I told them I was not happy and felt I was being ripped off. The manger and his colleagues thought they could intimidate me by all grouping together and threatened me with having to get my own way back to the airport and shouted at me to get out, I found this highly amusing! Luckily I have used another company just 5 minutes away called GREEN MOTION! 20 minutes after the incident with Drivalia I was taken care of by Green Motion and given a brand new BMW x 3 for the same price as Drivalia and there insurance came with ZERO Excess unlike Drivalia and there rip off insurance Green Motion saved the day after Drivalia almost ruined it! Thanks to Green Motion and if you are reading this review then book with them or anyone else apart from Drivalia! I know now why Drivalia is slightly cheaper but In future I will never book with them ever again which is a shame after all the years I have used them.

Good service

Great experience from start to finish. Thank you Mike a very polite and friendly person , making everything simple quick and a great car too . Thanks Mike you are doing a great job.

Very disappointing experience with Drivalia Manchester Airport

I booked and paid for an electric vehicle for a week from Drivalia Manchester Airport.

When we arrived to collect the car, we were told that the vehicle we had booked wasn't available because it had a bald tyre. I completely understand that a car with an unsafe tyre shouldn't be given to a customer, so although we were disappointed, we accepted the situation and were offered a smaller electric car instead.

Unfortunately, when we got home and tried to charge the replacement car, we discovered that the charging-port door wouldn't open. I contacted the branch and was told that the actuator was faulty and was given instructions to try to open it manually.

We were told to return the following day and collect the original vehicle, or a suitable replacement.

When we returned, we were given another electric vehicle. Almost immediately, it displayed a low tyre-pressure warning. We checked the tyre and, after a short time, it started visibly losing pressure.

I raised this with the branch, but given that we were going to be travelling on motorways with our family, I wasn't prepared to drive away in a vehicle with what appeared to be a leaking/defective tyre. We therefore declined the vehicle.

The eventual alternative was a petrol vehicle.

This is the main issue for me: I specifically booked and paid for an electric vehicle, but after two replacement vehicles had problems, I have ended up with a petrol car instead.

I appreciate that vehicles can develop faults and that the original car may genuinely have been unavailable for safety reasons. What I find unacceptable is that this has happened repeatedly and that we have had to make additional trips to the branch, deal with faulty vehicles and ultimately accept a vehicle that doesn't meet the basic requirement of the booking.

I have now submitted a formal complaint to Drivalia Customer Services and have asked them to provide a suitable, properly inspected electric vehicle for the remainder of the rental. I've also offered to collect it from a Manchester city-centre location rather than having to return to the Airport branch again.

Hopefully Drivalia will take the complaint seriously and resolve this properly.

I'll update this review once the matter has been resolved.

Rahat was very efficient and polite, van provided quickly, no hassle and would use again.

Use this company every 6 weeks without any problems. Great customer service.

Brilliant, excellent service

Manchester Airport Drivalia car hire service is second to none. Quick pick up, 5 minutes after calling when collecting luggage. Easy to find bus stop H at Terminal2. Driver Mike helped with case in and out of van. Easy 10 mins ride to offices. Mike was friendly and welcoming, upgrade to automatic and generous with fuel return as their olicy is to “like for like” and given almost half tank of petrol, signed to return it with a quarter tank. No pressure to purchase extras and no waiting around, Already booked another car for next month. Used this company since 2022 and will continue with them. Thank you Jules

Flight was cancelled, phoned and informed Manchester Airport Office that we would be 24hrs late. Staff member noted this on our booking.
When we arrived they informed us had cancelled the booking (12 days) and hired the vehicle out, forcing us to take out a further booking (as we were stuck at their offices) which was more expensive, We paid for the orgininal booking, they hired the car to a third party, we paid for the second booking. I note their public reply, shame they haven't replied to my complaint made already.

My wife placed an order for a hire car from the manchester branch and we had a terrible experience.

Due to us making a mistake on booking with not having a credit card in my wife's name, we called to the 3rd party we booked through (qeeq) who said they would offer a full refund providing that Drivalia would simply send them an email to them to say that they wouldn't charge us anything on their side.

The on-site team member, Rahat, verbally said that they wouldn't charge, but when I asked for that in writing to me or to the 3rd party, they flatly refused. They wanted us to leave the premises and a major transaction worth £2,100 purely on an unrecorded verbal assurance, flatly refusing anything on paper, which is a completely unacceptable commercial practice.

Just to note, when I asked to get a recording to confirm verbally that they definitely wouldn't charge anything, they also refused.

At the point, I suggested that the legalities of refusing to put this in writing should be quetioned, and at that moment Rahat became defensive and refused to speak to me any further, which sent further alarm bells about the credibility of the business.

There was zero empathy shown throughout the entire stressful exchange where he could clearly see that without anything in writing to the 3rd party, we might face a £2,100 fee that we would never recover.

Shocking customer service. Would avoid at all costs. A man called Rahat in particular was very rude.

Great service at the Manchester Branch. Rahat was exceptional and extremely helpful.

If I could give 0 stars I would give 0 stars, I booked for collection and after learning I would be late I informed the branch I would be late.

When I arrived I was told that there was no car there that was the size I had paid for. However they had offered a customer before me the size car I wanted and they did not take it. They advised it would be a further £180 to get a car.

I discussed the booking process with the customer service representative Rahul - who said that what I was telling him was not how it is done and he was implying I was a liar.

They will try and bleed you dry for every penny and more - DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM!

Great pick up experience, and great customer service at the branch from Rahat. Would rent from here again!

Firstly, It took the company 45 minutes to pick me up from the airport when I was told max 10 minutes wait time. It was then impossible to get hold of them again by phone, (I was on hold for 20 minutes the first time when calling to request pick up). They never picked up when I was calling to return the car. Additionally, the car was presented to me at Manchester Airport depot with less than 2% of a tank of fuel. I was told to go and fill up (in an area I did not know), and as per my booking policy I could see that I was expected to return the car with full petrol. They also talked me into a different kind of insurance to the one I had already purchased through booking.com and were intentionally complicated and lacked transparency at every step of the way. Do not go anywhere near these guys if you don't want to be confused, hours late and out of pocket, they're in the business of ripping customers off.

James, the receptionist was extremely helpful and made the process easy

Too, too slow on pickups! I've used Drivalia across Europe and generally like them. The office near MCR airport is too far away and they don't have sufficient minibuses - so for example i've just waited 45 minutes to be taken to the airport and then it's a further 10 mins to a terminal (more if you are the last terminal to be dropped off). This was Tuesday 8th Sept at 13.30 (when I arrived at the Drivalia office) and no I will not be logging in / providing further information. I do not need a response - I know the answer already .... one minibus cannot service MCR airport from where you are situated.

Easy, straightforward and quick process. Called the number at airport, picked up from the airport, checked in and drive without hassle. James Darlington is my guy helping me with all process and appreciated his support. My second time and will definitely use in my future Manchester visits. Thanks

Very kind and engaged personal
I highly recommend to go for this company - thanks again for the great service