Drivalia UK - NEWCASTLE Reviews 

Really helpful staff and speedy effient handover. Used many times even when others are nearer

Abdullah the branch sorted us very efficiently the service was excellent thanks!

Everything was professionally handled by Abdul, very easy and understandable process will use again 100%.

Abdul was excellent. He was very helpful and quick and efficient. The car was in great condition and well looked after.

Abdul and Abdullah both very pleasant guys. They both gave fantastic service, very polite, very helpful, a credit to Drivalia. Car clean and controls explained well. Documentation received via email as advised. I would recommend and use this company again due to the great customer service

We picked up our car at Newcastle airport, and from the first moment, the staff were helpful and friendly. They came to find us when we weren´t at the pick up point, they told us to leave our luggage in the minibus and it would be transfered to our car. they came our to the car and inspected it with us ( something I have rarely experienced in recent years) and were generally friendly and chatty. A similar experience when I dropped my car off in Manchester, it was inspected and signed off quickly and efficiently and the staff were pleasant and friendly, dropping us right at the door of manchester airport. My deposit was cleared from credit card account the very next day. I would definitely use them again

Collected from the airport without any problems, really friendly and brilliant customer service when collecting the car I hired from a gentleman called Abdul

Phoned the car hire company the moment it opened at 8 am. Got a very friendly Geordie on the phone who explained where to meet him (the hire place is off site). Took about a minute to walk to the pick up point and another minute to drive to the car hire centre, and we had the car within another five. Very friendly personal service. Small operation but all smooth sailing. I'm going to go direct with them next time as the car was older but great and it was all so quick and easy. Thank you for outstanding service guys!

Our experience with Drivalia at Newcastle Airport has felt like fraud, deceit and extremely poor business practice from start to finish.

On arrival, there was no car ready. We were eventually offered a Nissan Juke, which is in no way comparable to the Kia Sportage we booked. The vehicle provided was filthy. We were told we would have to wait around for it to be valeted, which was completely unacceptable.

We had just completed over 20 hours of long-haul travel from Australia with two very small children, and were clearly exhausted and vulnerable. It very much felt as though this situation was taken advantage of, as we were in no position to easily walk away.

We were initially told that only driving licences and a credit card were required, so my wife (who made the booking) left in a taxi. Ten minutes later, we were suddenly told passports were also required, forcing her to turn around on the motorway and come back. This was an entirely avoidable and stressful situation caused by their incompetence.

Despite my wife having made the booking, we were then told her credit card could not be used for the security deposit because I was listed as the main driver. This same credit card later became perfectly acceptable when they upsold us to a more expensive package.

Because the booking was made via a third party (enjoytravel.com), we were presented with two “options”.
Cancel the booking with zero refund, despite me arriving before the booking time, and rebook on the spot at a much higher price.
Purchase a premium cover package costing £500, payable immediately, supposedly reducing the security deposit to a “nominal” amount.

The inconsistency was staggering. A credit card deemed unacceptable moments earlier was suddenly fine when more money was involved.

We were also told the extra driver fee was £380, when it was actually £150, as clearly stated on the invoice. This appears to be an attempt to take advantage of the fact that I was not the original booker.

The so-called premium package was advertised at £40 per day at the desk, but was instantly offered at “half price” after what appeared to be dubious instant messages with a “back office”. Phrases like “He says I can’t go any lower” made the whole interaction feel like a negotiation rather than a legitimate car hire company.

The original booking cost was around £500, but through these practices we have now been charged close to £1,000 in total for a defective vehicle, and due to the time of year (Christmas/New Year) it has been impossible to get in contact with the company for any support or assistance.

Within 30 minutes of driving away, a Headlight System Fault warning appeared. The dashboard instructed us to check the owner’s manual, which was not in the car. Returning to the portacabin was impractical, and since then the headlights have intermittently turned themselves off and on.

As we are travelling around the North East and North West of England, this has caused ongoing stress. We have been unsure whether the car would start each morning due to potential battery drain. Every night we have had to spend around 15 minutes trying to get the headlights to turn off, often unsuccessfully, and we have had headlights shining into our home and neighbouring houses overnight.

We have tried calling most days. No one answers.

This has been one of the worst customer service experiences we have ever had. I will be reporting all of the above to Trading Standards.

AVOID DRIVALIA. THIS IS A SCAM.

Easy reach from the airport, fast efficient and very friendly service, Abul was a very pleasant and helpful guy.

Friendly staff.
Nice car nearly new.
Slow on pick up from the airport, but the weather was bad. So we got very cold.
The only other negative is the slow return of the deposit.
But have used them twice now and will again in the future

I never received a confirmation email from Drivalia confirming the checks were done after drop off. This should be statutory.
I'm sorting another hire car so went on Drivalia website and was quoted £284 but was advised if I opened an account I would receive an additional discount. This I duly completed and logged in for another quotation. Well, guess what? The price was £284 - no difference

such great people so kind and helpful thanks to them i save a lot of money buuing excess protection so happy with the experience will definitely being using again

abdul is very good and the rental was easy , very good communication and easy rental. i will use again in the future. Thanks for your help and service

Great team running the Newcastle site.
The guys who booked me out - and Abdullah who logged the vehicle's return - could not have been more helpful.
All of them are great ambassadors for the Drivalia brand.
Well done - and my thanks to each and every one of them. 👌👍

My credit card was declined when taking the deposit tried 3 times still declined there are no issues with my credit limit.
My only option was to pay the very high cost for the full cover. Reasonable hire cost turned into a very expensive hire. I just have a feeling this was a scam. In hindsight i should have taken an alternative credit card or phoned my bank

Helpful staff

I used the Newcastle airport branch, it’s very convenient for the metro & airport. The staff there are helpful & kind. I dealt with Abdul & Abdullah for several of my rentals & they were excellent. Thank you guys!

The best staff I have met in any car hire setup, great car, fair fuel policy and really competitive pricing.

I had a wonderful experience with this company in Newcastle upon Tyne. I had a really big problem with another car company and I could not get a car. I booked one straight away with Drivalia and when to collect it. I arrived within 30 minutes of my booking. The manager was so nice and could not have been more helpful. I was driving away with my hire car in less than 10 minutes. They were really friendly, efficient and explained everything, they even offered to drop the car off for me if I ever needed it in the future. Well done Drivalia, maybe other companies should take a leaf out of your book