GATWICK AIRPORT CAR RENTAL REVIEWS

I had reserved an automatic car, but upon arrival, they said they only had manual cars available and I had to either accept it or switch companies. Being in a foreign country far from the airport, where could I find another company? Right-hand drive in the UK, and it's a manual... Luckily, I had solid training back in the day... The car they gave was also the most basic model... Additionally, I had checked earlier and the unlimited mileage was supposed to be £9, but upon arrival, they said it was £12. What choice did I have... Overall experience was below average.

Like: Superb vehicle over our expectations. Kind people at drop off point and in transfers.
Dislike: Transfer time hight -not a lot of information about schedule in airport point-. Too many time at the office before final car pick-up.

We notified the car rental company in advance about picking up the car late, but were told that there were no cars available unless we paid £15 per day for an upgrade. Even though we had already purchased full insurance through the platform, the rental company still forced us to buy additional insurance for £39 per day. Additionally, although we booked a vehicle with a full tank policy, a £95 fuel deposit was still taken. Without purchasing the additional insurance, our Visa card was not accepted; after paying £195 for the insurance, we didn't need to upgrade the car, place a deposit, and our Visa card worked fine. After using the car for 2 days, we refueled according to the rental agreement but ended up putting in the wrong type of fuel. On February 26th, with the help of passersby, we contacted the rental company. A rescue team arrived in the afternoon but couldn't fix the car and transported us to Bath, promising to pick us up the next morning to exchange the car at a nearby airport. The next day, we waited on the streets of Bath in below-freezing temperatures until 5 PM when the rescue team finally arrived. At this point, it was too late; we had to drive to our next destination, Windsor, for 3 hours in the night, which was too much for me as a 62-year-old. We canceled the rest of our trip and, with the help of passersby and the rescue team, took a bus back to London. We request the rental company to: 1) Apologize and compensate us for the suffering; 2) Cover the following economic losses: 1. Refund the Windsor accommodation fee of ¥627.98 for the 28th; 2. Refund the £26 transportation fee (since we had already purchased return tickets for March 1st, the £26 incurred on the 28th should be covered by the rental company); 3. Refund 2/5 of the rental fee; 4. Refund the so-called upgraded insurance fee of £195; 5. Refund the corresponding fuel deposit.

We were informed that there were no cars available and that a vehicle had to be brought in from another location. After waiting for two hours (past noon), we were told the car would not arrive until 6 PM and that no other models were available. This essentially wasted an entire day for us. We eventually gave up on this rental company and rented a car from another provider.

No lines, but it took more than an hour to process my order, extremely inefficient. The car prepared for me was 1-2 categories smaller than what I booked, and our luggage couldn't fit in the trunk. Fortunately, after coordination with QEEQ, they agreed to change the car, but there were no larger cars available on-site. After waiting for more than an hour (the rental desk clerk kept making calls), they still couldn't find a suitable car. Eventually, I had no choice but to take a smaller BMW 320d, which caused us to have to put a suitcase in the back seat. This car is a diesel hybrid, extremely fuel-efficient, consuming less than 5 liters per 100 kilometers.

Like: Friendly and efficient staff; vehicle in good condition and excellent service on dropping off.
Dislike: I had ordered an automatic transmission vehicle but a manual transmission vehicle was allotted to me at pick-up. I came to know this until I got on the vehicle to check. It spent me another 30 minutes to wait for the change of vehicle and felt frustrated. I hope that Europcar would check the order carefully and the same thing would not happen to other customers again.

Everything was excellent with the exception of some members of the staff at the counter.

The return inspection is extremely strict. They use a flashlight to meticulously search for tiny scratches and small damages (some of which were not recorded and normal people wouldn't even notice). They found one small chip on the windshield and demanded to replace the entire glass, demanding an immediate payment of £900. It's blatant fraud! (I complained to their customer service and requested a re-inspection, they said they took it to a repair shop to polish it). If you had bought their insurance, they wouldn't be so strict with the inspection. The next client who doesn't buy their insurance will be in trouble. It's a despicable practice!

The supplied car was significantly different in size from the reserved model, unable to accommodate more people and luggage. Reserved a Caddy, provided a SEAT.

Very friendly attitude and quick service.

Terrible service, terrible service, 1. Upcharge Step One: They didn't give us the car we reserved, only a model they deemed similar. Then they insisted our luggage wouldn't fit and tried to make us pay an extra £100 per day for a bigger car. They wouldn't even let us test it out, claiming we would damage their car. We were two women, four 10-year-old kids, and six pieces of luggage. 2. Upcharge Step Two: When we refused to pay extra, they still wouldn't give us a car. They finally relented and offered a slightly larger car for £100 more per day only after we insisted we would rather rent another smaller car for £100 per day. 3. Upcharge Step Three: They only accept credit cards with chips. The registered driver didn’t have one, so using another person’s card would require adding that person as a second driver, costing another £100. 4. Upcharge Step Four: They insisted we buy their insurance even though we repeatedly stated we already had full coverage from home. They said they'd need to hold £800 as a deposit. 5. During the car return, despite the rain, they inspected the car multiple times until they found two tiny scratches for which they demanded compensation. Even after we wiped off the marks, they insisted there was a dent and charged us £810. 6. They provide a free shuttle to pick up the car, but you have to buy a bus ticket to get to the airport after returning the car, wasting time. 7. The entire staff seemed to be Arab, which was very concerning. 8. Strongly recommend against renting from this company! Always go for a major rental company instead.

Satisfactory

Like: Very helpful efficient and friendly
Dislike: The cold weather !!

They forced us to buy an add-on fee that wasn't insurance. The American couple next to us had the same issue. The rental company said it was because ACE is an American company. Even after seeking help from QEEQ customer service, it was useless. After negotiating for over an hour and paying an extra RMB 300 to get unlimited mileage, they finally gave us the car. The actual rental was from Green Motion. I advise everyone to avoid these two terrible companies!

Very low efficiency and not enough staff.

The service attitude towards Chinese and foreigners is completely different. This is the worst service I've encountered from a rental company.

I was disappointed that the service desk tried to fob me off with a 2 door Fiat 500 even though I had booked and paid for a 4 door Ford Fiesta or similar. So frustrating that almost every time the rental company tries to persuade you to take a car that is a lower specification than the one you have booked in advance and paid for in advance!! Trying to charge £14 per day for a satnav and £10 per day for an additional driver is just ridiculous. If the prices were more reasonable I’m sure your customer would be tempted to boost your profits via these “add ins” but because you are greedy and overcharge for them I’m sure that most people like me don’t bother..

Good attitude, but the car maintenance is quite poor.

Pretty good

Like: The ease of the booking and the car was amazing
Dislike: The queue at Gatwick was the only bad thing. The staff was working hard but there was only 2 of them. We waited over an hour and had just got off a 21 hour flight.