BELFAST CAR RENTAL REVIEWS

The car I booked for the 5 people plus luggage was a VW Passat Estate, but at the desk they stated that they didn;t have any Passats available and i was offered an alternative for the grade I paid for. This was a Skoda Octavia Estate which was over £30 cheaper on-line than the Passat. I said this and was offered a Nissan Qashqai (not big enough) and also a KIA Sportage (may have just been big enough), so I took the Skoda with the promise of a £30 discount to be credited back to my card. The car was absolutely fine and carried all luggage and 5 of us no problem, but as there were no PAssats I had no choice. Why advertise a car if you know there aren't any available. The Skoda was great but if i really wanted that car i would have booked it online first.

Booking Platform was good and easy to use. Prices were good but not sure that the magic price matching worked. Will use again.

We received an upgrade which was good with 5 adults travelling in the car. No problems with collection and Emma was very good in going through everything at time of collection.

No problems. Good.

Extremely pushy on upselling insurance. I do a lot of driving and hire a lot of cars yet even I was beginning to question whether I might need extra insurance. It was not a pleasant experience and other people less confident or who couldn’t afford the excess would have been scared into buying it and increasing the cost to five times the original price! I would rather pay more to one of the “big” companies who accept ‘no’ to do I want extra insurance and not worry about the car the whole time I had it. I was told that it would be, I think around the £100 mark plus £75 for every stone chip... I was visiting friends for an enjoyable weekend not having to worry about the state of the roads, the road to the pick up place is a joke! Not again. Not for me thank you.

Car, staff and value for money all excellent. Far too long to get the car-1.5 hours is unacceptable in my opinion.

Yes all was good.

Counter staff really helpful - smooth process

The rented car had an engine problem (EPC) and the service replaced it.

I was expecting a Ford Focus or equivalent but got a fiesta The ‘shuttle bus’ was a car, that didn’t have a car seat in it even though our rental was booked with a car seat- not ideal to travel to the pick up with a baby on my lap

A great upgrade ,so appreciated .Abit of anxiety due to yellow service alarm light being left on ,but reassured on contacting hertz & speaking to mechanics . If aware of the cars economy on fuel would have chosen to bring back full as only got just below half tank instead of empty & am on very tight budget as retired nurse !

Great service after the confirmation came through & I phoned hertz to confirm my booking ;am still a little wary of ' great deals ' on the internet ! Will definitely use your company again & have already recommended you !

I would give Easirent zero if I could

The car was fine. It is a noisy model - conversation is not really possible when driving. I was very shocked that an additional driver was going to virtually double the price so we were left with one person having to do all the driving. This seems unreasonable since only one person can drive at a time so the risk is not doubled.

All very smooth. Had problem with my credit card during the day as I couldn't remember pin. They listened to my problem professionally at all times.

All very impressed. I was particularly pleased to find affordable insurance where excess is covered. The industry needs to find a way to not then have to also block out the excess on a credit card at the desk. If it's covered then it's covered.

Collection desk was managed by a pair of highway robbers, a mask would have been appropriate. Never visit them ever again.

We hired from Belfast airport. Check in was fine and they had our details to hand. We were a little surprised that there would be extra insurance if we travelled into Republic of Ireland (something that should be covered at booking). There was the option to take it then or call and arrange if needed. We declined. The car itself was a disappointment. We had booked a Ford Focus. We know they can substitute for an equivalent but the car we were given C3 Aircross was a poor substitute. At the check in desk we did not know what this was like. From the outside it looks ok but driving it wasn't great. It was underpowered (1.2 petrol), poor suspension (bottomed out on some N. Ireland roads), cheap plastic interior and uncomfortable rear seats. It may have been fine for 2 people but not for a family of 5. We had chosen a Focus as my family is 5 adults and as we have one in the family at home we knew it would be ok for the 6 days we would be there. Although on paper they may think C3 Aircross was an equivalent, it did not feel like it. Had I known more about the car at check in I would have declined. I know in future to check more details if offered an equivalent e.g. engine size, dimensions. At the check in desk they said the car had no marks on it and the yellow slip was clear. On arrival at the car park we found small scratches on the rear bumper (from bags) and on the rear door (see photos) and small marks on some of the alloy wheels. We found a Budget rep. and got this noted on the yellow slip so we were not billed for this at the end. The front tyres were legal but not far from the wear indicators. (Make sure you check the car & tyres on arrival at the carpark.) Handing back the car was easy. There was a representative there and it took just a few minutes for them to check the car over and hand the keys back. No need to return to the desk in the terminal.

Easyrentcars was easy to book through and offered a good deal on the gap insurance, far less than at the desk with budget. We had not benefit from the price drop as we paid the price first advertised. However, this may mean that the price was the best price at the beginning. The price was the best we could find on the internet and considerably less than booking direct with the large rental companies. Email contact from Easyrentcars was helpful and had all the details we needed for check in. Top tip for any hirers - remember to read the detail in the email about your DVLA license check code and take that with you. I would book through Easyrentcars again as their price and service was good. (I'll just make sure I check Budget's car substitution before taking the keys.)

Car was very good and counter staff extremely helpful.

They gave me free upgrade and I had got Mercedes-Benz through out my journey. Europcar gave me a great experience at Northern Ireland.

Good experience on car rental

The car battery was not connected correctly, which resulted in a dead car and a lost day waiting on Europcar's repair person. Then we had a flat tyre, which resulted in another lost day because Europcar's staff/systems made a number of errors meaning we had to wait around for 6 hours before the thing was repaired. The car had not been adequately cleaned before i took possession it, and after the smell of the cleaning products had worn off, the car actually stank of cigarette smoke. A promised reimbursement for the lost days has not yet been processed to my account by Europcar either.

The staff where fantastic Jacqueline in particular. We had arrived in Belfast and the airline had lost my luggage, so I had no paperwork or clothes apart from what I was wearing. They helped me with everything including where I could buy some clothes. 10 out of 10 for service.

Booked estate car and received hatchback which caused luggage problem. Charged for insurance I had already payed for

The car pickup process was anything but smooth. Hertz displayed a price on Zuzuche that wasn't the final amount. We almost couldn't get the car because our credit card limit wasn't enough. We had to transfer funds last minute, which made the start very unpleasant. The car we got was a Peugeot 3008, apparently the only model available. The staff insisted that it wouldn’t fit our luggage and tried hard to get us to upgrade to a Land Rover at an extra £60 per day, totaling £3000 even after a supposed 50% discount. We found it too expensive and decided to try fitting our luggage first, which we did successfully. Is a 3008 the same class as an A4 estate? We were so annoyed that we didn't argue much more. Eventually, due to cross-border fees and one-way rental charges, the total cost was about the same as other rental companies. In the future, we will ask for all details up front. We used to rent from Europcar, where the displayed price was what you paid, and it felt straightforward. No wonder Hertz gets low ratings; there are too many hidden charges.

Great friendly staff. Small clean car suitable for all I needed.

Simple booking for process. Good prices.