Auckland - Matamata - Taupo

The airport branch is easy to find by following the signs. The Rental Car signs for picking up and returning cars in the airport parking lot are also very visible. However, when picking up the car, I mentioned that I had already purchased insurance Option Two during the rental, and that I only needed to add a second driver now. I even used my phone to translate that I had already bought insurance Option Two and didn't need any additional coverage, just the second driver. Still, the staff charged me 115.40 NZD.

Budget is really disappointing. When returning the car, I was told to leave the keys in the car. I asked if I needed to go to the office for any procedures and the staff said no. Three days after returning to my country, I received an email claiming that I damaged the bumper and they need to make a claim. I returned the car around 12:50, but the photo showing the damaged bumper was taken around 19:40, a gap of seven hours. Why didn't they say there was an issue when I returned the car, but took a photo seven hours later and claimed I did it? Although I had full insurance, it wasn’t our fault and I don’t want to be unjustly charged. This was my first time driving abroad and didn't have experience. I was in a hurry and didn't take photos when returning the car. This rental experience was really terrible.

The service attitude during car pickup was not very good. Even though we had bought the super full insurance, they still tried to push an additional daily insurance costing tens of NZD. Fortunately, we had been warned by the rental platform not to be misled. The staff member was very unhappy and grudgingly gave us a fake SUV, a Toyota Estima! We almost couldn't fit all our luggage, and after managing to squeeze everything in, we were very uncomfortable.

Excellent service with a great SUV

The car was shown on the handover sheet as having no damage. When I get to it the number plate is bent at 90 degrees one side and bent a bit at the other, ther is a large scrape on the splitter at the front, and other scratches on the car. The man on the desk did note them and said it would be fine and nothing was mentioned or has come up since the hand over.

Fairly straightforward and cheaper than going directly through them.