NATIONAL CAR RENTAL REVIEWS IN THAILAND

Like: Easy pick up and return car.
Dislike: Hard to understand Thai English accent.

Pickup and drop-off went smoothly. However, there were three issues: First, the staff gave me a Honda Jazz hatchback instead of the Toyota Vios sedan I had booked. For similar cars, it should have been a sedan. After insisting, they gave me a Honda City sedan instead. For those who understand cars, the rear space is completely different between these two models. A reminder to everyone, insist on getting the model you booked or an equivalent. Second, the car was not provided with a full tank of gas. Being in a foreign country, to avoid unnecessary trouble, I had to add more fuel to ensure the tank was full when returning it. Third, after the car was driven for 2 days, the battery was dead on the third morning, even though the car had only 15,000 kilometers on it and was practically new! I couldn’t reach the rental company by phone and had to seek help from the hotel staff to jump-start the car, then drove for half an hour to report the issue at the rental office. This wasted time, and I was worried the car might break down on the way. Aside from these issues, I was overall satisfied. QEEQ’s customer service is very responsive, addressing queries promptly. Thumbs up!

A painful experience to warn future renters: avoid renting from National at all costs. Here's my story. The rental process went smoothly, and everything was fine during the use. However, I probably hit something sharp, which caused a cut on the tire sidewall, rendering it unusable. Since I didn't purchase full insurance, I had to cover the tire loss myself, which cost me 2390 THB. Though expensive, I accepted it. The problem arose when I returned the car. 1. During the car inspection, the inspector actually got on the ground to check underneath the car (a first for me after many rentals), and pointed out scratches on the underside of the front bumper, claiming I caused them. When I picked up the car, I didn't get on the ground to inspect it either, so even though I had doubts, I couldn't argue effectively due to the language barrier and accepted their claims, thinking a paint job wouldn't cost much. 2. Then it came to the charges. Since I didn't have full insurance, there's a deductible. I was charged 2390 THB for the tire plus the deductible of 8560 THB, totaling 10950 THB. After communicating with the rental company, they said it was a pre-payment and any remaining balance would be refunded after the actual damage costs were finalized, to which I agreed. 3. Upon returning home, a few days later, the final damage report came out. Besides the tire, they pointed out three more damages that weren't mentioned initially, and put all of them on me. In the end, I didn't get any refund at all.

The car is very useful

Let's talk about picking up the car first: we arrived at Phuket Airport at 10:30 PM to pick up the car. It took us a long time to find the pickup point. Although my wife and I are not very good at English, we felt confident that we could manage basic communication. However, the Thai front desk clerk's English was very poor, and he seemed quite impatient with us. While we were talking, a Latin American couple came over to ask a question, and suddenly he became all smiles and very attentive—it made me feel sick. Initially, they charged us a 10,000 THB deposit but later informed us it needed to be 20,000 THB, so we had to pay another 10,000 THB without any apology from them. Thinking that the deposit would be refunded anyway and not wanting to keep our elderly family members waiting, we paid the 20,000 THB deposit. After 20 minutes of hassle, we were finally able to go to the smoking area and get the car. Now about returning the car: Our flight was at 8:55 AM, and we had arranged to return the car at 6:30 AM. Upon arrival at the airport, staff came to check the car. My husband and I split up; I went to the counter with the deposit slip. Here's the funny part: all the rental company counters had people except ours. I called the two phone numbers from our reservation, but both were disconnected. The number on the counter sign was the same and also disconnected!!! I had no choice but to ask the lady at a neighboring rental company to help contact their staff, who told us to wait. Thirty minutes later, no one came. I asked the lady again to call, and they said someone was coming. Another half hour passed, still no one. We had been waiting for an hour with our six family members. The guy who inspected the car came over, but his English was poor and he didn't speak Chinese. He probably sent a WeChat voice message to the counter staff, and then handed me the phone. I explained that I just needed a stamp or some proof that the car was returned in good condition so that they wouldn't deduct from the deposit later. The person on the other end kept repeating that the deposit would be refunded to my bank account in about two weeks. Frustrated, I raised my voice and reiterated my request, and the caller simply hung up. What kind of service is this?? What attitude?? I then told the inspector that we had been waiting for an hour and were very upset. He called the Chinese-speaking customer service, who informed me that there were no further procedures and no proof would be given—we just had to wait for the refund. Fine, since the higher-ups said so, we left. However, when we entered the departure hall, miraculously, the counter from where we picked up the car was staffed. My husband went over with the slip, and the clerk finally stamped it, confirming that the car was returned in good condition, and the deposit would be refunded. So, my question to the Chinese customer service is: if there's no further procedure, what was that stamp we got at the departure counter all about?

I've rented cars many times, but this was the most disappointing experience. The 12-seater vehicle was in poor condition. It broke down halfway through the trip. Contacted the rental company for a replacement, but due to the distance, they kept delaying and never provided a new car. We had to get it repaired locally, wasting two valuable days of our trip, including accommodation and taxi costs, which we had to bear ourselves. When returning the car, the rental company had a terrible attitude. Big thumbs down to NATIONAL.

Like: Pick up and drop off was seamless and quick. Car was very clean and new.

Like: Great service at Chiang Rai friendly staff
Dislike: Nothing

Convenient and affordable, good service attitude.

They were a bit late compared to the scheduled time, almost causing us to miss the car rental. Also, we rented the car at 9 PM and were asked to return it by 7 PM the next day.

Familiar and experienced car rental company, staff as well. Seems like many Chinese get scammed.

The staff are very friendly, and the car pickup and exchange process is very fast, all done at the counter near the airport entrance.

Like: car condition, easiness upon pick up and drop off
Dislike: location of pick up counter at BKK airport

Like: CAR condition was very good. They mentioned clear condition and rules. Good experience with National.
Dislike: They did not pickup the call when I reached so I took help from airport information counter otherwise everything was good and fair.

Like: Getting the car was super easy, came out of the Arrival gates, went to National Rental counter, filled up the formalities and hoped on the ride, all in less than 10 minutes. Car was in pristine condition, no irritating sounds or glitches, superb sound system. I would highly recommend National based on my experience.

Waited for fifteen minutes

The car had many scratches, and the staff who gave us the car was very impatient when we asked to mark them. More Chinese signs would be helpful to avoid language barriers.

Terrible

Like: Easy hire and trouble free vehicle. Definitely worth a repeat
Dislike: Nothing

Like: Car condition was generally good. Car inside was very clean. And Scratches outside car were explained correctly by staff when started.
Dislike: I did not notice at the beginning... so it was my fault, but... the fuel was not full when started. I did not expect the fuel not full, and I concentrated on checking outside scratches. So after leaving the pick up site, I noticed the fuel less 1/4... I was in hurry, so I kept driving away...