Shocking Car Hire Experience. Cheap Comes At A Price.

I've just returned from Croatia and my experience with Atlas Choice was not a good one. Part of the reason they are cheap is that they [apparently] use shoddy suppliers.

On arrival in Zadar we stood waiting for our 'meet & greet' amongst the neatly dressed hire car representatives with professional looking signs waiting for other arriving passengers. When ours turned up he looked disheveled and was holding a hastily hand written sign. He showed us to a car (a battered and dirty Kia Cee'd which he quickly emptied of rubbish, including a used nappy) and my wife and I jumped in the back for our journey to their compound. Alas, it turns out this was our car - filthy as it was with body panels hanging off - definitely not the Audi A1 we had booked.

I had no choice but to accept the car as we needed to get on our way but I complained later. The local hire car company, San Diego Tours in Croatia, was not particularly helpful when I called them. I asked for the car I ordered but they dismissed my complaint and suggested I get the car cleaned and they would reimburse me. (Perhaps, they would like me to repair and service the car too, I thought). I reminded them that I am not in the habit of spending my holiday cleaning hire cars; indeed, I expect a clean car when I take delivery.

They had the cheek to suggest the car was a 3-class upgrade from the Audi A1 odered. That being the case, I'm glad I didn't get the lower grade car. Heaven knows what that would have been like. My request for the car to be swapped was dismissed (ignored) and a liturgy of reasons for their poor performance (including their popularity, staff sickness, emphasis on quantity not quality etc) was given although I reminded them they were their own problems, not mine.

Anyway, back to Atlas Choice; they weren't much use to me when I contacted them either. So, be careful. Cheap usually comes at a price. If you are happy with poorly maintained and dirty cars from a scruffy poor service car hire firm use one of Atlas Choice's suppliers. If not, pay the few £ extra and get a decent car.

I don't think I'll be using Atlas Choice again and I cannot recommend them to others.