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| Value for Money | 3.6/10  |
|---|---|
| Overall rating | 3/10 |
Full review by
jdybnsn2
on 15th Jul 2008
User Rating : 2
Respect :
0
If we had scratched or scraped the car, we would not have had to pay for it as it was so badly scratched & scraped already, no one would have noticed ! We had booked an economy car Clio or similar from Bergamo airport. Our booking even had an illustration of a Clio on it and stated Clio however when we got to Bergamo airport we picked up the car from Nationale but they insisted that we were not entitled to a Clio economy class but the next sized down - this was a Fiat Panda. We were not at all happy and despite me showing the illustrated Clio on the paperwork they insisted the mistake was with Holiday Autos, and in their words "this happens all the time". Of course the last thing you want at the start of the holiday is a fight and we were just lucky that having flown with a no frills airline we only had the one suitcase, and several bits of hand luggage...otherwise I don't know how we would have all fitted in the car ?
I have to say Nationale were not impressive in their service ...they gave us directions for picking up the car ..but having walked around the entire airport complex in the hot sun for 40 minutes we couldn't fine the car hire lot and we ended up going back to the desk. The person in charge then claimed he had told us that we needed to catch a pick up bus from out side the arrivals door - which he definitely had not mentioned the first time..or if he had it certainly was not put across in a clear manner !
Eventually,we got to the car lot which is located outside the airport to find we had been allocated a Fiat Panda that had looked like it had been involved in the Italian job ! There wasn't a side or corner of the vehicle that wasn't scraped/scratched ! Though it wasn't overly old ...it certainly wasn't what you'd call a new car !
We pointed out the scratches to the guy at the car lot but he just shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the paperwork which actually did detail the scratches ...so in other words they knew about them , so get on with it !
By this time of course we were in no mood to hang about any longer especially with two fractious kids, and now being over a mile from the airport building, there was no going back....so off we went.
For the benefit of others and not necessarily the fault of HA I would like to say that the road map issued by Nationale was utterly useless - not only did it include the whole of Italy ...to give you an idea of the scale, but it also had strategically place company symbols (obviously location their offices) often placed right over important road junctions. Fortunately we were able to get better (free) road maps from the local Tourist Offices later in our holiday..but it did not make driving from the airport to our destination very easy !
I have put a complaint in about the state of the vehicle and the fact we were not allocated the type of vehicle believed we had paid for ...got an automated response a couple of weeks ago but nothing since - having read these reviews I'm not holding my breath of any decent compensation ...if any at all ! Wish I'd used Auto-europe now, as I've never been disappointed with what they have provide. Don't be swayed entirely by cost !
jdybnsn2's review and ratings | 598 words
Review by
Guest.
on 22nd Jun 2008
User Rating : 2
Respect :
0
We booked on Holiday Autos for a holiday in Portugal/Spain. The car hire company actually providing the car from Faro was Guerin and they were rubbish! It took an hour to get served and then they had run out of car seats. Apparently when you book via Holiday Autos its a request, not a confirmed order for the car seat so you can be left at the airport with your hire car but no car seat to secure your little one! Fortunately some people returned a car with a car seat whilst we were deciding what t ...
Guest.'s full review | 150 words
Review by
keithmcdon
on 20th Mar 2008
User Rating : 2
Respect :
0
Easy to book online. Better to book with a car company direct and save any hassle. Not transparent re costs. I was charged for winter tyres (which are mandatory in winter) after my holiday. Why couldn't I be charged the full price at time of booking. Not very good customer service.
keithmcdon's full review | 51 words | 1 comment added.
Review by
Keith Large
on 25th Feb 2008
User Rating : 8
Respect :
0
I find them very easy to book with on the internet, very speedy collection of your car, you are on your way in very little time to your sunny holiday destination. Very easy to do the formalities with the office next to the exit at Alicante airport, cross over the road at the front of the airport to collect your car, a 200 metre walk.Drive out of the airport and within a mile you are on to the main holiday route, no hassle.Cars are new, and a good selection. They do not offer a discount to freque ...
Keith Large's full review | 102 words
Review by
BGPLONdon
on 4th Dec 2007
User Rating : 0
Respect :
0
The company had rendered their car unusable. After our holiday, their customer service was rubbish.
BGPLONdon's full review | 121 words
Review by
dee troughton
on 16th Nov 2007
User Rating : 3
Respect :
0
Very disappointed - was recommended by friend to use them.
Tried to speak to lady who I had spoken to on the original complaint - told "no one of that name works for the company "- strange as 4 months later just spoken to her again in the Z rich office!
Email from lady at customer services - rang to speak to her told " she doesn't speak to customers"
Have just been told case is "closed" - I am not happy and as far as I am concerned not resolved - but have to go back round the circuit again t ...
dee troughton's full review | 211 words
Review by
Constant Traveller
on 23rd Oct 2007
User Rating : 0
Respect :
0
I booked a car with Holiday Autos to be collected at Rome Ciampino in July 2007 at 09:30pm.
I was on time, but the car wasn't booked according to the computer. As in Little Briton "Computer says NO!"
The staff in Rome were only interested in clocking off at 10:00pm and I ended up taking a £100 taxi to my destination.
Calls to the Customer Service Centre in the UK resulted in me trying to locate a car in a town some 30 minutes drive from my location the following day. Difficult without a ...
Constant Traveller's full review | 205 words
Review by
nealfo
on 17th Sep 2007
User Rating : 1
Respect :
0
The car I hired had a nail in one of it's tyres. When I went to change it I discovered that the spare had no air in it either, despite there being a card hanging from the rear view mirror saying that the car had been expertly checked. If the tyre had blown up a mountain or in the country I would have been stuck as the spare was flat too. This is something that even the most basic check would have uncovered. There was no book with the car either.
nealfo's full review | 91 words
Review by
chanchai
on 17th Sep 2007
User Rating : 10
Respect :
0
We had our car with holiday autos via MOTIVANO web site. When we went to collect the car we had choice of 207 or Clio. Both cars like new and around 6 months old. Like other people say holiday autos are only broker. We collected our car from eurpecar. The staff were very pleasant and helpful we were offered the excess waiver insurance and offer of returning car with empty tank. We declined both as we already had the insurance. Yes, if you do make a claim you will have to pay the excess amount an ...
chanchai's full review | 174 words
Review by
valt
on 24th Aug 2007
User Rating : 0
Respect :
0
I hired a car through Holiday Autos - a group E. When we arrived the car hire company Almeria, in Dalaman they only had a group C car left. We couldn't accept it as we had 5 adults and even if we could get the passengers in we couldn't get the luggage in. Besides the fact that we were stranded and had to make alternative arrangements to get us to the resort, I contacted Holiday Autos as soon as I returned. We have not had any response save for an automated acknowledgement, despite the fact that ...
valt's full review | 215 words | 1 comment added.
Review by
Ozymandias
on 3rd Aug 2007
User Rating : 9
Respect :
0
Basically, Holiday Autos are just a broker. They gave me a discount for National, who are excellent. Nice upgrade, pleasant and friendly service. One problem, National thought I had already paid my young driver money and I hadn't, I had to flag this up and get them to check. Maybe I shouldn't have done this as I would have saved £170 but I was afraid of invalidating my insurance.
One word of caution, I had no accidents or damage. If I had, I would have had to have claimed through Holida ...
Ozymandias's full review | 148 words
Review by
David Price
on 28th Jun 2007
User Rating : 2
Respect :
0
Booked a group which included Renault Megane. When I arrived at the airport I was offered a different car. Fair enough if they had run out of Meganes, but they did in fact have some in stock. When I requested one of these I was told that it would cost extra because according to their classification it was in a different group to the one I had booked. I complained to Holiday Autos on my return.
David Price's full review | 88 words
Review by
dgodfrey
on 27th Jun 2007
User Rating : 1
Respect :
0
I wouldn't advise people using them. Go elsewhere or arrange it at the airport with a local company. At the end of the day, it's all they do anyway, so save yourself money and hassle.
dgodfrey's full review | 68 words
Review by
Rebecca Scott
on 21st Jun 2007
User Rating : 0
Respect :
0
I have heard of this happening before with Holiday Autos- I won't use them again.
Rebecca Scott's full review | 69 words
Review by
cruncher125
on 25th Apr 2007
User Rating : 0
Respect :
0
Holiday Autos boast no hidden charges. How wrong.
When I got back I found an extra £150 had been charge to my credit card. For tax, admin, fuel, roadside service protection and carefree personal protection! I took out collision damage waiver in this country as well as holiday insurance. How insured do I need to be? I had in fact signed something in America to say I wanted all these insurances but no on ever asked if I wanted any of them or explained them. I thought I was signing for the ...
cruncher125's full review | 191 words
Review by
Mattcoster
on 13th Apr 2007
User Rating : 0
Respect :
0
Having paid extra for insurance, we arrived at Faro to find out that we still had an excess of over 1200 Euros, if the tyres or windscreen were damaged. We were offered the chance to reduce this for the sum of 11 Euros. We were not told that this cost was 11 Euros per day, which is an extortionate amount considering we thought we had already insured ourselves. We were also charged for a non-existent extra day.
Mattcoster's full review | 91 words | 1 comment added.
Review by
Greased Lightning
on 4th Apr 2007
User Rating : 1
Respect :
0
The car was dirty and extensively damaged. The first time we tried to drive it, apart from driving from the airport to the hotel, the car would not start. I called the local office who promised to send out a mechanic but could not say when so we left the car at the hotel & took a taxi. On our return the hotel told us that a mechanic had been out to the car and said that it was now OK. When I tried to start the car the engine was still dead. I phoned again, which took 2 hours to get through to th ...
Greased Lightning's full review | 402 words
Review by
lbrindle
on 24th Jan 2007
User Rating : 0
Respect :
0
I booked a car through Holidayautos to collect at 8am Sat 23rd Dec. It was through Alamo and I paid for the booking fully up front. I called Alamo that morning at 8am, their opening time, to check on the car, ask some directions and make sure everything was good to go. They said yes and the car would be ready for me. I got to the location at 10am and found a 20 person queue that took me 75 minutes to get through, to be told when I got to the counter that because I hadn't been there within 2 hour ...
lbrindle's full review | 326 words
Review by
atlanta30350
on 11th Oct 2006
User Rating : 0
Respect :
0
The first time I tried to book a car with Holiday Autos was a disaster. The company had some computer problem the day before my trip, and they were unable to process for the payment. After calling them several times and giving them my credit card number, they just said that something was wrong with my credit card. I also called my bank to check if my credit card had something wrong, but all was just fine. I was exhausted, and I really needed a car, therefore I tried to deal directly with the car ...
atlanta30350's full review | 161 words
Review by
luzy
on 26th Sep 2006
User Rating : 0
Respect :
0
The car was battered and bashed, with things falling off and it was dirty. We complained and we were given another car. This was much better, but we feel this was only as a policeman was listening when we complained. The next car was better, but it still needed cleaning. We complained on our return and got compensation of £12.00, which is laughable. But it is their loss, as we shall not be using them again.
luzy's full review | 77 words
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