UK Car Rental

Maybe we were just lucky but I've just had a good experience with this company actually. I booked a car through 1st UK Car Rental in November for our Christmas holiday and afterwards read this thread and the one on TripAdvisor feeling quite ancious.

Our flight to the UK was then delayed 5 hours so I tried phoning these people to confirm that the car would still be there for us - no answer, just a voice machine. I then sent them a chat message via the website asking them to confirm asap (but only received a reply 2 days later stating that they had informed Enterprise about it!). In the end I called Enterprise in Gatwick directly and they confirmed my booking and that the car would be waiting for us all day. That was a good start.

When finally arriving at Enterprise in Gatwick, everything did actually seem to be in good order - the Enterprise guy was mumbling something to himself about the additional driver but we ended up getting it for free anyway. Price was as quoted. Of course Enterprise tried to push an upgrade and further insurances on to us, but that's pretty standard. So in the end we were very happy with this car rental.

Booked a car and had to cancel (only had to cancel because I had to fly/pick up the car within a few days due to an emergency and they never replied in time, so booked a car with someone else). However, they offered me a credit of 37.5. Rebooked a car for another date, but never recieved a credit aginst the new reservation, so I wrote to them and they promised me if I make our other reservations, they would credit me before any payment was taken. Nsedless to say, I did an I never got my credit and they took the money.

11 messages later on their website, still waiting for a reply (although they mark replied)! Don't bother with the chat line, it doesn't exist!

If you have a problem, maybe go to the trading standards in the area.  They also own 1 cafe

My husband and I had to fly from Ireland to the UK for a family funeral. We booked a car from a broker 1st UK Car RentalsThe website seemed legitimate and they offer us a car through Enterprise. We proceed to book and read the terms and conditions.

They offered us the following included in our rate of £51.36 [they charged our credit card £6.60 as a booking fee] :

Collision Damage Waiver

Theft Protection

Liability Insurance

Unlimited Mileage

Free Extra Driver

24 Hour Breakdown Cover

ALL VAT AND LOCAL TAXES

Premium location Fee

Vehicle Licence Fee

We booked a small car to be collected at the Enterprise Desk, at John Lennon Airport on the 17/11/14 at 12.30pm, returning to the same location on the 20/11/14 at 8.30am.

On arrival we handed our voucher to the clerk. He questioned it and said that the £44.76 balance to pay did not include TAX and airport charges. It also did not cover the additional "free" driver. We were shocked.

We had to pay all these extra charges plus take out another excess insurance to allow for both of us to drive. We ended up paying over £100, and another £100 deposit.

I have tried and tried to get through to 1st uk car rentals. I have rang every day and left messages, no reply. I have emailed them through their website everyday no reply.

We are very worried that are details could be used for fraudulent purposes and we also want a refund, as we did not get the service we were promised.

Knowing upfront car hire is cheaper, you should realise that declining a rental after 2 days and after guarenteeing it with a rental certificate is quite unbritish. (in the old days, at least)Nowadays unfortunately this kind of practices seem to be British.

A declined payment of a bank follows promptly, not after 48 hours, unless the bank has a reason, which they stated they had, regarding your company.

You stated my payment to your company was declined AFTER enabling me to download a rental certificate. This is dubious.

Reviews about your company are not positive.

I really hope you will not debit my account, because I would be forced to take serious actions, and I can assure you that even if it is a minor amount, I will go to the bottom of it.

If my bank declined payment to your company, they probably have a reason.

"1st UK Car Rentals" this company offer very low online quotes - less than 50% of competitors

however you are unable to contact them by phone.

it seems too good to be true - so probably is !

how can you hire with confidence if you are unable to contact customer services in the event of a problem???

Carquest (now Kendall) car rentals, HeathrowI have rented from Carquest at Heathrow twice yearly and always found them to be exemplary ,efficient in their meet- and- sign- delivery at the handy car park, and I was away in what seemed minutes, all details taken care of by email beforehand. Always pleasant and knowledegable greeters.Not so this last time in June. The company had been recently taken over by Kendall cars in Guildford. The (very) young associate sent to meet me didn't have a clue as to why the insurance was now changed and the agreed- by- email figures now different. He promised to have the office call first thing and they did, with a clumsy explanation of why the rental/insurance figures differed from the email agreement ( though they came to a confusing same total as agreed upon)Upon returning the car to the lot I was told to go to ( address changed during my week's stay) the lot seemed to have no idea of why I was there. Eventually they dug out an email agreement with Kendall. I was made late for my plane by the problem.Hopefully Kendall will return to the great service offered by the former carquest after they sort themselves out. Beware. Be very ware.

Don't use UK Car Rental. They claim to deliver the car/van to your house. Our van was delivered 1 hour early and collected 1 hour late - their terms and conditions say that you have to wait for 6 hours from the time they say they will collect the van, otherwise they charge you. This is completely outrageous - you've paid to get it picked up at a specified time. If you returned it 6 hours late, they wouldn't be too pleased! As well, they took a £75 deposit for fuel, which they then cashed, even though we returned the van with a full tank. This was eventually repaid. But overall, very poor service.