written by on 01/05/2013
Do not touch them at any cost cancelled a mini bus can not get my deposit back or hire cost please please do not book with this company
written by fishx1 on 16/04/2013
The new trading names are UK VAN AND MINIBUS HIRE and UK VAN AND MINIBUS RENTALS !! I hired a transit sized van through ukvanandminibusrentals in March and £306.80 was taken from my visa debit card. This included van hire and a £200 deposit which is refundable. The company at the other end then used MY card details again to separately book a van from Europcar. The van arrived and after use it was checked over on collection. That's when the fun began................... I waited for 10 days for my deposit to be returned to my account before phoning to see what the delay was. ukvanandminibusrentals told me that the money would be in my account within the next 2 days. 2 days went by and still no money....I received an email saying that the auto refund system had failed and that if I gave my sort code and account number the money would go via instant transfer. Another 2 days and surprise surprise....no money. After days of excuses ukvanandminibusrentals told me on the phone that I would NOT get my money back as they don't have the funds.... I was told to contact my bank and report an unauthorised withdrawal to get my money. They have done this to hundreds of people and know exactly what they are doing. I have reported them to trading standards and the Police and urge any other victims to do the same.
written by billynodeposit on 07/03/2013
A van was hired via an intermediary firm from UK Van and Minibus Hire in Feb 2013. Deposit was taken by UK Van and Minibus on the same day £400. Three weeks later, all phone calls made to find out where my deposit is, was responded to by lies, i.e we have refunded the deposit we will send you the refund slip, (never sent), and the same person answering the phone and giving a different name each time. Ended up having to obtain credit card chargeback and cancel my credit card because this outfit has got my full card details. Credit card company unsurprisingly very quickly on the ball, with my account credited within 2 days of my complaint received, suggests this is not a first with this company. DO NOT RISK HIRING FROM THIS COMPANY AND IF ORDERING THROUGH AN AGENT VAN BOOKER, DEMAND THEY DO NOT RENT WITH UK VAN AND MINIBUS HIRE.
written by thehotmustards on 26/12/2012
I hired a van and delivery and collection was fine. The problem was getting back the deposit. They came up with all sorts of excuses: 1) Company policy was that they hold the deposit for ten days just in case of any fines. This is rubbish as this was not in their terms and conditions 2) It takes the bank five days to refund card payments, again rubbish The excuses went on and on Then I issued a CCJ claim against them and then bingo I was paid immediately together with my court costs of £30. You have to pay the court costs up front but they have to pay them as well. You can issue a CCJ yourself without using solicitors and it is done online. Would highly recommend using this process of getting your deposit back as they dont want CCJs registered against the company as this will cause them trading problems. Good luck on getting your deposit back and learn the same lesson as I did and dont book anything on line without using a credit card. I used my debit card. If you used your credit card then contact your credit card company as it is down to your credit card company to collect the money back under the credit consumer act.
written by davebalmer on 19/12/2012
I thought I had booked a van for the 30th November as I had given full credit card details and received a confirmation email only to receive a telephone call hours before the van was to arrive and having sent my partner off to the destination address. A very rude male whose attitude less than desirable said no vans were avaialable and blamed me for not booking earlier using the phrase "well what did you expect?". Apart from the absolutely dreadful customer relations, I am left very worried about a company that takes full credit card and address deatails with clearly no intention of delivering the goods. Avoid this company like the plague Dave Balmer
Written on: 01/03/2013
check your bank account that you used for this booking
i have evidence of a link between this and a number of attacks on my account
this is a serious offence and i, and others, are taking further action. the police are investigating, but all people booking with this firm are at risk I believe so please do check as they attack accounts sometimes months after the booking
they also did not return mine and others deposits
written by on 28/11/2012
I hired a van for a Saturday in July, and I am still waiting for my deposit. I was fobbed off 3 times regarding the return of the deposit over a period of a couple of weeks so I turned to my bank. I paid by Debit card and the issuing bank has tried to retrieve this refund to no avail. Now for the next step. I have contacted Citizens Advice Bureau who have replied giving advice and they are passing this matter onto Trading Standards. My next step is another call to the company and then legal action. £250 is a lot to loose so I will not give up easily.
written by hames37 on 11/10/2012
I hired a van from them and they just would not return my deposit of £250. I sent letters, i gave up on the phone. I contacted watchdog, trading standards and i warned them of what i would do. After four weeks i gave up and threatened them with court action. Wow! That got there attention, had my money back within 2 hours, but unfortunately for them i am waiting to hear from 'watchdog', trading standards have been informed and i am in dialogue with them. If they owe you, just threaten them, youo will get it back!
Written on: 19/10/2012
What number did you contact them on?
Written on: 22/11/2012
Same thing happened to me back in June but they took out 2 lots of £250 deposits out of my account! Was not happy so phoned them up and they told me they couldn't deal with my query over the phone! they told me to email them instead so thought I would never get my money back so wrote a stern letter threatening them with legal action and then suddenly I got an email back apologizing and the money was back in my account in 24 hrs later. Have used a different hire company since.
Written on: 26/10/2012
We had our booking cancelled with less than 24 hours notice....they still have £465.99 and will not refund us! it's in the hands of our credit company. Shocking service, no one ever answers the phone. and now they are not answering our emails. How can they still be allowed to continue doing business?
written by Johnty2 on 03/10/2012
The key here is to attack their credit card processing. I am baffled how they get away with it unless they are processing the cards abroad because the rate of chargebacks must be horrendous. I got ripped off and cancelled the card but it equated to 3 weeks of hassle. I have asked the bank to let me know who processed the card and by that I mean the bank that handles the transaction once I have that I will dig! As a private investigator I will certainly wreak havoc but these people need to be stopped because they are causing massive inconvenience and I believe are involved in identity fraud too based on items requested following the booking.
Written on: 05/10/2012
THEY TOOK OFF ME £1000 AND NOW TRADING UNDER ANOTHER NAME AS UK VAN AND MINIBUS HIRE
WWW.UKVANANDMINIBUSHIRE.CO.UK.
I AM CERTAIN THE USE NATWEST STREAMLINE TO PROCESS CARDS AND I HAVE WRITTEN TO THEM AND THERE FRAUD SECTION SO THEY CAN BLOCK ALL THERE TERMINALS.
written by BRYAN123 on 28/09/2012
A1 national van hire is the same company as uk van and minibus hire tel 0844 6933 088 .WE hired a minibus in april an until now our £1000 deposit has not been RETURNED. we have now found out the company has gone is pretending to have gone bust and all there numbers DISCONNECTED,HOWEVER they have set up a new company called uk van and minibus hire same 3 asain guys in the office and started there fraud AFRESH.THE company director hammond kummar is still running the COMPANY.THIS is the 3RD scam comapany he has set up and scammed customers DEPOSITS.THE first company is A1 reservations and now A1 national van hire and the latest one is UKVANANDMINIBUSHIRE. A1 national van hire operates in WEMBLEY,BIRMINGHAM and warrington but suddenly all there phone lines has been disconnected but you can reach them on the new scam company on 0844 6933 088 and dont be fooled as they pretend like its a seperate company when you CALL.HAMMOND kumar is also the director of ukvanandminibushire when we checked with companies HOUSE.I urge everyone to report this to trading STANDARDS,THE POLICE,HMRC,OFT like we have DONE.THEY have stopped answering all calls or the phone is engaged for the whole day but yet the website A1NATIONALVANHIRE.CO.UK is still live and unsuspecting people are probably still been SCAMMED. hammond kumar we are on to you you theiving animal
Written on: 02/10/2012
I still haven't received my £500 depoist either. They have had it since June. I am so annoyed....I'm not giving up though because it's a lot of money.
Written on: 26/12/2012
I issued a CCJ against them and got my money back plus the Court costs of £30. You can do this yourself without solicitors online. It will cost you £30 in court costs but they will have to pay this in addition to the deposit. Good luck. They don't want CCJs registered against them as it will hamper them trading.
Written on: 01/02/2013
We got our money back via the visa scheme with the bank. Thoroughly frustrating that they have set up another company called UK van and minibus hire - BEWARE.
written by on 22/09/2012
this company is totally scamming people out of their deposit monies, I hired a van and returned it 24 hours later, to day 3 weeks I've been chasing for my deposit monies back, if you google a1nationalvanhire review you will find pages and pages of example of them doing the same to everyone, suggest you stay well clear, if you have used them and not got your monies back let me know as I would like to take a multi action law suit against this company and get OFT & BBC watchdog on to them, they're nothing but crooks......... You are never told up front on the website they are taking a security deposit, never use this company, based in leicester.
Written on: 26/09/2012
I booked a van with this company in August. i Didn't even have the van because it couldn't be delivered at the time agreed. the folling week they took £759.18p from my bank leaving me penniless. Despite calling and writing to them i've heard nothing and have enourmous bank charges as well.
Written on: 02/10/2012
I still have't had my deposit back when I used their company in June. I am so annoyed
written by martin_hutch on 18/09/2012
tried to hire a van from them on the 25th of august. they took £441.98 from my account for the rental and the excess. the van never arrived, and neither did a refund. 2 weeks later when i noticed that they had not refunded the money i contacted them. they were not very eager to sort it out, and was promised my money back. 1 week later they are now blaming their bank for the non refund. basically they are trying to hold my money for nothing. this is theft. avoid these muppets at all cost
Written on: 20/09/2012
i rented a van from these people the service was great up to the point of returning the vechicle, never had my security deposit back, which they took without my knowledge from my bank account, they said they would take £89 but took an extra £250 security deposit, this has never been returned, I have found on the internet countless complaints about this company and would suggest anyone stays a million miles away from them, I've just informed Leciesterf trading standards.
written by on 24/08/2012
Same story - van hired at the end of July for one day. They still have not returned the £250 deposit despite numerous phone calls and emails. Last week they said the transfer had been made (it hadn't) and then started blaming their bank. Today they promised (yet again) that the deposit "will definitely be returned next week". Scamsters!I would NOT recommend these people to anyone and I intend to report them to the OFT
Written on: 18/09/2012
I'd like to talk to you about your A1 experience.
Written on: 18/09/2012
This is the best way to get money back : As you can only book online you would have paid by card. Contact your bank and dispute the amount. Your bank will claw back the amount paid from A1 while the dispute is being sorted. This may take a few weeks but in the meantime A1 will have the money taken back from them and the bank will hold it. A1 will have to provide evidence as to the reason they are withholding the deposit. It is very likely that they will site the fact that the van was damaged etc. make sure you have the signed documentation when you returned the van undamaged.
written by on 10/08/2012
Ive just dealt with this company and paid online for a few days van hire. They take a refundable deposit of 250.00 for a small van upfront when you book, fair enough. The web site promises the return of the deposit once you return van unharmed of course. Well this is where your problems start. You wait a few days and no deposit. Call up and they tell you its on the way. Its not. Few weeks later no joy. Call up and ask for accounts they put you through to no one! Ok this is a scam and I may never get my money back. But I would like to let others know. Ive looked them up on companies house, they are A1 NATIONAL CAR AND VAN RENTAL LTD 1311D BREAMER COURT MELTON ROAD SYSTON LEICESTER UNITED KINGDOM LE7 2EN Company No. 06977853 Look them up on google and you see nothing but the same complaints. I noticed that they are not on review centre and they certainly should be as review centre gets more exposure than other review web site. So there you go, hopefully this is the first for A1 NATIONAL CAR AND VAN RENTAL LTD and all you other people looking for van hire should be able to give them reviews also. I also notice that they advertise on Google and the review centre web site (this one) carries their advertising on google ad sense. Let hope that this review centre will stop that also.
Written on: 18/09/2012
Please contact me regarding your A1 experience, I'd like to talk to you about it.
Written on: 01/03/2013
never mind the deposit (important tho these are) this is a wider problem
my id was taken and a crime has been comitted so please be warned check your bank statements even if it's months after the van booking.
Written on: 04/10/2012
To anyone with Complaints regarding A1 Van hire service, please get in touch with the review Centre and ask them if they can give you Flame1 email address, who maybe able to help, i am in touch with this person myself
many thanks
samanda
Written on: 04/10/2012
i had the same thing happen to me - i paid on my companys business card. When i found out they were scanning me and not giving money back i first stopped my bank card to stop A1 illegally taking more monies out as they have done with other customers then phoned my bank Natwest Fraud Team who dealt with this on my behalf - they give the company one month to reply then they automatically refunded me the £250 and have put a chargeback against A1's terminal provider. A1's bank have told my bank they are happy to reimburse chargebacks requests. So if you have been scammed by A1 National Van Hire talk to you bank asap and cancel the card you used. I have my money back now. I hope A! get their comeuppance.
Written on: 03/10/2012
The key here is to attack their credit card processing. I am baffled how they get away with it unless they are processing the cards abroad because the rate of chargebacks must be horrendous. I got ripped off and cancelled the card but it equated to 3 weeks of hassle. I have asked the bank to let me know who processed the card and by that I mean the bank that handles the transaction once I have that I will dig! As a private investigator I will certainly wreak havoc but these people need to be stopped because they are causing massive inconvenience and I believe are involved in identity fraud too based on items requested following the booking.
Written on: 26/09/2012
I can't post contact details - ask the site admin team to be put in touch.
Written on: 26/09/2012
i would like to make contact with you also. but do not know how to? have you any suggestions
Written on: 18/09/2012
I would but do not know how to
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Carriead's Response to billynodeposit's Review
Written on: 25/04/2013
I too am going through the same nightmare following the hire of a van from UK Van and Minibus Rentals. I'm now three weeks without the deposit and the matter is with the retailer dispute team of my bank. I hope I get my money back too. Please do not use this company.