Birmingham Car Hire

Worst car rental experience EVER!!

Pros: NOTHING to like about this rental company other than they had a nice driver taking you from airport to their offsite facility...

Cons: Waited 45 mins until another couple aggravated customers got done My flight was delayed and I was a few hours late... hard to believe, they canceled my reservation and then would reinstate it but the cost jumped almost $300.. I WALKED out and got a car for only $50 more at HERZ.. !!

Bait and switch

Pros: Car was clean, newer model Citroen. Ran well, great gas mileage!

Cons: Deceptive rental practices. Advertised $11.00 per day for the time frame i specified. Total should have been around $100. Inexplicably jumped to $300 plus when I picked up the car.

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE

Cons: From the moment we arrived to pick up the car, till I dropped it off - I've had a horrible experience. They try to rip you off all the time! Took them a hour and a half to release the car when we first arrived! Firstly, because we booked through Kayak, we had to pay for additional collision damage cover. They kept trying to sell add-ons and getting us to pay more. By the time the car was ready, it was dark and there was insufficient light to inspect the condition of the car in detail. The first thing the agent said to us was that the car is dirty and the second question was are you happy with the tyres? I mentioned that the rims were dirty and he said that's alright. It should have struck me then but since the tyres and the rest of the car seemed okay, I signed off and left with the car. Upon return, within less than 10 seconds of inspection, the agent had said that the rims are scratched and it was only on one particular rim. I know for a fact that I had not touched the tyre or rim anywhere, as I was very carful throughout the rental period. Ironically there were no other problems with the car. Upon arguing with the agent, he said its your fault that you signed off without carefully inspecting the car. The scam artist in my case was James Ricardo from the Birmingham location. Oh and their office is not at the airport or the airport train station. You have to make your way outside the station first, then wait until they send a vehicle to pick you up and drop you to their office 5 mins away and same on the way back. If you ask them to drop you at the airport, they give you all sorts of reasons and decline your request. Moral of the story - if you have other options, go for those options. If not, be very careful and inspect the car thoroughly and get their signature before you leave with the car. Never will I hire a car from them again!

Pros: Cheap

Cons: Difficult to get to, issue with time of reservation. Issue reaching kayak support to resolve. Waited 3+ hours to get my car.