Car Hire UK

Eventually, I managed to have my deposit returned after months of emails and phone calls. What I have done is: first, let your card center to handle; second, report to Bromley Police to get involve; and third, write to Consumer Direct and Bromley Trading Standards. I will keep bombing them with emails or even personally. Do not let this company get away with this.

I also had rental nine-seater van from Car-Hire-UK in June 2011. They deducted basic insurance from my credit card for pound 1,100 same day that I make web reservation and my rental fees. Today, almost six months has passed, no refund of my money. I tried to follow up by email and by live phone but nobody responds. No email back to me. I lost of money and also lost of trust to English people. I just find out this website. They do a lot of bad things to people especially to customers overseas.

I had complained this company thru this web site before and still pending their refund. I had lodged a complaint to Bromley Police and they had set up a report for the problem. Hopefully, they can help. It would be helpful if you could also send your case to the 'Telephone Investigation Unit' of the Bromley Police at **. I hope we can gather to force this company refund to us and stop deceiving overseas customers.

I am a Malaysian Tourist. I rented a minivan from **** online for 5 days from 19/11 to 23/11/2011 at London Heathrow Airport Terminal 4. My credit card was directly charged with the collision and fuel deposit for GBP610 the moment I took the car. I have returned the car as promised on 23/11 at Long Stay Car Park T4 Heathrow scratch/dent-free and fuel topped up to full tank and followed all instructions in respect of vehicle return. On 29/11, while still in UK, I found out this 610 was charged but not refunded. An email was sent to inquire with reservation person whom I've been in contact with and I was recommended to call and email the Customer Service. A person by the name of Jacob was called and I was informed that the refund will be made in 9 or 10 days.

Another call was made on 5/12. Sally attended and followed the email re-forwarded from earlier one sent to Customer Service. Despite her promise that it will take a few more working days to be processed and highlighting my problem with accounts to expedite, there was still no sign of the refund. Today, 12/12, another call was made and I spoke to an unidentifiable male and this time, the response was that they are checking with their banks as to why the refund has not been credited to my account. I find this as a lame excuse and more so no email or call from Customer Service as she promised earlier to notify of any issues. 610 is a big sum if converted to my local currency and I have a feeling that this is a deliberate attempt by this company to push me around similarly like others who have had suffered the same experience as mine.

I have now found this website after being suspicious on my return home. After 2 weeks car hire in the UK, I find that this company had taken $680.00 off my Visa card. The day I acquired the car and not once the car had been returned if there had been any damage or no fuel in tank. I have rented other cars from other companies who do not take any money until the car has been returned.

I have called them (in the middle of the night my time) and emailed them daily but to be told that it's being "investigated". Now looking at this website, I feel so stupid to have been duped like this and find so many other people have had the same experience. I had travel insurance which will not cover this as technically I wasn't in an accident so did not make a claim, so I have contacted my bank regarding this debit on my Visa card and they are going to investigate it.

I have emailed this company today again, and threatened legal action if they do not credit my Visa card by end of day Friday 2, December. How awful to be hit up like this a few weeks before Christmas. It's outrageous that they keep trading. Any ideas on how we can warn others not to use them?

I, too, am left chasing 680 pounds (five weeks since returning the car). I, too, have made numerous phone calls and sent a lot of emails. I have been advised to send a recorded letter to the directors Stephen and Maurice ** at their registered address--10a Royal Parade Chislehurst Kent BR7 6NR--giving them a set time limit to pay up or the consequences will be a claim against them in the small claims court. Outline in your letter everything to date and give them a specific time frame in which to reply. I would suggest only seven days, bearing in mind how long they have withheld your money already.

I got 'some' of my money back, after taking legal action. It shouldn't get to this, but I had no choice. I'm still pursuing the law, as they still owe the balance, and I'm going to continue to until I get back all my cash. This is not a real company. Just a small garage with a website. How would they like it, if we hired a car, cancelled our credit cards, and never return the car for months? interesting. I lost money due to this fraudulent company.

I have just finished a long story with CarHire UK in a positive way. It was the same story; 1000 deposit for car hire and the vehicle was returned without any damage and no sign of my money. I called and yelled at them and send numerous mails but have no result. I then sent a formal paper letter telling them that according to their terms this $1000 was a deposit to be returned and I haven't received it. If not returned, I would then take legal actions. I had them admitting in a mail that the deposit was to be payed back by CarHire UK. Their status was again that they were just to process it. I got all conversation together, made copies of them and then filed a request for a card transaction cancellation at Visa.

My deposit was finally paid back after 3-4 weeks after my contact to Visa. Don't give up and don't let this ** company take your money!

I have the same ongoing issue. They took my deposit during the car hire process then refused to pay it back. It's three months now and I've wasted so much money and time calling them from abroad. I am taking legal action. These are fraudsters and I would recommend that no one uses them. You will lose your money. To everyone on this forum, please raise the alarm and contact you bank so Car Hire UK do not take money from your account.

I paid deposits for CDW and fuel. I returned the car to the required location on June 15, 2011. After 2 months, with a threat of legal action, the CDW and fuel deposit had been returned for the initial hire. However, I had to upgrade to a bigger car. And I have been waiting on the CDW and fuel deposits to be returned some 120 days plus. I have now written to the British Minister of Tourism regarding this company running a scam on tourists. Another trick is to only give you 3/4 tank of fuel and require it to be full on return. A further trick they play is when you advise that the car will be returned at 1 pm and not 10 am, they hit you for a late fee, even though you have paid for a full day until 9 am the next day. I returned the car some 20 hrs. before the time and still was hit with a "late fee".

I rented a car for 3 weeks, from July 30th to August 20th. It was a great car. The greet and meet at the airport was good. I had no problems until I tried to get back my fuel deposit and insurance deposit. There were no returned phone calls, no answers on e-mail, just stalling. What can this company be thinking of the bad press in the tourist web-sites that they are getting? I turned this over to my credit card company and have received my money back. I'm planning another trip to the U.K. So, you know what company I will not use. And I will warn people about their practice of not returning deposits.

I have the same situation. I hired a car on 17.8.2011 for a week and returned it in good condition as instructed. It's almost 2 months and they are still holding my deposit. I rang them several times, and they always have different excuse. I am getting annoyed with this company and hope I could help anyone to avoid further victims.

I have their Vehicle Repair Center printed on the form, and I don't know if it is also a fake: Elsinore Garage, 4 Ellenslea Road, St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex. TN37 6HX

I booked a hire car with this company in June this year. The money for the hired car was taken at the time of the booking, which was fair enough. Then a week later (which was over a month before the booking would become active), a 570.00 deposit was also taken off my card. In my opinion, this is not common practice and normal procedure is to take a pre-signed credit print on arrival, but not actually take any money out unless the deposit was required to be claimed in the case of an accident or car left empty of fuel. I phoned the company to complain about this and apparently, this is in their fine print.

So now, over a month before my arrival, they had my booking money and my full deposits sitting in their accounts making them money, instead of me. My car hire lasted for 3 weeks and I returned the car on August 16, 2011; full of fuel and in the condition I hired it. I was still annoyed at them for taking the deposit, but I thought now I would be sure to get it back within a week of completion. After a week passed, I called them up. They gave me an excuse and said it would be sorted as soon as possible. I rang twice a week for another 4 weeks and every time, an excuse was given and no refund was made. They lied to me on several occasions telling me that it had been processed. The company ignored any email sent to them (I have records if required, including recorded conversations).

After 4 weeks of this behavior, I spoke to a manager Jacob ** who informed me that in fact, nothing had been refunded but that he would process it that same day and email me to confirm (15/09/11). This proved that for the past 4 weeks or so, the company had in fact been lying to me by informing me it had been processed. I saw this as a glimmer of light and when the confirmation email arrived, I thought thank goodness it's finally been sorted. Until to my horror whilst checking by credit card, they had in fact taken a further 570.00 out of my account now totaling 1140.

This was the final straw and I got back onto them, and they then had the nerve to blame my bank for the problem saying that they had definitely undertaken a refund, not a charge and that my bank must have processed it incorrectly. I spoke to my bank who informed me that this was impossible. It is now 6 weeks on from when my booking ended, they have had my money in their account for over 3 months now. My credit card company is in the process of dealing with them to hopefully get all my money back; however, I wish to pursue this further and get them reported as this is a blatant abuse of customers demonstrating appalling customer service and illegal practices by retaining money illegally.

I spoke with Jacob today (28/09/11), who continues to say it's out of their hands and will update me when they have further information. I don't believe this for a minute and I believe they undertake this sort of practice focusing on overseas customers who will eventually give up. I would like to see this company repay me everything plus interest for the past 3 months and counting and international transaction fees.

I hired a car from Car Hire UK for 2nd year. I was likewise surprised by a debit of $680 for insurance and petrol deposit ($80), one month before departure and queried this. They told me it was standard procedure. I suggested that if this was the case, it should be made very clear. The car was good, greet on arrival and service was great.

I returned the car to Long Stay Terminal 4 LHR on Saturday, 17th of September. No damage, full tank. I checked to see if my deposit had been re-credited at the weekend. This evening, I received an email with the subject: 'Re : Vehicle damage', claiming that I had not responded to previous email attaching accident claims form and a quotation for the damage to rear bumper, to the sum of 384 pounds. The quotation was provided by Elsinore Garage in St. Leonards on Sea. It was not addressed to any company/person. It was not signed/stamped, there was no photographic attachment to the email or the quotation of the extent of the damage but most surprisingly of all the quotation, it was dated the 16th September 2011, which I'm curious since the car was not returned until Saturday, 17th of September.

I responded by email and then decided to Google 'Car Hire UK customer complaints', and I was surprised to find so many complaints regarding the same scenario. Has anyone succeeded in retrieving their deposit from this company? Are any actions underway? I have requested that they confirm re-crediting of my deposit by close of business this afternoon or I will instruct my lawyers to pursue the matter.

I hired a car on December 2010. I returned it full of petrol, no dents, and clean. I am still waiting for my deposit to be returned, $1085.00 or 670 pounds. I have emailed them. On August 4th, I had email from Chris ** stating they did owe me money and it was being seen to that day. Since then, I heard nothing. It has now been 10 months.

I rented a car in the month of August and gave the car back in the same condition (I cleaned it myself), with a full tank (as per agreement). My deposit money and fuel charges are not yet returned, and it's more than a month now. Guys be careful with this company before you go for a booking. I missed reading this website before booking. I am chasing them for my refund, and they never responded back to my phone or through email. If I had anything below to one star for the feedback, I might have selected that. I don't even know where this company's office is in UK. If not, I might have spent few more money to go and have a visit for a personal discussion. Anybody knows the UK office address of the company?

I rented a car from Car-Hire-UK in July. They never returned my deposit of $690. I returned the car in the same condition as it was given to me. I tried contacting them but they never return any replies. It looks like they do this all the time. Why are they still getting away with it? They need to close down.

I rented a mini van on the 13th of July 2011 from Car Hire UK, and used the "meet and greet" facility. All went well, but ever since I returned the car on the 21st of the same month, I have not received my deposit money. Now they claim that the car was scratched. I don't know how to get my 1100 deposit money back! Can anyone help? Lisa from Cape town did said that she can give us the account number. Can you please, Lisa?

I live in Kenya and hired a car through Car Hire UK. I returned it to the long stay car park at Heathrow terminal 5 as instructed. My parents received confirmation that they collected it. I rang just before my flight and was told that I would receive my 670 deposit after 4 working days. This was 20/4/11. It's now 6/6/11. I have been told twice by email that accounts have sorted it. I have rung 3 times, twice left hanging and incredibly today, I was told on the phone that there is a petrol issue and I scratched the car. I left it with more petrol than I received it with and there was no scratch. Of course, they know this. They are hardly going to wait 7 weeks to tell me this. I intend to follow this through but I am bewildered as to how they get away with it. I will report it to the police next in UK and seek advice from various sources.

As others, I was duped into hiring a car in the UK by the above mentioned company. They tried to defraud me of 890.00 for Insurance access and petrol. As all the other complainants, I tried to contact them and I wonder how there are such a big number of unemployed people in the UK. I think they employ half the population. Everytime I phoned or email them somebody new answered me.

Well, Some good news for the other complainants, all # , they should do is contact their bank from were they have their credit cards and see if they have a department call charge back. They then can work out there problem like I did and my bank retrieved all my money back with the same exchange rate. So good luck and hope that this company finally stop trying to be so arrogant and give the service that it boasts about.

I hired a car over the internet from Car Hire UK, website www.car-hire-uk.com The accepted quotation was for the hire of a Ford Focus or similar* over the period 7th September 2010 to 19th September 2010 for the amount of 242.97 inclusive of insurance etc. *(Car actually hired was a Citreon C4). There was an additional charge of 25 for a "meet & greet" service. An amount of 947.97 was deducted from my credit card. The "meet & greet" service was very good and the car was good. At the end of the rental period, I left the car at the Heathrow long term parking in good condition with a full tank of fuel so there should not have been any extra costs.

Therefore Car Hire UK owe me the balance of 680.00 which they have never paid. It's now been 7 months that I repeatedly emailed them with my request for refund and again tried over their website where I lodged a ticket query without response. I have also tried several times to phone them but only got voice prompts which only led me to speak to someone on two occasions. In both cases they agreed to refund the money but nothing has transpired. Please advise me whether you will be able to raise this matter with Car Hire UK or advise me what I must do to conclude settlement satisfactorily. Your assistance would be much appreciated.

On the 4th of June 2010, I hired a van from this rental company which we collected from Heathrow. Surprisingly, we were charged a deposit of 1,100 for the vehicle and petrol. Funds were taken immediately from our credit card. The van was returned on the 7th of June 2010 and to date we are still chasing for the refund to be effected. Many promises by email, forget getting through on the phone but no refund as yet, 3 months after vehicle was returned. What a shame, is this the customer promise which the company states in its initial communication with the client!

We booked a small group a car for a run around to see our grandkids. On arrival there at Heathrow, we had a meet and greet which to be fair was very good and hassle free. Our problem came once we got the car. They gave us what they called a free upgrade to a new Mercedes Benz Class Sport. It was far too big. We struggled to park it. We took the car and then tried to call and demanded they changed it. They apologized and said they have sold out and we had been upgraded free of charge. But we told them we wanted the car we booked. Yes, they apologized but did nothing. All they said they could do was swap to a similar size car, or offer a refund for any unused days. It really left us with no option but to stick with the larger car.

I made the order in February 2009, ID **, and paid for Cancellation Protection. Because of family circumstances, I canceled my order in the 11th of July, two months before the termination of the order (September 17). The cancellation was done through Internet via email and I received a confirmation. So far, despite one and a half months of contacting many employees of this firm, I still have not received the money back and there was no explanation as to why. I paid 350 pounds for the order and 20 pounds for the Cancellation Protection. Now, I am spending money, time and nerves just to receive my money back.

We hired a car from these people and they took 600 pounds for insurance excess and 70 pounds for petrol. I did not know about but later found small print to that effect so it was my fault. I also messed the booking times up so was charged a 80 pound fee for out of office times but it was corrected and money refunded straight away.That was OK. We had great service up to the point of getting our 670 pounds back. Lots of emails and phone calls made and everybody was polite but no action. Been over 3 weeks now. Done some research on web and found lots of other people in same position. Most say they get money back after along time. My guess, they hold on to this money as long as they can. This pays for leasing the car which they then rent out. Be wary about using these people.

We have rented a car from this company on several occasions and many times we had difficulty getting our deposit returned. This has necessitated numerous costly international phone calls, many e-mails, and etc. The refund usually takes many weeks to come through. On this last occasion, I was told twice by e-mail that the refund had been made when in fact it had not.

Eventually, I have had a partial refund, but over 300 pounds has been held back to pay for a replacement key. A local dealer and two key businesses have indicated that this is at least double what the charge would be for the type of car and key involved (the key was lost while we had the car and so there was no loss of rental income to the company). We do not mind paying a reasonable amount but this is clearly over the top.

Like so many of you, I hired a car at the end of May this year. They took out 890GBP for insurance and fuel deposit. This naturally rang bells, as I have hired cars all over the globe and never has any car company taken the money out for insurance and fuel deposit. However, I only found out they took the money out 5 days before our holiday - too short to change to another company. I was assured by Mike, the guy who picked us up, that the money would be returned within 5-6 working days. The rest you all know: endless e-mails even with threat of lawyer (no reply), phoning - that was a joke. I now have my credit card company working on it.

Lisa from South Africa, I would indeed like the telephone number that you got, and I will also go to the police and send a very firm letter to the Bromley Trading Standards (and maybe also Watchdog BBC - if this program still exists). Something has to be done about this unscrupulous company, and the complaints appear to only come from people who live outside the UK?

I had exactly the same experience with this company in July this year. I wished I had researched this company on the internet before I booked car hire with them. Fortunately, I did receive my deposit of 560 pounds back a couple of days ago. But I had to become very aggressive with them to the extent of emailing the Bromley Police and Bromley Trading Standards about this company. I don't know if everyone had the same problem. But I was spending so much money on phone calls only to be put on hold and then disconnected. I must have sent 50 emails and faxes.

Eventually, I managed to persuade a reservations consultant to give me the phone number of the accounts department. I spoke to a woman called Mrs. ** and told her I had reported the company to the police. She said she would look into the matter. Suddenly, I received an email saying they were very distressed about the police being involved and that they had refunded my money!

I visit the UK every year and usually use Alamo Car hire. Alamo does not deduct the excess of 500 pounds and would only do this if there happened to be an accident. When I saw that Car Hire UK had debited my credit card with this amount plus the 60 pound fuel deposit, I must admit warning bells did go off! Let me know anyone who wants this contact phone number, but I hope by now you have been refunded.

I hired a car from them in April 2010 and returned on May 2, 2010. They have still not refunded me the deposit of 670 GBP. I have kept on calling them and also have their conversation recorded but nothing. They just won't refund. I have also done a fraud complain with my credit card company and waiting for their response. How can we recover this?

I hired a car in London on 3 separate occasions in May to June. I have complete details if you will require them. On the first 2 rentals, I was requested to pay a vehicle deposit of 100GBP plus fuel deposit of 80GBP being advised that these deposits would not be processed. Then upon return of the car, the relevant sales vouchers would be cancelled.

Upon returning to Australia, my Visa statements show that both vouchers had been processed. I immediately emailed Jacob who advised that my insurance excess and fuel deposit would be processed back to my account ASAP. This was on the 5th of July and no credits have been issued to date. I have sent further emails with no response and also telephoned their Bromley office where I was put on hold for 20 minutes and eventually put the phone down in disgust. Reading through your complaints on file, it looks like I am not the only person to be conned. Is there any further action I can take? Thank you.

I hired a car in April 10 and am still waiting for refund of 600 pounds in insurance excess and fuel deposit. I have emailed and phoned so many times that I have lost count. Not once has anyone been able to give me an explanation verbally or attempted to respond to my emails. Where do I go from here?

I hired a car from this company in October 2009. I have been trying ever since returning the car to get my deposit of 600 pounds back without success. I have sent numerous emails and all I get is promises of a refund but nothing happens. Is there a Tourist Complaints office in the UK? What do I do?

I am a doctor working in India. About 6 months ago, I hired a car from the rental company, but till date, they have not credited the rental deposit money despite several telephone attempts and letter sent to them. Could you please let me know how to go about this? Many thanks.

CARHIREUK no refund - car-hire-uk.com complaints - we hired a car from this company and booked a Group B small car, and on arrival at there branch in Bromley the young lady gave us the keys to a renault laguna, it was far to big for us, it was just me and my wife, we demanded a small vehicle, they eventually gave us the keys to a focus, which again we didnt want it was fairly big as well it had a sat nav built in which we did not want.