CarTrawler Reviews

I booked a car in Dubai through Cartrawler website. Received a call immediately from the car renting company that they can't manage the booking for some reason. I was ok and asked for refund. Cartrawler got all my money as an administration fees!!! They are only a bunch of charlatan.

For the first time I used CarTrawler to book a Ford Fiesta or similar vehicle for a week with pickup at Istanbul Ataturk Airport. The price was good and the company took £28 deposit on my VISA card without any issue. I received my car voucher confirmation and it all looked OK. If only I had taken the trouble to read all these reviews first!

I don't even want to describe my situation with this company site. As you can read people's review, basically this company has no reputation at all. I would call this site or company a scam. I don't know if I used the right word. But this company provide you the most inaccurate information with the car company you are actually dealing with. I was told that I will be charged around $80 USD and some underage fees. But it turns out that the real totally amount the car company charged me was $470 USD. At the end, I didn't rent the car because it's twice as much as my flight ticket. I rather take taxi or trains to my destinations. I wouldn't bet everything I have on this company. DO NOT TRUST THEM.

I thoroughly recommend that anyone using the CarTrawler car rental broker service cancel their transaction immediately and book directly with a car rental company instead. I booked my flight from Auckland to London with Emirates Airlines. Their website has a link to a car rental service. As a quality airline, I had no misgivings about using this service thinking that I was somehow making my car rental booking through Emirates as well. The rental rates were attractive and initial booking confirmations appeared to also come from the Emirates team.

Like another dissatisfied user of CarTrawler services, I was also hit with unexplained charges on my credit card when renting a car in Norway. On querying the charges, they explained they were for late pickup and for Toll Tag rental. None of this was explained or documented when I had made the reservation. They also make it really difficult to contact them and then request multiple documents, which have to be uploaded to their website, some of them I just didn't have. They don't have an email address and you have to write to them. I've contacted my credit card company and am trying to obtain a refund. I will never deal with CarTrawler ever again!

Booked a car through HolidayAutos, which I now understand is actual CarTrawler, to be collected from Lisbon Oriente Station. No information was provided about who to collect the car from and I naturally assumed there would be a HolidayAutos office at the station. Actually I had to ask at 3 different companies before I discovered that HolidayAutos is just an agent and the car was from Avis. It gets worse! The small print, that I couldn't open on my phone, says you need a credit card to collect the car and I don't have one - so no car. Naturally I was surprised to see that HolidayAutos still took payment.

I am very disappointed in the process of booking a vehicle with Europcar. We booked online with CarTrawler and once the booking had been complete online, we were advised the outstanding booking amount to be paid was $447.54. When we got to the pickup center we were unexpectedly slapped with ADDITIONAL CHARGES on top of the $447.54: Collision car damage waiver: $132; Vehicle Reg Recovery Fee: $40.50; Road Assistance Cover: $30; Premium Location Schg: $190.38; Credit Card Fee: $10.27; Exceed vchr val-drv charge: $236.09; GST: $$63.26.

I rented a car in Norway via CarTrawler. The terms clearly specified that late pickup and toll tag were included, so I was surprised to find an extra charge of £80 approx. I queried this and eventually received a reply that the charge was for late pickup and toll tag daily rate. This reply seems to mean case closed as there is no way I can reply to it to take it further, and I can't log back on to their site. Essentially they explain clearly that they have stolen money from me but I can't have it back. I have written by post to their office in Ireland but I'm not holding my breath.

Booked a rental from CarTrawler and after amending my plans, had to change the pick-up location from Belfast airport to City Centre. I made this request via their online form, no reply. I made the same request a few days later, no reply. I found a contact e-mail and made two further attempts to amend my booking, that's all I wanted! No reply. With my travel date approaching I cancelled my booking and went with another rental company in Belfast that would actually correspond with their customers. I checked my Mastercard for the refund and within ten (10) days it appeared, less a 20€ surcharge. I am fuming. As other have already stated, AVOID CARTRAWLER at any cost, once they have your money and your booking, if they made one at all, they do-not-care! They will either ignore you or fleece your account for 20.

Very disappointed. Car reservation did not take place. The process on their website is not very clear. On the website, I reserved the car with my credit card and inserted my wife's driver's license as she is the one driving. When I arrived at the rental desk they did not give us the car and we nearly ended up with our two small children late in the evening without transportation. We went to the next company (Europcar) which rented us a car with me paying it with my credit card and with my wife driving it. No problem.

When I booked my Hawaiian Airlines flight for June 2016 (6 mo ahead) at the end I was offered a car rental for $386 for the two week period. I was aware that that was a good rate so I accepted it. I actually received a confirmation from Cartrawler.com that said "Thank you for choosing Hawaiian Airlines for your car rental. Your booking reference is included below". I assumed that Cartrawler was a subsidiary of Hawaiian Air and forgot about it. Next day I received another email from Cartrawler stating that they couldn't get me the car they had quoted but had secured one for me from another company for $96 more ($480) and asked me to confirm my acceptance.

I went online to book a car rental. Not sure how it was booked through CarTrawler but when I received my booking voucher 48 hours prior to pick up and after reading the fine print I decided to cancel my rental and book directly with a major car rental dealer. I tried to cancel the reservation after being told something totally different from what was in the car rental voucher. I called several times and received conflicting information. Then they tried to charge me more than my actual car rental. They told me to call back in 3 hours, 2 hours and then the next day to speak with a supervisor. They said they were going to call me back but never call me back. Please stop this company from doing business in the U.S. and taking advantage of people. They are rude, disrespectful and more importantly they are liars.

I was on Thrifty.com website, and selected a car for rental at Tampa International Airport. There was a special offer for a "Wild Card" which is that they pick the car, compact or larger. I then clicked on the link provided to prepay a deposit on this deal. I still thought I was dealing with Thrifty, since the webpage had all their logos etc. I gave my credit card info, and the deposit of $35.49 was accepted and charged to my credit card. A few days before I was to pick the car up, I had a change of plans, and called Thrifty with the confirmation number that CarTrawler had emailed to me. The reservation number did not exist! In fact, no reservation was in my name at all in Thrifty's reservation system.

This company is dishonest and rude. I rented a car for a day and only 90 km were included. They said this was made clear and showed me a screenshot on a booking site. I did the same on the booking site I had used, this was not shown here and is only shown later and if you read the terms very thoroughly. Such a short distance is a major drawback and I could've taken the bus instead as it's not even enough for a return trip from Aarhus airport to the city center. They refused to listen and I said it was just a matter of principle, not the amount charged. They refused to admit any mistakes and even lied about how this is made clear to customers. I hope they disappear soon.

I booked my holiday package to Dubai from lastminute.com (flight + hotel + car). The car was provided by CarTrawler. When I got to the airport they required a credit card which I don't own one. But it was all paid by my debit card. They refused to give me the car. Very disappointed. They are looking at the case and told me they'll reply to me. Over a year now and the case is still going. Don't trust them.

I booked a car at Price and immediately discovered there was yet another fee due at check that I didn't think was properly disclosed. They made their price seem like a discount off of it. The website had the skin of Budget Rental and initially I believed I was booking directly with Budget. Both the way the pricing was disclosed and the faux Budget appearance, I think were extremely deceiving.

Never experienced such a friendly and correct car rental ever! Booked 10-11-2015 a car with Thrifty Faro and the lady with a smile, named Garcea (sorry if I spelled her name incorrect), gave us an unforgettable service. Because our booked car wasn't available, we got a very exclusive car for a little additional charge. By returning the car we immediately got the bill. Everything correct and no surprises at all. Impeccable service with a smile! We were very happy to experience that this kind of service still exists in the car rental world. Thank you Thrifty Faro Portugal and thank you especially Garcea!

Due to internet connection I made a double booking for a car hire. While the transaction was still pending I advised the company. They assured me, they will withdraw only one amount. Unfortunately they didn't, they took both! Then they said it would take 20 business days (1 month) to get refunded, then via email they were reluctant to take responsibility. Instead tried to hide behind their multi company business ventures... but the bank statement clearly had their name on the withdrawal! They actually are operating thinking that people will forget?! Eventually I will get the money back, but be aware it's a shabby shady company, stay away!

This "company" is a huge scam! They made me pay for its "services online" (means booking) $460, WTF! That's more than a car rental. Fortunately I could do something with my bank to get my money back but this company is really no-trust worthy!

I booked and paid for a car to be picked up in Johannesburg. I also purchased no-excess insurance from CarTrawler. When I got to Johannesburg, I was told I had a booking but I did not pay so I had to pay again. I contacted CarTrawler. To this day I am waiting for a response from them.

As I arrived to Fiumicino, Italy the bus dropped me to the check in of Goldcar Rental. With the contract through CarTrawler I had: No insurance coverage; No road assistance; No transportation back to the airport when returning the car; Had to pay for a full tank right away at an overpriced rate and had to return the tank empty!!! Crazy!!! No Amex to be able to cover all damages! Had to pay extra Euros 300 for 7 days to get all this. Do not try to book with CarTrawler!!!

On October 1st, 2015 I went to Dollar Car Rental (3383 Tom Braniff Drive, Dallas, TX 75235) to pick-up the car I reserved two weeks earlier with a paid $90.00 deposit, taken from my debit card. When I tried to secure my rental car I was denied the rental. They claimed that my debit card was not accepted. I explained that my debit card was accepted for the $90.00 deposit - two weeks in advance - and that on the Dollar Car Rental Agreement site it reads that a debit card is accepted if accompanied by a card from Costco Wholesale - I am a Gold Star member. The supervisor, a woman named **, was exceeding rude when she adamantly denied my booking, refused to even look at my Costco card, and told me and my son to "Get out of her building". I retorted that the building was not hers, it belongs to Dollar Car Rental and that is only because they have customers - of which I would never be again.

Would not recommend either of these companies to anyone! Reserved and paid for a vehicle rental online through Dollar. When I arrived to pick up my vehicle the line was extremely long (45 minutes) and we were told they were having computer issues. This caused problems with my reservation, my card got declined because they recharged everything and I told them to cancel the reservation. It's been over 20 days and I'm still waiting for my refund. I am seeking legal counsel.

I went online to rent a car through Thrifty. They took payment of $78+ on Tuesday & I was to pick up the car today. I get to the airport to pick up my car and was told they couldn't accept my visa debit card. So upon calling and notifying CarTrawler they told me it could be up to 20 days to get my refund. However they sent me an email telling me that I had to have a major credit card on file with them (which I did not) and because I did not I was not going to get my refund of my payment. So not only did I not get to rent the car, I'm also getting screwed out of my prepayment.

I placed a reservation and had never used this particular card online at all. Within one day, my account was hacked for over $6000. My bank had to immediately discontinue my card and mail me another one. I was working out of town, and my bank is a local bank to my home. Although I had paid for the car, Cartrawler would not let me get the car because they needed an active card and I had not yet received mine. This is understandable to me. BUT, for a $94 rental, THEY KEPT $65 OF MY $94 FOR AN ADMINISTRATIVE FEE!!! Really?

Booked a VW Polo, arrived at the airport to be told I had a Corsa and this was a 'similar' car - yes it has 4 wheels and a steering wheel but the marque was not comparable. "When do you have a VW available?", asks I... "We don't have such a vehicle for hire - take it or leave it."

I reserved a rental car and prepaid through what I thought to be www.dollar.com, but was redirected to cartrawler.com. I went to pickup my vehicle and learned that Dollar Rental hadn't received the prepaid funds and wanted to charge full price. I'm in the process of trying to have the prepaid amount refunded since I was unable to secure the vehicle. Was advised that it can take 20 business days. I'm not holding out hope that the refund would come to fruition, especially after reading other reviews on this company. Please be careful when renting vehicles online to be sure not to be redirected to this company.

We booked a 9 seater with boot space. On arrival we waited 2 hours to be seen with 3 children (1 aged 2 years). To be advised they had no car. We waited a further 1 hour and were offered a 7 seater. No refund was offered. We were not allowed to take the car until we took out additional insurance above that taken out at booking. An additional total of E150 for a smaller car. Back in UK. We took our dispute back to CarTrawler - they offered to refund the first insurance policy and the cost difference however, they offered no compensation and would only refund the cheaper policy not the extra more expensive one we were given no choice about. This they advise they considered a fair resolution. - I don't think so. The car in Ibiza was disgraceful.

I had the worst customer service experience ever from this company. I would NEVER recommend this company to anyone. If I could rate them less than a one star I would! I wish I had checked this site first before I booked, to see all of the negative reviews. I attempted to rent a car through this company. Only to realize that the price that was advertised would not be the final price. Upon check out I realized that there would be an additional payment due upon pick up of our rental car. The final price would end up being much more expensive than going through another rental company. I immediately tried to cancel the reservation online, however I due to my computer settings I was unable to cancel the reservation online.

Booked online for rent a car at Venice. The price quoted £82 including damage insurance when reached Venice. The person at rental desk was charging £240 above the amount we paid online. Then he cancelled the booking, as we were not happy. We wanted to complain, she said, it's done online. They have agreed to refund the damage insurance of £32 but not the rental. I shall be taking this through the trading standard and small claim court.

After not being able to pick up our car due to card issues we asked for a refund... 6 weeks later we are still waiting. Every excuse has been given. When asked to speak to a manager there is never one available. First they said they would arrange for it to be refunded, then they would pass it on to the relevant department, then it would take 10-15 working days. Then it would be in your account on the 15 working day, then that 10-15 working days meaning, working days being Monday-Friday even though they are a 24 hour a day operation. I will never recommend using them... This is the company that Lastminute.com use for their car rentals. I feel they are letting down Lastminute by very bad after sales service. Still waiting for the refund.

On July 22nd I made a reservation for a Thrifty car rental with insurance coverages. The online service took a $154 prepayment charge on my visa, but then when I returned the car I was again charged the total value of the car rental without consideration of the prepayment made on July 22nd. I was charged $200.28, the full value of the rental. I have been trying to get Thrifty rent a car to refund me the prepayment and then their customer service person wrote me an email stating that I have agreed to options which are insurance coverages so therefore no resolution and no refund made to my prepayment. Who do I call or contact to get this straighten out? I want my refund of $154 made on July 22nd.

I am very disappointed from that company because they charge my credit card with another amount from what booking details said.

I rented a car through CARTRAWLER at Malpensa Airport (Milan). I ordered online with a Visa (HSBC Premier). When I arrived in Milan, they refused to give me the car claiming that I should have a Credit Card not a Visa. Then, I contacted them to get a refund. I escalated the issue to the CARTRAWLER management - and are still refusing to refund the car rental. The fact that they accepted my Visa to book online and they refused it at the desk - makes me think they are running a SCAM.

Absolutely never ever use CarTrawler or a company associated with CarTrawler such as Holiday Autos, Thrifty or Argus Car Hire. I had a car hire booking made on the 25th April 2014 for £272.42. On the 27th December, the day before I was due to collect the car in France, I received their standard car hire reminder, but on it it stated that I had booked to collect my car in a place called St. Louis when I had booked Basel - Mulhouse Bale. I knew there were a few exits at Basel for different countries but I had ensured I had booked the correct one (French exit rather than Germany etc).

I booked a car rental through a CarTrawler affiliated website (holidayautos.co.uk). It was marginally cheaper than a car made available through rentalcars.com, where I normally book my rental cars. When I arrived at the airport to pick up the car, I was told I could not have it, because my booking included no insurance at all (i.e. not it did not include fully comprehensive insurance, it did not include even the minimum insurance legally required to put the car on the road). I can't see how this is any different from them telling me my booking included the car, but not a steering wheel or the wheels or the gas pedal or the brakes, for which I would have to pay extra.

I went to the Dollar car rental website to rent a car. It said I could save money if I prepaid. I had no idea I was no longer dealing with Dollar (but with CarTrawler). I prepaid for the car. My flight was changed and I arrived late to pick up the car. They did not honor my reservation AND THEY KEPT MY $340.00!!! NO car and NO refund!! This is outright theft and absolutely unethical. I DID arrive to pick up the car. They DID have cars in the lot, but because I was late they cancelled the reservation and kept my entire fee! Many calls and emails yielded nothing. This company is a sham and should not be allowed to do business in our country. I repeat, DO NOT USE this service!!!

I made a very bad experience while using the website of Olbia Airport in Italy to rent a car, for my vacations from 11 to 21 August. The website is linked with the company CarTrawler. We rent with this site a car for 10 days, paying €280 in advance with a VISA PREMIER Credit Card. The company was NOLEGGIARE. Arrived at the airport, this company refused to gives us the car, arguing that my VISA card was not enough as a guarantee. I proposed to make the guarantee (€1100) by cash, and they also refused it.

I have always been treated good from Dollar Rent A Car. So I prepaid $390.85 for a car from Dollar through CarTrawler. I was only supposed to have to pay $190.02 when I picked up the car. The attendant said he had to run my card for $393. I was traveling with twin 5-year-olds and a bit stressed so I said fine and didn't question it. He said it was declined. I gave him a different card. He said that was declined. I asked him if he put in the right address. He ran it again. It was declined he said. I gave him the first credit card and I told him I had a $400 limit on the card so if it was $393 it should go through. He ran it again and said it was declined.

I rented a car through Dollar Rental and prepaid. Apparently CarTrawler takes the prepayment. When I arrived at the airport Dollar was out of cars. Since they didn't have a car I ended up renting through a different company. I called CarTrawler for a refund and it has been over two months and my refund is still in the investigation phase. Every time I call they give me the run around, try to tell me a manager is not available and insist that I call their Ireland office to resolve the issue. They will not give me an email address to contact and do not resolve anything. They also said that since I didn't cancel my rental (remember I arrived to find that there wasn't any car to be rented) that I would have to pay a processing fee which would limit my refund. Absolutely horrible customer service. They will not refund you and will just give you the run around. Avoid this company at all costs and do not prepay your car rental with Dollar or you will deal with CarTrawler.

I booked a car with the company. This was confirmed on the website and money was taken (at least for my insurance). ON the basis of the booking I went ahead and booked my holiday (flights, hotels, etc). Later I was informed that the booking was being processed and not confirmed. I immediately called to inform them of the situation. I was told that things would probably be ok. They were not. My booking could not be confirmed and now I had a whole holiday booked without transport available. How could they tell you that you have a car when you do not. Useless company and I will never use them again. I am a frequent hirer of cars and only used them as they purported to have availability when others did not. They misled me and will do the same to you. DO NOT USE THEM.

I would avoid this company at all costs. The hire company (Gold Car) would not let us take the car unless we signed up for every possible type of extra insurance... None of which we needed or wanted. We were stuck at a foreign airport with young children at 8pm on a Sunday evening and CarTrawler offered no support whatsoever. The worst company I have ever dealt with.

Despite booking months in advance, on arrival in Italy they had one type of car available to ALL customers, a tiny Citroen C1. That was it, take that or nothing. Transfer back to airport to hire through another company 2hours later! (obviously more expensive as hiring on the spot). Returned from holiday chasing CarTrawler endlessly for a refund. They would only refund the cost of the original car (after a lot of emails back and forth), so we are 300 out of pocket. AVOID AVOID AVOID!

Booked directly on the Thrifty website. Put a $260 deposit down then received 4 emails from a foreign company named CarTrawler saying my name was spelled wrong and license number needed to be confirmed. Called Thrifty to confirm my reservation and they had no record of it. After being hung up on after 4 consecutive phone calls, I'm pretty sure I was just screwed out of $260. I've always booked Enterprise and never had any issues. But this one was cheaper so I decided to give Thrifty a shot. NEVER AGAIN!!! I will gladly pay the extra in the future. Not sure how they can get away with this. Do not book through THRIFTY!!!

DO NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR!!! The worst company I have ever had to deal with. We booked a car online with Argus for pick up at London Airport 8 months in advance of our trip to get a good price. The booking was confirmed. We paid the deposit by credit card and the car was to be picked up from Budget/Avis at London Airport. Luckily, at this time, I sent Budget/ Avis a confirmation. Full payment would be required by Argus 6 days before picking up the car. When we arrived in UK we planned to spend 5 days in London and 5 days in Paris and then go to London Airport to pick up our car to continue our trip for 20 days around the UK. We put 20 pounds on prepaid telephone in London.

Re: Cartrawler. I STRONGLY recommend NOT using this company. I booked a car through CarTrawler in Spain. When I went to pick it up I was told an international licence was required and therefore was ineligible to rent it. (I showed a valid Canadian licence.) I immediately contacted CarTrawler and cancelled the agreement. Their website clearly states there is no cancellation fee if done within the required timeframe. Despite meeting this criteria, I received a follow up email from CarTrawler saying they were charging a 60 Euro fee. It is not possible to respond to their emails. They have a call center, but that person said they were not authorized to assist customers, but rather sent a web link. I wrote my complaint via that process but received no response. Like many others, my experience with CarTrawler has been wholly unsatisfactory.

I was charged $440.00 for a car I was not able to get because my name was not the same as the driver who would be renting the car. My friend needed to rent a car and did not have a debit card in his name and asked to borrow my card. The website accepted the reservation and I was not able to rent the car and I was asked to pay an administrative fee of 60-100 dollars to investigate my case. I feel this is unfair. Please look into this. Thank you.

Booked a car through CarTrawler via the Emirates website. Paid in advance, gave all credit card details as required so as far as I knew I had committed to a hire car and all details were accepted. Upon reaching Madrid airport we were informed we couldn't hire the agreed car. Why? Because that car required two credit cards. Two credit cards??? Since when? Why then were we not required to input two credit card details upon booking? Told we couldn't have the agreed car and given a sub standard car in its place. I will never use CarTrawler or Avis car rentals ever again. Have hired cars before without any trouble through other companies.

Hi everyone. I would like to share my HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE with CarTrawler company for car rental. Here's my story - I made an online reservation to rent a car in Barcelona Airport Terminal 1, as we are a family of 4 persons I made my reservation for a Volkswagen Passat as we have many luggages pieces, at least 4 to 5 pieces. Anyway I made my reservation online, paid whole amount by credit card, but surprisingly when I arrived to Barcelona to pick up my car I found them changing the one I rented, replacing it with one that takes 2 luggages maximum according to the employee of the AVIS COMPANY which I think is the representative front office for CARTRAWLER COMPANY.

I contacted the so-called Australian number... but landed up in Dublin! I was shocked and dismayed by the arrogant and bad mannered Fabian, the male customer services staff member who cancelled my booking. I was enquiring about the funds that I had paid that did not correspond with the voucher, as well as the time it took for the additional $700 that would be kept as a deposit until the car was returned. As I have rented many cars in my life, I wanted to make sure that it would not drag on and on and be out of pocket. He abruptly decided that he was taking the call to cancel my booking, spoke over me and did not care about a customer's needs. This company was recommended, but wow, what a terrible experience. No one has come back to me after I was promised that someone would. Just shows. I wonder how many other customers have had the same treatment by Fabian.

I booked a family-size car from CarTrawler which used a local rental company (Dirent) in Athens (Greece). When I arrived to the pick-up point, I was offered an old Scudo car - not anything like what I requested. When I refused it, the guy said "It's similar to the car you requested...and anyway you don't have much choice today!" The mileage of the car (187 000 km), its inside look didn't look like the one we were expecting. We had little choice (we were 7 persons!) because the alternative was no car at all.

Booked a car with Dollar through CarTrawler and when I arrived at the airport the agent at the desk said the booking was incorrect and she would take care of the problem and book me another car -- she stated she canceled the original booking and created another booking -- I had to pay for the new booking at the desk and she said the original purchase would be a credit -- well it's been 3 months now and I have called everyone from Dollar rental to CarTrawler and all I get is the run around to different people on the phone. I guess the $150 dollars will never be refunded, so beware and stay away from 3rd party companies like this... I will never use this company or Dollar again.

I could get very detailed about the misinformation regarding it saying "no cancellation fee" on the Thrifty website, and then AFTER you pay, you get an email with a small print, last page clause stating 48-hr cancellation fee. But the MAIN COMPLAINT here is that I never would have gone to a website called "Cartrawler.com" to rent a car. But in actuality, THAT is who you are renting from when you go to "Thrifty Car Rental". To add frustration, most of the customer support is overseas and the fact that they just argue over and over with you and don't listen only inflames the dispute.

11 July at 2:30 am I booked a car for the same day (I think around 7 am) through the Argus Car Hire website (which is also Cartrawler). Then I read that the car company was green motion and already aware that was really bad I decided to cancel my reservation. 11 July at 02:51 am I canceled my booking. The website states "Free cancellation" in the front page! Terms and condition says: full refund if the cancellation is made 24 hours before the pick up time.

I reserved a car online via the company CarTrawler. Paid with my Barclay card and got a confirmation to pick up the car at Easirent inside Sheraton Hotel Heathrow at the specified time of 11 am. Upon getting the confirmation and reading that if I do not pick up car by the stated time, I will lose my money, I immediately called to inform them that I can not get there for 11 am but will be there by 2 pm, and the representative I spoke to said it was fine.

I used this site to pay for a rental car from Dollar Rental up front. However I didn't need the car and now I'm being pushed away for my refund of $163.00. I have called them and they keep saying it's under investigation. It don't take this long. I didn't get the car. I want my money.

I made a Reservation through "CarTrawler" – another name of this company is “Carhire” - on April 4. Pick-up date was on April 5 Sunday (Car rental provider works from 10 am till 1 pm). I called representative on April 4 who told me that I will be able to pick up car during the working hours until 1 pm - no other restrictions were mentioned. I was billed for the reservation. After talk with the representative specifically about Automatic transmission option I was assured that on Sunday there will be no problems. I arrived to the Sixt company office car rental provider at 12 pm and was told that there was time interval of one hour and they do not have my car (Reservation receipt is attached.).

Went to make a reservation on thrifty.com. We have rented with them numerous times and have never had an issue. Went to prepay this time, as it was at a cheaper price. The website was redirected apparently after information was put into a website called CarTrawler.com based out of Dublin, Ireland. This I found out when I received not a confirmation but a rental "voucher" from said company. I went to the thrifty.com website to add to the reservation and it said the confirmation # and last name did not match up. I then called thrifty who gave me a number for that company's website to call Mon-Fri 8-5 central if there were any discrepancies with the billing. I finally went back to the voucher I received and clicked the hyperlink provided within the voucher which redirected me to thrifty.com.uk. I then was able to access the reserve and cancel it.

I rented a car in Dubai through KAYAK with CarTrawler. The company (Dollar) denied me the car because I didn't bring the passport, even though the voucher it was written that National ID is OK too. I didn't get the car and didn't get the refund!

I prepaid for a rental car for Dollar Rent a Car. When my husband went to rent the car, Dollar wanted to hold $350.00. There wasn't that much credit on the card, so they declined the rental. I immediately applied for and was granted a $500.00 increase in credit. Dollar refused to rerun the credit card. Hence no car was rented. CarTrawler has required that I fill out some form stating my complaint and sent an email back saying it could take up to 20 days to resolve this. I am now disputing this charge in full with my credit card company. He ended up renting from Budget. Never again with Dollar or CarTrawler.

When I prepaid my car rental, I thought the whole time I was booking directly with Thrifty because they make it look that way and it is through Thrifty's website, but in fact, you are booking through CarTrawler. When this became known to me was at Thrifty's rental counter when they had no notice of my reservation and couldn't use my voucher. I had to get a completely separate rental at a different rate. When I called Thrifty, I was told that I had to contact the third party company for the refund of the prepaid amount. Thanks Thrifty, you know I am YOUR customer.

I went on holiday 3 weeks ago. To organize this, I did all my reservation 12h before my flight and 18h before to get the car (I had to be the driver). Just after the reservation, in the confirmation, the company ask that the driver has to be the owner of the credit card... but it wasn't mine. So I directly called the customer service to ask if it's a problem. After more than 15 min of waiting (at 23h00), someone take the call. The woman told me that I can't take the car because I am not the card's owner... more of this, I have to cancel and pay 50€ because I cancelled less than 24h before the car receiving. Seriously it was written nowhere that the driver has to be the owner of the credit card and further to this, I have to pay! The worst rental company ever seen in my life.

Came to pick up the car @ Advantage Rent A Car, Burlingame, CA and my booking was declined due to personal insurance matter and advised me to go to other car rental, Firefly. And the car rental confirmed the booking was cancelled by them, not by the customer. The case was logged to CarTrawler since June 10 '15 for me to request the full refund of my booking and last Thurs I was called by cust care representative guy again and gave the same explanation as above. Also he mentioned about penalty charges applied which I disagreed since the cancellation was not done by the customer, it's done by the car rental. He promised to follow up with the car rental after the call and will give me a call back first thing on Monday (today) to settle this case as this has been 3 weeks and no progress seen on the closure of this case.

We arrived at the office of Easirent which was the rental outlet given to us by CarTrawler. We showed them the paper work and the immediate response was we don't have any diesel cars in the size you are requesting. I told them that I had specifically requested an Auto diesel in the Golf/Ford Focus size and was reassured at the time of booking I would get a diesel car at least equivalent to a golf if one wasn't available.

So I rented a car and prepaid for it with CarTrawler. Then I get to the airport and I give my credit card for a deposit for gas and damage and the car rental company Record Go makes me pay a ridiculous gas tax which actually was twice as much as the rental itself. CarTrawler disclosed that I would have to pay a 21 euro gas tax but the rental company charged me 60 euros. Then I went back to CarTrawler customer service and all they said was that I had signed the agreement and there was nothing they could do. But what choice did I have? If I refused to sign then I wouldn't have gotten the rental and CarTrawler would've kept my money anyway that I prepaid and said that I didn't cancel it in enough time.

Travelers beware. The Orlando International Airport has a page with all of the car rental agencies there. DO NOT CHOOSE DOLLAR! If you click through from that page you are not renting from Dollar but a company called CarTrawler. I placed a reservation through the airport website and when I received my confirmation, there was 38 more dollar on the invoice that I had to pay when I picked up the car. I cancelled that reservation on the morning of the 1st. The representative on the phone said they would send the refund in 7 to 10 days.

Car Hire in Italy - I have read many reviews - mostly all 1 star which is generous. Some form of financial dispute seems common as does availability of vehicle. I did get one but my car was tiny. It was filthy inside and out / cigarette burns, nearly 140,000 km - really! Rubbish and it drove even worse!!

Just like many of you, I booked a car online using a valid license and credit card. Once I arrived, I gave my confirmation number and the exact same credit card and license used to book the vehicle. He stated they ran a credit check which was fine. Came back denied because the address of license was different my credit card. He stated I will need to contact Dollar for a refund. I called Dollar only to find out they used CarTrawler, a company outside of US. This company sends an email stating my money could not be refunded because of I didn't use a valid driver license or credit card. A lie! All of this is via email, sends an out of country number to call them. I will not waste another dime. Even cancelled a future rental with them, it cost me 27.00 extra dollars but I refuse to ever do business with this company again! I will definitely be contacting my financial institution for fraud!

I prepaid online with what I thought was Dollar Rent A Car for a car I was to pick up the following day at Birmingham Alabama airport. When I arrived at the Dollar desk, she said I still owed $25 in taxes, so I gave her my debit card, the same card I had used online the day before with no problem. She said it didn't pass the credit check and so I got out cash, which she wouldn't accept. So I could not get the car. I insisted that they refund my money then and there by crediting my account, and that's when she said I had not booked the car through them but through a third party called CarTrawler.

Who wants to get a class action lawsuit against these crooks? I do. CarTrawler is a scam which pops up on search engine while searching for a rental car. Deceiving their victims into thinking they are getting a rental for the cheapest price. Taking your money under false pretense making one think that you are making your payment to the rental car company itself, but in reality paying CarTrawler, a third party who is located in another country. When arriving at the rental company to pick up, they deny the credit card so guess who keeps the money? CarTrawler. When trying to get a refund, they open a case and investigate.

Paid a deposit via CarTrawler website in February 2015 only because the site asked for one. Paid $328.45 USD on a car rental that was estimated to be about $550 USD in total, leaving about $170 to pay at check in with Thrifty Car Rentals. At check in, Las Vegas airport, paid a further $841.92 - thinking that the deposit would yet come off the final amount. IT DIDN'T. Final cost has been $1170.37 USD.

Thought I was renting a car through Dollar.com like I always do. However this particular time I was rerouted to CarTrawler. Using the same debit card that I always do I pre-paid for the car. I go to the airport to pick up the car and they say I have to have a major credit card. I didn't have it on me so I had to leave and get it. By time I get back to the airport my reservation had been cancelled and they said I had to talk to whoever I rented the car from. I then get in contact with Dollar.com and they inform me by the confirmation number that I paid CarTrawler and that I had to contact them.

I booked a car via Monarch website which used CarTrawler. Seemed really good price at the time. However, when we got to the desk, we were forced to pay €80 for a full tank of fuel. Looking at the voucher this was written in the small print, but it is not highlighted anywhere on the booking process and I have since checked. We wouldn't have minded if we had used a full tank but we only used 3/16 of the tank. Added to this the salesman kept making small talk and what should have been a 15 minute process took about 40 minutes - all we wanted to do was get the car and go - not chat for ages.

Completely unethical travel company. I had booked a car with them during trip to Malaga. The car rental company thru CarTrawler was Marbella. Marbella just refused to honor the CarTrawler voucher. They said it is agent's commission! So I had to forgo Euro 38 and ended paying Euro 76.50 for two days. I had booked on 13 April to 15 April 2015. CarTrawler was booked thru Airtickets Ltd. Marbella gave me a car with 88000 kms! Useless car...

When I arrived to counter on airport, they didn't accept credit cards which was written in terms and conditions at that time. I need to go to next counter, 1 m away which was Sixth where they happily accept my credit card but I had to pay 4 times more. After I made a complaint to CarTrawler they say that this is my fault. Crazy guys or really stupid.

Confirmation of the car rental was supposed to arrive within 15 minutes. After 1'our they sent confirmation more than 10 hours later. Meanwhile I decided to rent at another company. Very bad services.

Stars should be a negative 10 and not the 1 marked. The site will not allow lower than 1! I reserved a car in January for a February pick-up with my debit card. As with others on this site, the car was refused at the airport in Orlando. It is 3 months later and I still have not received any refund and am now disputing the charges of $181+ and a foreign transaction fee of $3+ with my card company. I am also reporting the company to the appropriate government office in Florida as well as the airport authority in Orlando.

Booked through CarTrawler and got the car through Dollar. Advertised new shape Ford Fiesta and booking stated an upgrade free of charge. Got to Larnaca Cyprus and they only had old, old shape Fiestas and did not get the upgrade. The car was an absolute wreck. Car was different shades of grey from re-sprays. Not one panel was without a bad scratch or dent. The steering shuddered and when you braked, the whole car shuddered.The booking stated an airport fee but my payment included taxes and charges but the 20 euro fee at dollar was according to them a tax. The Office is 2-3 miles outside of the airport so why did I have to pay a 20 euro fee. Seems like a scam to me. They could not prove any different. When taking the car back the young girl at the Dollar office really treat you like a second class person.

BEWARE!!! CarTrawler appeared to be fine. I took a pre-paid voucher to Oslo, rented a car for over a week from SIXT. Car was returned satisfactorily. More than 3 months later an email came from SIXT saying that CarTrawler had cancelled the voucher I presented and that they had, with immediate effect, deducted the whole cost of the rental AGAIN!!! From my credit card. I immediately complained to CarTrawler who advised they would escalate my complaint, contact SIXT in Norway but that this might take 20 days! After about that time, they wrote to say they could not get in touch with SIXT (a company they do regular business with!!) but would refund the extra funds I had been charged if I sent a statement as proof. I did and they said it might take 10-15 days to send me a refund! I am still waiting for this.

I've just had an experience with CarTrawler that very much echoes the experiences of the other posters on this site. In this case it was in Spain, so it looks as though this company goes in for the same kind of practice on both sides of the Atlantic. In my case I booked a car and used my wife's bankcard as we were travelling together. I checked the renter's terms and conditions, and they accepted the driver to be the credit card holder's companion. CarTrawler got back to me saying that the company no longer had a car available and reserved with a different company. When I got the voucher from CarTrawler, there it was, the credit card holder and the driver had to be the same person. But CarTrawler had taken my money, on the very same page. I figured that this must be a general term and as the payment had gone through and my name was on the voucher as main driver.

All in the title really. I'm surprised by the level of negative reviews for this company given my personal experience. I travelled to Malaga on business and was provided a car by CarTrawler via Holiday Autos. I got by far the best price that was on the market with a local supplier called Goldcar and at the very last minute I had to reduce the rental duration from 7 to 3 days. The agent from CarTrawler informed me that I had availed of a very special 7 day rate that was not normally available as a 3 day rate yet she very helpfully matched the 7 day rate on the 3 day rental. This can-do attitude is very rare these days so I promised the girl that I would write her a glowing review as soon as I returned from my trip. Well done CarTrawler.

In early March 2015 I intended to rent a car through Thrifty rental car but somehow I ended up landing on a 'third-party' website called 'CarTrawler.com' which is based in Ireland. They have nothing to do with Thrifty rental car. I used a valid VISA debit card to prepay the rental voucher on March 20, 2015 confirming a reservation to pick up a rental car in Orlando, Florida on April 8, 2015. The card was accepted for the payment via the website and $101.23 was collected from my account. After flying from Reno to Orlando on US Airways, I presented the same VISA debit card at the Thrifty counter at the Orlando airport with a valid driver's license on April 8, 2015. The VISA debit card account had more than sufficient available funds to pay for the car, the deposit, taxes, insurance and fuel charges.

I made a booking online. They accepted my card to make the booking but then when I went to pick up the car they wouldn't accept my card to make the security deposit which meant they wouldn't let me rent the car. They then wouldn't refund the initial booking fee of 64 euro and they still haven't refunded the money.

I booked a car through car hire, using an Australian-based address - and so needed insurance. At the desk (Hertz), they said the car had no insurance. Fortunately, the nice young man from Hertz did two things. He told me that the car they were giving me was an upgrade. And then he toggled through some options and found that certain cars had insurance, while others did not (he couldn't confirm that the type of car I booked had insurance, since there were none available). So I selected one with insurance and thus paid nothing (beyond my original payment with CarTrawler). I've rented many times with different US-based car hire and most times, they simply withhold information or offer options that are not to your advantage. In this case, the problem was Hertz (as I've found many times with different hire companies) and not CarTrawler.

I rented a car with Dollar Rent a Car through the Copa Airlines website while in Latin America. When I arrived in the States, Dollar told me I couldn't rent without an international driver's license. No, I couldn't cancel my reservation with them and start over. No, I couldn't make a different reservation until I canceled the reservation through CarTrawler. When I called CarTrawler, I was told to "press 4 if you have a question about documents required for car rental." So I'm not the only one who gets caught in this trap. I later searched "CarTrawler scam" and found this website. I am currently disputing this charge and advise everyone to avoid CarTrawler. By the way, this concerns Americans in the US. I wonder if CarTrawler requires international licenses of nationals in other countries.

I had to travel from Canada to the United Kingdom when my father in law died suddenly. I booked the car and paid in full. When I arrived at Heathrow I was told the car I booked was not available and they could provide another car for an extra $15 (total-not daily). The car had a full tank of diesel and I was asked to secure payment for it in case I brought it back empty. I was unhappy enough with all this, however after travelling over 9 hours with my two sons, I just wanted to get on as I had another long car journey ahead of us.

I was on the internet and I thought I was renting a car from Goldcar. I paid a deposit for the car. Up pops a box telling me that there would be a damage deposit necessary for the car unless I bought insurance, so I bought and paid for the additional insurance thinking I was now covered. When I picked up the car from Goldcar they required a 5,000 euro deposit unless I bought insurance from them. They said the insurance I bought was of no concern of theirs as it had been purchased through CarTrawler. They called CarTrawler and I was then told by CarTrawler I would receive an insurance refund after I returned the car. Once the car was returned, I called CarTrawler and they said tough luck. They said I should have known I was going to have to buy insurance from Goldcar. They are scam masters. Also Goldcar does not accept Amex so bring your Visa card with you.

Rented a car in California and paid CarTrawler $180.50 to rent a car for 4 days. When I got to Dollar rent a car they stated that I still owed $144.24. The $180.50 is apparently a service fee or something. How I got to CarTrawler is from Google-ing car rental. And I wrongly assumed I was renting the car from Dollar. This company is a scam. My advice is be careful and Stay away!!!

My situation is exactly the same as "Dee in Seattle." The amount charged is higher than the quoted amount and there is NO indication anywhere that you're not dealing with Thrifty itself. It appears that what they do, at least in my case, is to not include taxes and fees in the quote, thus making it appear deceptively low. I'm not sure whether Thrifty is to blame or not. I'll continue to use them because their prices are usually very competitive, but I'll be sure in the future to carefully check the URL to be sure I'm not dealing with the sleazy Car Trawler.

I booked a car 3 times through this company in the last few weeks. I booked this Saturday for 10.45. When I arrived at the car rental company I was told it had been cancelled. I was surprised. I had all the papers and my confirmation from cartrawler. I had money on the account for the warranty. The gentleman rang them, he was told that they cancelled it. I thought that it was a mistake, but no, they cancelled it for no known reason. They refused to make a new reservation, and told me that the only thing I could do was to take the car from the rental company directly. That was double the price I had already paid. I had no choice as I was left there with no car. Luckily enough I was able to pay with another card.

Rented a car in California for 4 days with Thrifty through cartrawler.com. Cartrawler.com charged $135 booking fee (not rental fee) and Thrifty car rental company charged another $219 for a 4-day rental. Total is $354. Both are legit charges, and credit card company could not dispute them. This company is a SCAM. Stay away.

My wife used this service to get a car for her trip to California. When she arrived at the airport and went to pick up the car, they would not give her the car and would not accept the reservation documents from CarTrawler. She then had to rent a car from another car rental company at 4 times the cost due to it being last minute and the Christmas holidays high demand. CarTrawler had charged her credit card and when we tried to contract them to dispute the charge, we have got a total runaround. Customer service sucks. This company is not a company to choose for your needs. CROOKS.

I had placed a car hire booking at London Gatwick with Argus car hire. I had asked for North terminal and was assured that this was possible over the phone so I made the booking. When I received my car hire voucher via email, it stated that pick up was from south terminal which I did not want. After 2 very long overseas calls no one would change this.

But until now, nothing happened. I tried new contact, but nobody returned me yet. This company is really untrustworthy and devious. I'm pretty sure they are breaking the law. I advise for anyone else use this company.

I booked a car through the Thrifty Car rental site and it offered me a reduced rate per day to pay in advance. After the booking was completed, I received a voucher. I could see through the voucher that the amount was not the same as the published amount on the website. I only was made aware that I was switched to an unknown third party site over seas when I phoned Thrifty USA to sort this out.

This review has been solved.

I booked the car for IAH airport. The address on my confirmation was 20 miles away. The pickup location on Hertz's computer was just outside the airport. Thankfully Hertz gave me a ride from the airport to the external location (just as they were closing, I might add - Hertz's service was good). There are no customer services emails on the cartrawler.com website to voice your displeasure with their service, only long distance numbers to Ireland. I booked a Nissan Maxima or similar and they only had Nissan Altima's for us (smaller than what we were looking for), but after the huge ordeal of finding out where my actual car was, I took anything they'd give me.

Picked up my car at 7.30pm at Manchester Airport. Told on arrival at car hire company only to be told the cost of hire. Had to include excess of 15 a day or 1250 hold on a credit card (I don't have a credit card for that amount and I shouldn't be punished for having good finances). I thought excess was an optional extra not mandatory. The hire company then advised me to contact CarTrawler to get a refund for my excess as they knew the policy of the company. Upon contacting CarTrawler I was told that I signed a form and "sorry we can't help". They should be ashamed of themselves and they should NOT be allowed to operate like that and treat customers in this way. Disgraceful and will never use again.

I booked a car thru CarTrawler Budget car hire in Ireland. When I GOT THERE I WAS REFUSED A CAR AS I HAD a 7 year old endorsement. CarTrawler refused returning my money. They are rude, arrogant and TOTALLY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.. Obviously I will never use them again and by the reviews I am not alone.

I booked a car through CARTRAWLER.COM, for 10 days in Italy. (Jan 17 to 27 Jan). To keep the booking I was supposed to pay in advance, so I paid to cartrawler. When we took the car with the rental company EUROPCAR, they asked for a credit card for guarantee. When we arrived home we received a another bill, from EUROPCAR!! We are being double charged, I try to contact CARTRAWLER AND THEY DON'T RESPOND, EUROPCAR says that I have to solve the problem with CARTRAWLER!! I will have to Contact my credit card company to refute charges, but I think it should be solved immediately. I will have to sue them all? My reservation ID is ** .

In their ad online they say one thing and mean another..... They tell you if you pay at time of booking you will be charged less.... but after you receive confirmation they tell you more is owed at airport... Their ad for dollar rent a car.

After several email attempts with Alicja we were finally able to connect and after reviewing my complaint she has informed me they will be refunding my money.

Please read all the fine print. I rent cars all the time. When you go through this company it is treated like a voucher and the car companies want to hold up to 350 Extra. If you do not have the money you will not get a refund even if you did not get a car. Their customer service is RUDE and they will not speak directly to you. Please go through a regular car company, not this one.

I booked a Ford Figo from Dubai airport from Dollar. When I arrived, I was told that a Lancer was the only car available and the contract says "or similar." The Lancer is a piece of junk, 91,000 km, noisy, interior light burned out, you get the picture. They told me that they would change it but after many calls to their customer center, the same results... "We will call you." Of course no one ever calls. CarTrawler seems to have no control, probably gets the worst cars. BEWARE. One more thing. CarTrawler say that they accept American Express but there is no button for it on their form so one cannot pay that way.

If I could put negative stars I would. Don't even want to give a half. I haven't even started my holiday yet and booking through this company has already put a damper on it. I tried for a whole day to pay in full online and the website was down, I sent emails and was told to use different links/browsers and replies came almost instantly from customer service. Every time, I would log off and log in and try payment again. Turns out payment was taken twice and now when trying to get refunded, they won't reply to emails. I get sent vouchers to print and go online. It says still outstanding amount so can't print etc. I call and leave messages with no replies.

I recently rented a car through holiday Autos (Cartrawler, it turns out). On my printed voucher it clearly states ‘Pick-up type, IN TERMINAL COUNTER/SHUTTLE TO CAR. On arrival I searched for the Counter but none exists. After calling the supplier (Green Motion in Stansted), I was asked to take a bus to the counter. The bus goes at 30 minute intervals and there is a charge for any adults other than the driver, all of which would been useful to know! At the desk I was told there would be an additional 30 to pay for late arrival (I arrived at 22:30, the office hours were to 22:00). The personnel agreed that I had been misinformed but had to enforce the charge anyway, and I should complain to Cartrawler about the supposed In-terminal Counter.

Having booked for a vehicle through the Car Trawler website at least a month before I traveled to Dubai during the festive period, I was told at the counter of the service provider that the vehicle was not available. We were a group of 7 left stranded with no company having what we wanted as it was peak season. After having complaining to Car Trawler we have not been provided with any refund to date. DON'T BOOK THROUGH CAR TRAWLER.

I wanted to hire a car while in Mexico. The airline I used - Volaris had a link to Car Trawler. On that site I chose a less expensive car and saw that it was less expensive because CDW insurance was not included. However it also stated "Please obtain proof from your card company if CDW is included on your card otherwise it can be purchased at desk". This is what I have always done when hiring cars. Upon arrival I was taken to a car company who I had not dealt with until that point and they refused to let me use my card for the insurance.

I went to Austria for christmas vacation and was charged 50 Euros for snow tyres. Between the 1st November and the 15th April, vehicles must be fitted with winter tyres (which must be marked M&S on the side walls and have a minimum tread depth of 4mm) or all-season tyres which must be marked M&S (mud and snow) and if roads have a covering of snow, slush or ice outside these dates. The company I rented from, Schiller, in Vienna does not charge for snow tyres but since we booked through CarTrawler I had to pay. It doesn't make any sense to charge for something that is the law and extorting money from tourist that who probably have no idea about the rules.

CarTrawler is the worst car rental ever. I booked a car capable of carrying 6 pax... When I went to the car rental company they offered me a 5-pax vehicle. There was nothing for 6 pax available. The car rental company said, they had nothing left. It was CarTrawler mistake. I complained several times to CarTrawler, nothing happened. Just after I returned the car, they contacted me & felt sorry for me... Thanks for nothing! Better pay a little bit more by using Kayak, Expedia or Travelocity.

I had the unfortunate experience of booking a rental through Cartrawler in Early November 2014. The pickup airport was Berlin Schonefeld. Upon arrival, I was told by AVIS that they had no cars available. I followed the normal route and informed Cartrawler of the mistake through their complains process. They responded by asked me for a paper copy of my bank statement. The request struck me as quite bizarre, I replied accordingly. On checking the complaint some time later, I discovered it had been closed. I contacted my credit card company and asked them to open a dispute with cartrawler. They did so and informed cartrawler. Cartrawler responded by informing the credit card company that they had fulfilled their obligations and I was a no show at the AVIS desk. That is an outright lie.

The piece had the desired effect. I forwarded the story to the company and heard back within 15 hours. They had refunded the overpayment which I had not been able to verify. I have now checked and all's well. If only they had responded to my earlier emails. Thank you Consumers Affairs.

I went to pay with my Atm card which is permissible and there was far more money in there to pay for four rentals but some reason it was declined, and the young lady said she can't run the card again having me to go to another vendor and renting a car at a higher price with the same ATM card. Now I don't get my money back that I pre-paid, thanks for the service Screwed.....

I booked a family size car from Thrifty.com. When I arrived to the pick up point I was offered a tiny little car- not anything like what I requested. When I refused it the guy said "It's similar to the car you requested... And anyway It's thanksgiving holiday, what do you expect?" I refused the tiny car and they made me pay full price for an upgrade. I had little choice because the alternative was no car at all.

Cartrawler refunded the money.

I am a US citizen who resides abroad, and I rented a car unknowingly via Cartrawler for a trip to visit family in Texas (thought I was renting directly from Thrifty, and nothing about the online booking process told me otherwise). When I arrived at the Thrifty counter in Dallas after 30 hours of travel, I was told that my rental car couldn't be released because I, as a US citizen, was ineligible for the online deal that I had booked (and paid for) from my country of legal and permanent residence. I then got another car and contacted Cartrawler, who told me that I had misrepresented myself and given "wrong" information on the booking form.

I received promotional email from Holiday Autos to save 25% of car hire rental in the UK. I then booked a Ford Focus or similar size car from Holiday Autos which turned out to be Car Trawler who then allocated booking to Enterprise car hire Manchester. On payment I received booking of a car much smaller than Ford Focus. I immediately notified Holiday Autos who referred this to Car Trawler who advised me booking was for compact car, however, Enterprise car hire have two compact car categories - small compact and large compact. Ford Focus being Large but Car Trawler lump them all as compact so they said I was getting a compact Ford Focus, But Enterprise say I had booked small compact and would not give me Ford Focus which is what I had based my decision on as per Holiday Autos email.

Good news :-)

In August I confirmed the rental of a car via Car Trawler for Collection in La Airport on September 13th. It was to be an Economic car with 2 or 4 doors and enough room for 4 adults and 2 suitcases. They informed me ALAMO were the principals. I paid $397 (circa£235). Arrived at the airport and ALAMO told me that there were no Economic Cars to that spec and I could have the one model available or upgrade. The car offered was too small to suit so I went for an upgrade. The ALAMO operative said he would give me a good deal on the upgrade and gave me a pro forma for $559.01. When I returned the car they gave me a credit card receipt for the proforma amount which I assumed would then attract the credit of the initial down payment of $397. But NO, Car Trawler had charged me AND so had ALAMO a total of $956. I believe I could have got a "Roller" for that sort of money.

I unwittingly went on the Car Trawler site (I thought I was renting through Thrifty/Dollar), and rented a car rather seamlessly (dupe #1!). I never saw any Terms and Conditions. When I went to the airport to pick up my car, they ran a credit check (about which I was informed when I called Dollar Rental while making the reservation); I did not pass. I went to another car rental counter, where I passed the credit check and was able to rent a car. The next day, when I called Car Trawler to get the $32 I had spent with them put back in my account (since I WAS UNABLE TO RENT THE CAR), they gave me some runaround about their customer service (!) person would have to decide whether I got the money back. WHAT?!

The issue has been resolved. I just don't understand why it took such persistence to rectify the problem?

I would like to update---I did contact CarTrawler regarding the cancellation fee. I would like to thank Alicja from CarTrawler for looking into my issues, and issuing a refund of the fee I was charged. They did go above and beyond, when they could have just ignored me, so I do appreciate that.

Very bad experience:

I am pleased to say that my complaint was swiftly resolved and a full refund paid. Thanks to Lynne at Cartrawler who picked up my dissatisfaction from ConsumerAffairs.

On August 2014 we rented a car for 3 weeks, we drop the car full on fuel, car was checked and was everything OK. After week they charge us 59pounds for fuel!! Now we have October and the case is still open!! Called 3 times, ask for explain and still nothing!!! Never again will use that company, never!!! Please use another company if you need to. This one is untrusted!!! I rented car 2 times a year and never had any problems until now!

We have not rented a car yet, but I am already scared and hope it will go well. We ordered a car for 272gbp, when we had to pay the remaining balance it appeared that the price went up to 482gbp. When we eventually decided to pay and agreed they mislead and screwed us up, they issued the voucher with amended details! We paid for gps, but the voucher says we did not! When I called, the lady said bluntly that we I don't have a screenshot of what I paid for, then I did not pay for GPS! They also refuse to tell you how the price was generated and tell you only total amount when you call. Absolute crooks and liars. Be aware!

I reserved a standard car in Dublin, Ireland via CarTrawler when I booked airline tix thru Aer Lingus. I paid $354.18 for what appeared to be the car rental. When I got to airport, National only had upgrade cars available. All they would do is discount the upgrade charge (from EUR100 per day to EUR40 per day). Where was the class I reserved? Why not do the right thing and offer car available at the reserved rate? Nope. And CarTrawler will not address where my deposit of $354.18 went. I am still fighting this with Capital One. But I would not recommend CarTrawler or National in Dublin. Your reservation means nothing.

We rented a Hertz car from CarTrawler through the Virgin Airlines website to be picked up in Cairns, Australia. When we arrived in Cairns, our plans had changed, and we needed the car for fewer days. However, to change the reservation was extremely expensive, so the Hertz agent cancelled our reservation (we thought) and created a new rental agreement directly through Hertz. On arriving home and seeing our credit card statement, we saw that we were still billed for the full amount by CarTrawler. Attempts to get a response from CarTrawler by email (via their Contact Us link!) and letter to discuss this have been unsuccessful. I believe this is a highly disreputable company and will never do business with them again.

Hired car through CarTrawler for Firefly which was paid in full. Firefly refused to give the car as I didn't have a credit card. So I had to hire a car with a different company in the airport terminal. Have asked CarTrawler to refund the money I paid them for a hire car I never received after Firefly refused to give me the car and they therefore cancelled the car hire agreement (note that I didn't want to cancel it). CarTrawler will only refund two-thirds of the money, with about £80 being kept by them as an "administration fee". So I have paid money for a service that I never received. They have basically conned me out of £80. To all those people who I have spoken to at CarTrawler regarding this, shame on you for working for these people whose business model is to steal money from the general public. Have you ever heard of the concept of repeat business? Absolutely appalling treatment.

They are not even worthy of the one star, I would have put 0 if I could.. We reserved a car through CarTrawler to pick it up in Zagreb, Croatia. Immediately noticing that they could only offer a car worth much less than the one we payed for, we asked to cancel and turned to the car rental provider next door. The providers themselves were understanding and even referred to this agency as a fraud, agreeing that we payed for a car better than the one they had to offer, and that it is always better to rent a car directly from the provider. Lesson learned..

Having asked particularly for a company that would rent to a 74 year old and having car trawler documents saying age limits 25 to 75 we were astonished and shocked that easi rent the company, they had booked our car hire with refused to hire us a car as I am 74. Their ages for renting cars were only up to 70. This then took the time of 2 hours, yes two hours to sort out and we were eventually allowed to have a car after numerous emails and phone calls to their head office and to the credit of Easi rent, the staff were only doing their job, the fault lies totally with Car Trawler.

I recently booked a Audi A1. I was then told I booked a Ford Focus ESTATE? The salt in the wound is that CarTrawler refused to accept I had booked a Audi. If I gave customer service like this in my business I'd be out of business. All I want is the Company to accept that the client is correct and that they are wrong due to a fault in the system. A company that is this unprofessional is destined to fail. All I want is the car group I ordered online. It's simple.

Now it is solved. At the beginning I only got nonsense and late answers via mail. Once I told my experience in the social media, they reacted very fast and they gave my money back. Better late than never!

I would like to update all the future travelers that our issue with Car Trawler has been resolved. We had shared a number of correspondences with Car Trawler customer service. They have agreed to refund us for the insurance paid. We have just received an email to that effect. They promised to refund our credit card in 5 to 10 business day.

A family of 6 vacationing in Hungary. Prepaid a whole week rental through Cartrawler. Got to the airport at 1am to find out from the car rental Buchbinder that instead of 300 Euro excess, I have to put down over 1000 Euro if I want to take the car. No manager to talk to. They claim Cartrawler did not provided us with the correct Terms and Conditions. To Buchbinder's merit they put that in writing. They helped me call Cartrawler, the Cartrawler agent claimed there was no manager to speak to and only could put a request ticket for refund. Got a couple of emails from Cartrawler, the last one informing me that they won't refund me. Cartrawler scammed 456 Euros off my credit card by doing the old bait and switch trick. I warn everyone not to do business with Cartrawler.

I rent at AVIS with CarTrawler (Argus Car Hire). The renting was fine until the way back to airport. The voucher mentioned all inclusive (except gas and kid's option), but finally I had to pay different taxes (airport...). The total overcost based on voucher is more than 140 euros. I complain to CarTrawler beginning August. They replied with apologies and asked me tons of documents which I gave next day. They said they need up to 20 days to solve the case. We are September 17th and still no feedback after 3 or 4 emails...

BORDEAUX: We needed a car rental to be able for my 18-year-old daughter move into her university room. She found the rental on the internet in our hotel room very late that night for 11 am next day. We had to go by two buses back to Bordeaux Airport. No contract as we were in a hotel room with no printer. ARGUS CAR HIRE- she had and a reservation number. I was very suspicious but she at 18 did not know much about scam artists.. We looked for ARGUS CAR HIRE. There was NO name there. I was upset as it was over 60 euros taken from my daughter's card. My card had a problem. I could withdraw cash but it would not work for charges. I said to her, "Let's go find the police."

Made a car hire reservation in August 2014 for Chevrolet Spark or similar for 1 week via CarTrawler from Holidays Auto, Chania Airport, Crete. Paid beforehand for 1 week nearly €200 via MasterCard. As our flight was late on schedule, we came a couple of hours late at their desk. They let us know that they have absolutely NOT ANY VEHICLE for us to pick up and what's worst, they went on saying they will keep all the money, NO REFUND, NOT EVEN PARTIAL ONE will be possible. CarTrawler support located in Poland was of no help at all. Holidays Auto referred to the Terms & Conditions of CarTrawler, but such terms (that if pick-up is late all the money will be held, and no vehicle is given) did NOT exist at all. Had to file a crime report to Chania Tourist Police Dept. and also local police in my home country. CarTrawler's actions are being investigated by police with a criminal offense of "Fraud". Finally got my money back from my credit card issuer after filing a claim, and they attached the police report copies to it.

We hired a car through Argus in Sardinia. We arrived at nearly midnight due to a flight delay to find that the provider did not have an order for our booking. We had been provided with a confirmation and a voucher from Car Trawler but the company in Sardinia said they had never received an order. I rang customer services at nearly midnight and after 30 minutes of being on hold I found out that indeed they had not received confirmation back from the Sardinian supplier & I should not have been given a voucher. They apologized and said there is nothing they could do.

I have rented a car for our 2-week holidays in Italy and paid in cash as usual. This year unfortunately my mother got sick and on the 8th day we had to go back home. It was a disaster for us cause she became sick the last couple of days before we finished our first week and our holiday was simply ruined. To start with, the air carrier THEY tried to rip us off. They wanted to charge us the same amount of money of two return tickets for the schedule change and I had to make 5 international calls from my mobile just to receive NO EMPATHY! And each time, I had to wait more than 5 minutes!!!

Athens car scam, stay away. Bad cars. Pretending you get for example a Golf for a good price, then not available. Then a car one step down. Then no office at the airport but some scummy 20 min ride away from it. Then one last/left ** car, Nissan Note 5 years old full with damage, not even CLOSE to a regular hatchback Opel Astra or so. Then you refuse to take the car, you lose your deposit you never agreed to pay for..

We had booked Flights through Monarch Airlines so we took advantage of their Car Hire recommendation which was the "Car Trawler" online service. Residing in Gibraltar we are acutely aware that we don't always qualify for many of the features advertised. As we also have a medically dependent child we always make a point of calling companies via phone to clarify any questionable points in the disclaimer. We duly phoned and confirmed that we had a debit card and not a credit card. We were told by the operator this wouldn't be a problem and that a note would be attached to our booking form. (This occurred last year with EuropeCar with no problem.) Imagine our surprise when we arrive at our destination in Birmingham to find out that no such note is attached and that if we don't pay by credit card we are liable for a charge of £180 non refundable. This is where our day got interesting....

Avoid this company. They sell you add-on insurance that the car hire company won't accept. You have to pay twice. They know it but ignore it, continue selling and wipe their hands. Now taking Small Claims action against them and writing to the Ombudsman in the UK. Crooks.

I booked an automatic transmission but when I arrived at the Athens airport, only a standard manual car was available. I could not drive it, and it was not what I requested. I spend a few hours to book another car at the airport costing me time and effort. When asking Cartrawler for a refund, they declined, claiming that I had booked a standard all along (a blatant lie.) Avoid this company like the plague as well as Air Transat that deals with them.

2 month after the trip. I did receive a full refund from the Budget Catania with the help of cartrawler staff. As is the case with 95% of overcharged car rentals, I believe this is due to bad organization on Catania Budget side.

I reserved a car on CarTrawler site for Category B to take in Fortaleza Airport from 2014 July 17 until 23. They sent me a voucher for Thrifty company for that. When I picked up the car, the Thrifty's attendant told that they had a reserve for Category A car. So I had to pay a difference to get the Category B car. In resume, I paid for a Category B car but the CarTrawler sent a confirmation to Thrifty for a Category A (cheaper than I paid). I had to pay an additional fee to get a car as desired. I sent a complaint to CarTrawler Customer Service but I didn't get any reply about it.

Hired 2 cars. Got to airport to collect. In my voucher, it stated under Not Included section an item of Fuel. I was told I had to pay for the full tank on both cars yet nowhere when I booked did it say I was buying a full tank. Despite Fuel being not included and you would expect not included meant it was up to me how I paid. Not so... Anything over 3 days with Cartrawler means you are buying a full tank at car rental prices. For me, it cost me around €75 in unused fuel for each car. So Cartrawler deal ended up hugely expensive when compared to any other. Only winners were the hire firm who got a bunch of free fuel and Cartrawler who got paid for nothing.

I used Cartrawler.com to hire a car in Rhodes, Greece. The agent they use is Payless car hire in Theologos... Not only was there no car, when I finally tracked the agent by phone (with the help of my hotel owner), he just told me to go elsewhere. I told him I was in Rhodes for my son's wedding, and that I would now be late. He just repeated - go elsewhere.

Although I still would not recommend Bunchbinder, also known as Dollar/ Thrifty, finally CarTrawler has issued a refund to me for an insurance that the rental company (Bunchbinder/ Dollar/ Thrifty) had forced me to buy. One way to get the low prices offered by Car Trawler without ending up with the likes of Bunchbinder as car rental company is probably to phone CarTrawler rather than doing everything on the internet and check who your contract would be with before you buy.