Nationwide Vehicle Rentals Recensioni 1.477

Terrible service. I’ll never use them again. They were even reported on the BBC One Show (23 October 2024). Google it!

Horrible company.

Had a booking with them for a period of time in 3 sessions. None of these delivery were on time.

The worst one was on 24 Sep. Booking was supposed to deliver at 10:00-12:00 but the driver who drove the van to me was late for 8 hours.

He arrived at my door at around 18:00 and it was an faulty van. Not to mention the tank was almost empty and the worst part yet was right after I put £88 of diesel in it, the engine light went on dash.

Called their 24 hour breakdown hotline, AA came to check. The guy with AA arrived around 20:30 and he said don’t even think of driving to New Castle for 2.5 hours drive.

I was supposed to drive this van with my team to New Castle that morning to work but the delay cost me a night of hotel and preparation day for our event.

Called, emailed, no one is willing to take any responsibility and one of the staff dared to say the engine light went on is normal for these kind of van (its a automatic VW Crafter).

Until now, 3 Oct, still no one taking care of this complaint and the faulty van is still stuck at my driveway.

This is by far the worst can renting experience I ever had in the UK.

They costed me several nights of hotel cost and tons of inconvenience for our event.

Don’t ever try to use this company.

I am bringing this case to court.

Only if I could rate this company as 0 star but it didn’t let me.

AVOID!

APPALLING DO NOT USE THIS FIRM.
We are a flower event business and booked a refrigerated van to transport £3K of exotic flowers to the church and marquee. The van was delivered to us with the plug cut off the charging lead which meant a drive into town to replace.The van stood,unused, on our property throughout the next day being very carefully loaded. It was slightly smaller than advertised and needed so was absolutely crammed. When we came to start the next morning there was not a glimmer of life. We tried everything - made frantic calls to NVR - all useless. Time was running out for the team of 7 florists waiting. We had to organise a team of private cars and vans and pull out all of the beautiful arrangements we had so carefully packed during the whole of the day before, and cram them in to small vehicles. Total nightmare. A A number on key called who turned up to diagnose a completely useless lifeless battery that would not hold a charge. AA chap then drove into town to buy a new one. He fitted it and left about 2pm. He said he would make full report to NVR and bill them for the battery. I called NVR and asked them to come to remove the vehicle immediately as it was no use to us. They didnt. They came on the booked date. They have suggested that we caused the battery problem and that they have heard nothing from the AA. Fortunately we have all comings and goings of the AA on Ring video so indisputeable and provable. We are owed £600 approx plus compensation. We will take CC action if not paid up.

Hired a minibus at the beginning of August. I am still waiting for the deposit to be returned. I have emailed and called the company multiple times without any response from them.

Zero star is not possible so I will reluctantly leave one star. This company has withheld our deposit for 2 months without explanation. I think our next course of action will involve the courts. I'd sooner pay more elsewhere or walk then use this company again.

Like every other 1* review I'm waiting for a deposit to be returned after more than 6 weeks. In my case Allen Iverson" has even stopped replying to my emails...
If any other reviewers still have outstanding deposits I would urge them to report the company to Action Fraud, the online presence of the UK National Fraud and CyberCrime Reporting Centre. My bank recommended me to do so and it only took me 10-15 minutes to file the complaint.

Dishonest!

The truck we hired had a faulty wire on the tail lift which became apparent during our journey. They told us this was a common fault and would send someone to fix it as it's quicker than swapping the vehicle. They then emailed a few days later advising we had damaged it and would have to pay. We replied disputing this. Without notice they took £438.20 from our card details! We have given them 30 days to return the money or we are taking legal action.

I have been dealing with customer services for a £250 returning drposit since I hired a van in March 2025. I received confirmation that the deposit was being returned in early
April. Very bad that my emails are now not being reported to and takes an age for them to pick up the phone - if at all. Mr K Donoghue - agreement NVR32686A20468

I hired a vehicle from Nationwide Vehicle Rentals from 6th to 7th September, and my deposit has still not been returned. Despite numerous calls, Francesco and colleagues keep saying they have sent “urgent requests” to the accounts team — but nothing ever happens. On top of this, I have been hung up on mid-call after being told I was being “transferred to accounts.” I also emailed the accounts team directly and submitted a request through their website, yet not a single response or reassurance has been given. This lack of professionalism is unacceptable, and I strongly advise others to avoid this company.

Update (7 October 2025):
Still no refund of my £500 deposit after returning the van on 7 September. I’ve now sent a formal Letter Before Action and will proceed to Small Claims Court if not refunded within 7 days.

This appears to be a pattern based on other reviews — I will continue to update this post as the case progresses.

Awful company and haven’t returned deposit after 56 days! Do not use them!

I wouldn’t normally write such a scathing review but this company have treated us dreadfully despite returning the vehicle on time and with no issues.

They messed up our booking initially (“losing” our 17 seater 5 days before our hire!) but we reluctantly accepted the smaller minibus as we had no other option.

We used the minibus, returned it on time, with no damage and a fuller tank of fuel than when it was delivered.

We then waited for our £750 deposit to be returned in 5-7 days. We waited, and were told to wait longer.
9-12 days later, wait longer (again) we were told.
14 days later, wait longer they said for our finance team to investigate, giving a timescale of 35 days (!)

38 days later, nothing, not responding to our emails and now it has been 56 days!
Come on NVR, do the right thing!

This company sets the standard for vehicle hire. The minibus I booked was delivered on time, spotless inside and out, and perfect for our family road trip.

Nationwide vehicle rentals have failed to return our deposit after they canceled the hire due to not having an available van after 6 weeks of requesting the refund.
For this reason I advise all potential customers to avoid using this company.
we are having to chase all the time with no communications - just “I’ll pass onto account to action promptly”

Couldn’t believe how easy it was to book! Within minutes I had a car reserved, and it was delivered right to me. Professional service and affordable pricing.

Bad communication and no deposit refund
I rented a van at the end of June to help my daughter move home. My booking was changed twice but I still expected the van to arrive as requested. It turned up 2 1/2 hours late and I hadn’t been able to reach anyone to confirm it was on its way which added to the stress. They were then late collecting it but only responded when I reiterated that it would receive a parking ticket if not collected before the following morning.
I then had to chase to get the deposit back. I received an email on the 10th of July telling me it has been released but that I was to allow 28 working days! I chased the deposit in the middle of August only to be told that I couldn’t be put through to the account department. I I have subsequently emailed them but I received no response. They have now had my deposit for nearly 3 months and I can find no way of contacting them other through the booking line. I’m hoping that this review will get them to act.

I booked a Mercedes C class and paid a GBP 1000 deposit, was given a kia Sportage. I was promised in writing that the companu would refund the digference in the car hre. The vehicle was used for one day, returned without any issues (except for chrge for GBP 19.50 for petrol (fair enough) . I was advised by email that my deposit has been refunded to my credit card in Aoril 2025 together with the difference in the car hire charge - to date nearly 6 months later I have had NO REFUND from this company. I have contacted them by phone and email nearly 30 times and all they say is that there accounts department is looking into it. This is the most unprofessional disreputable company I have EVER dealt with. DO NOT EVER RENT FROM THEM - they dont live up to their promises nor terms and conditions of hire.

As with everyone else, I am 5 month after and still not received my deposit, I call them, they put me on hold and 15 minutes later hang up on me. I will be sending a late payment fee and taking them to the small claims court.

AVOID AVOID AVOID!!! Reading other comments, I experienced similar issue. Vehicle was delivered and collected pretty much without any issues. Refunding my deposit on other hand, very different story. We returned the vehicle on 29th July and to this day (11th September) the deposit has not been returned. I made several phone calls and sent numerous emails and every time they reassured me this matter is being escalated to the accounts manager. I was not able to get any further contact details for a manager, different department and when they gave me email address for their complaint department, it simply does not exist and email bounced back. I advise if you end up booking a vehicle with this company, use your credit card and get them involved ASAP after you return the vehicle. I have just spoken to my Barclaycard team and they are starting their investigation, hopefully will get my money back soon.

AVOID!! Terrible company. Terrible communication. The van delivery was fine initially but didn’t pick up the van until two days later and that was with me chasing. We paid the deposit in July and still have not recieved a refund. I get an email once a week to pretend they are working on my refund. I am almost a hundred percent certain that they are gaining interest on all customers held deposits - it shows in all reviews! I am contacting the financial ombudsman and they will get looked into for this misconduct.

I hired 17 Seater minibus on 17 May and £2500 deposit still not returned to me
Today 9 September.
I filed payment dispute and my bank told me to wait about 8 weeks.
If they fail again I will take them to court
Whatever the cost.

I would not recommend this company, as the vehicle I was given was delivered late and had many problems with it, and then after returning the vehicle I never got my deposit back, so had to go through my credit card company to get my deposit.
When booking the vehicle, it all seems quite reasonable, but the cost for insurance is well above other rental companies, and the excess amounts are very high; so overall it is not so cheap.
I received the car on 4th May 2025, it arrived 30 min outside the 2 hour window that they assured me it would, so our holiday departure was delayed. The vehicle had squeaky brakes, one of the middle row seats would not move, so people could only get into the rear seats from one side. The back of one of the middle seats was loose and kept falling off. The front dash driver vent was broken and I was not given a full tank or fuel as I was told.
After one week I returned the vehicle on 11th May, then on 20th May I received an email saying all was OK with the returned vehicle and my deposit will be returned within 7-10 working days. I chased the deposit return on 24th May, I got a reply saying they would chase their finance department. Still nothing on 30th May, so sent another email, and on 31st May was told they will escalate. Chased again on 6th June, 11th June & 2nd July, I received no replies to these emails.
I then contacted my credit card company to help me recover my deposit. I finally got my £500 back on 30th July, over two month after returning the vehicle, only thanks to my credit card company. It is clear NVR do not want to return your deposit.
Will never be using this company again.