*** AVOID AVOID AVOID *** GENUINELY THE WORST
*** AVOID AVOID AVOID *** GENUINELY THE WORST CAR HIRE EXPERIENCE I’VE EVER HAD
I don’t normally leave reviews, but I feel I have to warn others about this one.
I’ve been hiring cars for over 35 years, and this was by far the worst experience I’ve ever had.
We booked a car in Brisbane, Australia for 4 days, all arranged in advance — but from the moment we landed, things started to go wrong.
First issue: we couldn’t get hold of anyone. After about 1.5 hours of trying, we finally spoke to someone who sent us an Uber voucher to get to the pickup location. The problem? The voucher didn’t work, so we ended up paying ourselves.
The Uber driver (a local) said he’d never even heard of UR Drive, which immediately raised alarm bells. When we got to the pickup point, it turned out to be a small place called Andy’s Garage — not exactly what you expect from a car hire company.
Then the car… completely wrong.
Much smaller than what we booked, quite dirty inside and out, and had already done around 37,000 miles. When I questioned it, I was basically told: “That’s the only car — take it or leave it.” At that point, we didn’t have much choice.
What made things worse was the total lack of support.
We were given no paperwork, no instructions, nothing about what to do in case of an accident or breakdown. I tried calling and messaging (including WhatsApp) multiple times over the 4 days — never got a response. Honestly, I was just relieved when it was time to hand the car back.
Then came the final headache — getting the $1,000 deposit back.
It took a full month of chasing and eventually mentioning a Section 75 credit card claim before the money was returned. Even then, about $25 was missing with no explanation.
All in all, a really stressful and disappointing experience.
My advice: Pay a bit extra and go with a reputable, well-known car hire company.








