Unreliable, time wasting, utter hassle
I booked a rental online to pick up from Queensway in London. I was bringing a large suitcase, the rental location was near to the tube station, but no signposting, I guessed it must be in an underground car park and dragging my suitcase down the car ramp, I found the Drivalia lockers. Underground = no phone reception. Booking online is only the first step of a massive registration process. I lugged my suitcase back up the ramp to get phone reception, and register with bank statement, utility bill, DVLA code and photos of my driving licence. Luckily I was able to access these from my phone, but it was now running low on battery. Checked my email, no code to get the car. Phoned the customer service line. First two attempts were cut off. Third time lucky, but it took almost 10 minutes to get through. The rep now told me there was a problem with my allocated car and I needed to go to Fulham Broadway, a 30 min tube ride away. Oh, and fill out two payment forms and sign a rental agreement. I filled out the single payment form that appeared in my email account. Then shifted my suitcase back to the tube and took two trains to Fulham. Again, no sign of where the rental location was, but after wandering around with the suitcase I eventually found it. Checked my emails, found another payment form, completed it, and registration form to sign, signed it. No code came through. I phoned the helpline and was informed by a recorded message that the offices were now closed. My phone was now almost out of battery, and I was not going to make the appointment I had that evening or make it to the family member I was visiting afterwards until extremely late. I gave up, plugged my phone in at a cafe and looked up train tickets. Then I received a call from Drivalia, informing me my payment could not be accepted from a debit card, it had to be a credit card. My credit card was at home. Alternatively I could pay for hire insurance, £50 for 2 days. I had already purchased this separately from a separate source (£13 for 3 days). At this point I gave up. Massive, massive inconvenience, load of wasted tube journeys, ticket prices, and time, as well as breaking a commitment to meet someone, and losing time I could have spent with family. You get what you pay for, and clearly Drivalia is cheap for a reason. AVOID.

Risposta di Drivalia UK - QUEENSWAY







