Rude, frustrating, slow, unorganised.
Pros: A totally awful experience.
I arrived promptly at the arranged pick-up time. In the reception there were three positions at the reception desk, all manned with staff. I was the only person in line to be seen behind a couple who were already being dealt with - leaving two available desks/ staff. The two available staff members were eagerly attempting to look busy in an almost empty office, sitting a mere two meters away from me. They didn’t have the courtesy to look up or acknowledge that I was quite clearly waiting to be seen. I took my place in the “queue” and waited. I eventually waited 20 minutes before being acknowledged; “you’ll be seen soon”, no apology or reassurance. During my lengthy wait I overheard the way in which the staff member was talking to the couple who were collecting a vehicle. Extremely rude, very blunt with an attitude suggesting that the they really didn’t care for their custom. There was absolutely no care, just rudeness. In this time someone had walked in to drop back a car. I then overhead that conversation. The customer took the car some days before and had queried some existing damage, not detailed on report. He reported it before taking the car and was told by the staff that it was fine and no one needed to sign or add it to his document (I later had the same conversation). Now when he’s returned the car they were denying all record of the conversation, saying it’s new damage. When he asked about getting the deposit back the staff member said something like “you have no proof, it’s our word against yours so I will decide on if you get your deposit back”. I was in complete shock at how two different members of staff had dealt with two different customers. That’s just not how you speak to people here in 2018.
Before even dealing with someone I had already had a very uncomfortable experience, genuinely feeling bad for the customers. At this stage I felt regret and I was seriously considering walking out, losing my money and finding another company who I trusted. I just had an awful feeling about the business.
Now almost half an hour after walking in to this environment I was prompted forward by an uninviting “yes?” by an employee who claimed to be named “B”. This was the same staff member who had just been rude to the customer returning their car. (I still find it difficult to believe that this is her real name, but she insisted it was).
She looked at my documents before telling me I had to get back in the line and wait for her colleague as he is using the system that is needed for my rental. So I waited another 10/15 minutes before the male staff member was available. As it was now 45 minutes since walking in i was running late for my plans. Conscious of this I had everything in my hand ready to go; booking voucher, passport, driving licence, DVLA check code, card I booked with, credit card for the deposit.
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Cons: [continued]...
The man called me forward and took my documents. There was some faffing around; he asked me for documents he was already holding and generally not looking like he knew what he was doing. After a couple of minutes I was then passed back to “B” who strangely was now able to help me from her same computer that she’s couldn’t help me from 15 minutes ago.
I could see through into the room with “manager” written on the door. I could clearly read a targets board on the wall measuring the staff’s targets and numbers. These targets included extra insurance and to my horror “damage”. These people appear to be targeted on finding damage. This further fuelled my negitive opinion of this company.
We completed the paperwork and was handed some keys and pointed towards the door. No direction of where to find the car. Thankfully I quickly located the dirty vehicle.
Following what I had just experienced and having absolutely no trust in the staff or company, I thoroughly inspected the vehicle. I identified some new damage on the car and went back to speak to “B”. Just as the previous customer had claimed, she told me to that they don’t need to sign anything or make any notes on documents or systems. This still makes no sense at all. This is when I decided to I take her name as reference of our conversation: “B”. Not knowing what else I could do I took over 30 pictures of the vehicle, ensuring that my phone made note of the date, time and location of the images. I fully expected to be needing them upon my return.
I had a horrible feeling for the duration of my rental, worrying about having to prove existing damage and if I they would return my deposit.
In summary I had an extremely concerning and frustrating experience, which took too long and lacked any organisation.
I would absolutely never use them again and would encourage others to not waste their time or emotions.
Absolutely awful.
