My partner and I had booked a rental car with Drivalia months in advance of our trip. When we arrived at Birmingham airport we were instructed by the email to head to the NCP car park and call a phone number for collection. The phone number rang through 5 times without answer. When we finally got through to the customer service line, they said a shuttle would pick us up in 15 minutes. The drive to the office was about 5 mins. When we arrived at the Drivalia office there was an elderly gentleman ahead of us who told the person at the desk he was in town for a funeral. The man said he had his own insurance which sounded fairly comprehensive but was told that it was not sufficient and that he should take out a second policy with Drivalia. I completely understand that this is the sales persons job to sell the insurance but I do not believe it was appropriate given the man’s circumstances to be pushed so aggressively into buying more insurance. When we got to the desk we were told (despite having a booking) that they did not have any cars available for us. The excuse for this from the person at the desk was that “it would be written in the fine print that we may not have a car available for you”. When we asked what we were supposed to do he said “I don’t know mate, maybe head back to the airport and try a rental desk there”We asked the shuttle bus driver to give us a lift back to the airport and explained the situation to him. In fairness to him, he dropped us off right at the car rental desks at Birmingham airport and told us exactly where to go and who to ask for in another car rental company who was extremely helpful and had us sorted with a car in under 10 mins. It was no surprise to hear that the shuttle bus driver ( the only helpful person in this encounter ) did not actually work for Drivalia but was a subcontractor. My overall experience with Drivalia was terrible. I know that car rental can be a shady business but given the price of Drivalia and from reading reviews, I thought we chose the right balance of price and reputability. I was unfortunately very wrong on this occasion. I would urge anyone looking at Drivalia as a cheaper alternative to some of the bigger more reputable companies to reconsider as in my case, the savings were not worth the stress me and my partner were put through.
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