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Be careful of this company, it has good prices online which then triple once you are at the desk picking up the car. The two people in front of me were also hit with massive charges which makes me think it is normal practice for Drivalia. If hiring fromHeathrow the shuttle doesn’t run very often which then means you need to pay an extra £25 for a taxi because it isn’t close to the terminal.
I recently rented from Drivalia Heathrow and had one of the most frustrating customer experiences I’ve ever dealt with.My flight was delayed nearly three hours, completely outside of my control, and the Drivalia shuttle, which they confirmed in writing would arrive at 15 and 45 past each hour, didn’t show up until almost an hour later. When I finally arrived at the branch, I was told that my prepaid car (booked and paid the day before) had been released to someone else, as they only “hold cars for one hour.”This left me, my fiancée, and our 7-month-old baby stranded late at night with no vehicle. Thankfully, the staff member on site was absolutely fantastic — kind, hardworking, and went above and beyond to find us a replacement. The car itself was also beautiful.However, because Drivalia had given away my original car, I was forced to pay again for the replacement vehicle, even though I had already paid for the first one. It was quoted by their customer service after I complained as I had "requested an upgrade", which it technically was, but not exactly as I didn't request it, I just needed a car or else I was stuck with my family.Again, I did not request or agree to any upgrade; this was simply the only available solution. Despite explaining this clearly and even providing evidence of my original booking and eight unanswered call attempts (to both the branch and customer service), Drivalia refused to refund the original, now duplicate charge.To make matters worse, returning the car was another disaster, disorganized and delayed to the point where we nearly missed our flight so make sure you go with time.After multiple follow-ups, Drivalia responded dismissively, closed my complaint without resolution, and has now stated they will no longer reply as they “made a decision.”I have proof of everything I’m saying — booking confirmations, call logs, and their own written communications.The staff on site deserve praise, but the company behind them operates like a scam, hiding behind policy and refusing accountability for clear service failures.If you value transparency, honest service and reliability, I strongly recommend avoiding Drivalia.UPDATE 10.10:After their reply from the branch manager. After their response, Drivalia is now claiming that I “accepted an upgrade.” Let me be clear, when you’re stranded late at night with your fiancée and 7-month-old baby after a full day of travelling, with your prepaid car given to someone else, accepting another vehicle is not a choice or an “upgrade”. It’s a last resort. I signed because I had no other option but to get my family safely on the road and home. Also, how can you give them any sort of warning of your estimated time if they 1) never answer the calls (which I sent them screenshots to prove), 2) I’m 10,000ft in the air….I maintain everything I said stay away from this scammy company Drivalia.
My flight was cancelled and I was rebooked on a later flight, which meant that I couldn’t collect the car at the allotted time.I called Drivalia, Gatwick, eight times over a four-hour period to notify them of the delay. No one answered. The main customer number was not in operation as it was a weekend.I also sent an email three and a half hours before the scheduled pick-up time, notifying them that I would be late. I received the following reply after some time:“The branch is open until midnight. i will leave a note on your booking for you to say that your flight has been cancelled and you are a new flight there would be a late fee on collection.”I asked how much this would be.Their reply: “Its within the terms and condition's of Drivalia's policy.”I asked again for the amount.They didn’t answer.I arrived slightly earlier than expected and was told that I was a no-show for my booking. I explained that I had called eight times (with a call log to prove it), had emailed them earlier and had received the answer above. (He hadn’t even checked to see if I had notified them.)It made no difference. They wouldn’t honour the booking, even with a late fee. All they could do was to rebook me. The cost was almost 600% higher than the original booking, which had already been paid, for the same car type. They brought it down after some discussion, so it was ‘only’ 265% higher than the original booking (plus the amount already prepaid of course).I contacted Green Motion and received a price for the same car category significantly lower than the cost quoted by Drivalia, even though I had no booking with them.The lesson learnt? Never hire from Drivalia. Or at least don’t be late if you do.
Drivalia is the worst car hire company I’ve ever dealt with. They’ve kept my £500 deposit over imaginary “damage” that simply doesn’t exist. I sent them videos and photos proving the car was spotless, yet they continue to ignore all evidence.Their behaviour is dishonest, arrogant, and completely unprofessional. It’s beyond frustrating — it feels like a deliberate scam.If you’re thinking of renting from Drivalia — don’t. Save yourself the stress, the wasted time, and the money you’ll never see again.Their reply here is nonsense. I’ve been emailing them for weeks!
Truly awful. Waited 25mijs for the shuttle bus and then waited a further 35 mins in a queue in an awful mobile office to get the car. All people in the queue fuming. None of the logistics were made clear before booking. Rude condescending staff incredulous that anyone would have an issue with this poor service and operating model.
So I booked a car for one day through booking.com, got there with all the documents needed and their manager Hamza didn’t want to let me the car, for the reason that I’m living for more than 3 years in the UK and I require an UK drivers license to rent and also that I don’t have stamps on my passport. I’ve told him to check my passport and drivers license which had been issued in my country on march this year (which makes me a resident of that country), also the plane tickets when I arrived and when I was about to leave, nonetheless he didn’t care about that. I’ve confronted him and asked him to point me out where any of this says in our agreement, and guess what he wasn’t able to find anything regarding this. So wasted my time and money to get to the picking point to get refused by a guy in crocs. Tell me now was I treated fair?
This company definitely uses dishonest business practices. I had a car reserved with them at a great price of 30 pounds a day. My flight was delayed by an hour, through no fault of my own. They then said the cheaper model was no longer available and the only option was to upgrade, at a cost of 100 pounds more. I had no option but to pay but I will never use them again.
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