Worst car hire firms named and shamed
Car hire firm InterRent has scored the lowest customer rating ever seen in the Which? Travel car survey, knocking Goldcar from the bottom spot for the first time in five years.
InterRent customers complained of ‘filthy’ cars, long queues, pushy sales staff and unexpected charges, leading to a customer socre of just 31%.
However, Which? Travel acknowledged that with an average price of £21 a day, InterRent is one of the cheapest car rental firms, and one customer customer said: "I feel like I got what I paid for."
Spanish company Goldcar – which charges almost twice as much as InterRent – had languished at the bottom of the table for four consecutive years. Showing few signs of improvement, the firm received a 42% customer score overall.
Both InterRent and Goldcar are the only providers to receive just two stars for customer service. They are both part of Europcar, which has faced allegations of over-charging and which is the worst performing of the big brands in the Which? survey.
Auto Reisen scored the highest rating for the fifth year in a row, with a 96% score. The company scored five out of five stars in almost every category, including value for money, charging an average of only £16 a day.
The firm, which only operates in the Canary Islands, scored its lowest rating of four stars for the age and condition of its cars.
Enterprise was the highest-rated worldwide firm with an overall 78% score. Customers described the provider as ‘friendly’ and ‘flawless’ for customer service, awarding it five out of five stars in that category – the only major company to score so highly this year.
Clarity over the final hire cost also earned the company a top score, with one customer telling Which? that Enterprise ‘never tries to sell me any extras I don’t need or want’.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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