Firstrentacar Reviews 43

I’m very satisfied with the service! I rented a car from Sofia Airport and the whole process was smooth and convenient – I was met on time and assisted with everything I needed. The car was in good condition and fully met my expectations.

Communication with the team was easy, and the terms were clearly explained. Although a deposit is required (as is standard with most rental companies), the procedure was transparent from the start. Overall, I had a positive experience and would gladly use their services again on my next trip.

I would recommend them to anyone looking for a convenient and affordable car rental option in Sofia!

Definitely a scamming company. We hired a rent a car from Sofia airport for a week, a meet and greet man came to airport to meet us, took photos of our passports and driving licence, then asked for EUR500/BGN1000 as deposit. We paid by credit card. a year later we are still trying to prove the card payment was taken by Lemark Traks EOOD, shown on our credit card statement is connected with First Rent a car. I called and emailed asking for refund within 28 business days of returning the car, heard nothing! I will find a way to bring this scamming company down. Lemark or FIRST rent a car!
Also hire car was advertised via Ryanair, then directly to bookings.com, neither wanted to hear anything from my complaint. So I am an individual trying to fight multiple companies. I think everyone being tricked into this should join forces to expose all of them. corporates should not just be making money out of customers, they should only support ethical 3rd parties.

Worst car rental ever, period!!!
These crooks will charge you 1000 Lew (> 500 €) and will refuse to give your money back.
Avoid at any cost!

SCAMMERS THEY TAKE THE DEPOSIT AND DISAPPEAR!!! DO NOT USE!!! IF YOU ARE A VICTIM INITIATE A CHARGEBACK WITH YOUR BANK ASAP!!!!

Do not use this fraudulent company. They will give you a car 20 years old, take your deposit and never return it and will never pick up the phone or answer an email. STAY AWAY!!!

⚠️ Warning – Scam Company! ⚠️
This car rental company is highly untrustworthy and should be avoided at all costs. They demand a deposit of 1000 BGN, which they never return. After returning the car, they stop responding to emails and phone calls. Do not fall for this scam – stay away from this fraudulent business!

Fraud!
Do not use, we booked through booking’s website. The car was supposed to be picked up in a completely different location in the city. When we arrived at the address, we didn’t find anyone. After a call they told us that their office there was closed and we had to go to the airport to pick up the already booked and fully paid rental car. When we arrived, we were provided a completely different car than the one booked. I provided a deposit of 1000BGN (EUR 511) which was supposed to be only blocked, instead it was taken from my bank account, when leaving the car I asked why it is not blocked/returned, they promised it would happen within a few days after making sure everything is okay. Currently, more than one month later, no deposit has been returned, I called them 10+ times and they are purposely not responding also to the emails informing them I will report them to the police. I have contacted the credit card company for help with chargeback.

Same experience as the rest. 1000lev deposit never returned. Ignoring calls and emails. Pursuing a refund through my cc company. DO NOT USE THESE THIEVES!!

SCAM!
The deposit is not just reserved but immediately charged, and you never get it back! As soon as you return the car, they completely ignore you.
I only got my money back with the help of my bank, but that was a process that took almost three months.

On top of that, the car was already very old with over 200,000 kilometers. The tires were nearly flat, and there was definitely something wrong with the suspension, since the car strongly pulled to the left and made noises with every bump.

SCAM! DON'T BOOK WITH FIRST RENT A CAR BULGARIA!

This company tries to steel your deposit! Instead of reserving it, they charge 1.000 leva/ app. 520 euro on your credit card. And then they never pay it back. Rentalcars.com lets you wait 28 working days, and then you need to prove you didn't receive it back, before they take any action. Thanks to my excellent credit card company, I finally got my money back, after almost 3 months.

Please read all the bad reveiws, f.i. on Trustpilot, and don;t rely on the good valuation they have on Rentalcars.com

BOOKED VÍA BOOKING
The same issue than previous reviews: the deposit (500e) not returned. The company answers your call once, and never again, not responding to emails. So I do not know why it was not returned. They gave us old SUV Renault instead of small car, but clean and working well. I am still fighting with Booking.com, bank and them.. but we know how it is going to end up..

BOOKED VÍA BOOKING. The same issue than previous reviews: the deposit not returned and charged in the credit card in few days. They give us an old VW Passat with a lot of issues with the remote control and a disgusting tobaco smel. I’ll fight with my bank to have the money returned.

Do not use this company. They charge you a deposit and you can say goodbye to It, they never return it and then you have to talk to your bank, involcr the police... A nightmare...
Plus the cars are really shitty cars. Ours had like 1000 years old. DO NOT HIRE THEM It is a scam

AVOID - These are Fraudsters using a familiar brand name !

Like all of the others customers that have left reviews, I have been scammed by these crafty fraudsters. They have used a familiar brand name and logo, so you believe that this the multi national company.

RentalCars and Booking continue to allow these thieves to commit crime through their websites and should take responsibility, and so should the banks that allow them to process our credit cards as part of the fraud.

They took a “holding deposit” of 1000LEV (€500) and never returned, avoiding calls and enquiries. I’m now left trying to get a charge back from my bank which is a nightmare to resolve, they keep asking why I used my pin, well you have no choice when you rent a car do you?

Please don’t get caught out and please spread the word

There was no refund of the deposit (eur500 approx) after return of car without damaged and full of fuel. Seems this is standard practice is to see if you will process a dispute with your credit card. After several no response contacts by email over 2 months and a useless attempt by phone when they answered i disputed and did recover.

Return of car was way to informal and seemed like i may never recover the deposit. Choose another company.

Unfortunately the same experience as the rest.

I booked a VW golf or similar. Turned out to be a 15 year old Renault 4x4. To be fair it drove fine and was comfortable. But other friends who used different hire companies all had brand new cars.

I was informed My £447 or 1000lev deposit will be refunded 14 days after my hire ended. When I gave the keys back I just had to park it on the side of the road and he just gave me a rubbish bit of paper. No photos, no signature taken.

Once 14 days had passed I frequently contacted them and I even had the representatives number, which he ignored me.I even had my friend in Bulgaria contact them and they kept fobbing him off. I got no response back.

Long story short 4 months later my bank finally refunded me after the company ignored them too!

AVOID!
I wish I had looked up the reviews before I decided to rent a car from these fraudsters. The car I was given was a battered 10 year old BMW instead of the model hatchback I chose. The handover was done on kerbside, with hardly any formalities you would expect from a regular organisation. The deposit transaction, which was meant to be pending, turned processed within a few days into the car hire. I have contacted the company many times via email and telephone, but there is no response. It's a scam and I am stupefied how Rentalcars.com (an arm of Booking.com) has kept them on their platform despite sooo many negative reviews. I reckon they are in in too, hence the reluctance to do anything about customer concerns.

Avoid! Trust your instincts, honestly the worst operator I’ve ever used. I met the dodgy rental man in a lay-by near the airport where we frequently had to move the car as the police moved us on. The paperwork was also done poorly on the hood of the car. The car was an ancient run down Skoda with a barely functioning radio let alone anything modern like electric windows. I noticed 2 days into the 6 day rental my 1000 lev deposit went from pending to paid on my credit card so immediately knew this was a con. I had travel insurance and excess insurance from a third party so wasn’t too worried at this point. Handed the car back they barely said anything. Never received any confirmation emails or record that I’d dropped the car off other than a scrunched up bit of paper that he’d hastily filled out. Now 2 months later I still haven’t got the deposit back, holidaycars.com have now accepted that the company are dodgy and most Bulgarian operators are as well and normally a chargeback is required from the credit card company. Avoid this company. Pay more for one of the major ones, I wish I had.

They do not pay back your deposit!!
And they do not answer any mails or calls!!
Great Scam, my money is gone.

Same experience as the others. Never got my deposit back, while everything went well and no damage were noticed when back to the airport. Booking is still promoting this company with probably false reviews. In discussion with them to try to get this deposit back.