Specificrent Reviews 7

WARNING: Check the interior and do not let them rush you! Unsubstantiated post-rental charges.

I had an incredibly frustrating experience with Specific Rent-a-Car Lisbon regarding a fraudulent, unauthorized post-rental charge for "interior damage" that they cannot prove occurred during my hire period.

When we collected the car, we were heavily pressured by the staff to leave quickly because a returning customer was late for a flight. Because of their rush, a proper joint interior inspection was never conducted. I noticed pre-existing interior damage and tried to be honest by pointing it out to the staff to help them out—only for them to weaponize my honesty and try to charge me for it after I returned the vehicle. I have time stamped photos of scuff marks all over the boot within 8 hours of collecting the car the moment i noticed the marks. Had proper checks been done in the first place this would have been spotted immediately.

When I confronted the location manager and explicitly asked for their pre-rental inspection photos or documentation proving the damage wasn't there before I took the keys, the manager openly admitted to me that they have no proof or records of the car’s interior condition prior to my rental. He simply stated "we don't do that". In other words, they have no idea when the scuff marks even appeared as they do not keep visual records of the condition of the entire car, inside and outside, before and after each customer drops the car off.

They are now trying to use a standard check-out sheet to justify charging me for the inside of the vehicle, completely breaking the chain of custody, while having failed to check the inside of the car at all.

Thankfully, American Express has excellent customer protection and has already taken over the dispute, as the merchant entirely lacks the required time-stamped baseline evidence to support this charge.

This entire operation seemed extremely fraudulent, from the lack of checks to pressuring us to leave in order to help someone else, to the $409 charge for a few scuff marks on a boot interior.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!

Terrible scammers should be out of business

We rented the car online and paid the full price covering 100% insurance because we wanted to feel safe during our holiday. Once arrived to collect the car, the person dealing with us informed us that that insurance was not valid and that we had to either leave a €1900 deposit for a partial cover, or else leave a €700 deposit + pay extra 23 per day for full cover. We went with the latest option obviously to be sure, but the price instantly nearly doubled (without considering the €700 blocked on the card). Plus, we were charged extra €40 for collecting the car during off hours time (and this was not mentioned anywhere when we booked and paid the car online). when you sing the contract, in very small font you can find a sentence saying that you'll be charged extra money at the end of the rental period if the car is too dirty (Madeira is a hiking place, it can easily happen). Avoid, rent somewhere else.

WARNING:
DO NOT RENT FROM SPECIFIC RENT-A-CAR
They advertised on the Discover Cars portal & I booked an Alfa Romeo Giulietta in January 2025 for a holiday in April 2025 to Lisbon, Portugal. I notified Specific Cars my flight number/carrier. The flight landed at 6.30pm, 25 minutes late. I did not wait in baggage collection (I left my wife to do that) as I knew at 7pm their office was closing. Their contract said they would meet me at the Vodafone kiosk inside the airport. I arrived at the kiosk at 6.50pm & there were a few car rental representatives waiting for clients but no sign of a Specific person. As my mobile was in my luggage, I asked one of the other representatives to telephone the phone number for SPECIFIC RENT-A-CAR . He did this at 6.52pm & eventually someone answered. A conversation in Portuguese followed. I was told a man from SPECIFIC RENT-A-CAR would be here in 10 minutes. My wife with our luggage met me at 7.05pm. At 7.10 pm having now got my mobile rang Specific number & was answered that he was outside in vehicle (not our rental). We drove about 3 or 4 km to SPECIFIC RENT-A-CAR ' depot. It was at this point I was made to part with 40 euros for late arrival or told that the contract could be cancelled! I said I was not late & that he should have met me at the airport as he knew the flight arrival time & could have been there to meet me at 6.50pm. As we were tired & in the middle of nowhere, we had no real choice but to accept the late fee. He kept saying that Discover Cars would refund me the 40 euros! I thought at the time this was plain ridiculous. The Alfa Romeo did not even exist on their fleet - I was given a Fiat 600 Hybrid! I returned the car unscathed but a different representative met us at their depot & dropped us back at the airport.
Having got home to England I wrote to Discover Cars to express my disgust at the way I was treated by SPECIFIC RENT-A-CAR . Although Discover tried their best to get me a refund they were unable to as Specific Cars said I had not rung them until 7.10pm after their 7pm office closure. He ignored the fact a helpful Portuguese man had rung SPECIFIC RENT-A-CAR on my behalf before their office closed. Also I now find that SPECIFIC RENT-A-CAR website state the late arrival/out of office hours fee is 30 Euros - so they even ripped me off an extra 10 euros!!
So my conclusion is that Specific Cars are a dishonest company that would rather extract an extra 40 euros from me than have a happy customer. They advertise a car brand & model they do not possess which again is dishonest. They claim Discover Cars will refund the late fee when they know full well that Discover Cars will not.
I suggest strongly that you avoid SPECIFIC RENT-A-CAR when renting in Lisbon - the hassle & extra cost of dealing with a poor car rental company is just not worth it. Rent from a better company.
# 1 Star Rating SPECIFIC RENT-A-CAR

I rented a car in Madeira in January 2025.
This was absolutely the worst car rental experience ever !
First of all I had booked an Opel Corsa but I was given a Panda hybrid which is a terrible car to drive on the island of Madeira.
Then I was charged a cleaning fee when I returned the car. They even told me that their policy states that I had to take the car to the car wash and vacuum it before return...and so I did, while risking to lose my flight! And they still Claimed that It was not as clean is when I picked it up which was an absolute lie !! I have photos to prove it.
The Staff was super rude and it was obvious that they are trained to scam customers. Worst experience ever !!!
Stay away from this company!

We arrived in madeira and had booked a economy car but got a mini. We also ended up being forced to buy the insurance instead of leaving a deposit since they only accept credit cards (not debit) for the deposit. So in the end, we didn't get the car we had booked and we ended up paying a lot more. Also, there are some small issues with the car. When we called the company about these issues, they weren't willing to help at all. Worst car rental company i have ever worked with and I rent cars several times a year.

Specific-Rent-a-Car/Carwiz car battery died on the first night. Took about half a day from our 6day trip to wait for the truck and haul it to the garage for the battery change. I paid the battery myself and company later reimbursed the battery price for me. Second was that they rent a car with fuel level indicator indicating that the tank is 3/4 full. When I fill the tank again, the fuel level indicator goes up to max 3/4, even though I filled it up to full at the nearest gas station next to airport. It gives a false reading, since customer can fill it up to full, but the rental company can claim it's only 3/4 full. I think it is cheating. I think this is really unreliable and seemed on both occasions to go for customers disadvantage. Rental company claims car is fine and nothing is wrong with it, even though I took pictures of filled tank and the fuel level indicator. Beware of Carwiz/Specific-Rent-a-Car!