CARWIZ Reviews 

DO NOT RENT FROM THEM!

I am local and needed a car while mine was being repaired. They quoted me $100 for a week and when I got in they doubled that and wanted $1000 for a deposit!

This place is a total scam. they get you off sight of the airport and then try to put thousand dollar holds on your credit card on top of that they will deny your insurance and ask for more money.

I had an appalling experience with Car WIZ, who operate under the name “Car Rental Square Heathrow.” After returning my rental, I was charged £420 for alleged damage that I did NOT cause. There was no clear evidence, no fair inspection process, and no willingness to engage in a genuine dispute.

This feels like a deliberate and predatory practice designed to squeeze money out of customers after the fact, when it’s hardest to defend yourself especially if you’re a traveler. A quick look at other reviews shows I am far from alone. The pattern is clear.

Operating under an alternative business name at Heathrow only adds to the lack of transparency and trust. In my opinion, this company relies on intimidation and questionable damage claims to make extra profit.

Do yourself a favor and avoid Car WIZ entirely. There are plenty of reputable rental companies this is not one of them.

Be extremely careful with this rental company. After returning the vehicle, I was accused of damage involving a dent and hidden scratches that were never clearly pointed out at collection. Despite the vehicle condition being documented at the start, I was later pressured to pay a very large amount.

The way this was handled felt misleading and unethical, with aggressive threats to charge my credit card if I did not comply. I strongly advise anyone renting here to take full videos, photos, and read every document carefully. My experience felt like scam-like behaviour, not professional car rental practice.

Avoid Carwiz in Malta.

All reviews say the same thing, high insurance waiver charged.

They also tried to charge us €15 for cleaning it before we even picked it up, we said no!

Never before have I hired a car and been told to clean it before I return it.

I recommend third party CDW if you're stupid enough to insure through this company.

The car we rented was covered in dents and scratches.

AVOID at all cost, unless you have an emergency rental ( not planned and there are no any other options ).
In case you are in position to rent with them - take their insurance, otherwise I'll be charged for the hidden dents, scratches etc.
After you did check the car for the existing damages, do not leave the site, untill you receive email from them with the all existing damages found and check their email damages forms against damages you did find. You might be surprised, that some of them is not there !
Anyway, even all there, most likely the will be some "hidden" damages, which is completely not visible, and you can not find them, until you know it's there.
So, insurance with them ( which will cost you ~1/3 higher, rather than insure bought with Ryanair ) will protect you from being charged for those damages.
After all - I do not see any reason to deal with the company, which has such business model.
Be CAREFUL WITH THEM.

Absolutely awful! I had key documents such as driving license, passport and they still refused to issue the car, all because in a very long terms email it said a posted proof of address. In this day and age where everything is digital and rarely posted, and despite showing actual proof from a utility bill that could be emails and printed they refused to issue the car. The shocking this was, I was in the room with another 3 people who faced the same issue. This was truly awful experience, avoid, avoid, avoid!

Worst car rental experience ever! As the rest of Carwiz’s most recent reviews say, this company is an absolute scam with its extra fees. Firstly we found out that the car would not lock or unlock which meant all of our clothes and toiletries were locked in the car all night! 12 hours later we finally managed to unlock the car however the locks were still faulty and we did not feel comfortable using the car after this. After contacting Malta Carwiz they told us we had to drive to the over side of the island and back again (in the car that could possibly lock us in or out of the car on the way) to get a new car instead of dropping it off to us, we told them we did not feel comfortable using the car however they did not seem to care. After them not using the car for the rest of the holiday we later returned the car with almost full on the dial as we topped the car up next door to the drop off location, the car was then inspected and given the all clear for everything. Once returned home and was not in Malta I received an email stating that the car was not returned to full and I would receive a charge of £50. Giovanni Fenech,(Customer Care Specialist CARWIZ MALTA) was absolutely no help, dismissed any of my issues and told me there was nothing that could do done. Terrible terrible service, the company is a Scam!!!

They gave me the most bashed car. when i took it back they charged me for damage which was already there.
charged me £400.00 on my card.

The collection of 5 males with luggage in a half full SUV was a sign of things to come. The paperwork was tedious and laborious whilst it was made clear to us that the booking we had made in South Africa was complete. 2 Hours. We did pick fines up on parking and Toll tunnel fees - we had no idea - in England but we received the fines over 7 weeks later for Pound2.50 and Carwiz charges me Pound60.00 for paying it, and due to the time constraints of the mail getting to me, the time allowed to pay said fine had run out.

I did a Car paid the fees on Priceline showed up at the counter was required to deposit an additional $1250. Yes, I have full coverage insurance.
After I get back to Alaska, they nailed me for $450 for a smoking fee
The timestamp on their paperwork shows the car was smoked in at 11 AM. Exactly pretty sus.
I have in my possession of the date, stamped videos and pictures of the employee doing the inspection of the car at 11:36 before I was given the keys
The employee was a complete jerk when I told him he had an attitude problem. He told me he was going to get me.
They are charging me $450. I have all the proof in the world, but I feel like I am not still not going to win. Either way, I haven’t had a cigarette in seven years.

I WISH I WOULD HAVE READ THESE REVIEWS DO NOT COME HERE IVE BEEN HERE 3 HOURS AND STILL HAVENT GOTTEN TO THE COUNTER. THERES TONS OF HIDDEN FEES AND CARS ATE OUTDATED IM IN THE SJU LOCATION SAVE YOURSELF THE TROUBLE AND DONT COME HERE

AVOID AVOID AVOID AVOID. You may think their rates are low. Yes: their published rates are low. BUT IT’A LIE: THEY ARE NOT. After you wait an hour at the airport to get to their facility, then drive another 30 minutes to their facility, and then try to get your car, you will face the following *unusual and unexpected* add ons:

1. insurance: of course, as a savvy renter, you will decline insurance. But Carwiz will make this almost impossible. They require proof of your auto insurance in order to waive paying for their auto insurance. In my case, I don’t have this on my person. *Somehow* my insurance agent picked up the phone on Christmas Eve and provided me this information. Otherwise, I would be paying an *extra $30 a day* for something completely unnecessary.

2. Toll charges: Florida has a thoughtful and reasonable approach to tolls and toll roads by electronically charging modest amounts by means of a transponder that can be attached in a windshield. For example, the total cost of my tolls while driving around Florida for a week was under $25, which is fine. I bought a transponder to pay for these tolls—which also seems fine. We didn’t understand this at Carwiz’s front desk, but *CarWiz does not let you pay these tolls.* Instead, at the front desk, you can choose between paying Carwiz $18/day for Carwiz to ‘cover’ your tolls, or decline that coverage. We declined that coverage because we had our own transponder and paid tolls directly. *Carwiz did not allow that.* Instead, Carwiz sent us a second bill for our actual tolls *plus $30 for each time we went through a toll booth.* Now Carwiz my respond that this concept was in their contract. It is in small print. But practically: given that you have probably prepaid (in our case through priceline), waited an hour for Carwiz to pick you up, then endured another 30 minute drive to their facility, and at that point don’t have a good option to switch to another car rental company, you are not in a mood to read legalese—you are in a mood to get out of their office as quickly as possible to continue your vacation. And I should know: I’m a lawyer.

SO AVOID AVOID AVOID. BUT DON’T BE STUPID LIKE ME. AVOID CARWIZ. YOU CAN THANK ME LATER. OR CONTRIBUTE TO MY VENMO ACCOUNT TAKING DONATIONS FOR THE FEES CARWIZ HAS CHARGED ME.

Horrendous experience. Picked up the "VW Golf or equivalent" (~27k RRP) and was given a Hyundai i10 (~15k RRP) and told it was "in the same bracket". Took 40 minutes to complete all details already provided when making the booking. When making the booking we took out fully comprehensive insurance but when collecting the car we were told we weren't covered and needed to take out additional cover with them at excessive prices. We elected not to do this and rely on the coverage we took out when booking online. The following day the car wouldn't start. Called Carwiz who told us they could do nothing as we weren't insured. Called the RAC at their recommendation who said the car was out of warranty and they didn't have a policy with them. USELESS CUSTOMER SERVICE. EXTREMELY DISSATISFIED.

I am a senior who was trying to save some cash and found this Company through Expedia for my trip to Fort Lauderdal in Florida. Price announced was attractive, but the bad surprises come when you go to the Carwiz offices which are outside the airport premises with a really bad shuttle service where the driver is far from being a service oriented person. In the offices the employee forces you to pay the insurance coverage which are limited to some USA companies, otherwise they do not continue with the process and you lose the money because the reserve cancellation is not accepted if it is made after you start the registration process. That is when the scam starts, because their objective is to keep the money paid when the reservation was made. Expedia did not defend me before these "business practices" of CARWIZ. I lost my cash and had a very bad moment just at the beginning of my vacations in Florida.

It was a horrible experience. They never came to pick me up at the airport. I called and no one answered my calls. The employee said his phone was a cell phone and was having problems, but they didn't answer emails or messages either. The employee refused to help me even though I had proof of my calls and messages. He just told me that since I didn't pick up the car the previous afternoon, my reservation was no longer in the system. How could I pick it up if they never answered my calls? Illogical.

Fue una experiencia horrible. Nunca fueron a buscarme al aeropuerto. Llame y nadie respondió mis llamadas. El empleado dijo que su teléfono era un celular y tenia problemas, pero tampoco contestaron los emails ni los mensajes. Eñ empleado se negó a ayudarme a pesar de que yo tenia las evidencias de mis llamadas y mensajes. Solo me dijo que como yo no llegue a buscar el auto la tarde anterior, mi reservación ya no estaba en el sistema. Como llegar, si ellos nunca contestaron mis llamadas? Ilógico.

If I could rate them zero I would. They are an utter scam, the moment I mentioned I have my own insurance, they were on at me, trying to get me to have theirs but I stuck to my guns as I have hired through dozens of hire companies in Naples before. I was eventually told, ok you are good to go, no mention of taking photos or videos. When we opened the car, it was filthy inside and there was a carrier bag in the boot with clothes in, yuck! We just cracked on after leaving the clothes there, as had a 2 hour drive ahead of us. When I went to wash the windscreen a little while into the drive, I found I couldn't, it was empty! How dangerous! I had to fill it up with my drinking water.

At the end of our rental, the moment I pulled up, I was greated by a rude gang of people that just told me to wait outside, I waited in shock and a young woman came over, she instantly said, what's happened to the car? I said nothing, she then went on to point out "new damage" which was almost at rusting stage it was so old!!! I then was forced by them to pay £325 from my deposit and told I was a liar for saying I wasn't told to take pictures, disgusting.

Straight after me, the woman then did the same to the next customer, disgraceful!

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY, THEY ARE FRAUDS!

How I wish I had read these reviews before I booked this car.
These people are crooks and out to exort as much money from you as possible. From having to take the Tube to collect your car (!) to the extremely nosy driver on the shuttle bus, to arriving at a grotty little makeshift office straightaway we sensed something was off.

When I arrived I was quoted more than £600 to add insurance, more than the cost of the hire! They also tried to pressure me into getting breakdown cover, which is ridiculous because this is always covered by a rental company, not by the customer.
The deposit they charge is £1500.

Every single trick they try to exort more money from you.

Was told my luggage wouldn't fit in our car so I needed to upgrade, upgrade was £100 per day for 13 days. 😂.Guy wasn't happy when I insisted that the luggage will fit, when I started arranging it he then got arsey saying I couldn't arrange it how I wanted to.

In the end luck was on my side because when it came to paying the deposit my bank (Lloyds) kept on blocking the payment, their system must have picked up it was a scam.

At that point I couldn't take the car because couldn't put down the deposit so had to leave in the middle of the night with my 2 young children (after a 20 hour journey) to find a taxi and get to a hotel. Hectic but so glad we got away from them.

I have cancelled my credit card and reported CarWiz to Trading Standards (Uk).

So sad for tourists and/or others who get fleeced by these crooks.

Really is a scam - they need to be shut down- i got told before i drove off- dont worry about scratching the car look how many scratches and dents there are - I obviously didnt and didnt hit anything on my travels. They charged me for a scratch that i believe was already there. Please dont make my mistake and go with these.

Should be a 0 instead of 1. These people of carwiz are scam. They put you under a lot of preasure to take highly expensive insurance, they let you wait for a long time, they treat every client very bad. We took no insurance because we took one from carjet. Once we brought the car back(it was almost a new car) they found a little chip(after a very long search, on the windscreen(stupid we took no photo when we took of the first day) , and we had to pay 1000,- now we must fill in the paperwork for the refund of the 1000,-