Drivalia UK Reviews 

Friendly helpful service. Thanks Camilla and Yamna

⭐️⭐️ 2/5

I have a car rental booked with Drivalia for a holiday that’s 2 days away and I have been trying to contact them to clarify an important matter regarding my booking. I’ve called multiple times and waited over 25 minutes on the line without getting through. I specifically selected the option to be connected to the London Heathrow branch, but still had no success.

I find this extremely disappointing and poor customer service. A telephone number is provided on the booking confirmation, but what is the point of providing a contact number if customers cannot actually speak to anyone when they need help? I appreciate that they can be busy, but repeatedly waiting over 25 minutes with no response is unacceptable and has already left me with a poor impression of Drivalia before my holiday has even started.

Excellent staff, very helpful, process smooth

Great service from Heathrow team sanj was amazing will come back to book

Sanj was really on a different level great service , nice upgrade thnks will come back

Sanj was super helpful and assisted me with my car

Gareth went above and beyond to get our rental on the road after a few set backs. Great service 🙂

I have used Drivalia previously and, until this rental, my experiences had generally been positive. Unfortunately, this occasion left a sour taste.

I booked a Honda CR-V Hybrid or similar from Heathrow but was supplied with a much smaller Peugeot 2008 that was not a hybrid and could not properly accommodate our luggage. The vehicle also had extensive cosmetic damage and had not been cleaned to the standard expected for a rental costing more than £800.

More seriously, once we reached our destination, the rear passenger door dropped when opened and would not close unless it was physically lifted back into position. I reported this by email on the day of collection but received no response. I then had to arrange an exchange at the Manchester branch, resulting in an unnecessary 204 km return journey, around three and a half hours of additional driving and extra fuel costs during an already difficult family visit for a bereavement.

The Manchester team were courteous and helpful, although the replacement vehicle was still not a hybrid and was manual.

The complaint resolution was also disappointing. I was offered a 15% discount using the code SAVE15, but this was already a public promotion available to all customers. I was also told that a free upgrade would be provided on my next rental, only for Customer Service later to qualify this as subject to fleet availability and rates.

I had previously been happy to use Drivalia and gave them the opportunity to retain my future business with a reasonable goodwill resolution. Unfortunately, the handling of this complaint and the lack of a meaningful remedy mean I will now book elsewhere.

UPDATE – Following Drivalia’s response below:
Drivalia has asked me to contact them through the Manage My Booking portal so they can “fully investigate” the matter. Unfortunately, that is the process I had already followed before posting this review. The complaint had already been investigated, responded to and marked CLOSED by Drivalia. I subsequently escalated the matter again to UK Customer Service, who confirmed that they were unable to offer any additional goodwill gesture or further discount.

I therefore find the public response below somewhat disappointing, as it gives the impression that Drivalia is inviting me to engage in a further investigation when I have already completed that process and been given their final position.

Anywhere further than 50 miles from pickup incurs excess. It's in the small print but just be aware. Also deposit retained for 4 weeks ???

Is it possible to give no stars?? Do not use this company. They are a scam. Booked a flight and car via easyJet to Aberdeen which was delayed- rang them to update on progress and when flight finally departed. They then charged us nearly £100 as we were more than 4 hrs late, they allegedly gave our car to someone else and then ‘only’ had one large car left. Told us to claim from easyJet which is impossible. Will never use them again.

Charged a penaly fine for parking (returning the car) to the car hire centre! It all perfectly legal and a scam. Do not use, this is an unethical corrupt business. I specifically asked about returning the car, they never mentioned it was pay to park, crooked.

We hired a car on the 1st to the 3rd July, from the Glasgow Airport branch, everything seemed fine until we drove out. Within 20 minutes it started raining and we turned the windscreen wipers on, only to find out that the actual rubber blades were worn so far down the metal clips were on the screen, we pulled off the motorway on to the slip road and we called the office. They advised us to “pop to Halfords” and get the windscreen wipers replaced, keeping the receipt and bring it back to them where they would reimburse us. We did this, driving out of our way to get to the nearest branch, the manager at the Halfords was amazed that this was a hire car and they had let this out like this, he said if the police had pulled us over we would have received a fine and points, it’s now been over five weeks and we still haven’t had the reimbursed monies, trying to get hold of anyone in customer services is impossible, disconnected numbers from the web site, finally spoke to someone and it’s not their department so they transfer you to another number which ends up being a recorded massage. Absolute joke, basically hired us a car that was illegal to drive, told us to sort it out and then we can’t get reimbursed for the money we spent at Halfords, nearly 6 weeks later, nothing !! My advice would be don’t use this company!!!

Went for the cheap option and regret it. An untrustworthy company with terrible customer service. Rude and unhelpful in call centre and in the rental office. Collection point in a hidden car park behind converted office block into HMOs, felt unsafe / dodgy from the moment I arrived. AVOID!

Great customer service!
Janos was such a great help. Fast and informative. Looking forward to my trip now!

If I could give zero I would. Arrived after a delayed flight and having no luggage I went straight to the on airport agent but they had given the car I had booked and paid for to someone else as I was late! All this despite putting the flight number so they could track it being late. Very upsetting and meant I missed a wedding as I then had to wait for a taxi.

I want to call out Rehan Shahzad who was the absolute best. I had issues with the first car but he sorted it out and made sure I had a great replacement for the remaining 5 weeks. The service was outstanding, they really helped me with getting the best price and value. I strongly recommend them and will be using them again on my next trip. Thanks a heap!

Rob in Edinburgh is fantastic. Great service.

We recently hired a car from Drivalia Car Hire Luton and had such a fantastic experience, thanks in no small part to Aaron.

From the moment we arrived, he made us feel genuinely welcome. He was warm, friendly and incredibly easy to talk to, making what can often be a stressful part of travelling feel relaxed and enjoyable. Once he discovered that we were originally from Zimbabwe, we ended up having a lovely conversation, swapping stories and sharing a few laughs. It was such a personal touch and made the whole experience memorable.

Aaron went above and beyond to provide outstanding customer service. He was professional, approachable and clearly takes pride in looking after customers. It's rare these days to come across someone who combines efficiency with such genuine warmth.

If this review reaches management, I hope Aaron receives the recognition he deserves. He is a real credit to Drivalia and played a huge part in making our experience such a positive one. We wouldn't hesitate to hire from Drivalia Luton again and hope we're lucky enough to be served by Aaron next time.

Thank you, Aaron!

James was quick and efficient and provided me with a good deal. Happy with the experience!

Rob was extremely helpful, kind and funny :) Thank you so much!