“Went to buy some Car Hire Excess insurance from a specialist insurance company.
This is what the policy exclusion says:
"What’s excluded?
- Any rentals from Green Motion (all other rental companies are accepted)"
I think that says it all!
Company is reducemyexcess so if insurance companies won't cover this company but will cover every single other car hire company in Europe and the USA, what is going on?”
“Picked up car in the dark with some damage marked in the documentation including a dent in one of the doors. Was given until next morning to check it over. With the kids waiting, not much time to consider options so went along with it. Went around the car next morning and took some pictures of the additional undocumented damage I could see, and emailed in. Upon return am confronted with the beforementioned dent and the fact that its location on the car doesn’t match the documentation. HOWEVER the staff also agrees that there is no other dent on the car, so can’t explain in that case why I had signed off on a dent which clearly does not exist. Staff also rude and dismissive. I stood my ground and refused to sign anything and eventually a “customer services” chap did appear and somehow could see “in the records” that the damage was indeed pre-existing but its location had been misdocumeted. Unclear what records he was looking at and why they differed from the documents produced when i collected the car. In all, felt shady and quite unpleasant.”
“Stay the hell/f away from this company, they are operating a huge scam and no matter how hard you mitigate, they will catch you out and apply some trumped up charge which your bank will be less than interested in helping you get back.
Avoid, Avoid, Avoid”
“It is not y accident that Green Motion is the ONLY car hire company that my Excess Insurance Policy will not cover, obviously because they (Green Motion) charge customers for previous damages even if these are hardly visible or not visible without a spotlight. Avoid them, they are obviously scam artists. p.s. Their employees get a bonus for finding damages they can charge. We always use Hertz, Alamo or Firefly.”
“Do not rent from these people. There are far more reputable and trustworthy car hire firms.
It seems my story is similar to so many here. I collected a Citroen C3 from Green Motion’s Edinburgh Airport site (although it took a while because they moved on Saturday and I hadn’t been given updated location details - a bit of a wild goose chase). Naturally, there was the usual talk of me paying more for various cover options that she recommended to me. I declined.
It was late, so we checked the car over In the dark. The lady said, understandably, that we wouldn’t be able to see everything so to check it over the following morning and send in photos before 10am. As we checked over the car, there were a number of small scuffs that she had glossed over with a comment along the lines of “we don’t worry about things like that”. She encouraged me to take photos of the ones that existed, carefully pointing them out. It seemed to be the obvious ones they were interested in, and a further inspection the following morning didn’t cause me any concern.
I drove back to the airport, happy and confident that I had looked after the car well and was returning it exactly as I had received it. I was really surprised to be called over to the shallowest scratch that I could barely see. As he pointed it out to me, he was poking it more and more and it became more indented and obvious. In fact, on the photos they subsequently sent me it is noticeably worse than when it was first pointed out to me. He went to get his manager (Jacob) who made out he’d be doing me a favour by only charging me £125 instead of £300+ Various additional charges were then thrown in, making a three day hire for a C3 used for 100 miles £233. Outrageous.
I had a plane to catch and couldn’t hang around to argue. I wish I had read the reviews first and filmed/photographed everything because it’s clear from a brief internet search that this is how they normally operate. Please don’t be their next victim.”
“worst car experience with green motion Heathrow.
Hi everyone I just regret that I had given 5 star rating to green motion Heathrow car rantal. I was keep going there from last few month continuesly without even a day gap but from today Even I get free car rental from green motion still I will not go there and the reason is that when I went to return the car the guy named costel, he was trying to charge me for a scratch which I had told him was already there even he knows there were other many scratches which he knows very well was already on the car but not mark on system because they don’t bother to update the system otherwise how would they charge to the customer.
And when I took the picture of the scratches which was there before and I went to two other colleagues of green motion they understood but they said they can’t do anything because of costel. So my request to all the Customer who is still going to take rentals car from green motion first advise better go to other companies and second if still going allow yourself 2 hour extra to check the car from every single corner if you don’t find the mark on system you have to pay for it. So you have to tell them what is there job and find the damaged on vehicle and get them marked otherwise you pay for it and even if you had excess insurance please double check with your company like the company called better safe they high lighted in the policy that they dont accept any claims only car rental from green motion because they knows now what the green motion is doing with the customer. Still if any one wants to know anything about green motion service you can call me on 07574064290”
“worst car experience with green motion Heathrow.
Hi everyone I just regret that I had given 5 star rating to green motion Heathrow car rantal. I was keep going there from last few month continuesly without even a day gap but from today Even I get free car rental from green motion still I will not go there and the reason is that when I went to return the car the guy named costel, he was trying to charge me for a scratch which I had told him was already there even he knows there were other many scratches which he knows very well was already on the car but not mark on system because they don’t bother to update the system otherwise how would they charge to the customer.
And when I took the picture of the scratches which was there before and I went to two other colleagues of green motion they understood but they said they can’t do anything because of costel. So my request to all the Customer who is still going to take rentals car from green motion first advise better go to other companies and second if still going allow yourself 2 hour extra to check the car from every single corner if you don’t find the mark on system you have to pay for it. So you have to tell them what is there job and find the damaged on vehicle and get them marked otherwise you pay for it and even if you had excess insurance please double check with your company like the company called better safe they high lighted in the policy that they dont accept any claims only car rental from green motion because they knows now what the green motion is doing with the customer. Still if any one wants to know anything about green motion service you can call me on 07574064290”
“In Krakow 10/20/19 -10 pm. I rented a car. The car park has no lighting, the employee illuminated the car with a flashlight looking for damage to the car body. after 3 days I came to replace the car with another one because it had vibration of the steering wheel and mirrors at a speed of 90 km / h. A rental employee charged me $ 370.00 for a scratch on the door (12 -13 mm), which I did not do
Hard to see during the day, impossible at night with the flashlight. (I have pictures) The new car they gave me was dirty inside and dirty outside, impossible to see if it has any scratches and other damage on the car body. On my note that the car is dirty and I can't check the scratches, your employee laughed ironically. Even the radio is not in the car (I have pictures of a dirty car). Your employees in Krakow do not have culture, they do not know how to deal with the client, they need training or looking for another job. I rented a car for a period of 1 month, and ask for the return of money wrongly taken ( $ 370.00) from my credit card. This situation is unacceptable in the US
Sincerely
stanmiernik@gmail.com”
“in Krakow 10/20/19 -10 pm. I rented a car. The car park has no lighting, the employee illuminated the car with a flashlight looking for damage to the car body. after 3 days I came to replace the car with another one because it had vibration of the steering wheel and mirrors at a speed of
80-90 km / h. A rental employee charged me $ 370.00 for a scratch on the door (12 -13 mm), which I did not do
Hard to see during the day, impossible at night with the flashlight. (I have pictures) The new car they gave me was dirty inside and dirty outside, impossible to see if it has any scratches and other damage on the car body. On my note that the car is dirty and I can't check the scratches, your employee laughed ironically. Even the radio is not in the car (I have pictures of a dirty car). Your employees in Krakow do not have culture, they do not know how to deal with the client, they need training or,,, looking for another job. I rented a car for a period of 1 month, and ask for the return of money wrongly taken ( $ 370.00) on my credit card.This situation is unacceptable in the US
Sincerely
stanmiernik@gmail.com”
“very unprofessional and rude. most unhelpful "customer service" ever received.
Would rate 0/5 stars if it were possible.
We arrived at the car rental to find the store unattended. Called the number on the window and was advised to wait.
They asked a £1500 deposit as minimum which was ridiculous for the car we were hiring. (Same car rented with Sixt the deposit is £300) their attitude towards this was absolutely appalling. Was basically take it or leave it we don't care. There was a discrepancy with information emailed to us and the attendant literally printed out the terms and conditions and said no this is what we go by read it. There was no attempt at trying to assist us in finding an alternative solution.
To top things off besides the delay and the rude behavior the car we hired was supposed to be a VW Golf, however what we got was Vauxhall that wasn't even cleaned, it had gone from one customer straight to us. I don't believe they even a VW in their fleet, upon returning the vehicle we saw other customers return their Vauxhalls and Skoda's not a VW in sight.
Would not rent again.”
“I hardly ever leave reviews, but Green Motion was so poor that I feel others should be warned.
Green Motion Edgware Road office staff are inattentive, unfriendly, standoffish, arrogant and clearly in the wrong jobs.
As other drivers say here and on other forums, the company requires all sorts of documents you would not normally expect (I hire cars regularly in all sorts of locations and countries, so I kind of know what to expect). Paperwork was lousy, e.g. incorrect DVL number or driver address in the contract, etc.
I asked whether the car could be provided with a full tank but was told it would need to be whatever was available. In the end, the car was provided with a part-full tank. You are required to return the same amount which is not exactly easy. If you return less, they will charge you a hefty fee. If you return more, tough luck - you lose! It's there in the small print, but just not a nice, ethical (but rather nasty) way of doing business.
You are asked for your NI number, allegedly for checking your driving license (DVL) info which is such a wrong thing to be doing! They should be asking for a "checking code" instead which allows access to the same DVL info, without a need to divulge your NI. NI number is personal and highly sensitive and given they also have all your other personal details like your ID/passport, DVL, c/c statement (required as proof of address, apparently, as if the DVL was not proof enough), your address and your phone number, this is scary stuff. How can I have any certainty my details aren't going to get into the wrong hands and get misused?!
I was firmly told I would not be able to return the car earlier (unless I pay), full stop. There's a steep admin fee for every instance of any other correspondence or fines that me come through to them after the rental, so watch out. Generally, you just constantly need to watch out in order not to be caught out, otherwise you pay dear. What a nasty business model that is.
On return the car is inspected with a torch light, so make sure you do exactly the same and very thoroughly at the start of your rental to avoid nasty surprises (e.g. getting charged for damage you did not cause).
Taking photos of all damage (even the smallest scratches) at the start, irrespective of whether it was marked on the report or not, is a good idea. In my case, the check-out was in a dark underground parking lot so not excatly easy to see all damage...
No damage was found on my return, but over 3 days later I am still waiting for my £1,205 deposit to be unblocked. It's no small change, you know, but apparently, it'll take some 7 days to have my funds available! Last night I checked with my bank and Green Motion was still blocking the funds. Isn't it shocking in this day and time when most banking transactions are instantaneous? (BTW, it is virtually impossible to get through on the phone; When I called rentalcars.com through which I rented, they also couldn't get through!)
To sum up - very bad customer service, unfriendly policies, lots of additional charges and generally an impression they just want to catch you out..
All in all, a very bad experience indeed. I will never use Green Motion again!”
“Hired car via Expedia after booking flight to Glasgow. Seemed reasonable price but then hit with huge insurance charges on picking up the car. I had a problem with the car and on returning it to the office I filled out a detailed report on the problem. The office staff said they could do nothing about the issue as the manager was not in. Asked to leave email and phone number. Have had no response despite filling in review automatically requested by the company!! Customer service nonexistent. AVOID THIS COMPANY !”
“Worst car rental experience of my life. Tried to sell me more insurance that i didnt need. After constant back and forth they turned rude ! I ended up walking away. Green motion and Rentalcars.com did absolutely nothing other than steal my hard earned money. Both companies rude and ignorant. Do not deal with either of these people. They are the worst. The absolute worst !”
“Green Motion Glasgow, Scotland--NOT Recommended. First, I waited an hour to get picked up from the airport, and then I haggled for an hour over the rental price...which I thought I had prepaid. Green Motion rental clerks are paid a commission to hard sell overpriced insurance to unsuspecting customers. They use intimidating language that makes an unwary customer very nervous about not paying the extra charges. PLEASE check with your bank/credit card company that you used to book the car! Many of them will cover you for an overseas rental so you DO NOT have to buy the collision damage waiver (CDW). CDW sounds like you're covered for any damages, right? No, you will have to put down a hefty deposit of 1200 pounds or more and any damages will come out of that--even if you weren't at fault. By email I was quoted 6 pounds CDW per day for a rental in Scotland but charged 12 pounds! I challenged it and after several shaky excuses, they finally claimed the double charge was needed because I had a navigation system in the car. I was greatly overcharged for a broken side mirror and some scratches left by someone parked next to me. The damage "Service Fee" for writing up the damages receipt was 75 pounds more! My ten day rental, including damages, wound up costing about $1130 for a little Toyota Yaris. I recommend you do not rent from this company. Green Motion Glasgow, Scotland”
“Absolute thieves and crooks sums these fraudsters up.
We had our car hire booked at Corfu airport, unfortunately our flight was diverted due to bad weather.
Unbeknown to us, if you don’t arrive to pick up your car within 2 hours of your scheduled booking they cancel on you!
We along with a sizeable number of the flight found out that we all had to pay “upgrade” fees as our original cars had been released.
This more than doubled the price for the week and we ended up with the same car, a VW up!
They had us over a barrel as we’d already paid, despite me and all the guests losing our tempers, they were stone cold fraudsters who’d done this before.
I would pay double to use anyone else but these utter thieving scumbags”
“I was physicaly and verbally assaulted by Greenmotion employees at Amsterdam when I complained for some of their policies. Ofcourse I went straight to the police”
“As I was collecting my car, the staff told me that I would be able to receive the refund for all my bus tickets to and fro Heathrow Airport using HotelHoppa bus service. The refund would be done via email and would cover two ways. However, when I tried to do so after the return of my car, I was disappointed to find out that their policy was to refund two tickets (two-way) out of the six tickets my family and I took. They emailed me saying they can do a refund of half my tickets as a gesture of goodwill. However, this is different from what was communicated to me by the staff of Green Motion, as well as the booking confirmation email in the fine prints. When I raised this to Green Motion, they ignored this part although I had screenshotted the email and even highlighted the fine prints. This is an obvious discrepancy and they refused to acknowledge it.
Additionally, when I returned the car, there was another issue. Upon receiving the car, the damage report showed that there were scratches at the front and rear of the car. However, the report did not indicate which side the scratches were. When we returned the car, they forcibly insisted to claim our excess for the scratches, claiming that it was on a different side of the car. When asked where the ‘initial scratch’ the staff was referring to, he could not find it and insisted it was on the other side. We were in a rush to get to the airport and they just said that we could go without any conclusion to the matter. My credit card was charged the next day. I feel it is unethical for the staff of Green Motion to charge my card as we did not have an agreement before he charged my card, and he could not find the initial scratch that he said was supposedly there. The scratch shown to us on the pictures he sent to me later on via email are the ones I saw when I picked up the car on the first day, although I do not have any photos as proof. We had no damages while using the vehicle and was careful to take good care of it.
This Company is scam!! DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM EVER!”
“WARNING - DO NOT USE GREEN MOTION CAR RENTAL - THIS BUSINESS IS A SCAM - YOU WILL GET STUNG
COMPLETELY UN-ETHICAL BUSINESS OUT TO BILL YOU FOR DAMAGE YOU NEVER CAUSED
I rented a car from Green Motion at Edinburgh Airport for the period 20 - 22nd September 2019. All seemed well. The little car was in good condition with a few minor marks on the paint all acknowledged by the person doing the vehicle handover but not recorded on the damage sheet owing to the marks being very small and not noteworthy (according to the person doing the handover). I drove the car to my Air B&B which was 17 mile journey. The car was not used again until returning to the airport on Sunday. The total journey was 34 miles and it was all by motorway or ring road. The journey was incident free and there was no chance at all that anything happened to the car.
Upon retuning the vehicle to Green Motion at Edinburgh Airport the person inspecting the vehicle seemed to be taking their time especially around the rear kerb side wheel. He inspected the whole car with a fine tooth comb - much more diligently than they had done at pick up. I immediately sensed something was up. The first inspector called for a second colleague to help and they both returned to the rear kerb side wheel. Seconds later I was summonsed to inspect the “damage” that had been found. The inspector continued to show me a slice in the tyre wall about 1/4 inch from the alloy wheel and tyre bead. He had to pull down on the razor style cut in order to make it visible. Without physically pulling on the tyre wall the cut was completely imperceptible and invisible.
The only way this person could have found this cut was by knowing it was a pre-existing fault. Or worse having purposefully caused the fault himself either at the time of inspection or prior to my collecting the car. My suspicion is that this is a fault they have purposefully setup in order to repeatedly catch people out over. I was taken to the office and despite my protests they billed me £138 for a new tyre which is in itself extortionate rates. They said this included their loss of use of the vehicle for the day. When I protested my innocence and suggested the fault was pre-existing they threatened me with taking my full deposit of £1,200. I was held to ransom and had no choice but to pay the £138.
I am certain this is a slick scam. And having went to the internet to check on this company of course there are myriad of reviews with similar stories of people being charged extortionate prices for damage caused during a rental that people are denying ever happened and usually has been pre-exisiting damage. The whole process was very well prepared to argue their case. Upon protesting your innocence the clerk behind the desk has various aids to hand to raise and demonstrate that you have signed up to contract conditions, that you inspected the car and signed it was free of damage upon collection. They also capitalise on the fact that you are most likely under time pressure to catch a flight and therefore not in a position to hang about and argue your case. The whole process from start to finish is very well planned to relieve you of many times more than your original rental cost.
And in my case the damage done to the tyre wall was absolutely caused purposefully by the likes of a razor blade specifically in order to make it invisible to all but the person who caused it. Had a tyre been damaged during road use the damage would certainly have been in the tread area closer to the road and not on the edge of the alloy rim. Had the tyre succumbed damage in this area the alloy rim would certainly also have been damaged at the same time. I do not believe for one minute especially having read the accounts from others that this damage was caused during my rental. There are even articles in the press (Guardian) calling out this firm and warning people of the reports of it being a potential scam set up to focus on billing people for damage they did not cause.
Be warned and avoid this company at all costs. I actually rented through “Affordable Car Hire” who chose Green Motion as the supplier. You wouldn’t know you are working with Green Motion until you receive your rental voucher where they are named as the supplier. I highly discourage using this company and hope someday someone manages to bring them to rights for this unethical abuse of customers.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/jun/09/green-motion-car-hire-bills
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/oct/28/green-motion-hire-car-rental-damage-charges”
“Shocking services. I booked with edreams for the unlimited millage, with insurance so that I didn't have to bother with deposits when collecting the car.
Upon collection, they demanded€1400 deposit as the insurance was a 3rd part insurance and not with Green Motion.
The unlimited mileage was capped at 85 miles per day. I booked a salon car, they tried to give me a mini copper. Then when I did get a large car, it had no petrol. I was told to bring it back empty! They directed me to a petrol station, which turned out had been closed for the past 3 months. Then I bearly made it to the next petrol station.
A total nightmare, and I would never use eith of these companies again.”
