“Honestly the worst car rental experience I have ever had. PLEASE DONT USE THIS COMPANY!
I am British and work abroad, so come back to the UK and rent cars fairly often. This is the worst option I have ever come across.
I waited for them to collect me from my terminal for over 45 mins at 11pm at night, not a great start. They then proceeded to overcharge me for insurance because of utterly ridiculous company policies.
I am also writing this over 8 weeks since i returned the car and they have still not returned my deposit.
This is genuinely the worst car rental option in Heathrow.
NEVER USE.”
“Comfortable the worst car rental experience ever - Never use this company. You really do get what you pay for in this industry.
After landing at Heathrow with two children under three and after 32 hours in transit already from Newcastle (Australia) it took another SIX HOURS to get access to our vehicle and get to our destination an hour from Heathrow.
Upon landing, I called reception to request a pick up as advised but 15 calls went unanswered. It took 45 minutes to speak to somebody at which point we were already through security. Our transfer then took another 45 minutes to arrive. When it did arrive, we’d requested two child seats but they’d provided one baby seat with a capsule and no base so we were forced to put our baby in an older car seat and have our toddler ride seat free.
When we got to check in the service was terrible. Zero empathy, zero effort made to expedite our check in citing our young children, long transit and poor experience already. The tone and attitude from the staff was effectively that they couldn’t care less about our customer experience. We eventually gained access to the vehicle over three hours after landing.
In fairness drop off was seamless but the destination of the Surprice Heathrow office is very odd and not close to Heathrow itself.
An awful experience from an awful company”
“Waiting here since 15.45pm & still haven't received our rental car yet. Absolutely disgraceful wait for a hire car. Most definitely will never use this company again.”
“Surprice UK Heathrow
Simply avoid this company - they refuse to accept any pre-purchased insurance & will not release your vehicle until you purchased their additional insurance.
I purchased full cover protection through Rental cars - not accepted by Surprice / I saw them refuse American Express cover from another client and bully an elderly couple into purchasing additional insurance.
Don't bother complaining as they won't respond. Terrible experience - avoid using them at all costs
Consider complaining to UK consumer standards, car hire protection and industry ombudsman - apologies could not attached links.”
“I rented a vehicle in Pisa, in May 2024.
1) no handing over of the rental contract. It is sent to you by email, I am told. This is NOT TRUE, nothing is sent and no one informs you in advance of the terms and conditions of the contract.
2) the car is given to me unwashed. There is no other, the employee tells me.
3) no contradictory examination of the vehicle, and therefore no document provided on this point. Take photos, the employee tells me... except that under the mud and dust it is impossible to check that there are no scratches or paint chips...
4) on the way back, the same employee "innocently" wipes an area of the underbody and "discovers" scratches on the paint (sic!). He doesn't even bother to look anywhere else!!!
5) no delivery of the vehicle return document. It will be sent to you by email, the employee tells me. This is NOT TRUE again, nothing is sent.
6) back home, I noticed that no document had been sent and that Suprice had debited the CDW excess (€1200) from my account even though I had no accident.
Immediately I made a complaint.
Following this complaint, the requested documents (rental contract and return report) were sent to me by email... not signed by me, of course.
And the CDW excess was partially refunded to me, Surprice having kept €585 in compensation for the disputed scratches... so about 1.7 times the rental cost!
New complaint from me... but without much hope.
This was my first rental with Surprice, but probably my last.
ADVICE, RUN AWAY FROM THIS RENTER!!!
Note that this company also uses the name AUTO ONE. Run away from them too!!!”
“Terrible company with zero concern for their customers. We were told to call the rental agency when we arrived at Bari airport and they would send a shuttle car to take us to the rental location. After calling we waited nearly an hour and still they had not come. Tried calling them and no one would answer the phone. When we were successful in reaching them we were told some b.s. about having to change the pick-up car and they were on the way. We waited another hour while trying to reach them multiple times, again with no answer. Finally a driver showed up, walked us to the shuttle van only to then tell us his van was full and we would have to continue to wait until he could come back. At this point, we walked to another rental agency for a car. They wasted half of our day of vacation. Just disappointing. I would not advise trusting this company.”
“They were very rude. A small scratch on the rim. And that I didn’t take a picture of because it’s a tire…
Charged us 525€
Even the manger was rude!!
Faro -Algarve avoid at all cost!!!”
“Do not rent car in Surprice car rental . This is one big scam . Small rental rate increasing at the desk up to 3-4 times more . They destroyed my holidays in Rome”
“This is the worst rental car company ever. Do not rent any car from this place. The car that they gave me in London had problems, low gas to begin with, then tire problem, then engine oil light came on. The wait is incredibly long, they did not pick up the phone, and also they did not pick us up from the airport, not brought us back to the airport after we returned the car. Bottom line is, this place is a scam. Do not rent anything from this place.”
“This is simply scam .Guys do not book car here . I booked car in Rome airport and paid full insurance . At the desk they told me my credit card is not good ( valid less than 6 monts ) , so I have to pay deposit . I said ok . After that this guy said my insurence is not good as well so I have to pay their insurence . I asked , how much . He said 320 euro + VAT ( for 7 days ) . I did cancel this booking called to Opodo to get refund of rental rate but they said , that was my foult so no refund .”
“Worst experience ever
Please dont take from this rental co SURPRISE they will really surprice you
Robbers
They will sell online at lower price and when u go for pick up will show u a low standard car and will rip u off for a bettet car
Nobody answers on their numbers
We were robbed for 360 euros
Worst company ever dealt with.
Shameless they dont care if u are with family or anyone”
“Wish I had read the reviews prior to going.
We were told we needed an International Drivers Permit even though our UK&I one is totally valid and not needed. They insisted and with 2 children in tow I couldn't book anything else at short notice. I would never use them again and advise everyone to steer clear. AutoOne is the same company I think.”
“This is totally scam, I come out from Airport 10 am but there’s no visible sign or introduction correctly to the Car Park , I was in the queue 10:40 am to 1.30pm, While I was on the Q I jump into the counter and asked about my UK license acceptable, staff is very rude. They told me to wait until my time coms,finaly come up to counter they told me I have to get full cover insurance for £120 something. i’m travelling to Bergoma airport every two weeks and I take the cars from there with a few different companies. Never had a problems with my license. I take full insurance cover for €27. I had a really bad experience what I never had, i only try to get a car for 24hrs but i was waiting there 3hrs, because of long waiting, I have to cancel everything my schedule,I can’t find the cancellation on your website. Please could you cancel my reservation and refund as soon as possible thank you.
They answer back saying there cancellation police is 48hrs, They don’t talk about what bad experience I had, Never says they going to investigate, worst customer service ever in my life”
“What a scammy outfit. Thought I was getting an "amazing detail" at 5 euro/day. But "What's too good to be true" was definitely TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!
When we returned the car, the employee looked and looked until he saw a scuff or blemish or whatever word can be used to describe a very minor scratch on the clear coat treatment on the car. You know the type of scratch that can be made to completely disappear with a 5 second rub with car polish.
The charge from the SurPrice thieves for the scratch was 202 euros!!!!”
“Have been requesting a simple piece of information from this company for four weeks, they don't reply to emails and seem to be unable or unwilling or just incompetent about providing the detail needed to finalise an insurance claim. Why does it take so long to provide what a customer needs to get a GBP660 claim processed?”
“This rental service near Turin Airport is deceptive. It feels like being robbed in broad daylight. Despite booking a car, they refused to accept my credit card as it was labeled as a debit card, even though it clearly displays the Mastercard logo. They insisted I purchase their insurance, claiming I couldn't rent the car otherwise, and refused to refund the initial payment. Forced to adhere to their demands due to pre-planned holiday commitments, I had to pay for the full insurance. I advise avoiding this company; they are dishonest scammers.”
“Worst car rental experience ever. More than doubled fee when collected car, took over 2 hours to get car. Car itself almost completely undriveable. Given with very low tyre pressure, no tread on tyres and car shakes violently when it reaches 60 m/h. When you complain they ignore you.”
“Scam. Booked through easyJet. Location: Pisa airport. 2 reps at the rental desks. The queue had around 6 couples in it and it took 1hr to get my car. Very slow service. But the scam is this: They say British people with a UK licence MUST pay additional insurance unless they have an international driving licence. Just to be clear, this is not a 'pushy' sales tactic to pay for extra or unnecessary insurance. It is mandatory, or they will not rent you the car. Even if you have purchased any form of separate worldwide insurance cover, you have to pay for their cover at the rental desk or they will not rent you the car. This extra insurance typically works out at roughly EUR 50/day. Everyone in the queue complained hence it taking so long. Yes, when you go back and look at the small print on the voucher it says you must have your domestic driving licence, but there is an additional line saying if you are not in the EU (eg UK) you must have an international driving licence. It's obviously easy to miss because there are 2-3 pages of terms/conditions which people don't read or glance over, and obviously unexpected. But that's their hook, and what they refer to when you question it. However it doesn't say rental will be declined or what will be charged for extra insurance with it. It's a total rip off because whilst the initial rental price may be 5-10% cheaper than others, you end up paying double, triple, or 4 times as much for your rental because of the insurance. My 2 day rental (EUR 56) ended up costing EUR 100 more. The couple in front had to pay another EUR 180 EXTRA for their 4-day rental!. There are over 3,000 reviews on trust pilot with almost 90% 1-star negative. Granted, several of the positive reviews are for UK rentals, and perhaps not every Surprice rental office in Europe insists on the insurance cover, but certainly the case at Pisa airport. And in fairness the staff weren't rude and the car was good. But this 'international driving licence' catch for people with only a UK licence is a con. Other car rental companies say on their websites that UK licence holders only need their UK licence. Please also report to your booking agent with feedback (very damaging for easyJet to put this company forward as a provider for their 'additional services'.).”
“DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY. It’s a scam. They take 350 euro when you book that doesn’t go towards any cost of renting the actual car. They will tell you when you arrive that your drivers licenses aren’t international and you need to pay additional fees to take the car. I recommend spending the extra money and booking with a reliable well-known company. We ended up paying double in the end.”
“A car was booked at 22:00, we experienced a small delay and we arrived at 22:50 at the car rental Desk. While booking the car the flight number was inserted and even tried to call them several times to advise them that we will be delayed.
As soon as we arrived at the Sur Price desk the employee started shouting that no cars were available and it's not his problem and pushed us out of the office to close and just left.
Car was prepaid and paid on full.
Stay away from this disaster company will never again use it.
This will not stop here!”
