Car Hire UK
reviews and complaints

Hi did you eventually get your deposit back ?

site is a pile of crap, dont use it 6 months and counting for my 690 quid

The website that is posted on someone's comments saying that you can go to it to get help to sort out he problems is Car-Hire-Uk's own website. It is a waste of time and they will not let you write comments, there is no contact numbers and you lodge complaints about no refund and they get closed. The whole thing is a scam.

This company is pathetic. Never go near it. Watchdog, Trading Standars all getting informed ...

Ha, ha, ha, what a joke!

I have had the exact same problem, as has it seems literally 100's of FOREIGN ONLY customers ...
I have now made contact with more than one lawyer with expertise in this field, also the Police in UK, following initial contact I now believe following those contacts that because of the number of times they have undertaken this same conduct (several hundred) regarding non repayment of deposits in an almost identical manner and to almost entirely foreign customers, this may prove what is known as 'System' plainly put, a rehearsed and duplicated system to dishonestly obtain property (money) by deception, this may escalate these occurrences from a civil matter to criminal where the police will be happy to fully investigate it seems.
To assist in my making this official complaint to that police office it would assist if some of the people who have or are still suffering at the hands of these individuals would at least send to me their email address in order that I can demonstrate to the police that they are real complainants.
Between us and the criminal courts I am certain we can beat these people and particularly perhaps the main players that appear to be the same for us all, Ellen and Tina to name but 2 to receive their just deserts. Please send to info2@thesumpters.net (my 'spare' email address)

Has this site stopped taking complaints about the above company, they have not returned my deposit, from my recent car rental with them. My complaint has not appeared. They are not answering e.mails and if you phone there is no answer. The it is a large amount but no one seems interested can anybody comment.

I booked a car with Car Hire UK using online chat. After this i never received any confirmation as promised and when i tried calling their number [protected] or connecting again using webchat, I always ended up with the same person (alias Graeme) even after aa hours of booking. Seems like only 1 employee.

I have the same problem with them keeping my deposit. Worst of all, they claimed that the car was damaged. They asked me to pay extra 550 GBP. I don't know if there is a way to stop this. I rent the car from 4/17-4/24, 2015. I'm back to Taiwan.

Through a live chat window I booked a hire car with Car-Hire-UK. I gave them all my credit card details. After that I googled their company to find this website. I told the person I wanted to cancel the order and he said that I could not do so. I argued that he hadn't confirmed with me that the car rental had been approved, but he told me to check my email. He said that a 500 pound deposit needed to be made 4 weeks before the hire as an insurance deposit. Realising this was a scam I finished the chat with him and rang the bank straight away. The company had already charged AUD$755.29 to my credit card with no authorisation. It is still 10 weeks before my holiday so no deposit or anything should have been charged. I am not waiting for it to be disputed through the bank. DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY

As many others, my parents are waiting for a substantial refund from CarHireUK. They've now held the money for around three months, seven weeks since the car was returned and it is getting increasingly frustrating. They are not taking my calls any more.

I have reported them to Consumer Direct who will take it up with Trading Standards. All I can urge is to stay away. Do not rent from them as they are at best very poorly organised and at worst deliberately swindling customers.

Car-Hire-UK deducted the deposit one month before rental date. I asked my credit card company to charge back the amount which they did. When picking up the car Car-Hire-UK was not aware of this fact and I could spend quite a relaxing holiday in the UK. After I returned home I blocked my card in order to avoid further payments. But for sure I will never choose Car-Hire-UK again.

This Company has kept a number of peoples deposits over the last couple of years, theer is a new website that is trying to determine exactly how much this really is and not only keep a running total of the deposits kept but also centralise all avaialble information about this companies conduct so external investigations can take place. I advise you take a look and add your loss to the running total: www.car-rip-off-uk.bravehost.com

In February of this year I rented a car and a 500GBP security deposit and GBP 50 fuel deposit were deducted from my credit card. The car was returned in good order and full of fuel but to date despite repeated attempts to contact customer services to obtain the refund. they will not reply.

Has anyone had any luck getting their deposit back as yet? i still havent gotten it! its been almost 3 years now!

My deposit of £140 wasn't return after several attempts by phone, chat, they always say at the end of the week the money will in the account, but since May/2013 until now 09/august nothing happen.I will never recommend this company for no one they are fraud and I don't know why until today after all this complaints they still open do rent any car for other person, this is an abuse they never had intention to refund my money back.

Made arrangements to hire a car on 6th of May 2011 till the 18th of july.
They took the full amount plus 670 pounds deposit straight away, and I am still waiting for my refund after weekly phone calls and emails.Can someone help?

I have had the same thing happen to me. After 2 weeks car hire and dropping my car off at Heathrow in good order and full tank, I am still waiting for my GBP 680 deposit. I have spoken to Jamie (24/48 hours repayment of deposit), Jacob (within 3 days as its already been processed) and John Levinksy who told me 14 days! All of which hasn't happened. My card went over its limit because of this and I reported it to my bank who is investigating. I have emailed Bromley Police, who told me to report it to Bromley Trading Standards which I have done, and now I am going to send them a recorded delivery letter asking for my money back or else! And they don't want to know what or else is if I get my hands on them!

Made arrangements to hire a car on 16th ofApril for the 16th of May.
They took the full amount plus 670 pounds deposit straight away, and I am still waiting for my refund after weekly phone calls and emails.
they now know my phone number and just leave me on hold.

I got your contact from the internet from someone who has been conned by a company called car-hire-uk.com (owned by someone called Mike Goodwin). I have also been conned in a similar manner in that my deposit for car rental has not been refunded since it was due on 12th January 2010. The amount is 150 pounds and I would be grateful if you could guide me as to any action I can take against this scammer. I have noted on the internet that several people have been conned in a similar fashion, yet this man continues in business.

I look forward to hearing from you and would be grateful for any assistance you can offer me..

We rented an automobile from this company from 16/11/09 - 30/11/09 and have not received our deposit. For additional money, I purchased the 75 pound sterling insurance . The company still owes me my refund and will not answer my correspondence. We had no problems with the hire so we are confused on why the deposit was not returned. My friends are going flying into Heathrow in March 2010 and asked me about my experience after reading the horrible but aparently truthful reviews about the company as I now am experiencing the same problems as others. I told them to stay away and I would not recommend them to anyone. Does anyone know what I can do to get my refund?

I also got cheated by Car- Hire- Uk, they keep my deposit 670 GBP. Any suggestion ?

rakib, malaysia

I also have suffered from this company. The GBP 70.00 was never refunded even though the car was returned with a full tank.

The car sustained a dent caused by someone on the street overnight. I have never had a copy of the repair invoice so as to claim from my insurance here. I also was fined for being in a bus lane the fine which they supposedly paid without consulting me or indicating if the payment was made within the 14 days at the 50% discount. I have emailed, phone etc. to no avail. No wonder they are cheaper - they make their money with this kind of fraud.

Good to hear somebody had a good experience. I however have had the same problem as everyone else has posted here.

My deposit has not been repaid. This is apparently not a one-off.

I can not recommend Car-Hire-UK. Possible customers: Be Warned!

Pathetic, simply pathetic. There is not one person who has had a good experience with this company, they are not praised on other sites for there outstanding service are they. This is another Micheal Goodwin account opened to try and counter the people who hate him and his company. Just pathetic. STAY AWAY from this company and the other ones he runs, do your research.

Ample evidence that this company continues to operate in a fraudulent fashion. Not knowing them, we rented a car for a week in August 2009. Still fighting to get my deposits, £250 in all, back. Have reported the company to the police, hopefully that will help.

Like yourself I decided to ignore these comments and I am pleased I did, all round brilliant service. I can only presume you had damaged your vehicle or have lied about something as I returned my vehicle, called them to inform and my excess was in my account within 16 days admitily longer than I would like but the service more than made up for it.

I found this company quite good, you obviously done something quite wrong, we had one complaint with the accounts, and they quickly resolved it for us.

Car was hired in August - managed to obtain a car refund months later but only after numerous phone calls and emails. They still refuse to refund the fuel deposit and have become very personal in their attacks on me.

Keep up the fight and don't give up

http://better-if-carhireuk.doesntexist.org/

Contact the Area Trading Standards Officer at Bromley Borough.
http://www.bromley.gov.uk/environment/tradingstandards/rogue_traders_and_dorrstep_callers.htm

Contact
Telephone: [protected]
Rapid Response number: [protected]
Fax: [protected]
e-mail: trading.standards@bromley.gov.uk

This is not true, I have been waiting for 5 weeks now and the customer service department will not answer any emails. Avoid this company, it is worth it to pay more with another company than deal with this joke of a business.

Another attempt by www.car-hire-uk.com AKA Michael Goodwin to convince people he will provide good customer service.
To late Michael you have scammed so many people out of their deposits to ever be trusted again, you have a history of failing to refund customers deposits streching back to 2006 all people have to do is search on the web to see your exploits

Found this address after a bit of hunting. If the address is real then we have somewhere to serve court papers, if it's a fake then he is in bigger trouble since he will have used a fake address for his company.

Car Hire UK
Michael Goodwin
165 Masons Hill
Bromley, KENT
BR2 9HY, GB
+44.[protected]
mg@car-hire-uk.com

I am still waiting for my deposit of 570£ since march!, this is disgasting! Stay away from this company. M. O; paris

hired a car in september 2010, and am still yet to recieved my deposit, it has been 6 months! Still trying and will serve court papers soon any suggestions?

I would cancel your reservation ASAP and change your CC#. This company is dishonest and will make it difficult to get your deposit back. I will never use them again and will continue to do my best to keep other people from making the same mistake I did. In my opinion this company is scaming overseas tourists.

I booked a hire car for 2 days in December 2008 with this company over the internet. I gave my credit card details to someone (I now believe they were in a call center, possibly not in the UK at all) I was met at Heathrow, by a friendly individual called Terry, who took us to the car in the airport carpark. We dropped the car off the following evening in a London Hotel. Terry met us there and took the car - there were no problems with the car. When I got home I saw that my credit card had been overcharged.. The quotation was 131 pounds and my card had been charged 810. I made numerous phone calls, sent emails, even registered letters. The phone system kept me in a queue for over 30 mins and on the two occasions that I spoke to someone, the cut off the call when I explained the situation. I have now sent all the details to HSBC Visa card disputes department and they are investigating.

There are several other reports on the internet of exactly the same situation occurring. I am not going to let this matter drop. If anyone has managed to resolve a similar case, please let me know. Thanks!

Like the other complaint about Amigo Autos the other company involved was Goldcar.

Dispite their written terms they have now decided to enhance their profits by excessively charging for the tank of fuel and then saying even on a short hire the car can't be returned full. Thereby forcing you to use their fuel, for which they charge twicw as much as it would cost you to fill the tank. They threaten if the car is returned full to charge you for the mileage used.
I will be avoiding them and would suggest their are plenty of companies who don't try to rip you off for us all to use in the future.

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CarhireUK - www.car-hire-uk.com

They dont do free upgrades to there prestige range, we really wanted to drive the New SLK 230 Convertible but they would not upgrade us free of charge.

we were really disapointed as we wanted to drive this vehicle.

Me too! I'm still waiting for my 600 pounds. Thanks for the advice.

Sorry to hear you are the latest victim of www.car-hire-uk.com. If you search google you will find plenty of complaints regarding this company. I would contact David Bullar from Bromley Trading Standards Email:David.Bullar@bromley.gov.uk. he has helped several people like your selves regain their deposit, also if you paid using a Visa card fill out a dispute form with your bank and they should be able to help.
If you want to put a name to this company it's Michael Goodwin and the address is Car Hire UK 165 Masons Hill, Bromley, Kent BR2 9HY.

Guys thank you for your posts at least I know I'm not alone. Like most of you I don't live in the UK but I booked a car rental through www.Car-Hire-UK.com. The first sign of trouble came when they deducted 917.47 from my Visa card a full week before the Car rental was due to start. 600 pounds of this was an Insurance excess and 80 pounds was a fuel excess which should never have been deducted.

When I arrived at the airport to pickup the car the representative from car-Hire-UK.com insisted I signed a Visa slip for 940.47 again even though the money had already been deducted from my Visa card. This should have rung alarm bells, and I still don't know if they are going to try and hit me again for another 917.47 now they have this signed Visa slip.

I returned the car to the Gatwick Long Stay Car park as instructed undamaged and fully fueled, I placed the key and the Car Park ticket in the envelope and wrote the location on the back of the envelope before handing it to the shuttle bus driver again as per Car-Hire-UK.com's instructions. I then followed up with a phone call to their returns telephone number, all by the book.Fortunately since there was no car-shire-uk.com representative to inspect the vehicle I got my passenger to do a visual inspection with me in case they decided to claim damage at a later date.

it's now been 7 weeks since they took the money from my Visa card and 4 weeks since I returned the car. Phoning the company is pointless they always say the same it's with the accounts department, if you ask for somebody to phone you back they never do. Ask to speak to a supervisor and you get left on hold listening to music and as for emails, well as you can guess they never reply..

I have lodged formal complaints with trading Standards and spoken to David Buller regarding this company, I have also lodged a complaint with Bromley Police and filled in a dispute form with Visa.

Strangely enough after 3 1/2 weeks of unreturned phone calls and email I was phoned on Friday by guess who? Mr Michael Stephen Goodwin AKA Car-Hire-UK.com. Oh good I thought he's phoning to apologise and let me know he's going to refund my Insurance and Fuel excess that he should never have taken in the first place. He actually phoned to threaten that unless I withdrew my complaint with Trading Standards, The Police and Visa I would never get my 680 pounds refunded. Oh yes and he would sue me for libel. I think you can guess my response, basically no way in hell was I going to withdraw my complaint until the money was returned to my Visa card. I suggest we all contact Trading Standards and the police with our complaints so they understand the magnitude of the problem with this company.

This company is no so infamous that there is a web site dedicated to warning people about it's shady dealings!

http://better-if-carhireuk.doesntexist.org/

Mattison & Co is not in any way owned by Michael Goodwin, or anyone else with the surname Goodwin. They are a very well established, respectable firm of Chartered Accountants.

OMG, I am so stupid and should have listened to my gut feeling when I made the booking. I only found this web site now. I had exactely the same problem from August 2010. THey owe me 560 pounds, and because I don't live in the Uk it is near impossible to get any response to the calls and letters I send them. I could fly back to the UK with this amount. I am also going to try and lodge complaints, although from this side of the country it is a lot more difficult.

This bunch of crooks are still going strong. I hired a car from them in June 2010 and still await the refund of deposits. I cannot believe I have been caught, next time only use the major car hire people and dont try to save a few pounds.

I had a similiar problem, still waiting for my money also.

Car was hired in August - managed to obtain a car refund months later but only after numerous phone calls and emails. They still refuse to refund the fuel deposit and have become very personal in their attacks on me.

Keep up the fight and don't give up

http://better-if-carhireuk.doesntexist.org/