BVRLA Reviews 145

Good points - they were relatively quick to review my complaint.

Bad points - the large amounts of negative reviews are completely true. I leased a vehicle which was returned in good condition and way below the allowed mileage. The lease company billed me £220 for not having the 2 services completed with them directly ( they were completed by a nationwide company to the manufacturers specification ) and £60 for an unclean vehicle ( the vehicle was valeted by a professional company on the morning of the inspection and was immaculate. The inspector left behind a small muddy footprint which was the only unclean part of the vehicle ).

BVRLA did not ask me for any evidence or my side of the story before completing their review. They were not interested when I informed them about my evidence, photographs or point of view.

I accept charges are going to happen at the end of a lease to put right the odd scratch or dent, but £840 for a vehicle in good condition with a number of unfair charges is not right.

This is possibly the worst company I've ever dealt with for communications, I've repeatedly tried to contact them with no reply. I raised a complaint about a company called Global vans, BVRLA have not looked into the evidence that I have and just took the work of the Global Vans. These companies should be independent but they only seem to look after the bigger companies. Shambles!!!

After ZipCar stated to me in writing a complete contradiction to their written terms of service following an incorrect charge, the BVRLA blindly repeated what ZipCar said and that there was nothing more they could do. They made no reference or gave any opinion on the actual contradicting written evidence and ignored my further correspondence.

BVRLA had no interest in upholding their principles in this case and were just a blind cheerleader for their member. I'd only recommend using them as a last resort. Trading standards will investigate a holistic issue rather than individual cases so I've raised both companies to them, hopefully it adds to the mounting evidence of poor behavior at the expense of the consumer by both these organizations .

Completely useless company and I can see why zipcar left the financial ombudsman remit (as they are fair) and joined this useless conciliation service because it’s an easy ride. Zipcar charged me twice what the contract states but this company said it’s fine. I’m a qualified solicitor and know what they are doing is illegal. I will continue to fight against zipcar and will be complaining to trading standards about both companies

unprofessional and unhelpfull, repeating words from hertz without asking for proof

Asking to provide proof of the damage I have been charged for, Sallie just stated exactly what enterprise was saying.
No clarification was made, no proof of the damage was presented to me. Clearly no intentions of supporting customers.
Sallie was hopeless. Didn't listen to 1 of my word. She seems is working for enterprise and not for someone that should be supporting customer.
Absolutely ridiculous!!!

Not really worth it. They barely investigate and just take the side of their members.
Not really a "third party" more like an extenstion of the members.

Honestly, I find it difficult to understand the low ratings I am seeing here. Perhaps it's something of the past.
A well-known car hire company I had been a very good customer of for a few years emailed me four different prices and withdrew a fifth amount from my bank account, which was much more than the agreed charge. They totally ignored all my subsequent verbal and written complaints about that grotesquely abusive, and business-wise truly stupid, behaviour.
Then I found BVRLA website. I must admit that, not knowing them, I didn't have high expectations, so I was amazed by the swift response and effectiveness of their action, namely Ms Sallie's, which forced the car hire company out of its burrow and resolved the matter in two days. I now have my money back and, hopefully, this experience will have taught that company a useful lesson and they will start respecting their customers.
My BVRLA rating is 6 stars.

Absolutely shocking service, not balanced at all, clearly in favour of it's members not consumers who it's supposed to be protecting.
I have told them I have phone numbers etc that I can send them to help with the investigation but it is against their principles to phone people.
Surely if it's essential to the investigation this action should be followed.
Also on repairs to my van which is leased through Northgate, re-spray which I don't feel was needed anyway would have been for front of van after tin of emulsion was thrown round it by vandals, to me a bit of elbow grease would've been sufficient, not a bill for over £6k and a full re-spray supposedly of full van.
No help whatsoever by bvrla on this even though they must know there's some underhand business practices going on here.
Waste of time even contacting them.

BVRLA are so unhelpful and reading some of the previous reviews I do feel as a membership organisation their best interests are to that of their members not consumers. Even when being threatened with court action by one of its members they are still siding with their member and not acting in the interest of its consumers. The cancellation charge that the leasing company is trying to charge is not enforceable because they failed to deliver our vehicle on the 31st March 2020 but BVRLA are refusing to assist us any further and happy for us to be taken to court. Anybody looking to lease a car from Venus Vehicle Solutions I would strongly encourage you not to have any dealings with this company.

So unhelpful to deal with.
Lex Autolease trying to Bill me for a rental extension for my car when I tried to contact them the week before my lease expired to arrange collection. I have phone records to prove this. Despite my phone records, conciliation service did not want to know. Yes I accept this happened during covid, but the fact that I could not get talking to anyone to hand my car back and I have the evidence to prove various attempts should be sufficient. I expected a balanced view from the bvrla but instead they washed their hands. Pretty pointless organisation in my opinion. Poor, so poor. All I asked for was common sense.

In my case they have openly admitted that they cannot look at the agreement between me and the rental company. So made a decision in the companies favour which goes against the agreement with the contract

So I am in a position where if I had changed the tyre myself I would have been liable to lose my deposit.

But because I followed what the contract said I also lost my deposit, despite the contract stating that this was the companies liability.

The same is likely why the BVRLA have said that they cannot address the contract because it is in black and white that I should have had my deposit returned.

They are biased and are not fit for purpose

This review is for the ECRCS (European Car Rental Conciliation Service) for which BVRLA is the parent company:

I had really pleasant experience dealing with the ECRCS for a complaint about SIXT rental. They were quick to response to emails and made the process professional and seamless. I will be recommending to friends and family whenever they have issues with car rentals in Europe.

For context my complaint was against SIXT in Sicily who was attempting to scam me for damage to the vehicle. The ECRCS made contact with SIXT promptly after submitting my complaint. They requested the relevant evidence and made a quick decision.

they are literally desperate to protect their members. If the member p***s on your face they will assure you it was rain. The level of desperation I received was UNBELIEVABLE! the member lied to me the answer was "it was for my protection" the member sent an email to my inactive account (I updated the details 3 times prior) the answer was " I did authorize this account in the past" the member did not follow protocol the answer "it is just a guide". The member forged my signature "it appears to be SOMETHING ELSE (not my signature)" They don't exist to be factual nor objective. They protect the members only!!! Do not use company that is a member of BVRLA. .......... YET another example of BVRLA being consistent in their approach below:" We cannot investigate allegations of fraudulent signatures and advise that you contact Action Fraud if you suspect this was the case." in the email they sent me " it appears that the collection agent has written Covid, instead of asking you to sign. Please be assured this is not a fraudulent activity, but processes put in place to ensure the safety of both the customer and collection agent, during the pandemic." I wish I could add the picture of the signature that was forged on the document for anyone to see that it clearly does not "appear" to be "Covid". On top of this they say they cannot investigate but at the same time they did investigate and also concluded what that this is "not a fraudulent activity" (as per quote from the email from the Manager) Can BVRLA make up their mind!!!!? Examination of the MANAGER was as above in my description and I can only describe it as "Protect the member for whatever the cost" approach. Shame on you BVRLA! I do know my right and the member has been taken to court for their negligence! Legal actions against BVRLA to be considered!

Would give 0 if i could! Car hire company breached most of the codes of conduct and yet they ignored all that and just wrote a really crap response. No wonder the hire company kept saying u can go to them as they knew they would get away with the fraud. They didnt even bother investigating just spoke to hire company and gave a response. And by reading other reviews you can tell they are on the side of the car hire companies!

@bvrla i have replied to you. I also said in my original complaint that i have proof but you didnt even bother asking what. Just gave your decision. So its obvious you cant be bothered and just side with 'your' members. When 'your' members have clearly sent photoshopped images. I emailed you the full complaint with everything as there is a word limit when submitting on line.

Complete waste of time, just as useless as the car hire company that I complained to them about.

Grim. They are in bed with the car hire companies. My email exchange with them felt like they were marking their best mates homework.

Fit for purpose. Not a chance👎

Read the comment below.

The association is clearly set up to protect its members and not consumers. The badge they all proudly show on websites is just to put you in a false sense of security.

Complaint handling took 40 working days!!! It became apparent they were working in tandem with the leasing company to ensure they could reach a verdict in companies favour.

“The UK trade body for companies engaged in vehicle rental, leasing and fleet management,” as it states on its website, the BVRLA represents the vehicle rental industry, not its customers. As it also states on its website, it operates a “government-approved Alternative Dispute Resolution service.” Since it represents the vehicle rental industry, not its customers, you won’t be surprised to learn that, according to statistics from its website, in 2019, 64 percent of its Alternative Dispute Resolution cases were resolved in favour of its members, not its customers. This is all the less surprising, because, in my own bitter experience, the BVRLA – unlike UK law courts - allows its members to cancel bookings and withhold deposits without stating a reason for doing so, libel its customers behind their backs to the BVRLA in the process and ignore customer complaints about such conduct, before finding in favour of its member while (in my case) stating, “We understand that when you arrived at the branch discussions took place which then resulted in you not receiving the vehicle you had pre-booked, we hope you can appreciate we are unable to comment on these conversations.” Oh, and – again in my experience – if your vehicle rental company thus defrauds you out of your deposit, the last people you can expect any sympathy from is the police; the BVRLA’s Alternative Dispute Resolution service is “government-approved” after all.

If that weren’t enough, the BVRLA maintains a database of information which it happily shares with its members and the police about persons whom its members deem to be a “risk” to other BVRLA members. As Laura (surname not supplied), from the BVRLA, informed me:

“Any member who uses the BVRLA RISC database must state, on their terms and conditions, that data can be shared with the BVRLA, Police etc. The customer will be aware, having read the terms and conditions prior to signing/purchasing a rental that should they breach the terms of their rental agreement, their information may be shared with other companies (via the RISC database) or the Police in order to lower risks to other BVRLA members when renting.”

She added:

“Best practice is for the rental company to let their customer know that they have added their details to the RISC database, and a letter template is provided for them to be able to send to their customer.”

For “Alternative” in “Alternative Dispute Resolution,” read “law-avoiding.” The British vehicle rental industry: use at your own very considerable risk.