Poor communication on use, poor delayed collection of kit, no clear advice on fuel consumption charges, debacle with Keys and collection, deposit held for 7 weeks, poor to no communication throughout.... See more
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Review summary
Created with AI, based on recent reviews
What people talk about most
Reviews shaping this summary
I hired a 2T Engine Hoist from these guys. Ordered on Saturday for Tuesday. Got confirmation email then nothing. Tried to chat with them on Monday and was given expected wait 22-25 hours!. They called... See more
This company is a joke! If you want a reliable hire - GO ELSWHERE. You might or might not receive it. There is a small chance you will have it on time. Customer service - forget about it. They... See more
Company replied
AVOID THIS COMPANY - SCAMMERS They are illegally withholding my £500 deposit since my digger hire in May. They say it takes 21 days - well it’s been months and every time you call you get fobbed of t... See more
Company replied
Company details
- #7 of 8 best companies in Tool rental service
- #10 of 11 best companies in Building equipment hire service
- #4 of 5 best companies in Construction machine rental service
- #5 of 6 best companies in Equipment rental agency
- #2 of 2 best companies in Lawn equipment rental service
- #12 of 13 best companies in Plant and Machinery Hire
About National Tool Hire
Written by the company
With over 2,000 'Click & Collect' locations and FREE nationwide delivery, National Tool Hire Shops offers DIY and Trade customers a convenient same-day tool hire service.
Our tool hire range has over 2,000,000 products ranging from power tools and carpet cleaners to mini diggers and scaffold towers.
Book & Pay Online: Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal.
Contact info
National Tool Hire, Over 2,000 'Click & Collect' Locations, FREE Nationwide Delivery, United Kingdom
- 03330 384 943
- nationaltoolhireshops.co.uk
2.0
Poor
5k reviews
Asks customers to review
This company invites their customers to review, whether positive or negative
Replied to 67% of negative reviews
Typically replies within 1 week
How this company uses Trustpilot
See how their reviews and ratings are sourced, scored, and moderated.
I delivery arrived without any notice…
I delivery arrived without any notice and collection was worse. They have kept my deposit for two months. There are a lot of companies you can hire from far better than national tool hire so please avoid them.
12 December 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
We are really sorry to hear that you have had an issue with your order. It is never our intention to let our customers down, please drop us a message at MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk where we would like to discuss this further. Please remember to include your Order number. Regards NTH Customer Service Team
Don't expect your deposit back!!
To be fair to them the hire process was absolutely fine. Unfortunately I seem to be part of the majority who have not received their deposit back within their given time frame. It is now a week late despite me chasing it with no resolution or time frame yet (nothing wrong or any reason for it not being back with us other than they are painfully slow!!!)
30 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
Hi Hannah, Thanks for reaching out, I have messaged you from our Customer Care email. I will update you asap.
Have a great day.
NTH Customer Service Team
Website is not secure!!!!
My anti-virus says this website is insecure when I reach the checkout then Chrome crashes!
No one on live chat to help!!
Is this a scam or not? I wasn't sure but then I've read these reviews on Trustpilot. I hope I've not been scammed or had my details leaked!!!
30 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
Hi Jon, please rest assured that your details have not been leaked. If you require further assistance please reach out to us at MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk
Regards
NTH Customer Care Team
AVOID
Had to do a charge back via my bank to get my deposit back. No reply after numerous emails, calls, live chat n web forms. Also reported to trading standards.
28 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
We are really sorry to hear that your experience with National Tool Hire hasn't been up to scratch. Please drop us a message at MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk and we will endeavour to assist you further. Please remember to include your Order Number.
Regards NTH Customer Service Team
SCAM. ONLINE THIEVES. TO AVOID
11 hours ago
"Hi Stephanie, I can confirm that your refund has been processed.
Regards
NTH Customer Service Team"
__________________<<<<
NATIONAL TOOL HIRE states in their terms and conditions your deposit will be refunded in 21 days.
"Your refund has been processed" NOT.
Instead, we received a credit note voucher to spend on our next purchase!!!! What a joke!
I have no intention to use this company ever. (Have not they read my reviews?)
I already spend a lot of money hiring a machine that we did not a chance to use, theu do not send an email confirmation of your purchase, no contact on who to call and then calling them twice a week to chase my £500 deposit. After, 40 days after 21 days deadline, they sent a piece of paperwork for our next visit! Outrageous!
I am not accepting that as a refund and I intend to report the ceo & associates to trading standards, unless they rectify the situation.
#228840
7 November 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
Hi Stephanie, please rest assured that your refund has been processed. The 'Credit note' you reference is just an invoice to offset the charge. Please check your bank account again.
Please don't hesitate to get back in touch if you require further assistance .
Have a great day.
NTH Customer Care Team
Insecure website warning!
Insecure website warning!
My Norton Internet Security software flagged the checkout on this website as insecure as I was trying to book a scaffold tower for next week. I'm glad I never got to the stage of entering my credit card details!
I hope no one has been scammed by what looks like some sort of hack!
25 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
We are really sorry to hear that you have had an issue with trying to place your order. It is never our intention to let our customers down.
Please rest assured that we have not been hacked and this looks like it was a glitch in the system, no details have been shared.
Please get in touch at MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk if you require any further assistance. The team are here to help place your order if still required.
Regards
NTH Customer Service Team
FAULTY CHIPPER HIRE…
Hired a chipper to clear tree waste over a weekend which blocked 3 times in first hour of use, no customer support over the weekend and when contacting number (which was Brandon hire)on chipper I was told that I needed to contact National.
It turns out National hire don't own the equipment they hire out.
After complaining finally had to use my credit card to claim hire fee back, now I'm been threatened with court action for payment for hire of a faulty chipper.
DEFINITELY TO BE AVOIDED!
24 October 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
We are really sorry to hear that your experience with National Tool Hire hasn't been up to scratch. Please drop us a message at MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk and we will endeavour to assist you further. Please remember to include your Order Number. Regards NTH Customer Service Team
Big data leak
Before they say no sensitive information was sent out in today’s ridiculous email chain that went on for hours and sent hundreds of emails out to people (including fully grown adults in high management for companies sending stupid replies). Information included hundreds of emails if not more and constantly new ones sent. Also names and telephone numbers as well address so to say no sensitive information was sent is a lie and completely untrue. While mistakes happen it should have been stopped instantly not hours and hours later.
It does amaze me that adults can’t be adults and just not reply but there we are this also caused it to go on longer than needed.
I suspect they’ll be fined for what happened today.
16 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
Thank you for getting in touch and for your patience. I'm really sorry you've been affected by this email issue – I completely understand how frustrating and annoying multiple unexpected emails can be.
What happened is we recently migrated our systems, and found some replies sent to an old automated noreply address were forwarded accidentally to an old mailing list. This caused a loop of duplicate emails going out to people in that list, including yourself.
The good news is we've fixed it completely! The problem was spotted and stopped very quickly this morning. We've cleared the list, fixed the faulty settings, and put extra checks in place so it can't happen again. No sensitive information (like payment details or passwords) was involved.
Has that helped? If so, please delete any unwanted emails from us.
Is there anything else I can assist with today? We're here to make this right. Thank you again for your understanding and raising this – it really helps us improve.
“I’d give zero stars if I could” has never been so relevant
I’ve been absolutely bombarded with unsolicited emails from this company over the past two days – hundreds- yes, hundreds of emails clogging up my inbox day and night. Despite receiving absolutely no email from them about this chaos, they’ve managed to flood my inbox with an overwhelming amount of messages. There’s been no acknowledgement from them regarding this issue whatsoever.
This is beyond frustrating and utterly unacceptable. I’ve spent hours trying to sort through the mess and still haven’t heard a word from their customer service or any form of apology. The fact that a company can be this careless with its communication is shocking. If this is how they handle their emails, I shudder to think about how they handle actual customer concerns.
Do yourself a favour and steer clear of this company unless you want to be trapped in an endless stream of unwanted emails.
1 star is far too generous.
15 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
Thank you for getting in touch and for your patience. I'm really sorry you've been affected by this email issue – I completely understand how frustrating and annoying multiple unexpected emails can be.
What happened is we recently migrated our systems, and found some replies sent to an old automated noreply address were forwarded accidentally to an old mailing list. This caused a loop of duplicate emails going out to people in that list, including yourself.
The good news is we've fixed it completely! The problem was spotted and stopped very quickly this morning. We've cleared the list, fixed the faulty settings, and put extra checks in place so it can't happen again. No sensitive information (like payment details or passwords) was involved.
Has that helped? If so, please delete any unwanted emails from us.
Is there anything else I can assist with today? We're here to make this right. Thank you again for your understanding and raising this – it really helps us improve.
Substantial data breach
Being bombarded with emails, clearly a substantial data breach, that may have involved personal details reaching hundreds of other people. Avoid this company!
15 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
Hi, thank you for getting in touch and for your patience. I'm really sorry you've been affected by this email issue – I completely understand how frustrating and annoying multiple unexpected emails can be.
What happened is we recently migrated our systems, and found some replies sent to an old automated noreply address were forwarded accidentally to an old mailing list. This caused a loop of duplicate emails going out to people in that list, including yourself.
The good news is we've fixed it completely! The problem was spotted and stopped very quickly this morning. We've cleared the list, fixed the faulty settings, and put extra checks in place so it can't happen again. No sensitive information (like payment details or passwords) was involved.
Has that helped? If so, please delete any unwanted emails from us.
Is there anything else I can assist with today? We’ve already made changes to improve our customer interactions, and we appreciate the feedback — it helps us continue to improve.
Please don't hesitate to get in touch
MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk
This company is a criminal…
This company is a criminal organisation. Do not deal with them. They will never answer a call, they will attempt to scam you and will then abuse your data. I will report them to the ICO and demand compensation for the trauma and loss of business that they have caused.
16 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
Hi, thank you for getting in touch and for your patience. I'm really sorry you've been affected by this email issue – I completely understand how frustrating and annoying multiple unexpected emails can be.
What happened is we recently migrated our systems, and found some replies sent to an old automated noreply address were forwarded accidentally to an old mailing list. This caused a loop of duplicate emails going out to people in that list, including yourself.
The good news is we've fixed it completely! The problem was spotted and stopped very quickly this morning. We've cleared the list, fixed the faulty settings, and put extra checks in place so it can't happen again. No sensitive information (like payment details or passwords) was involved.
Has that helped? If so, please delete any unwanted emails from us.
Is there anything else I can assist with today? We’ve already made changes to improve our customer interactions, and we appreciate the feedback — it helps us continue to improve.
Please don't hesitate to get in touch
MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk
Shocking people dont use this company…
Shocking people dont use this company and dont give them your data, full data breach and they dont care. Over 200 emails a day from people Cc in to emails. Dont even know if bank details have been compromised, horrendous dealings.
16 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
Hi, thank you for getting in touch and for your patience. I'm really sorry you've been affected by this email issue – I completely understand how frustrating and annoying multiple unexpected emails can be.
What happened is we recently migrated our systems, and found some replies sent to an old automated noreply address were forwarded accidentally to an old mailing list. This caused a loop of duplicate emails going out to people in that list, including yourself.
The good news is we've fixed it completely! The problem was spotted and stopped very quickly this morning. We've cleared the list, fixed the faulty settings, and put extra checks in place so it can't happen again. No sensitive information (like payment details or passwords) was involved.
Has that helped? If so, please delete any unwanted emails from us.
Is there anything else I can assist with today? We’ve already made changes to improve our customer interactions, and we appreciate the feedback — it helps us continue to improve.
Please don't hesitate to get in touch
MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk
Data breech
You have been hacked.
Hundreds of your customers are endlessly being spammed.
Please deal with this as a matter of urgency.
Stoneworks UK team.
16 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
Hi, thank you for getting in touch and for your patience. I'm really sorry you've been affected by this email issue – I completely understand how frustrating and annoying multiple unexpected emails can be.
What happened is we recently migrated our systems, and found some replies sent to an old automated noreply address were forwarded accidentally to an old mailing list. This caused a loop of duplicate emails going out to people in that list, including yourself.
The good news is we've fixed it completely! The problem was spotted and stopped very quickly this morning. We've cleared the list, fixed the faulty settings, and put extra checks in place so it can't happen again. No sensitive information (like payment details or passwords) was involved.
Has that helped? If so, please delete any unwanted emails from us.
Is there anything else I can assist with today? We’ve already made changes to improve our customer interactions, and we appreciate the feedback — it helps us continue to improve.
Please don't hesitate to get in touch
MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk
AVOID AVOID AVOID
After failing to deliver what was ordered and then also failing to answer any messages, I'm now into the next (widely reported) stage where I am bombarded with unsolicited emails, not all of which end up in my spam.
AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS.
16 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
Hi, thank you for getting in touch and for your patience. I'm really sorry you've been affected by this email issue – I completely understand how frustrating and annoying multiple unexpected emails can be.
What happened is we recently migrated our systems, and found some replies sent to an old automated noreply address were forwarded accidentally to an old mailing list. This caused a loop of duplicate emails going out to people in that list, including yourself.
The good news is we've fixed it completely! The problem was spotted and stopped very quickly this morning. We've cleared the list, fixed the faulty settings, and put extra checks in place so it can't happen again. No sensitive information (like payment details or passwords) was involved.
Has that helped? If so, please delete any unwanted emails from us.
Is there anything else I can assist with today? We’ve already made changes to improve our customer interactions, and we appreciate the feedback — it helps us continue to improve.
Please don't hesitate to get in touch
MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk
Never received item and taken my money
Never received cement mixer item I payed for with multiple emails and WhatsApp messages and phone calls and no answer to either one. Then have the cheek to email me about an off hire note. Been conned out of £72
Over half a year later still no money back or even acknowledgement of any fault.
Update: contacted them via the email address they have replied to on this review and weeks later NO reply!
15 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
We are really sorry to hear that your experience with National Tool Hire hasn't been up to scratch. Please drop us a message at MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk and we will endeavour to assist you further. Please remember to include your Order Number. Regards NTH Customer Service Team
Have I been scammed?
The website took the payment from my bank card twice! I didn't get any email notification and none of the contact points work!
Have I been scammed?!?!?!
14 January 2026
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
We are really sorry to hear that you have had an issue with your order. It is never our intention to let our customers down, please drop us a message at MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk where we would like to discuss this further. Please remember to include your Order number.
Regards NTH Customer Service Team
Awful company
Awful company, from delivery being a day late on one lifter.
Being charged a missed collection on another lifter when they never showed up to collect.
The lifters we hired where in a poor state of repair, boardering on dangerous.
It states in their terms and conditions your deposit will be refunded in 21 days, I am now double this, still awaiting my deposit to be refunded, customer service have stopped responding.
Avoid this company at all costs.
Response to the "customer service" generic response.
What's the point in sending another email to yourselves when you haven't responded to my last 5!
I'm sure looking at the reviews that are coming in thick and fast you should probably look into your systems and get it sorted out.
The next email you'll receive from myself will be proceedings to recover my money plus 8% interest above the Bank of England base rate as per "Late payments of commercial debts (interes) act 1998" allows.
3 November 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
We are really sorry to hear that your experience with National Tool Hire hasn't been up to scratch. Please drop us a message at MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk and we will endeavour to assist you further. Please remember to include your Order Number. Regards NTH Customer Service Team
Poor service and quality
I rented a wood chipper at the end of November 2025 for 1 day. When it arrived it was in poor condition and the start of my day was spent getting it working. I received no support from the vendor. I was told that my £250 deposit would be returned within 21 working days as per their policy. Now on the 13th of January 2026 I still have not got my deposit back and have been unable to make contact with the company either over the phone or through any of their virtual chat features on the website. Despite trying for multiple weeks to do so. The quality of the machinery and the customer service have been shockingly poor. I would not recommend.
25 November 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
We are really sorry to hear that your experience with National Tool Hire hasn't been up to scratch. Please drop us a message at MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk and we will endeavour to assist you further. Please remember to include your Order Number. Regards NTH Customer Service Team
Didn't deliver when they said they would
They said it would be delivered and it wasn't and I was left out of pocket. They don't own any hire equipment they sub out the hire and no control of delivery dates.
Waited in queues for over an hour to speak to someone multiple times. They don't reply to emails.
Avoid at all costs!!
29 December 2025
Unprompted review
Reply from National Tool Hire
We are really sorry to hear that your experience with National Tool Hire hasn't been up to scratch. Please drop us a message at MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk and we will endeavour to assist you further. Please remember to include your Order Number. Regards NTH Customer Service Team
Supplied Wrong Product, Denied Refund – Untrustworthy and Unprofessional
27/01/2026
Yes, I contacted you and followed your full complaints procedure and wasted more valuable time. You charged me for the full hire period of 2 weeks, despite I asked you to collect the ladder as I had no use for it from day one. Your offer of £8.28 "good will gesture" was a joke. And as of today, you have not even paid that! Nothing less than full refund is fair. Stress and time waste you caused me and my client goes without mention.
07/01/2026
We ordered and paid for a 12-rung ladder, which is more expensive to hire, but a 10-rung ladder was delivered instead. This is not what we ordered and not what we were invoiced for.
After reporting the issue, a customer service agent (with an Indian accent) initially sounded helpful and repeatedly said she would call me back and resolve the issue, but no call ever came. Instead, I kept receiving emails where she insisted that the 10-rung ladder reaches the same height as the 12-rung ladder and is therefore “the same product”, which is incorrect and contradicted by their own website specifications.
Replies also came under different names, yet the same agent claimed she had sent all the emails herself, which added to the confusion and showed a lack of clear accountability in the communication.
Rather than apologising for supplying the wrong item and correcting their mistake, the company refused to accept responsibility and refused to refund, despite the fact that we were clearly supplied with lower-spec equipment than what we paid for.
Because of this:
• Our job was delayed and disrupted
• We were charged for a product we did not receive
Instead of resolving their own error, they tried to justify it and close the case. From a trade customer’s point of view, this is completely unacceptable. Supplying the wrong equipment, denying it, and refusing refund when proven wrong is not how a professional hire company should operate.
I would strongly advise anyone working to schedules or safety requirements not to rely on this company. Very poor customer service, no accountability, and not trustworthy when things go wrong.
7 January 2026
Reply from National Tool Hire
Please drop us a message at MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk so I can assist you further
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