Rentalcars.com Reviews 

I booked a versa, my plane landed at 2am so the rental place was closed. I went in first thing in the morning and the man I spoke to was very rude and told me I’d have to upgrade my car to an SUV I didn’t want when the other lady that works there clearly stated they had the car I booked and he wanted to charge me 396 more dollars and refused to give me my deposit back. I ended up not getting the car I paid for and had to go to another car rental place and missed out on a whole day of having a rental on vacation. The man was very unprofessional and I will not use this company again and I will also make sure no one I know will ever use it either.

Unfortunately, my experience with Rentalcars.com was very disappointing.

We had booked and paid for a rental car through Rentalcars.com in advance. Due to a delayed flight, we arrived later than originally planned. I fully understand that rental car companies have terms and conditions regarding late arrivals and no-shows. However, the main issue in our case was not simply the delay, but the poor and misleading information provided in the booking confirmation.

The pick-up location described in the confirmation was unclear and did not match the actual situation on site. Once we arrived, there was no clear signage, no visible rental desk and no practical indication of where we were supposed to go. We spent a considerable amount of time trying to find the correct location, without success.

To make matters worse, the phone number provided in the booking confirmation was not working. It appeared to be unavailable or not assigned at all, both on the day of pick-up and the following day. This was particularly frustrating because the terms and conditions state that customers should contact the rental company in case of a delay. In reality, this was not possible using the contact details provided.

We were also not the only customers facing this problem. Another couple was there at the same time, also looking for the same rental location. They also could not find any proper signage or reach anyone by phone.

After contacting Rentalcars.com, the response focused almost entirely on the no-show policy and the fact that we arrived late. While I understand this point from a contractual perspective, I felt that my actual concern was not properly addressed. The fact that the location information was misleading and the provided phone number did not work was barely taken into account.

In the end, Rentalcars.com only offered a very small partial refund, despite the fact that the service could not realistically be used under the circumstances. For me, this was not a satisfying solution.

Overall, I found the experience frustrating and the customer support rather rigid. If a booking platform provides unclear pick-up instructions and an unusable contact number, customers should not be left carrying the full consequence. Based on this experience, I do not recommend booking through Rentalcars.com. Save yourself a lot of headache and disappointment by booking directly with the providers.

I did not receive any receipt when booking the car. When it got closer to the day of picking up the car I could not confirm anywhere that/or if I had booked safety seats for my children. I recall strongly that I did, but could not see this anywhere. When contacting rental cars I got AI-generated replies not answering my questions, when calling it was a lot of friendly talking but no helping, and I could not at all reach the car office where I had made the confirmation. The only thing Rentalcars could say was that there is never a guarantee that there are safety seats for children available! Which in my opinion is crazy if family cars are available to book! It was of importance for me to know and confirm that seats are available, otherwise I could prefer to take the train or other means of transportation. All in all I was extremely frustrated and it cost me time and money to try and find answers that no one was willing to give. Big disappointment.

I rented a car through rentalcars.com and 24h before the rental started, the rental company contacted me to explain that they didn’t have the car I booked and offered a vehicle that was several categories below without any compensation. Rentalcars.com was not helpful at all and charged me 350€ for cancelling the booking.

Avoid Rentalcars.com! We booked a car with a different drop-off location and a mandatory child seat for our 2-year-old. Upon arrival, the supplier had no child seats. Driving a toddler without one is illegal, making the rental impossible.

The local agent promised Rentalcars would arrange an alternative booking (which would also resolve a minor driver document issue), but this promise was broken. We were left completely abandoned at the airport with a toddler and luggage.

Because of their initial failure to provide legally required safety equipment, we were forced to desperately search for a last-minute replacement that allowed our different drop-off requirement. We ended up paying double the price at a competitor.

To make matters worse, Rentalcars charged US a cancellation fee for their failure! Customer service takes zero responsibility. Completely unreliable and unfair—avoid!

AVOID!
I rented a car via rentalcars.com, arrived at the place and was rejected the car simply because my card was a revolut card. It was a normal visa card which is acceptable via the terms and conditions. I had to rebook on the spot via my GF's name at 3x the price.
I complained to RC and ofc they blamed me.
I tried to chargeback but they lied to Revolut/VISA and said i did got the car. NEVER AGAIN WILL I USE THEM.

I’ve been a loyal Booking.com Genius Level 3 customer for years. That changed after booking a car through their car rental company Rentalcars.com. While searching for a car at Weeze Airport (NRN), a popup redirected me to a booking for Düsseldorf Airport (DUS) with the exact same dates and times. Because Weeze is commonly called “Düsseldorf-Weeze”, I didn’t notice the error until I arrived... and there was no car. Despite providing clear proof of the platform redirect bug (screenshots + reproduction steps), chat transcripts, and escalating the case to Aftercare, Rentalcars.com / Booking.com refused any refund. No service was ever provided, yet I received €0.00 back. This is a textbook example of penny wise, pound foolish. They’d rather lose a loyal customer who would spend thousands more in the coming years than offer a reasonable goodwill solution. Genius Level 3 feels like mostly marketing --> better deals are often found via Trivago. Warning: Avoid booking cars through Booking.com / Rentalcars.com. When things go wrong, their support is inflexible and unhelpful. Use DiscoverCars or book directly with the rental company instead. Never again.

Very poor experience.

I prepaid a car rental for €46.51, arrived at the airport on time, and had all required documents. However, the rental desk refused to provide the car on the prepaid terms. Instead, I was pushed to buy expensive extra insurance, then asked for an extra €99, and faced unclear financial demands, including supposed liability of up to €5,000.

This meant the booking was effectively useless: the advertised prepaid price was not enough to actually get the car.

Even worse, customer support later treated the case as a “no-show,” although I was physically present at the airport and contacted support at the time.

This was stressful, misleading, and unacceptable, especially as I was traveling with my wife and small child. I would strongly advise others to read all conditions very carefully and think twice before booking.

I HAVE USED RENTALCARS.COM MULTIPLE TIMES PREVIOUSLY WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS BUT SINCE THE COMPANY IS IN THE HANDS OF BOOKING.COM MY EXPERIENCE WENT DOWNHILL.
Our booking this time was not honoured and the Booking.com team couldn't find any booking on their system regardless of the fact that the car was paid for.
Then the most painful part of the process was to get a refund (still waiting for that). I have contacted the relevant team and was asked to confirm all the details . Once I've sent everything they asked for (statements, booking information, locations), a second representative claiming that he is here to help replied to me with the same questions and this is when things spiralled in circles . This happened again and again and each time I would get a reply from a different customers support member.
I am currently just replying for a fifth time explaining the situation and providing the needed information again , every time a different representative replies with the same questions and no solution. They have a rotten system based on wasting customer's time until he eventually gives up.
I have booked car once before through Booking.com, many years ago and I was an hour late to collect the car , the money never got refunded to me and the booking was canceled , after this i've never booked directly through booking.com again.
This is the first time I booked with Rentalcars.com by Booking.com and the issues didn't take long to appear

UPDATE MAY 21, 2026: Refund finally tracked down. Using the payment proof and ARN number my bank (KBC) finally found the payment. RentalCars did indeed release the funds via Worldline on April 29 which should show up on my card by end of the month.
I am updating my rating to 2 stars because the financial outcome is corrected, but the customer journey was awful. It should not require a 1-star review, multiple follow-up emails, and a formal bank escalation just to get an automated claim resolved. "Full Protection" should mean hassle-free, which this was not.

UPDATE MAY 13, 2026: STILL NO REFUND.
After my initial review, I was contacted by "Ottmar" who promised a refund of EUR 646.30 within 10 working days. Those 10 days have passed and my bank has confirmed no funds are pending.

It seems the "apology" was just another stalling tactic to get me to stop complaining. I have still not received the money I am owed. I will not remove or improve this review until the funds are actually in my account.

Original post :

I am very frustrated with the "Full Protection" claims process. I submitted all required documents—including repair invoices and proof of payment—on March 31, 2026.

It has been a month of receiving nothing but automated "we are waiting for the car hire company" emails. I have already provided all the proof of my payment to Avis/Budget; it is unacceptable that I am being held responsible for RentalCars.com’s inability to communicate with their own partners.

If you purchase "Full Protection," be prepared for lengthy delays and automated excuses. I am still waiting for my legitimate reimbursement.

Customer support very unfriendly couldnt rent a car 70 euro's charged had to rent a car with an other company. for your sake dont rent anything here waste of your money

I had a very disappointing experience with Rentalcars.

I booked and prepaid a premium category vehicle, but upon arrival I was given a lower category car. When I asked Rentalcars for the refund, they repeatedly assured me that I was right and that they would mediate with SIXT and a refund would be arranged quickly. However, despite multiple promises and follow-ups during three months, nothing was actually resolved. After a significant amount of time wasted, I initiated a chargeback through my bank and Visa card in order to protect my position. In the end, only my bank and Visa helped to resolve the situation.

In cases like this, when booking directly with the provider, refunds are typically handled in 24 hours as per the provider information. However, because the booking was made through Rentalcars, the process became unnecessarily complex and dragged on for almost four months.

Despite being the intermediary, Rentalcars did not effectively assist in resolving the dispute, nor did they take responsibility for issuing the refund themselves. In practice, they simply act as a middleman to get the margin, but when a problem arises, they do not provide any support to the customer.

Overall, very poor handling of the case and lack of real support when it was most needed. From now on, I will book directly with the provider, I will never use Rentalcars again.

Beware—Rental Cars has the worst car rental affiliate program, based on my experience as an affiliate from 2010 to the present. Back then, they were known as Carhire 3000. Like most major online companies such as Amazon and eBay, they stack the odds in their favor and use affiliates to build their business. There are no account managers—if you need help, you have to submit a support ticket and wait 7 to 10 days for a reply. It’s utterly disgraceful. They should shut down instead of making people miserable and exploiting their efforts.

They stole money from me. They pretended to give me a rental. But it was an insurance I couldn't even use. They refused to refund.

Misleading and unfair experience with Booking.com / Rentalcars

I rented a car through Booking.com (Rentalcars), where everything was paid in advance, including insurance. At pickup, we were told we needed a physical credit card in the driver’s name – something that was not clearly communicated during booking.

We did have a valid credit card in the driver’s name, but only in digital form (on the phone). We were initially refused service, but shortly after told we could proceed if we paid an additional fee of 3,120 MAD.

The absurd part is that we were able to pay this fee contactlessly, despite just being refused for not having a physical card. The rules were clearly not applied consistently.

The fee was not for any service or product – it was simply a way to force an extra payment at the counter.

Afterwards, Booking.com refused to refund the amount and hid behind general terms and conditions, without addressing the actual situation.

Very disappointing experience and lack of accountability. I will be very cautious about using them again.

CARD SCAM - INSECURE SITE DON'T USE
one day after using their site to book a rental car for Tasmania I started getting scam deductions from my MasterCard. $US1,500 gone. No other use of card for a month before so has to be attributed to using their site. I reported it and noone has done a thing. Use at your peril. Their provider, Europcar didn't care either.

I'd give less stars if I could. Crap company, even crapper service...do yourself a favour, use their site to find a vendor then go direct to cut out this crap and pointless middle man.

Advised dollar or the wrong car. Was left with a mini cooper for a family of 4. Won't do anything to resolve it

I strongly advise against using this service. I booked and pre-paid for a car in the USA through Booking.com (Rentalcars.com / Booking Cars), but upon arrival at the AVIS desk, the reservation did not exist.
Critical failures:
• Logistical ordeal: My booking at the Downtown location was non-existent. I was forced to travel to the airport by taxi at my own expense, causing a major delay and significant stress.
• Forced extra costs: To avoid ruining my trip, I was forced to sign a new contract at the airport. The only car available cost exactly doubles the original pre-paid amount.
• Inadequate refund: Upon my return, I filed a formal complaint but only received a refund for the first booking. No compensation was provided for the price difference, taxi fares, or the overall service failure.
• Inefficient support: The claims portal is cumbersome, difficult to fill out, and lacks any tools to monitor the progress of the case.

⭐ 0/5 – They showed me €18. They charged me €98. Here's how.

I needed a car from Alicante to Valencia. Simple. I went on Rentalcars.com, entered both locations from the start, and the platform quoted me €18.25. I paid €18.25. Done — or so I thought.

At the rental desk, surprise: €80 extra for dropping the car in a different city. The exact trip I had booked from the beginning. The exact information their platform had when they showed me that €18 price.

That charge was nowhere in the booking flow. Not at search. Not at checkout. Not in the confirmation. Not in the invoice. Hidden in fine print that even the rental desk staff couldn't locate when we showed them our emails.

So the real price wasn't €18. It was €98. And they chose not to tell me that until I was standing at a counter with my luggage and no other options.

I contacted customer service. Their answer: "it was in the T&Cs." That's it. No refund, no apology worth anything, no accountability.

This is not an honest mistake. This is what their business model looks like: advertise a low price, hide the real cost in fine print, collect the difference at the counter when you can't walk away.

I've filed complaints with the OCU and the EU's ODR platform. And I'm leaving this review everywhere I can, because people deserve to know before they book.