Directrent Arvostelua 

Beware! Dishonest and Predatory Practices – Avoid This Company

I had a terrible experience with Direct Rent a their employee Alex Barbu and strongly advise others to avoid renting from them. They take advantage of customers by charging for damages that never happened, using the situation to squeeze extra money out of you.

When I returned the car, they suddenly “discovered” a scratch that was never there when I picked it up. Despite having taken photos at the beginning of the rental, they refused to acknowledge them and insisted I pay an outrageous fee. It was clear that they were looking for any excuse to charge me more.

The staff was unhelpful and dismissive, and the whole process felt like a well-rehearsed scam. After reading other reviews, I realized that I was not the only one who had fallen victim to their shady tactics.

Future customers, be extremely cautious if you decide to rent from them—document everything with photos and videos, and don’t trust their so-called “inspection process.” Better yet, save yourself the stress and rent from a more reputable company. I will never use their services again!

This rental company operates a deceptive scheme where they advertise extremely low prices but pressure customers into purchasing additional insurance upon arrival. If you refuse to pay an extra £30-£40/day, they will find any excuse to deny you a vehicle. I strongly condemn these practices, as they put customers—especially non-locals—in a difficult position. It’s best to avoid this company and opt for an international rental provider instead. While their rates may be higher, they save you from unnecessary hassle and unexpected costs.

When we took the car, they were in a rush, we did took video and pics.At the return point they have tried to put on us minor bits wich can easily be missed...luckily we had the video and it showed it was there. Anoied they couldn't find anything, they blamed us for a tiny stain on the back seat, we never seen it before they point it.
So RUUUNNNN

Dit is een grote oplichtingsbende! Auto was niet op te halen volgens de omschrijving , hierdoor hebben wij de auto pas 1.5 uur later gekregen dan was afgesproken.
Bij het inleveren van de auto bleven ze maar zoeken. Allemaal dingen benoemen die ze zagen, gelukkig hadden wij een filmpje gemaakt waarop die schade al zichtbaar was. Ze bleven maar zoeken tot ze uiteindelijk een krasje aan de binnenkant van de deur hadden gevonden

Deze oplichters bleven zoeken tot ze wat vonden. Ga nooit met deze mensen in zee!!! EEN GROTE OPLICHTERSBENDE!!!

Onbetrouwbaar bij inleveren van auto. Opeens was er schade maar nadat we het filmpje dat wij bij oplevering hadden gemaakt lieten zien, hoefde we niets te betalen. Maar toen vonden ze iets in de auto zodat er toch schade van € 400 moest worden betaald. Schandalig

een grote oplichtings bende bij eerst komen ze al 1,5 uur te laat en bij het terug brengen van de auto werd er een krasje aan de binnenkant van de deur gevonden want ze bleven zoeken om iets te vinden en vanwege de creditcardborg waren we verplicht dit te betalen EEN GROTE OPLICHTINGS BENDE

Do not hire a car from these guys.

Similair to other reviewers, my credit card wasnt accepted as it wasnt embossed. I offered another amex card that was embossed but conveniently for them they dont accept Amex. This is a clear strategy for them to charge higher insurance premiums..more than 10 times the cost of the car rental in my case.I had already purchased third party insurance but this was not acceptable by them.
When i challenged all this the rep was texting the "boss" to offer me discounts, to which i still declined.A clear way to try get more money from people.

They also tried downgrade the model of car i booked.

I took the decision to take the hit on the cost of the rental and cancel there and then as i felt the return process would be just as bad, to which other reviewers confirmed.

ATTENTI, SONO TRUFFATORI!
ho restituito l'auto nelle stesse condizioni...
Hanno inventato dei nuovi graffi dicendomi pietruzze in autostrada...
Mi hanno addebitato 1300€ questi ladri. Spero che un giorno la pagheranno e li spenderanno tutti i a medicine,
MALEDETTI!

SCAM - AVOID - ZERO STARS
Extremely Disappointing Experience - Not Recommended

I recently rented a car through an airline and, despite seeing previous negative reviews, I decided to proceed, taking out additional insurance from a separate provider as a precaution. Unfortunately, my experience was extremely disappointing.

1st Issue: Upon arrival, the agent attempted to charge an additional 300 euros, claiming it was due to my credit card not being embossed. After I insisted that I would not pay any extra and requested a cancellation, the agent decided to proceed with the rental, despite stating it was against their rules. For context, embossed cards are no longer a common requirement, and I have rented cars across Europe using my UK credit card without any issues.

2nd Issue: After paying the initial deposit, the agent left abruptly, stating he had to pick up another customer from the airport. This left my wife and me in the rain to inspect the car ourselves. He instructed us to "take a good look around, the car status is your responsibility from now on, and you need to return it in the same state." There was no attempt to conduct a proper vehicle check with us, which is standard practice elsewhere.

3rd Issue: Upon returning the car, we were directed to a different location, where we encountered another agent who was extremely unprofessional. He claimed there were scratches on the car that I had not identified, despite being barely visible even with close inspection. I provided video evidence showing that a minor scratch was already present when I picked up the car, but this was disregarded. When I collected the vehicle, the initial agent had assured me that such tiny scratches, likely from luggage, would not be considered damage. However, this second agent insisted that I would need to deal with the office to resolve the matter, implying additional charges would be assessed.

I have numerous videos and photos to support my claims, though I am currently unable to publish them here due to legal restrictions

Wish I had read all these reviews. Same happened with us. Charges 700 euro for what is obviously thin paint on the mirror from the factory and a broken headlight. The headlight (stone chip) was not even visible to the naked eye. I had to run my fingernail across it to even feel it. Yes, I had insurance, but still, this is ridiculous. I have photos I will be sending to the insurance company and reporting insurance fraud.

Scammers, do not book here. The company offers cheap rental prices, but scams people with alleged damages when you return. With our car they found minor, barely visible scratches on the windshield. This was the only part of the car that we did not have any photos of. Although the tiny scratches (probably from small stones on the road in the past) would probably not be visible on the photo anyway. There were also other minor alleged damages, but luckily we had photo’s to prove the damage was not caused by us. We were forced to pay EUR 400 for the windshield, otherwise they would not release the remaining EUR 1700 from our deposit.

Bear in mind I am Romanian and I know the usual tricks of trying to make more money.
I am convinced they have the lowest price to find something they can hook on and refuse the rental, unless you pay their insurance.
I booked a car for 3 days for around 5 GBP. Before I had a chance to get my credit card out the staff member said the card has to show my full name, not only initials. In more than 10 years of car renting throughout Europe, I have never heard of this. My credit card shows "Forename Surname" as "F. Surname". The staff member said I'd have to pay 150 EUR to take the car without having to provide a credit card at all. I refused and walked away.
I immediately booked another car for 10 GBP from PriceCarz which is across the street from Direct Rent, I used the same documents and got a great service!
Please use other companies. Because I am certain Direct Rent will change their name soon, here is their latest name on on google maps: Carwiz.

Scammers. Don't rent from them at any cost. Go for the 2nd cheapest company, the difference is only £5-10 on the whole booking. They are changing their names after 2-3 years as nobody is booking from them. As others mentioned before they will invent stuff just to charge you. First time in 10 years it happened t me that a rental company refused my card saying that I only have my initials on the credit cards and I can be a different person. I paid £200+ for the insurance but I made sure that the soul of the car left his body.

Vergonzoso!!!
Unos timadores profesionales! Primer día de vacaciones y arruinado. Alquilamos el coche mediante Rentalcars by Booking con unas condiciones y cuando llegamos la empresa DirectRent (que a la vez es Carwiz por mucho que lo nieguen te atiende una persona con una camiseta de Carwiz) Empiezan a decir que debes de dejar una fianza de 2400€ cuando en Booking en la reserva consta claramente que son 1800€. También te cuenta que otra opción es pagar un seguro de 400€ (seguro ya pagado previamente en Booking) y 100€ de depósito. Te presentan un documento a firmar que es una lista de precios y dice (palabras textuales) " como en 10 días si o si vais a tener un arañazo o dos es obligatorio firmar" que equivale a que si o si se quedara con el dinero. Al negarnos por supuesto nos quedamos sin el coche pero visto los comentarios es lo mejor que pudimos hacer. Lastima no haberlo leído antes de contratar.
Añadir que la solución que te da Rentalcars es que pagues 5 veces mas con otra empresa. Como dije al principio lamentable y vergonzoso. Ladrones/timadores profesionales!

Truffatori, si inventano una "incompatibilità" della carta di credito multifunzione (che ho usato in tutto il mondo ed è sempre andata bene), la persona al desk - Valentin - si è letteralmente rifiutata di passarla, a meno che non stipulassi la loro assicurazione full (che avevo già fatto tramite Ryanair). Ho capito che era purtroppo conveniente sottostare al ricatto (170 euro di assicurazione contro circa 300 euro di un noleggio ex novo fatto all'ultimo), ma ci tengo a segnalare la scorrettezza e falsità dell'agenzia - ovviamente poi la mia carta è andata benissimo sia per il pagamento che per il deposito, chissà com'è...

Well nothing new to add but what a scamming company this is and to join in with the awful experiences that the rest of you all had.
Similar to another review here I arrived to collect my car,was thrown a piece of paper in my face and asked to pay an extra £250 insurance. I had already opted and paid for the full insurance via booking.com and when I confirmed I was not interested in taking up their insurance the guy started refusing to take my credit cards. One card had only my initial and surname, which matched my name in the passport and the signature and initial on my card matched my DVL and passport. Then i pulled out a diferent card that had my full name and surname but was not embossed which is rubbish. But also he was happy to use any of those cards if I wanted to pay for their insurance. At that point I lost all trust in the company and walked away. Very lucky I found a different rental place EZ Rent which I would recommend 100%. I was at the airport with two kids and no way of getting to my destination and this kind man took time to help me and offered me a car which was brand new, absolutely perfect, which I can’t say about the car direct.rent provide.
Also when I booked the booking was with direct rent, when i got to the airport the kiosk was caroutis. This was the first warning sign that made me a bit worried.
I could write a whole page but I think you all had the same experience and I have not seen one review that had more than one star.
For all of you looking to rent a car please STAY AWAY FROM THESE FRAUDSTERS!!!!
Take our experiences as a lesson learnt.
I am trying to sort out a full refund with booking.com and I hope they are more helpful and I can find my closure after what was an awful experience.

Our flight was delayed 2 hours, when we arrived at the office, we were told they had to give our car away and only other car available was an ‘upgrade’ for double the cost (additional €200), we checked the ‘upgrade’ cost for equivalent rental periods and both cars where almost the exact same cost, no explanation given, they knew we were tired and desperate given it was late at night and took advantage of us, I would avoid this company.

Horrible company, really a scam Stay away from them!!!! They invent all kinds of scratches on the car even though they were there before

Zeer slecht, bij het ophalen van de auto bij Car Wiz ging het al mis, we moesten 23 euro per dag bijbetalen omdat we de auto die we gehuurd hadden al ‘verhuurd’ was, dus moesten we betalen voor de upgrade! Zojuist brachten we hem terug, en bij het ophalen heb ik van elke schade fotos gemaakt, incl rechts voor waar er ook een krasje zichtbaar was op de velg. Justin heeft dat krasje alsnog gerekend, omdat de foto zogenaamd niet recht ervoor werdt gemaakt! Nu hebben wij dus 380 euro onder bezwaar betaald, want we konden niet anders ivm de creditcardborg en we moesten de vlucht halen! Heel triest als je zo aan je geld moet komen, verschrikkelijke oplichters!

The company is clearly a scam that is well hidden under the blanket of a legit business. This means that some time they do what they say but often they won't... and the reviews you can find on google and here are clearly confirming my saying.

In my case, I have made the booking via a Rentalcars platform and bought also the full insurance.
I should have noticed that their price was just to low to be true.

Nevertheless, I got there and their employee tried to sell me an insurance that was pushing the price even over Sixt or Europcar.
Why? and really NOTE This: Because ... at 3.00 AM you are basically restrained at the peripheries of a large city like Bucharest, with basically no options. Even to get a Taxi will be a challenge at that hour.

The reason they put forward is that my card (issued by Barkley Germany) is not valid... because it is not embossed, fact which is untrue. I am using this card since 3 years and, also when rented cars in Bucharest, I never had any issues. Therefore, when I asked their employee to try it he effectively refused and got very nervous and rude. Still, imagine that when I said that this is the only card I have, he was ok to try it to pay for the insurance (!!??)

Now, be aware that in the contract (the voucher I got from Rentalcars) the only thing that is written is that I need to have a valid credit card with sufficient funds (which was true).
That being said, from about 50 euro initial rental price... they were asking for ADDITIONAL 300-350 euro for the insurance.
I was lucky to find close by PriceCarz, another car rental company nearby. They overcharged a bit... but still cheaper then these guys.

Really, this was by far the worse experience I ever had when renting a car.