Woodford Car Hire Arvostelua 

I made the mistake of booking for my car at umhlanga instead of the airport. I was stressed when I arrived at woodford at the airport but Mr Shikar made me relax 😌 and said he will help me out. In a matter of minutes he moved my rental from umhlanga to the airport and I drove off happily with my starlet

Customer be warned!

I my case, immediately after drop-off the rented Hilux Woodford debited ZAR 2472,50 = € 123 without any explaination.

After weeks and many many emails I got these explanation: "The T-bar-handle and the lock itself [of the canopy lock mechanism] was replaced in order for it to work effectively".
The truth is - and I declare this on oath - that the canopy lock mechanism works well, neighter its handle nor at its lock itself was damaged. Up to now Woodford did not present a prove of the assumed damage.

I reported at drop-off was that I had screwed in a spare part screw for a lost screw of the cage of the canopy lock mechanism to prevent the loss of the remaining second screw of the cage. Unfortunely said spare screw was a bit too long so that its screw head did not reach the canopy surface but held the cage savely in position and preventing the loss of the second screw of the cage. But this cannot justify the exchange of the complete outer parts of the camopy lock mechanism.

To keep the case - in my opinion fraud - under the carped Woodford offered me a 10% discount on a not existing damage.

So please consider this true story when thinking about renting a Woodford car.

Great service and good company. Initial issues on refund turned out to be the bank's fault

Always on time and professionalism

Service is the best, I recommend that I will work with them forever.

Always on time for delivered and collection of the vehicle

Did not tell me there was a tag for the tolls then charged me as well as me paying cash for the toll because I didn't know about the tag. Money was taken out of my account after I reached my home country for fuel when the car was returned with a full tank, despite being given the car not full. It has been a month now and I have still not received the refund that was supposedly issued. I have spoken to 3 people who have been very unhelpful and I am also told that I cannot get the name of the person who authorised the refund or any contact details for them. I will never use this company again and I don't recommend it to anyone else either. I also heard from someone else that r30000 was taken out of their account by this company and it wasn't authorised by the account owner. Absolutely disappointing Woodford.

We rented a car from Cape Town, SA for 2 weeks from 23rd of October. I would say stay away from this company otherwise be VERY VERY careful.

In my experience, when we returned the car the inspector told me that I had caused damage to the bumper of the lower right hand side. He told me that he saw me do it as I turned into the drop off point, thank goodness I took a proper video when picking up the car, which showed the damage was already there. Otherwise, he would have lied in order to tried to charge us for damages. No apologies provided.

On top of that they to took out a R5000 deposit when hiring the car, they said they would return this within 48 hours, it has now been over 8 working days and I am having to chase with minimal response.

My friends also rented from Woodford and they are having the same issue. I think they hope people won't check their credit cards and they can keep the money.

We queued for 45mins at the Capetown Airport office before being able to speak to someone. It then took a further 25 mins to complete our booking. I had even booked and paid on-line, so I was not even negotiating a deal just purely collecting a car. The car we received was nothing like the urban cruiser we had booked (I do realise a similar car can be supplied). It was a beat up VW Touran. There was no parcel shelf in the boot and when I asked for one I was told there was no time to supply one. The car was completely gutless with no power for the hills between Capetown and Gansbaai and had a dodgy gearbox, which meant the reverse gear did not always work. On the plus side it was easy to return the car at the end of the hire period and the staff member who dealt with our booking was very pleasant. Based on our experience we would not use this company again.

Normally I only use Avis or Europa car, but hesitantly decided to try Woodford as it was way cheaper for an Audi A4 for 4 days…

When I went to collect my rental the representative that helped me was very professional and friendly, process was explained clearly and he tried his best to process all the admin quickly.

I was also upgraded without asking to a bmw 3 series at no cost by Shakir, he really made my day and I will only use this company as they are really impressive, this employee Shakir is management material and he should be promoted!!

I was really not expecting such great service as this company is so much more affordable on their rates but in the end they exceeded my expectations, oh…they even dropped me off at the terminal entrance as I told the employee whom receives the car back upon returning at the end of the rental that I was running late for my flight and he immediately offered to drive me in the car to the entrance to help me make my flight wow wow wow!

Thanks to the Shakir & the Woodford team at king Shaka airport, u guys plz keep raising the bar!

The service is professional and courteous.

These people are treating my card and bank account as if we co own it. They keep on charging me without any explanation. Now that I am outside South Africa it’s difficult to engage with them fruitfully.

The customer service agents at pick and return were wonderful however this pure disrespect from whoever is in accounts has left a bitter taste.

Sebastian was tremendous in his ability to make me feel welcome and make me feel valued as a customer. I had an issue with one of the other rental agencies and he was quick to resolve that, he really made me feel that I was important and so was my business.

I just planned a family holiday and had booked a car with Hertz a month in advance, and I called numerous times to ensure that the booking has been confirmed. Once I was there I was turned away due to some discrepancy in the fine print that no one told me about it and was a surprise to me to learn. Essentially they let R40,000 cash walk out of the door because they wouldn't do business with me.

As I walked into Woodford I was so tense and upset with my experience at the other car hiring place Sebastian melted my tension with a small joke and a great smile and went straight to work. He assessed the situation, realised that I had a dilemma to resolve, he got really creative and figuring out how we could get around the issues that I had and he really valued me as a client. I will never do business with anyone else again.

Sebastian shouldn't be behind the desk taking bookings he should be teaching people how to do customer service and sharing about longevity between the company and its clients by continuously making us feel important enough to do business with.

They give you destroyed car and when you return the car they said to you you did these damages so we will keep your deposit stay away from them we lost 4000 rand

Quality customer service from start to finish at an affordable price. Well managed pick-up and drop-off.

Appalled at the service received from Woodford back office. We were involved in a ‘hit-and-drive’ accident and provided Woodford with all the relevant details, police case number and perpetrator’s car registration. I followed up twice, with no response, since returning the car only to receive a mail telling me to pay the damage claim.
Only after going back with all the relevant details did anyone get back to me - sans any apology - acknowledging that there is a third party claim open however I will still be liable for excess.
So much for a customer centered business.

I’m very disappointed with this company…it seems to me that they’re scamming people…I hired a car 2 months ago,then we found some mechanical faulty with the car…we took it back to Woodford car and they said they’ll refund us with 72hrs…it’s almost 2 months and we haven’t received the refund,when we call they give us the run around…it’s so frustrating…

I rented a vehicle at Woodford in September 2023 from Cape Town Airport. It was my first time renting a vehicle with them - my family have done so multiple times before. Based on my experience I would strongly recommend anyone to keep away from Woodford.

Upon returning the rental vehicle at Cape Town Airport, a Woodford representative inspected the vehicle. The Woodford representative was also explicitly asked if everything was fine with the vehicle – he stated there was nothing wrong, and it was signed off that everything was in order. The only issue discussed was that Woodford did not give me the vehicle with a full tank of petrol when I received it, but that issue was sorted. As everything was in order, the deposit of R5000 was refunded to my bank account.

However, to my surprise, three weeks later Woodford suddenly deducted R7,000 from my credit card - without any communication from their side. Upon calling Woodford (multiple times after not getting through to them and their WhatsApp also not working), I was informed that there was "a chip on the windscreen" and apparently the whole "windscreen had to be replaced."

Asking how this could be deducted without informing me (3 weeks after the vehicle was returned and my deposit as well!), they claimed they sent me an email. However, they then realized that they sent it to the wrong/misspelled email address, despite having the correct email address since I made the booking, and them responding to this email address on other occasions. I also checked the validity of the wrong email, and this email bounces, meaning that Woodford should have received an automatic notification of a non-existent email address.

Regardless, when they finally sent me “proof” of the damages:
• The email with the “damages” was sent more than an hour after I returned the vehicle and when the Woodford representative inspected the vehicle. What happens after I return the vehicle – especially for visual damages – the client can be in no way responsible for it. The client has no control over the vehicle once the vehicle is handed over: Woodford’s drivers can drive the cars around to fill it up, etc., or whatever they do with the vehicles.

• The “photos” of the damages do not show that is the vehicle that I rented that has the chip mark. The photo containing the license/VIN number does not show any chip mark. Another photo showing a chip mark does not contain any particulars showing that this was the vehicle that I rented – it only shows a windscreen of a car without any license plate or VIN number.

• The “damage report” also shows no information about the severity of the “damage” – only stating that the windscreen had to be replaced, thus no way to verify whether the “damage” really necessitates a whole windscreen to be replaced, and if the almost R7,000 they ask is not an inflated amount.

As I have my own insurance, I did not take out Woodford’s excess cover. I honestly think they are trying to take chances of taking money from a customer who did not opt for their insurance. How can a Woodford representative receive and sign off the vehicle, the deposit is refunded in full, they never inform you about any damages, and then 3 weeks later almost R7,000 is just deducted from your account? This is also without any proof that the damage is on your vehicle!

Surprisingly horrible experience and would not recommend them to anyone.