3,747 reviews
- Yes
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- No, I received a worse vehicle
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- No, I received a better vehicle
AI reviews summary
Pros
Cons
Verdict
Bargain Car Rentals generally delivers a cost-effective and satisfactory experience for travellers seeking budget-friendly transport, backed by clean vehicles and efficient airport shuttle services. However, a segment of customers reports frustration regarding counter communications over insurance coverage and unexpected post-rental charges. Overall sentiment is polarised, with many enjoying seamless transactions while others advise careful reading of terms and conditions prior to arrival.
I had a great experience with Bargain Car Rental. Check in and check out was quick, the car was clean and almost brand new. All of the staff were friendly and made the whole process easy. Although they close at 6pm on Sundays, the last shuttle is at 5.30pm and can get busy so keep this in mind. The staff let us know this so wasn't an issue. Would… Read more
highly recommend these guys and will look at their rates first the next time I book.
Thanks Bargain Car Rental
Reviews with attachments
Car was clean, some damage not noted on collection advice. Paid for airport drop off (states Darwin airport), in reality the drop off is not at the airport it’s at a Bargain rental depot outside the airport, you then have to wait around for a shuttle bus. Not told this when collecting the vehicle, if I was told I would have returned it to collection address and Uber’d to the airport. Under hand, left a bad taste. Show details
Great experience: clean car in good shape, unlimited km perfect for long drives, pick up drop off was quick. Show details
Great vehicle for the money. Highly recommended this car. Customer service fare. Show details
We loved our car it was perfect for what we needed The whole process from the initial booking to pick up and drop off was all to easy Definitely value for money and great service I recommend getting the comprehensive insurance as it gives you total piece of mind highly recommend Show details
Its a perfect place get rental for a bargin! All instructions for vehicle pick was stright forward to me. Show details
Cleaning fee charge for extremely small amount of dirt left on backseat. Bargain. Car rentals claims that it took much longer to clean car due to small amount of dirt. See picture provided
Update. The claims department contacted me suggesting that I place a claim with my insurance company. They would arrange quotes and send us the bill. In the mean time send them pictures or videos time date stamped showing the existing damage. I did this and they dropped the claim. Completely unconscionable behaviour. Bullies looking for innocent… Read more
people to pay for existing damage to their vehicles. It’s a wonder that the chip even showed up as the car was filthy when we received it.
The off airport pick up in Cairns is a disgrace. The man upon check in was rude. We were given no explanation as to how anything worked (the outside of the car was fairly grubby but the inside was clean) in the car and after we had said no to their overpriced insurance, were told that there was an additional chip in the windscreen upon return. Their ‘claims’ team will be in contact apparently. If they knew a chip was there and are sending their claims people after us, why was the first chip not repaired? We took a video of the vehicle upon pick up (thank goodness) which shows the chip was already there. These people are shameless. I will never use them again, despite them being cheaper. We hire cars only a few times a year and have never used them before so did not know. If you choose to save money I understand, (but if we took up their insurance option, it would have been double the price of Avis or any of the others,) so make sure you take a video and really comprehensive pictures.
We normally always use bargain car rentals and have had previously excellent service. This time around we used a shuttle pass to and from the airport. We had the same driver and elderly gent and he was terrible in his service. I made him aware that the seatbelt in my wife’s seat did not function. He was not interested and my wife travelled in an… Read more
unsafe unrestraint bus to the depot. We got the same fellow on the way back and service was again terrible. I will not be doing business with Brisbane again based on this experience.
The worst insurance coverage I’ve ever seen on a rental car and I’ve rented many times all over the world. Before booking read the terms and conditions because the insurance coverage is very limited and unusual. Eg- You are not covered for hail damage or hitting an animal, (neither of which were covered in the standard rental insurance). It all… Read more
renders travel insurance covering rental car excess of limited use. Based on this it seems you could hit a kangaroo or the car ruined by hail, write off the car and be up for the full cost of the entire car regardless of your travel insurance excess coverage. So maybe you have to feel lucky to rent with Bargain. Apart from the unique insurance arrangements the customer service was good and the car was clean and had no problems.
Latest follow-ups
A Happy customer – I have booked an 8 seater van for a group holiday in Tasmania next year, I can only comment on the service I received when I rang to inquire re availability and rates, unlike other companies I called the young man who answered was a breath of fresh… Read more
air, he was polite and professional and answered all my many many questions cheerfully and knowledgeably, altogether a pleasure to deal with. Judith
Follow-up · The quote did include full insurance if that's what you want, you only gave to ask, I looked at everything on line and that process was very easy although when it came time to book I did ring and speak to someone, as being an older person I wanted to make sure I had everything right, the person I spoke to couldn't have been more helpful, as to the rates they were very competitive. J
Great experience – Excellant service. Picked up from Term 2 Melbourne Airport by Bargain. Reserved 1 Ton van which was already to rock and roll when I arrived. Staff very curtious. My first call for transport.
Follow-up · Great company have hired a vehicle from Bargain Cars Melbourne Airport 6 times in the last 3 years and will continue to. Great staff, great vehicles no problem on pick up or drop off. Would recomend to everyone.
Find out how Bargain Car Rentals compares to other Direct Car Hire
Know better, choose better.
We arrived at Brisbane airport and left our details for the shuttle bus pickup as instructed. Arrived at the pickup point to see the shuttle and… Read more
driver parked. We approached with our bags, and the driver entered the vehicle and departed without us. I rang the shuttle number and left our details again and details of what had happened. I also called the Bargain Brisbane (07) 3077 6807 and was on hold for over 30 mins before hanging up. The shuttle bus arrived over an hour later. We collected our vehicle. The interior had not been cleaned including spilt soft drink residue over the rear seats. I brought this to the attention of an employee in the yard who proceeded to the wash bay. Another employee arrived with a cleaning cloth and proceeded to clean the rear window!! I showed him the state of the interior and seats, but he did not appear to understand English, so already being over an hour late, I cleaned it myself and got out of there. My company and I will not be back!
Follow-up · Got an email from Bargain 2 weeks later saying they had passed the feedback on to the Brisbane office... care factor? Nil.
Follow-up · There was no follow up, refund or apology.
Positive reviews
Thank you team, From start to finish, the Brisbane team made tricky booking issues seem no problem, the flash car their pleasure to loan and my return easy for them to manage. I am grateful as the use of the vehicle made my part in a special event very doable and helpful. Thanks again. Great customer service. Show details
I booked online while waiting at the counter of the Henderson depot (South Auckland) and the young man at the counter assured me that the car I'd just booked was not available. However, the following day it was there for me at pick up - don't know what all that was about. The car was, like the name, a "bargain". It was clean, in relatively good… Read more
condition, but didn't have a lot of guts and had a lot of kms on the clock. You need to make sure you book your insurance with them online as in seems to go up if you book it at the counter. The return at Auckland Airport depot is a bit of a hike from the actual airport so leave yourself plenty of time. Irene and Tina made drop off at the Auckland Airport depot extra easy and very pleasant, great customer service. Although the shuttle drops you a far distance from the actual entrance to the airport, not fun with unruly suitcases.
The staff were great, and the service was fast and excellent. Good pricing and close to the airport. Shame I can't say the same about the vehicle (Chery). The car was a nightmare with its continual flashing and beeping warnings, which, even when I… Read more
turned them all off, just came back again after I stopped the car. The car taking over the steering was the final straw. The most stressful driving experience ever.
A staff member told me they are ditching the Cherys, but I'm guessing all new cars will be like this soon, if they're not already.
Follow-up · What did staff say about Cherys? Just that they were replacing them. What warnings flashed and beeped? Just about everything! Mostly when the car supposedly detected anything close to it in any direction (even if it was far away). For example, the side of the road, a car too close behind/beside or pulling in too fast after overtaking you! And if… Read more
Negative reviews
1-star review – Extremely disappointing experience at Bargain Car Rentals in Cairns Our experience with Bargain Car Rentals in Cairns was absolutely appalling. We have never been treated so disrespectfully by a car rental company. When we arrived to collect our car, I realised that I had made a mistake when entering my name on the booking: I had… Read more
used my married name instead of my maiden name. However, my passport clearly showed both names, and the staff member verbally acknowledged that he could see them.
Despite this, he refused to process our booking and treated us as if we were worth nothing. He put us aside and refused to help us, leaving us to sort everything out ourselves over the phone with DiscoverCars.
DiscoverCars confirmed that my married name was acceptable, and we even handed the phone to the staff member so he could speak directly with them. He still refused to cooperate, insisting that he needed an email confirmation.
After nearly TWO HOURS of waiting, he finally deigned to check whether the email had arrived.
Following a tense verbal exchange between my husband and the staff member, the situation took an even worse turn: the staff member refused to hand over the car and cancelled our rental contract himself. His manager was no more helpful.
A simple name discrepancy, which could have been resolved professionally and reasonably, turned into an absolute nightmare. We were left without the car we had booked, after wasting two hours trying to resolve an issue that DiscoverCars was willing to clarify.
The level of customer service we experienced was unacceptable. We felt humiliated, ignored and treated with complete contempt.
Based on our personal experience, we would strongly advise other travellers to think very carefully before booking with Bargain Car Rentals in Cairns. We certainly would never use this company again.
Tourists deserve to be treated with respect, not treated as an inconvenience once they arrive to collect a car they have booked and paid for.
First time booking with them, called them for a pick up from the airport... no one arrived... waited for the allocated time and alas no one came. This put me past the operating hours. Ended up getting an Uber. Cancelled the booking the next day with someone from their customer service who said he would organise the refund. The cancellation… Read more
confirmation also confirms said refund. 5 Days later still no refund and followed up with a customer advisor called Dylan. Again a "Promise" to sort it out and to call me back by end of day..... it's now end of day and no reply, going into the weekend.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
Booked with these guys in Darwin for a business trip as they were the cheapest online booking, got my receipt after paying upfront, said they're were no more cost to pay at pick up, ready to go. Get to the counter to collect car, they drop the extra charge of "cover" on me, compulsory, had to have it. Extra $580 plus a card seycharge for 14… Read more
days... ended up costing me more than the brand name competition. I read through the agreement, no mention of it, staff couldn't speak English to explain to me properly, had no choice, had to pay. I was not happy. Another customer next to me had the same shock when they asked him for the extra cover as well. Car was fine, drop off easy, but the scam is the extra over the counter charge at pick up. JUST BOOK WITH THE BRAND NAMES!
Recent reviews
Great car rental company. Picked up the car at Hobart airport. Staff were fantastic,they were very helpful with the online pick up at the office. Car was a new RAV4 hybrid and was so economical. Return back to the airport could not have been easier. Price was so competitive. Cannot fault them. Will definitely book with them again. Show details
Excellent pick up process and a very late model subaru outlander as the hire vehicle which was excellent to drive. The return process at the end of hire was also quick and easy. Show details
Find out how Bargain Car Rentals compares to other Direct Car Hire
Know better, choose better.
I find the end to end customer experience with Bargain Car Rentals very smooth and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of their cars and customer service. I now hire from them every trip to Tasmania, so long as I have notice because they do tend to book out but that is the Tassie car rental market.
I booked a vehicle to collect from Hobart Airport for 3 days to collect Friday. My plane was arriving late in the evening which I called them and they accepted the booking which cost $160 around $50 a day. The day before on Thursday afternoon, I reveived a call from Bargain car rentals to tell me that my plane arrived too late and they were… Read more
closed. they offered me to collect the car from their city office the next moring ( which completely negates the reason for hiring a car) I told them to cancel the booking and refund my money which they said was not possible but would give a credit. I said I would get a credit card claw back if they did that as I didn't want to reply on them again. I checked other hire car bookings for the 3 days and the price has sky rocketed to $450++ I told them I would give them a horrid review. % minutes. later I received a call that my money would be refunded. I will now have to get a taxi or Uber from the airport which is quite annoying. DO NOT RELY ON THIS COMPANY !! I regularly book vehicles and have booked two so far his week, but never will rely on Bargain car rentals› again
All round excellent value. Very prompt and courteous airport pickup and drop off. Likewise with the vehicle pickup and drop off which was very quick and easy. Clean and well looked after vehicle. Show details
We thought that we had a good deal on a hire car whilst on holidays. After booking and being told the fee and clarifying any excess as we had travel insurance, once we arrived to pick up the car we were advised that the travel insurance would not… Read more
cover us and we had to purchase a further insurance policy for $45 per day, costing us an additional $600 on top of the original policy price. It therefore didn't work out to be a the good deal that we thought it would be and in hindsight we should have just gone with the hire car company that we had previously used in the past as we didn't encounter this pressure!! We also didn't receive the vehicle we requested.
Would I use bargain again? No because there is no bargain when we were forced to purchase additional insurances through fea, which we were never originally informed about.
Warning to anyone hiring a car, do your due diligence and be careful of companies like these!
Follow-up · We hired a Cherry Tiggo car and it hadn't been cleaned since the previous owner which was pretty disappointing, as I thought that you were meant to get a clean car. Pick up was relatively easy until we were told that we had to pay an additional daily rate otherwise we wouldn't be insured, even if someone hit us, so it was a shock having to pay an… Read more
Bargain car rentals keep debiting the account of second driver who never drove the rental vehicle who was just a back up when they can’t locate the account of primary driver . They refuse to send a letter to person’s address . Show details
Follow-up · They keep taking money without any warning until they were satisfied for an alleged spot of damage which supposedly was caused during the hire . When the primary driver blocked Bargain car rental on their credit card , they took costs from the signed secondary driver . I was a Good Samaritan signing only as a secondary driver but never drove… Read more
Follow-up · Bargain car rental need to be aware primary driver can block their credit card and need to take all costs from primary driver first when they take alleged damage costs. Not out of the second signatory who was only a back up and wanted to sign an… Read more
Always a pleasure to deal with Bargain Car rentals. Cheapest prices, smooth and seamless picking up and dropping off the car. Staff are incredibly friendly and happy. Thanks heaps for making our holiday awesome! Show details
If you’re renting a car in Brisbane, don’t use these people, they returned my $500 dollar security on the day I dropped off the car then took it back two days later, said there was a scratch, funny thing is no one came out to inspect the car upon return, when I asked why they told me staff shortage. Sounds a little crooked. Bad business practice. Show details
Beware. Rent elsewhere. Like others who posted reviews with the exact same experience this past month, we have been sent a $1000 bill to replace 2 tiny windscreen chips that we are certain were not caused during our rental. With two passengers in the car at no time did we hear one stone, let alone two, hit the screen. The chips were not… Read more
visible to the naked eye on our pre rental inspection — no normal person would have spotted them.
Bargain puts the onus solely on the driver to have photo or video proof that the chips existed prior, without needing to do so themselves.
Make sure you read the negative reviews before renting with Bargain. We will never rent from them again.
Please publish as this company bargian car rentals is billing the secondary driver , me , who is… Read more (+2 replies)