Bargain Car Rentals

BEWARE RENTING IN WINTER - I have been very satisfied with Bargain for years out of Launceston Tasmania. Very good experiences with cars and staff. However, I often visit in the winter and not once did anyone in the office advise me that insurance coverages on the vehicle are suddenly void if I happen to drive the car on a road when it is snowing… Read more

or likely to be snowing - even though I said I was driving to Cradle Mt resort in August. It snows down to 600 meters in Tasmania at times. I and lots of other people also visit Cradle Mountain in winter on excellent sealed roads. I only just discovered this important nugget of information in the fine print of their lengthy terms document. And then find, Bargain offers no snow or winterization add on, even though I now know after checking that other car rental firms in Tasmania DO offer it. When I called Bargain for clarification I was simply told if it starts to snow while I'm driving to simply pull over somewhere and wait until the snow is gone. Are you kidding me?! I'm not talking about driving on roads closed due to weather or driving in a blizzard. I am talking about driving on open sealed roads in a state where weather happens, including snow, sleet, etc., and suddenly I am supposed to sit on the side on the side of the road for potentially many hours or even a day or overnight, to wait for all signs of snow on the road to disappear before I can continue driving without voiding my coverage? If you rent cars in a region where snow happens, then you design coverages to suite the conditions!! Or, you should not rent cars in Tasmania! Very disappointed.

Worst car rental experience in my life. Called the shuttle twice, but didn't turn up so had to Uber there. Incredibly unpleasant counter attendant told me I didn't have a booking, when I showed him the booking.com booking he began a tirade of blaming them. Tried to upsell me on insurance that costs more than the rental telling me I'd be up for… Read more

$10k liability if I didn't - despite already buying full cover at a quarter the price from booking.com

After taking my money and lecturing me on how bad booking.com is then refused to give me the keys which ended up in a 25minute argument.

They also charge $5 PER TOLL admin fees. The toll charges are likely to exceed the booking.

I can't stress how bad this experience was.

Very disappointing customer experience. Due to a flight delay, I arrived after the office had closed and was unable to collect my vehicle on the scheduled day. When I attended the office the next day, I explained the situation and was advised that I would not be charged for the previous day because I had not collected or used the vehicle. Despite… Read more

this, I was later charged for that day.

I was also informed that the insurance I had purchased through the booking platform was not sufficient for the rental company’s requirements. I was presented with the option of paying additional insurance costs or leaving a security deposit and accepting significant financial risk in the event of damage. This was not clearly explained during the booking process and resulted in unexpected expenses.

The final cost of the rental was far higher than anticipated for a short rental period. I left feeling frustrated and disappointed by the lack of flexibility and transparency.

I would encourage future customers to carefully review all charges, insurance requirements, deposits, and collection policies before booking.

Excellent service and price. Staff were friendly and professional. Check in and out were fast, no waiting. Shuttle service efficient. Show details

This is the second time we've used Bargain Car Rentals in Tasmania, once from Hobart and now Launceston. Both experiences have been very positive - great staff, good vehicles and good prices. A pick & drop off is available service from and to the… Read more

airport, and the office is less than a 3 minute drive. Convenient, efficient and trustworthy operation from our two experiences.

These guys offered a rental price so cheap I was sceptical, but the car and rental experience were excellent. The Launceston Airport location is so close it's walkable without luggage and so close they don't need to hang around for multiple customers to load into the shuttle (although when we dropped the car off, the shuttle driver checked we… Read more

weren't at risk of missing a flight if he did a quick shuttle run while we unloaded the car). The car itself was a brand new MG and spotlessly clean, the check in experience was very quick and efficient. The shuttle service also drops off right outside check-in, saving you from having the schlep all your luggage from the on-airport car rental return yard.

great quick service!. no fuss approach. Even better at the van dropping time. In, drop, out!. Fantastic. People there are friendly and helpful. I had an issue with changing gears on the van, and everyone there was happy to drop what they were doing to give a hand. The van motor was not at its best, that is why not getting 5 starts, otherwise it would have been a great experience. Show details

Booking was easily made. Customer service was very good. Price of the vehicle for a week was extremely cheap, even with the roadside assist add-on. The car that we were supposed to be given was different to the car we received, but it was clean and reliable. Shuttle bus service to and from the airport was easily organised. Will definitely use Bargain Car Service again. Show details

Awful company. Beware of scummy hidden costs! Worse than it's competitors. They say "bargain" but have hidden ways to rip you off. Car was sub par a well. Easily the worst deal I had in the car rental market over the last 5 years. Show details

The Hobart airport staff from the supervisor down are inflexible and mean spirited. On returning the car we were told that it was in the wrong park and were told to place it elsewhere but only given brief garbled directions. No offer to relocate the car themselves. Having a second shot at parking the car we had to proceed through a boom gate and… Read more

noticed the staff of six waiting for us. It was to intimidate us because they would not sign off the return and required us to find the specific park, again refusing to help. AVOID this business

Whilst the shuttle bus Drivers are outstanding at doing thier job. Be careful of the sales pitch for added insurance when getting your keys. Check if you have insurance before hand and dont let them convince you in the moment that you need it when you may have it already. On a positive note the car I had was great to drive and had no issues with the vehicle at all was extremely clean and well maintained. Show details

When you go and pick up the car, they tell you the insurance you've already bought isn't good enough, and say you'll still be liable for a $5,500 excess and $160 per day fee if something goes wrong with the car regardless if it's your fault or not. They charged me an extra $150 for 3 days, more than the rental itself. I booked it months ago at no… Read more

point was this explained prior. Ive booked cars with other companies and never had this problem, really bad customer service and EXCESSIVE price to pay for insurance. Avoid!

One star because 0 isn’t available. You get what you pay for. The vehicle I paid for had mechanical issues and was a serious safety risk in city traffic and on highways. This company should be ashamed of themselves for not maintaining their fleet. Absolute disgrace and nightmare collection process. Show details

Service was very poor. Windscreen was chipped, and when we called to ask for advice, we were told we had to return to Hobart, regardless of the fact that we were closer to Launceston to swap our car. We weren’t able to fully ensure the second car, even though the windscreen chip was not our fault. This meant we had $199 which they refused to… Read more

refund instead, insisting to make it a credit note or still trying to get our money back from this company. Be very, very careful.

I had receipt stating I owed $130.24 when I collected the car after paying deposit and selected premium insurance Get to counter and they hit you another $44.95 per day for there so called platinum insurance What a bloody joke the insurance was dearer than hire Total rip off Show details

Booked on the phone with every T… Booked on the phone with every T crossed, I arrive to pick my car after a 6 hours flight 1 day before my brothers funeral and I’m told I need a permanent address after not been told that, scum of the earth doing that! If you choose to hir one of there cars RED LINE IT and cr#p in the glove box for me! Pure scumbags! Show details

Be extremely careful at the counter. My Auto Europe voucher required a $500 refundable deposit, but Bargain used this figure to trick me. The agent requested $500, leading me to believe it was the hold; instead, they processed it as a non-refundable "Platinum Insurance" fee. They effectively "double-sold" me insurance I already had, disguising a… Read more

fee as a deposit. Check your contract: if they charge $500 but write "$1.00" in the deposit box, you’ve been had.

Additionally, they have predatory toll policies. Unlike mainstream agencies that cap daily fees, Bargain charges a $5.00 admin fee PER TOLL GANTRY. I was charged $90 in fees alone for $125 of tolls.

Finally, the car was poor value: an old, worn vehicle with over 100,000km and doors that didn't align properly from a previous accident. They charge premium prices for end-of-life vehicles and use fine-print deception to inflate costs. Avoid them and use a reputable global agency.

Waited in the very long queue for over an hour to be served. Only one person was working at the reception. If they have this amount of customers at the very least hire another receptionist. They were also so so slow at serving each customer. I’ve booked many times other car rentals such as budget and hertz and euro car and never ever had to wait… Read more

long in the queue and also was quickly served. The car I got had one blown headlight which made it very dangerous driving at night. Obviously they are not doing proper checks before renting out a vehicle. I have the feeling this franchise won’t get as high or as good as the others such as budget direct or hertz and so forth. This car rental is cheap for a reason which is huge delay in service probably not worth the bargain.

Dont be fooled. They keep your credit card No and you may think you have insurance cover but you dont. This company charged my credit card $14,000 when a tree fell on my vehicle. Despite the sales person telling me something different, their fine print says otherwise. They didnt care, just charged my card in small increments until it maxed out - on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Please be very careful Show details

Was charged more for insurance than the car rental. Made it clear I didn't want the insurance despite them pushing it hard but discovered afterwards that they'd still charged me. Won't be using again.