Drivalia UK - NEWCASTLE Avis 

​Horrendous Experience – Bait & Switch and Mis-sold Insurance
​I originally booked a Seat Alhambra with a "full to full" fuel policy and pre-purchased full insurance. What followed was a horrendous experience from start to finish.
​First, instead of the vehicle I reserved, we were handed the keys to a subpar Skoda. The car was handed over in a dirty condition with rubbish and a pillow left inside from the previous renter, entirely ignoring the "clean to clean" policy.
​Despite the "full to full" agreement, the tank was practically empty upon collection (only about 40 miles of range). This forced me to constantly calculate my fuel usage throughout the trip to ensure I wasn't giving them free petrol upon return.
​The absolute worst part was the aggressive upselling at the collection desk. The representative convinced my wife that our existing full coverage wasn't valid and mis-sold her their own insurance policy for three times the price we had already paid.
​To top it all off, their customer service is non-existent. I have tried multiple times to submit a formal complaint, but they completely ignore correspondence—in fact, their email inbox was full and bouncing messages back.
​An absolute nightmare of a company with terrible practices. Avoid at all costs.

I booked a hire car at the Newcastle Airport branch to go to the Lake District, having selected and paid online for the manual Nissan Juke to be collected at 10 am on the Saturday morning (I arrived at 9-50am) expecting to get into the vehicle and start our trip….I was still there at 10-35 am as I was waiting for a previous customer to complete the “Laborious” check in procedure. After completing the paperwork I was told I could have an upgrade of an automatic Juke, I explained that was not what I ordered and would like the manual option which I am used to. As I drove onto the main road a tyre low pressure warning light on the front drivers side flashed up. I got home and used my electric pump to rectify the problem, noticing the tyre had no dust cap on it?. On further inspection the car had a visible dent on the back left passenger door. A visible scuff mark on the back bumper, inside the boot was covered in food crumbs and inside of the driver’s door were cobwebs. The exterior of the car had not been cleaned to an acceptable level as I would expect. With the high deposit of £1,500 on my mind I decided to ring the branch and explain the issues and that I had taken photos to show them when I returned the vehicle on the following Tuesday. We got to the destination in the lakes much later than I would have hoped, parked the car at our hotel knowing it would not be needed until the day of our return. On leaving our hotel to come home it started to rain, and as you do, you try to screen wash the window….low and behold there was no water/windscreen wash coming onto the dirty windscreen. I returned the car at 4pm although it was not due back until 5pm, and once again found myself waiting for previous customers to go through the long process of paperwork and finding the correct credit cards etc etc. When it got to my turn the assistant had no recollection of me ringing him on the Saturday morning to report the 7 issues I had encountered. I took him out to the car to ensure he saw the problems, I asked him to try the windscreen washer to ensure he understood….He told me a light should show up when it needed water!? This was not the case. When I enquired about the the other issues he apologised and said they would all have been noted on their inspection log?? . I replied that you might want to inform the customer also as to alleviate and worry regards the £1,500 of damage deposit on my credit card. Unfortunately I was disappointed on how my concerns were dealt with and their total lack of customer care ensures I would not use this company again. Also whilst sitting in the portacabin there is a TV screen playing what was obviously a (violent) movie not meant for children, causing the mother sitting next to me to turn her young son’s face away from the screen….it’s the little details that make all of the difference in retaining customer’s trust and satisfaction in this day and age.
UPDATE… Received an automated reply asking me to contact them via their website… You couldn’t make it up… they have my email and contact details!?

We got off a long plane journey at Newcastle airport and Abdul and his colleagues were friendly, professional, kind and helpful. We were travelling with a small child which is often tricky and they were all amazing. I’ll definitely use Drivalia at Newcastle again. As an aside, have never left a review about them, but the drivalia branch at Heathrow is excellent too.

Fantastic experience start to finish. Really friendly and helpful staff; took time to show me over the car (and connect my CarPlay and make sure I was happy; very smooth and fast pick up and drop off. One year old car in good condition and no problems. Good price. Will definitely use again. Thank you!

Very quick and efficient. Very amiable.

The Branch Manager, Haider Ali and a car worker, Callum (based outside Newcastle Airport) gave me a first class service fromt he time I arrived at the airport to the time I left. Nothing was too much trouble for Haider and his team, very customer & solution focused. Thank you.

Amazing experience! Abdul was really nice and helpful. Best service I ever had!

Great customer service - seamless process to collect and return. We would use again and recommend.

Friendly staff and reasonably priced

The staff were absolutely amazing.Abdel was so friendly and kind.He spent lots of time explaining the car extras to my husband.Tarek was a complete gentleman.I have a sore throat and he gave me mints,drinks and great advice to try to help me.Thanks so much to all in Drivalia Newcastle Airport.Cooney family

Very friendly and supportive employees,
first time seen them and they done everything amazingly well for the best price on the market Call them and they might pick you up for free from Newcastle airport. They asked me if i need a lift to airport after i handed car back to them and they driven me for free to the airport. Dont really know if they could do better. Also Renault Clio i rented had 14k miles on it and worked flawlessly. Thank you Drivalia, see you soon ! L

Great service

Excellent service - Abdul was extremely helpful and professional. A very peasant chap who defo knows his stuff. Keep up the good work.

Brilliant service, will definitely be back!

Hired here for several weeks whilst my car was broken down. Danny and Abdul were very friendly and helpful on a number of occasions.
Will hire again and recommend!

Free upgrade provided, all good

I had an excellent experience with this car rental company from start to finish. The whole process was smooth, efficient, and completely stress-free. The booking was straightforward, and everything was clearly explained with no hidden surprises.
When I arrived, the car was ready on time, clean, and in great condition. You can tell they take real pride in their vehicles. The handover was quick, and the staff were professional, friendly, and genuinely helpful.
Driving the car was a pleasure — reliable, comfortable, and exactly what I needed. Returning it was just as easy, with no hassle or delays.
What really stood out was the level of customer service. It felt personal rather than transactional, which is rare these days.
I would highly recommend this company to anyone looking for a reliable and trustworthy car rental service. I’ll definitely be using them again.

Great service. Abdul was super helpful and made my experience with Drivalia very smooth! Would recommend this company.