Northgate Vehicle Hire - Snodland Avis 

Andy Mallard on site is amazing he helped me from first going into the office until leaving, giving constant updates and making sure all needs were met, very helpful and efficient, his customer service is second to none.

#####UPDATE 7TH JAN#####

Almost a month has now passed since I first reported a fault and I am still having to drive around in a vehicle that I am unsure is safe. In all this time, they have not bothered to contact me since my initial review or found me a replacement vehicle. They also knew that this was used a family vehicle but has made no difference. I raised a complaint and was told I would be contacted within 5 days but to no surprise, I wasn't. Unfortunately, it seems I am tied in a contract with them for another 2 years even though they are unable to provide me with a roadworthy vehicle which I am paying a lot of money for. My colleague also had his vehicle serviced yesterday and had to wait for 4hrs only to be told they would have to order in the oil for the oil change! Surely it's not difficult to know that you need oil when carrying out a full service. This will be another day of productivity wasted. As per review title, unless you want to waste valuable business time dealing with Northgate, please go elsewhere.

#####ORIGINAL REVIEW#####

Having driven their vehicles and dealt with hire/lease companies for over 25 years, I can hand on heart say that Northgate are by far the worst. I run a small fleet of 10 vehicles and every one of my colleagues who drives one of these, dreads every time they have to take it into their local depot. In the last week alone one of our drivers had to wait over 5hrs in the waiting room without even being given an update of what was going on, and this was just for a routine service. At the start of last week, my own car developed a fault which I reported to Northgate who advised they had no replacement for me. As the vehicle is still under manufacturers warranty, I had to book the vehicle in myself and arrange transportation to get back from the main dealers and then to collect the car. This went on for over a week and I did not receive one phone call from Northgate to assist in any way. Through no fault of Northgate, my brakes then started grinding which is obviously quite an important thing to get looked at. After only making a nuisance of myself was a courtesy vehicle found. When this turned up I refused it as it smelt of cigarettes as soon as I opened the door. My local branch, Snodland, advised that it only smelt of smoke 'a little bit'! I realise that on review sites such as this, you are going to get a mix of good and bad reviews but the incidents we have experienced in the last week or so are not out of the ordinary, I could write an essay. I fully expect to be contacted by Northgate customer services after they read this review, but why should it take something like this to get a problem resolved? All they are interested in is papering over the cracks so they can put a reply below saying that the issue has now been sorted. Whatever you do, do not get you're vehicles from Northgate. Don't say I didn't warn you..............

Matt Sims and Andrew James from the Snodland depot have gone above and beyond to accommodate the needs of our company, even the small gestures have had a impact on our operations. Communication has been key in enabling us to plan and assisting us to build a more harmonious working relationship. Thank you

Service is awful, van been in a week , no updates calls at all

Despite weeks of notice regarding when I needed a vehicle, I only narrowly managed to get my vehicle on time
I had to chase every step of the way as my account manager was very difficult to get hold of
If I hadn't been repeatedly chasing for updates it wouldn't have happened at all
On the day, I got lucky as a vehicle was returned late in the afternoon that was suitable for me

The Ad-blue tank went bang on a 2019 vehicle! All was OK until this breakdown. RAC can't be bothered to turn up at the correct address, when are UK postcodes ever for one address. And RAC use the excuse of somewhere in the vicinity to make you pay £80 call out charge.

I recently took delivery of 5 new vans via the "We Buy You Rent" scheme and i have to say i was pleasantly surprised how easy the process was.
Steve Edwards was great and helped things along a bit smoother.
Northgate is definitely the way forward for the expansion of our fleet.
- Craig Albert CPA Property Services Ltd

Our fleet rep Hayley at Northgate (Key Account Manager) is really good at communicating with us and helpful when trying to place our order for 54 vehicles. It has been difficult to place the order due to current delays however we are almost there and Hayley is always on hand to help answer any questions. I often email or call Hayley and she is able to book a quick meeting in with us often the same day to get our order sorted. I am looking forward to getting the order confirmed ASAP.

I used the Dartford branch in a previous company and I couldn't fault them either, there have been a few delays with the Snodland branch around services and MOTs over the past few months but the branch managers are quick to resolve and help out.

The only reason we would have to move from Northgate is if we are not able to confirm our order has been confirmed in the next few weeks, hopefully it will not come to this.

Thanks for everything so far Northgate, I will hopefully look forward to working with you for at least the next 3 years.