Practical Car and Van Rental Ltd Avis 

Rented a large van with tail-lift from lovely Nadjib in Bishops Stortford. Nice new van, with rear view camera at all times. Drove well and Nadjib was a pleasure to do business with. Will be using him again.

Hired a Luton from Thetford branch. Really friendly and supportive staff who got me on my way with no hassle. Would definitely reccomend as the vehicles are reasonably priced and the service was excellent.

Exceptional Service – Highly Recommended!

I had an urgent need for a van, and Practical Van Hire went above and beyond to help me out. Their customer service is outstanding—every employee I interacted with was professional, friendly, and a delight to do business with. The whole process was smooth, the pricing was fair, and the service exceeded my expectations. I’m really pleased with my experience and will definitely be using them again. 10/10!

Sheffield branch is located in a dilapidated portacabin in the corner of a very disorganised car wash / scrap yard, and the van I got was pretty much the worst vehicle I have ever driven.
It looked like it had driven every one of its 250k miles whilst being hit with rocks and scraped along every wall on the way.
Numerous fault messages including engine light, indicators and side lights came on during my rental period and it needed a good kick in just the right place to close the side door properly.
The one saving grace was that they at least had a sense of humour about the condition of the van, warning me I'd better not have scratched their best van when I returned it!

Reasonably priced van; friendly staff; no unnecessary fuss. Recommended. I will use them again. (Reading)

We rented a van from Practical Car & Van Rental Milton Keynes on two occasions, and unfortunately, our experiences were quite mixed.

First Rental:
For the first rental, we were given a long-wheelbase Ford Transit. The van wasn’t in perfect condition—there were a few scuffs, scratches, and dents—but that was fine with us. The rental process was smooth; we picked up the van, returned it without any issues, and everything went as expected.

Second Rental:
The second time, we received a long-wheelbase Vauxhall Movano, which appeared to be nearly new and in excellent condition with no visible damage. However, this experience was far from smooth. When we returned the van the next morning, the staff inspected it and noticed a tiny ding on the door. It must have happened while the van was parked overnight, possibly from someone opening their car door nearby.

The damage was absolutely minor—smaller than my fingernail—and something that most rental companies would likely overlook. Unfortunately, they decided to take our full £200 deposit and charge an additional £100 to our card for the damage. We tried to negotiate, pointing out that the deposit should have been sufficient, especially since their own fleet doesn’t seem to be maintained in pristine condition (judging by the state of the first van we rented). Despite this, they insisted on the additional charge.

Conclusion:
It’s truly disappointing that they would take such a rigid and arguably unethical stance over something so insignificant. This kind of issue could happen to anyone, yet instead of showing understanding or goodwill, they chose to prioritise short-term profit over customer satisfaction.

If you’re considering renting from them, I would recommend going with a more established and reputable company like Enterprise, Sixt, or Arnold Clark. We wanted to support a local business, but this experience has left us feeling that the larger companies are more professional and fair in their practices.

To the team at Practical Car & Van Rental Milton Keynes: there is still an opportunity for you to make things right. However, as it stands, we cannot recommend your services.

I have had a flexi hire vehicle since last August and I have always received excellent and efficient customer service form Dirren at Cambridge Branch

Great service

Car broke down just before Christmas and had to travel on Christmas Day me my wife and 2 kids to spend Christmas Day at my sisters so had to hire a car and some places even for a small economy car they would need a £840 deposit and £60/£80 a day then I can across practical car hire £200 deposit and £30 a day and it was so easy I could send images of everything I needed so when I picked the car up all I had to do was sign a couple bits of paper and pay and I was on my way stress free next time I need to hire a van or car practical will be the first place I go

Stamford Hill branch - straightforward process, great vehicle.

I am incredibly disappointed with the service I have received from Practical Car & Van Hire so I wanted to share with you my experience with your Gloucester franchise. I booked a Luton Van for my house move on 21st December well in advance, but my booking was cancelled without any notification or explanation until I called to follow up. I was shocked to learn that my reservation was dismissed simply because the company received another booking for the same day as mine.

To make matters worse, I was offered a smaller van as a replacement—completely unsuitable for my needs—and, although an attempt was promised to locate another suitable van, I have heard nothing further. This lack of communication and professionalism is unacceptable, especially when such bookings are time-sensitive and integral to the logistics of a move.

I relied on Practical to honor their commitments, but instead, I have been left scrambling to make alternative arrangements just days before my move. This experience has caused undue stress and inconvenience, and I would strongly caution others against trusting this company with any important booking.

Really disappointed with these guys. Had a van booking to drive up to north Somerset this weekend when the red warning was issued and instructions given by the government not to drive due to risk to life. Tried to have a conversation with the people at Practical Car and Van hire. They just totally dismissed the warning, said they had no duty of care to customers and that they'd already sent out a load of vans to people without issue. Willing to put customers in danger and surely risk insurance implications if anything were to happen. Charged me over £50 to cancel!! Do not use. Awful customer care.

Sarah at the Chippenham branch was so lovely to deal with and also had great local knowledge. Paperwork can be so laborious but it was very straightforward and within 10 minutes I was on the road in a beautifully clean little Fiat. Excellent service and will definitely be back!

The team at Thetford were really friendly, accommodating and only too willing to assist me and allowed me to bring the van back early to assist me with being able to return to work today. The van was just great for the job I needed to do. A+

New Milton branch - nice enough people to deal with but they simply will not return my deposit. I have telephoned them several times and each time they promised to do it straightaway and then nothing happens. I've since seen another review on here about exactly the same thing at the same branch - it's obviously a pattern. They seem to be hoping that customers don't check if their deposit has been returned and I expect many don't, trusting Practical to automatically return deposits - they do not. I have never had this issue with any other car hire company. At the time of writing this, my deposit has still not been returned, and it's one month since I returned the car.

I found the Perth branch very friendly and provided practical and good guidance. Excellent value and great service.

Gloucester branch offer very good value for money. Price gone down to £60 for 24hrs. Clean, large and modern merc vito that did 50mpg overall. Very friendly and helpfull staff, nothing is a problem for them. Excellent firm. I strongly recommend that you use them. MOVE HOUSE for £80 !

Very happy with the friendly service and ease of use from the first call to Carol at the Hartlepool Branch to returning the Ford Custom Van.
I used the van for business and cannot fault the vehicle which was exactly as requested, very clean and almost brand new.
Will use Practical again when we next need to hire a van.

Friendly staff at Halesowen, nice tidy van and good price.
Just be aware of the insurance excess on top of the deposit.

Redditch Branch- Great Service

Fantastic service, could not have been more helpful, van was clean and reliable

Thank you