Everything ok in the booking process and car collection (booked the van for 24 hours, but returned after 3, as only needed for a to dispose of some old furniture). However problems have started when I brought back the van: I filled the tank until the the end (pump machine clicked 3 times before I stopped), however the gauge took sometime to go up to just below the red line (full tank) and it was still raising (if you google it you see this is a common issue with vans and SUVs). I returned the van with the receipt of from the filling station and they argue the pump was not full and from the 'calculation' they did there was ~half gallon missing (~2-3 pounds). I offered to go with them to the filling station to show them it was full, but they refused and became quite rude. After seeing that, I wasn't going to argue for 2-3 pounds and offered them 5-10 pounds for filling up as the situation was becoming ridiculous! They refused this, as it was against their company policy. They agreed to bring the van themselves to the filling station and charge me if any diesel went in. Therefore I left. I checked my credit card balance after a couple of days and to my surprise no just the few pounds were charged, but the entire 100 pounds deposit!!!! I called back and spoke first with one of the employee and then with the manager, who were both very rude and abusive. They told they rented the van immediately after I left and they were going to refill this morning (4 days after!) and let me know. I told them how can they know how much diesel was actually going to be there if they rented the van without refilling. I was told they couldn't let wait the following customer wait. I reminded them that van was booked for an entire 24 hours, but I returned it only after 3 - so no booking was supposed to be made for that van. Once they realised that the manager became even more abusive and hanged up! I have rented cars, SUV and vans around the world and NEVER had to deal with something like this! AVOID THIS COMPANY! read more

Travellers cannot rent from this company!! Experienced discrimination, read further for details. My friend and I were trying to rent a car through the company across the street, but since they didn't have any available, they directed us to Cambridge Car and Van Rental. They had a car available, but asked to see proof of where we stayed in Cambridge. Since we were travelling, all we had was a receipt from the hostel we stayed at. The woman working went to check with her manager (an elderly, white man) to see if this would suffice. When he came out to speak with us, he told us we needed either a utility bill or bank statement to prove we lived in Cambridge. I asked for clarification, as it didn't make sense to me as to how a car rental company could stay in business not renting to travelers, and he kept saying they did rent to travelers, but still needed proof of where we lived in Cambridge. Which makes absolutely no sense. It wasn't until the manager came out and saw us when we had trouble. I am a 23 year old woman with a clean driving record of 7.5 years and I have held a professional full time job for the past 4. I was traveling at the time with a friend, so we had on scrappy clothes and our backpacking backpacks. I also look quite young for my age. It was clear to us that when the manager saw us, he decided we were not fit to rent his cars, and wanted us out of his office as soon as possible. I am very disappointed with the discrimination I faced, especially in this generation. I would not recommend anyone to rent from this company. Adversely, the two other car rental companies we spoke with in person in Cambridge - Thrifty and Enterprise - were very helpful. read more

Tried to cancel my reservation and after paying for a full week they kept all the money even after letting them know on the first day. Thought I might receive some money back as a good will gesture considering I gave them notice about the rest of the weeks unwanted rental. Customer service was non existent, thought I'd be nice and give a smaller local firm a chance, but I'd stick to Sixt next time. Many thanks, Jack. read more

Never Again. I have rented vans from this company three times in the past,no problem.Last thursday I rented a compact car for seven days,at 13:20hrs and returned it the following day Friday,at approx 14:30hrs,although the company dispute this,saying it was more like 14:50hrs,which is not true. I returned the car,as I no longer needed it,and was told by the office,I would only be charged for one days hire,in the event i was charged a futher days hire,because I was approx one hour late returing the car.When I questioned them on this,they said it was to do with Insurance company regulations. I have returned cars late before to other hire companies,and have not be charged like this.Quiet unfair,I thought,especially for a regular customer.The company may make a short term financial gain,but will lose a long term customer,and I will certainly not recommend them to anyone I know. read more

You may be finding overly flamboyant reviews about CCVR on Google reviews, but in yelp there are so many one star reviews from disappointed customers. Do yourself a favour and DO NOT DISREGARD bad reviews by no means. There is a very good reason this company has some awful reviews, while other companies not even a single one! I've never received so humiliating customer service from any other service provider I've used so far in my life. Let me elaborate. I rent a van for my moving out and I made the booking online. As a collection time, I chose 17:30 on a certain Friday evening. It was a matter of life and death to me to get the van on that day, as I had to move out the following Sunday, so getting the van at that time was really important to me. I set off from my workplace at 16:45, by taxi, to make sure I will make it to Newmarket road on time, where their site is. To my bad luck, two road accidents had taken place on Milton road and I got stuck in traffic. I wasn't very far from the CCVR site, when I received a call at 17:20 from them. It was a lady, who said that 17:30 is their closing time and if I don't make it there on time, I will not get my van. Hmm..ok, if 17:30 is their closing time, why do they take bookings at that time? Their response was "uuhm...well... you booked through our website, right? Yeah...sorry about that". I then, explained to them that it is really important that I get the van on that day, and I also explained that there were two traffic accidents and I may not be able to be there at 17:30 on the dot, but I may take 5 minutes longer, due to these unprecedented road accidents. The lady on the phone gave absolutely not a single penny about my circumstances and said that if I don't make it there on time, I don't get the van. Apparently, Friday's night drinking, for these people, is way more important than doing the job they are getting paid to do. With the taxi driver's best efforts, I did arrive there on time, according to my watch, which indicated 17:30. I try to open the door, and there is a guy who aggressively shows me his watch, and says "we're closed. We' all closed now." I started begging him to serve me, but this guy did not care at all about the PAYING customer. On my way back, even the taxi driver was surprised at the fact that these people were not even willing to wait for 5 minutes!!!! Not even 5 minutes! And I'm noting that I arrived there on time. Maybe this genteman's watch was a little fast, but all in all, within the reasonable clock error margin, I was there on time. Next day, I went there to demand a refund. The employees at the reception started lying to me. They claimed that during our phone conversation, I said that I plan to be there by 18:00. Which is a blatant lie; what I had said was that I assumed that if they accept bookings at 17:30, their closing time has to be later, like, 18:00, for example. Obviously, they used my own words, distorted, against me. They were also all aggressive and not at all receptive to my complaints. I rent a van from Rent Direct. I picked it up 10 minutes late, not a single problem. Not a single one. And you know what? I sent another friend to them to rent a van from them. He arrived there 5 minutes late. Not a problem. Just to get it straight, I would have absolutely no problem if they had treated me with respect, as a paying customer, and gave me a reasonable explanation why they were so unwilling to wait for me to arrive, and why I didn't get my van, although I arrived on time. I felt like they were getting revenge from me. If they had responded nicely, I wouldn't be so utterly irritated. The terminology "Customer Service" is certainly unknown to this small company, which would've been larger if they knew how to treat customers. So do yourself a favour and avoid this place. There is a good reason other places have only good reviews, and a good number of disappointing reviews exist for CCVR. Thankfully, they only cost me 36 pounds. read more

DON"T RENT FROM THIS COMPANY. Our first rental went without problems. The second has become an on-going nightmare. We rented a car on line and were charged for the rental. When we picked up the car and were asked to present a card, we were charged again. When we returned the car four days later with a half-inch long scratch on the bumper, we were told there would be a £200 charge to have the entire bumper repainted. My husband spoke to someone from the company on line and asked for a copy of the repair record; they admitted that they hadn't had the repair done and weren't aniticipating getting it done any time soon -- but were charging us anyway. Presumably ten additional drivers will be charged the same £200 pounds, and then the bumper will be fixed once. THESE CROOKS SCAM RENTERS. read more

Terrible service very rude treatment of customers can completely understand the other one star review on here. Felt bullied by the staff and when I expressed this feeling they were totally unapologetic. Would strongly recommend going virtually anywhere else. Had to return a car because of a fault with it - no apology or even acknowledgement of my inconvenience, instead their response was one of the men bellowing 'we don't make the cars at me' and then charging me an additional £60 to change to their only other remaining car, with no option to just return the thing. No interest in the customer at all. Never seen anything like it. read more

Went into this companies outlet on Newmarket Road to ascertain that I could indeed rent a Sprinter i.e. a Mercedes Van. The young man was very helpful; and I asked to see the van which suited my purposes. This was a week before I needed the van. I did the paperwork prior to the day of rental to ensure I could get away as early as possible. On the day of renting the van the offices were open at 07.50; however I was told in no uncertain times that We do not open till 0800 This was re-stated another 2 times to emphasise actually that I was in their way and it was inconvenient, even though I said I have done all the paperwork. So I duly waited (Outside) for the 10 minutes, went in and was given the keys to a Volkswagen. I reminded them that I had ordered a Sprinter but after realising that at least 4 people in that office were prepared for an argument ; and that they could not help me , I had to take the vehicle apportioned to me. Not at any time was anyone there prepared to say Sorry, in particular the young lady was surly, unapologetic and self-riotous. The Manager or owner was just prepared to back up his staff. The local family company were worse than any National company I have used in the past. Plus I could have got that vehicle a lot cheaper than their prices; I was prepared to pay extra for the 'Merc. Never again. read more

Do yourself a favor and avoid Cambridge Car & Van Rental, especially if you are under 25 years old. If you are, their T&Cs do not allow you to reduce your excess to zero. On your return they will then claim some scratches, which existed previously and were actually marked on the check-out sheet, would be 'new' and charge you repair costs up to your excess without providing any documentation. As you've authorized them to use your debit card, you'll have no way of stopping them from taking cash out of your account. They won't listen to reason. No doubt this is a convenient way of keeping their cars in top condition and picking you out to pay for somebody else's (over 25) damage - and saving money on their insurance premiums in the process. Good luck disputing the charges to your account with your bank! CCVR will make it so difficult that eventually you realize your time and peace are worth more than the few hundred pounds they are stealing from you. This is exactly what happened to me. Don't let it happen to you. Go to a branded rental company and pay more for your car and insurance. You'll be happier afterwards, trust me. Worst rental car experience in my entire life! read more