Easirent is by far the worst company I've ever done business with. Scary location, changing rules,…read morelong waits, rude employees, and in the end they left us stranded at the airport without the car we had reserved online in advance.
After taking the train to Newcastle, I contacted the Easirent rental location from the airport at exactly the time I had signed up for on their website. They said they would not be able to pick me up for at least 30 -40 minutes. Not wanting to wait that long, I paid for my own cab ride to their offsite location. Their office was dirty and mildly frightening with bars on the windows and multiple locks on the door.
When I got to the desk, now 30 minutes past the agreed upon rental time, I was told I'd have to wait longer because they only had one person who could check out the cars, and that person was already arguing about extra fees with the customer in front of me. It was nearly an hour past my rental time before the man behind the desk called me up. I gave him my rental agreement from his website, my license, my passport, and a credit card with a high enough limit to cover a deposit of over £1,200(!). He then informed me that he needed my plane tickets in and out of the country since I am an American.
This last piece was news to me, as it was not stated anywhere in the rental agreement, which I had read front to back, and I had not been asked for these documents that last time I used Easirent three weeks earlier. I told him I could show him receipts of my travels tickets/itinerary, as they were on my iPhone. He replied that he needed physical paper boarding passes. I told him that those wouldn't be printed until the day of my flight if at all, as many American airlines have gone to paperless electronic boarding passes, to which he replied that he would not rent to me.
After pleading for him, offering to show him electronic documents, and even showing him my rental agreement, which explicitly states that the only documents I needed to check in were a license, a passport, and a credit card, he told me all he would do is offer me a ride back to the airport.
After leaving us without so much as an attempt to help, I called Easirent and was told they don't take any complaints over the phone! My only option was to email them, and then they would get back to me within a few business days. So, in short, we were stranded.
After approaching several more reputable car hire companies in the Newcastle airport terminal, their reps told us that not only is the boarding pass policy one that was completely fabricated at Easirent, the location in question strands people on a regular basis in Newcastle. They also felt that Easirent's policy of "discounts" for leaving a positive review on TrustPilot is a sketchy business practice, and after this incident, I have to agree.
Thankfully the good people at Europe Car helped us, gave us a great deal, and were more than sympathetic. I don't know what we would have done without them.
Not only will I never use Easirent again, I plan to take my story to every blog, social media site, and travel agency I can get ahold of, in the hopes that no other family has to endure what we went through today.
Also, the price quoted on the Easirent website is the "real" price only if you put down a £1200 deposit. The people at the counter will always try to charge for extras, like lowering the deposit amount for an extra fee. Take this into consideration when choosing what seems like a lower price on the surface.
