First Car Rental Omdömen 

Avoid at all costs - read all reviews re the sorts of things that go on…... Happened to me too.

Where is the minus star rating? Gave me a car close to service so had to return it. Then the second car they gave with a puncture and they let me drive all weekend with the puncture before letting me know. I did not get my refund back either due to dog hair in the car. They also tried to charge me for 3 valets even tho the car is vacuumed in house and it’s their fault I had to have 3 vehicles

Being a regular traveller to South Africa via Johannesburg, we used FCR on our last trip in February 23. We returned in April and at the end of May my husband received an email saying we had received a speeding fine which we needed to pay, this was paid but i requested proof of the fine. We have had constant demands for payment,and despite repeatedly asking for proof of the fine they are unable to provide this or refuse to do so.Ihave now been told they will adversely mark my credit profile if I dont pay. Beware using this company,

We rented a car from Cape Town to drop off in Port Elizabeth. The car was immaculate. The agent at either side did a good fair walk through of the condition of the vehicle. There was a mistake for the payment on pick up in Cape Town that was as much our fault as the agent's. On realising this only after returning the car the online service desk was prompt at replying to our raised issue and refunding the incorrect overpayment. We would use them again.

Keine Empfehlung! Wir haben First auf Mauritius genutzt und wurden abgezockt. Bei Rückgabe des Autos wurde uns eine "zu starke" Innenraumverschmutzung attestiert (lediglich etwas Sand, nach 2 Wochen auf einer Insel!) und wir durften 2000MUR, über 50€ Reinigungsgebühr bezahlen. Bar, keine Karte. Natürlich muss man dazu zum ATM, wenn man abreisen will und keine Landeswährung hat...Keine Quittung, schnell verdientes Geld für die Jungs. Übergroße Fussmatten gabs auch, ständig verrutscht, Gaspedal überdeckt, nervig. Ganz klare Empfehlung: NICHT BUCHEN!

Was some sand on the mats of the car, was charged R750 for it. Have tried to talk with the manager but she didn't have time. Tried to talk with the person retrieving the car, she said she agreed it's easy to vacuum out, but was terrified a cleaning fee was charged from her salary so rather reported it. I then filed a dispute online after receiving the invoice, but this was utterly ignored so First Car Rental just took the money and left. Most expensive 5 minute vaccuum job ever. Won't hire with First ever again but will go back to Avis, Thrifty or any of the other car rental companies I have good experiences with.

First hat die Kaution auch nach 3 Wochen noch nicht zurückerstattet, obwohl keinerlei Schaden vorlag und hat uns ein kleineres Auto (Kleinwagen) vermietet als bezahlt wurde (Mittelklasse).
Meines Erachtens die schlechteste Autovermietung, die wir je genutzt haben! Nicht zu empfehlen!

Rented from FIrst Car rental George in December 2022. I was involved in an accident on 14th Dec 2022 caused by 3rd party. Up until today (10 Oct 2023), they still haven't recovered from Third Party. Every month they have a different excuse.

Do no rent with FIRST CAR RENTAL SOUTH AFRICA. We hired to vehicles at 2 different sites and after returning vehicles received invoices with charges for unnecessary extra costs like refulling after vehicle was returned with full tank minutes before, extra admin fees.... After claiming through there site/platform no clear feedback from them was given. We took GPS for one vehicle and paid when picked vehicle up. The connection in vehicle not working we claimed for refund and still waiting with no reply from them. Real scum.

If I could the 0 points I would. Stay away from them they are crooks. Gave me a car which had damage to it and later made me pay for the damage saying I did it. Luck I had additional insurance. Like this they get the oversees people to pay for their damage. And the back stabbing part and even worst is the preauthorisations they charge the cards they don't preauthorise like any other country I have been in. How much money are they making on this "refund". When you get your refund back you get less because of the exchange rate. I can just say scammers and scum. This will never happen to me again. If you hire a car make sure to take videos,photos etc before taking any car you hire and don't hire from them.

If I could select a minus star rating I would.

We picked a medium car type and paid extra for this - upon collection they tried to give a small car stating they didn't have anything available in the size we booked (although they would not refund the difference). We refused and magically we were given a medium car.

The car in question though only had half a tank of petrol, we confirmed this with the branch and followed this up with a telephone call and numerous emails and we were advised under the authorization of the manager TIAAN PIETER NEL we would just need to return the car with the tank in a like for like basis but we would get an email to confirm.

Email never came so spent every day of our trip chasing this.

Returned the car and again we were advised face to face this would be ok and not to worry but still nothing in writing.

A couple of days go by and then we received an email, but not what you would think. An email invoice stating we had been charged a service fee and to fill the tank from half to full (we already topped up higher than when we collected and have photographic evidence of this).

Called the branch and were told it was their error and we would be refunded but Management would need to sign off. Then nothing.

Emailed again. Nothing.

Called and emailed over and over - eventually the manager TIAAN PIETER NEL emailed on the 10th July saying he would have this rectified that day and we would hear from him THAT day - this is now the 9th August and we have had to chase him over and over and he is ignoring us.

We are due a refund because of their incorrect service and incompetence. I mean, how simple is it to see you gave a car with half a tank - there is proof of it and then charge to fill it breaching the terms and conditions. Simple fix give people a refund and apologize.

Avoid First Car Rental at all costs. TIAAN PIETER NEL is a branch manager of George (Airport) Western Cape and if this is the service he provides there is no hope at all.

Worst car service ever. Had to collect the car at 12:00, the car only arrived at 13:00. We ordered a car seat, and the seat we received was broken, half an hour still no car seat and still waiting to leave the airport. The car seat we eventually received was still full of astros. A lady before us waited for her vehicle 1:30 hours and two ladies after us also waited for their vehicle.

No customer services, no refund option, no cashback offering for us having to wait 2 hours to leave their services. All that the branch manager says is that this day is just a bad day, usually they have good days.

This is not a car rental service I would advice to anyone.

I planned a trip from West Yorkshire to Cape Town (CPT). I had chosen to use First car rental but was put off by the number of 1 star reviews. I then looked at other companies in CPT and they were no better so went with First car anyway. I have rented in Europe a lot so am familiar with pitfalls of car hire. I carry annual excess cover and had a full to full fuel contract. I arranged some leeway in pick up and delivery times to avoid problems related to this.

General Comment: Our experience of South Africa is that the prices were inexpensive and the quality of customer service everywhere was better than we are used to.

PICK UP: There was a longish queue at a desk marked Domestic but no queue at the desk marked International which we went to. We were dealt with immediately and treated well. We had a customer facing screen to look at and sign contracts which were emailed to us live. We were aware of the fuel deposit which was charged to our card (3,000 ZAR, equivalent to about £125) and the excess waiver which was blocked from our card. We declined all the extra insurances which were offered with no hard sell except to highlight the financial consequences of the excess, damage to tyres etc. The car was exactly as advertised. It was relatively new but had a number of external scuffs on it. We found a member of staff who documented the scuffs for us. The state of the inside was showroom clean. We had no problems with the car during our stay.

On our return we filled up with fuel at the airport and returned the car. It was inspected in front of us by a very polite member of staff who advised us to take a photo of the full fuel gauge 'to make sure they dont charge you for fuel !'. The deposit of 3,000 ZAR was returned to our card in full about a week after we got home (minor changes in exchange rate might make the GBP amount vary - you will lose any UK card charges unless you use a no-fee card).

We were very happy with our experience with First and would happily use them again.

There are two aspects of their documentation which need updating 1] The T&Cs they sent to us in the UK said we would need to use a credit card with embossed letters on it. These cards are uncommon now. I used a card without embossed letter without any problems. 2] Prior to returning the car I received an email saying even if the car was returned full we would be charged a refuelling fee. I am unaware of being charged a refuelling fee.

These people are thieves. I hired a car for a day and paid for uimited km and a one way fee before taking the car. Upon return they charged me again for the above and furthermore have not returned my 10000zar holding deposit. They promised to return it after 10 days, it has now been 25 days and still no return. Customer services have been less than helpful and frankly rude and aggressive.
Avoid at all costs.

Worst Car Rental service I have ever experienced!!! I received the car in the morning, drove around for 3 hours, filled it literally to the brim 1 Km grom airport for R90 and received a R115 charge for petrol afterwards. They are thiefs. Pay more and get better service! And note to the wise, do not fill up as they will and charge!!!!!!!

we rented a car for 2 weeks and return it perfectly. Everything was fine they said. However, 2 months later, an amount has already been taken from our account for the 2nd time by first car without us knowing why! real corrupt company! I will have no choice but to block the card as they just keep taking money from our credit card! I find this incomprehensible that this is possible! never again with this company!!

Otra empresa de alquiler de coche que anuncia precio y luego te quiere enchufar seguros a precios mayor que el mismo alquiler.
El coche que nos querían ofrecer era muy viejo y no abría sus puertas trasera. Tampoco era el modelo previsto.
En resumen, estas agencias hacen un enorme favor a las empresas líderes del mercado a las cuales acabas volviendo para evitar líos y problemas.

The company charged me SA R17,509 for a car rental. I incurred no extra charges during my rental but when I returned the car they charged an extra SA R609 with no explanation. I queried it and they said that these were their charges, that the initial payment I made was just a deposit and they closed my query as satisfactorily resolved. I said that I was quoted a price which I paid, I had incurred no extra charges during the rental but they just repeated that it was as per the contract and the case was satisfactorily closed, which I said that it wasn't.

Charged me a fine for hail damage to the car when there was no hail in the area at all whilst I had the car with zero reports of hail throughout the whole province during the period I had the car. They then charge you a 'fine handling fee' for me getting a small speeding fine of R200. Not only did they just charge me R350 for getting the fine, they then don't even pay for the fine or communicate to you what to do. I find out 2 months after giving the car back that I have a charge come off my credit card with no explainantion. Only to find out I have a R200 fine to pay (That I have to sort out myself- which is understandable) and that due to me getting the fine, they charge you a whpping R350 as a 'fine handling fee' when they don't handle it at all?

I am so appauled by their communication and their poor customer service. On me enquring about all of this. They open up an automated chat protal that they closed before I could reply or ask more questions. I get emailed from a 'noreply' email source.

I used to use them all the time, I will never spend one more cent on this company.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

Wie schon viele hier schrieben ist First eine unlautere Gesellschaft, die immer das Nachtanken extra berechnet, obwohl man voll getankt hat. Nicht zu empfehlen.