First Car Rental Omdömen 

Absolute horror
Booked a 5 person 2 large suitcase car and only got a small hatchback
Couldn’t fit our bags in had to drive without seatbelts for 1 child in the back as they had to put r the he back seat down to get bags in
They didn’t care and had already maxed out the credit card with deposits that would take 5 days to refund so we couldn’t go anywhere else
Avoid if possible

Potential renters please be advised of the following. First Car rental seems to have a business policy of taking as much money from their customers as possible, for some suspicious and outright fraudulent reasons. When reading the reviews on trust pilot you will notice customers have been charged for fuel when vehicles have been returned with full tanks, you will also notice a host of other charges customers have received with little to no reason behind these charges. This company is committing fraud at customers expense. I recently returned a vehicle I leased from this company, the vehicle had windscreen damage on pick-up. I noted this damage with videos and pictures because their representative would rather have a smoke than present and evaluate the vehicle with me. As with all rental companies there is an inspection sheet which marks all damages upon pick up, however, because their representative was far more interested in smoking, my rental sheet did not note the damages upon pick-up. Nonetheless I returned the car as I received it, I was told by the receiving representative that there was damage to the windshield (I knew that) I showed him my evidence that it was there upon receiving the car and he asked me to sign an incident report in which I stated the above details, we both signed this report. The report states damages were there prior to my use. All good, a week later the company had charged me for a new windshield, I disputed this and provided the evidence and the statement signed by their own hand. The company refused the refund and I have now opened a case of fraud against the company. Please be aware as a potential customer that this company is complicit in fraud against customers. This seems to be the standard operating procedure of the company if you read other reviews. AVIS/BUDGET IS A MUCH BETTER COMPANY THAT DOES NOT COMMIT FRAUD, PLEASE USE THEM INSTEAD TO AVOID THE HASSEL.

I would give this company zero stars if it was an option. STAY AWAY AT ALL COST. This company takes advantage and steals money from their consumers. We picked up our car at George airport, where firstly, the representative did not conduct the inspection with us. We found that there was a large crack/chip in the windshield which was not marked on their sheet. Thankfully, we have video and photo evidence of this at time of pick-up. When we returned the car in Joburg, we showed them the evidence and the guy said all should be fine. A couple days later, I see an additional charge of $200 go through on my card for a replacement windshield, and I was also never refunded for my initial deposit, which should have been about $170. We’ve been in contact with their customer service department who have been no help at all and are saying we are responsible for the damage. How can we be responsible for a replacement windshield when the windshield needed replacing from the beginning?! We had all the evidence of the damage which they clearly are ignoring. I am now taking it up with my credit card company, as FirstCar has completely scammed us. They’ve charged us a total of $600 now, when it should have been $220 in total. This company is an absolute scam. Take my advice, and do not use them!!!

was in an accident in December. My insurance arranged with my first car a car hire. They informed me about what will be deducted. Received my invoice and my insurance queried with Sandra about the amount as it was incorrect. Yes they still debited my account. I don't see why they give an option to log a query on your invoice, just for it to be ignored and your account gets debited.

Very Disappointed in the service I received @ Cape Town Airports Branch.
Hired a car for 15 days. Collected the car when we arrived and realised the car had an issue within the first day. The car had to be replaced we had to drive back to the airport which was a 6 hour round trip. Nobody at the branch apologised or offered to compensate for the fuel I used to drop off and collect the replacement car or for the inconvenience caused and a loss of 1 days holiday. I did leave an official complaint.

Extremely bad service.

After waiting 20min in a que at reception desk located at the airport to speak to someone only then to be told our car was not ready.

Another customer ahead of us who been waiting for 45min asked the staff member when their car would arrive as they have waited and this was now dragging on too long. Only to be told to continually wait. This happend several times before the customer got annoyed: by the long wait, staff members lack of sympathy, lack of urgency in resolving the situation, and the staff members poor customer service. The customer then asked to speak to the manager which the staff member ignored but as the customer was not letting up with his complaint, reluctantly the staff member pointed to the manager an left the customer to explain the problem.

We waited 1hr an 15min before our car arrived, after waiting 20min just to speak to someone on the reception desk. This level of service is totaly unacceptable. We booked an paid for our car in advance. They knew the time and day we ment to arrive. So as to not have our car ready an make us wait that long is not acceptable. Plus how they treat customers is exceptionally bad and we do not recommend this company!!

Should the company wish to respond to my comment I feel appropriate compensation should be given an not just words.

Please avoid.

Watch them with their 'very small print' hidden charges and it feels like their customer services employee (Victoria Mtsweni) has absolutely no idea of customer service or how to resolve problems. She just keeps on closing the enquiry before she even reads the issues. Once they have your money, no matter the circumstances, they will not consider your case! (Pre paid for rental, but they took the full cost off my card, effectively paying twice, however Victoria Mtsweni says this is my problem to sort out - REALLY!!!)

Through FlySAFair I got a car rental deal which I thought was a better deal when it was not at all but just a lie. So I phoned them on Monday 12 Dec 2022 and asked if I can cancel and they said yes and I was not going to be penalised and I will be refunded my money R2396 since I had not yet used the services and I had informed them in time 30 days before the planned trip 13 Jan 2023. I never saw the refund till today and I phoned 1st car rental and now they are saying they have no refund policy which is not what I was told on Monday 12 Dec 2022 when I phoned one of their offices.
Firstly the car car hire was expensive compared to other same cars on market and they told me on the phone that they will refund me. I am even worried and might even want to know if Flysafair benefit on such inhumanly deals that a person can be refused to get back with an partner with SAfair.

I recently made 2 bookings for a rental vehicle in Cape Town. There was a petrol issue with the first one and Dominica, CT Manageress, sorted it out immediately. Great car at a great price. The 2nd rental was even better - I met Dominica in person and she upgraded my vehicle as an additional value add for the first issue. Great service. I will definitely use them again.

Capetown Flughafen. Der Wagen war neu, daher keine Probleme. Der Check out war zügig und Übergabe freundlich. Die Rückgabe ebenfalls. Jedoch wurde mir, wie es andere bereits geschrieben haben ein Nachtanken verrechnet, obwohl ich im Check in die Bestätigung auf dem Formular "Full" gehabt habe. Es handelte sich um rund 10 Euro. Nach Reklamation wurde bisher nichts rückerstattet. Die spekulieren, dass man bei so niedrigen Beträgen die Sache ruhen lässt. Man fühlt sich schlichtweg betrogen.

The service I received is the poorest I have ever experienced. One arrival after a 14 hour flight I could not locate the car rental company as they use a third party broker to market them. Secondly on finding 1 First car rental my car was not ready had to wait a further 30 minutes. One the car was ready none of the staff walked me to the car had to find it myself. Thirdly on locating the car was disappointed to find it was not the car I had asked for. I had to take the car back to their Pretoria branch and exchange it. I would not recommend this car rental company the fees charged are excessive and disclosure of the third party is kempt in small print. This has been the worst experience I have ever had renting a car would not recommend 1 Rental car company. I raised a complaint but was merely met with an email from them closing the matter no investigation or consideration to try and get in touch as I do not live in South Africa time zone?

As others have stated stay clear of this company.
The charge a fuel fee despite bringing it back completely fill. This is in their contract though but highly irregular,
The start counting the days from the first day ie: hiring on the 1st to the 2nd of the month they will charge as two days. Again totally improper.
Then they hit you for various other charges and when queried they state all sorts of complex BS it boggles the mind. They even tried to charge me for damage when I had 100% insurance. I got that back after a lot of fighting. Eventually I gave up on the other charges but will never use them again. They are linked to Sixt which unfortunate as Sixt are pretty reliable and honest but not this lot. They use ingenious and crafty methods to hit you after you return the vehicle.
STAY CLEAR!!!

As all the other people have said it's a total scam and a nice little earner for them. I wish I had read about them before. The car was full of petrol and when returned we were told everything was fine, then we see they have charged for fuel. I would tell everyone to believe all the reviews and stay clear of them. IT'S A TOTAL SCAM

We have had 5 prepaid rentals with these guys over a long trip. We have encountered various issues. I will never use them again.

1) same fuel scam as mentioned in various TripAdvisor reviews. We fill up and they then somehow find the car is not full and charge a filling fee and extra fuel. This is despite them marking the return form as having a full tank.
2) their staff make things up and create excuses for issues such as 'the system doesn't allow that' or 'we can't change your car as we have no other vehicles' or my favourite 'we won't record that as damage as we're not going to charge for damage that small'. Total rubbish. These guys will look for anything small to try charge your deposit.
3) their cars have questionable quality. We had to reject cars due to poor tyres and maintenance issues.
4) inconsistent damage recording and charging policy. They charge your deposit for the most minor chip or scratch. They resist recording all small damage on their cars on your contract and then try charge you for this damage. Fortunately the damage was recorded on a previous renters contract so they were unable to charge us but it took a considerable amount of arguement to get this to happen. Make sure you get EVERYTHING recorded on the contract, no matter how small.
5) the cars are bargain basement. Forget navigation screens and normal smartphone connectivity that seem rather standard in cars these days.
6) they quoted us to extend a contract which we accepted and then they tried to charge us more. In the end they tried very hard not to honour their quotation and used various excuses such as the staff were new or untrained, they couldn't make the amendment on the system which was rubbish because when the manager did it in literally 30 seconds. She was also not new as did our first rental 4 months previous.

My overall impression is that they deal with normal once off tourists and therefore pull out a range of standard excuses and lack any sort of customer service.

Cleverly, they take a R3000 charge off your card when renting and then refund the difference after deducting any of their spurious charges. This way they avoid the ability to challenge the transaction if unfair with you credit card company. They basically have no accountability for poor customer service or overcharging.

Stay WELL clear of this absolute joke of a company. Rented a car with them for 2 weeks whilst in South Africa and upon return filled the car up with fuel at the airport, a fee hundred metres away from the drop off area. Then surprise surprise when you get your deposit back they have not returned the full deposit and have charged you for fuel and then the admin fee additional charge. They probably drive the car around and then go fill it up again and charge you.
Absolute disgrace of a company whom should be ashamed of themselves.
Stay well clear of these scammers and if I could give them a 0 star rating I would.
STAY CLEAR

First car rentals in South Africa cannot be trusted to be honest. They will charge you for extra petrol when you return the car and you cannot do anything about it as they only do it once you have left.

Don't use this outfit. Booked a car for four days in June 2022. Car wouldn't start after day one. Took two days to get a replacement that worked. Not interested in refunding for contracted vehicle that didn't work. Booked thorough RentalCars.com. Each operator keeps batting it back and forth with neither willing to help. Complete shower. A disgrace!

El coche se entregó con palomitas en la alfombrilla y una bolsa de pretzels. Gestión soporífera en la oficina del aeropuerto, comentando suplementos desconocidos previamente. A la vuelta, llené el depósito de gasolina en la misma puerta del aeropuerto (la gasolinera más cercana) y recibo ahora una penalización por no llevarlo lleno. Acaso hay que llevar una garrafa de gasolina a su garaje? No veo otra opción. Pésimo. En la recogida aparece un señor sin identificación y se pone a chequear el coche por fuera, pidiéndote las llaves. Esto en el aeropuerto de Johannesburgo es un problema, ya que hay mucha gente disfrazada de empleados.

NO ALQUILES COCHE CON ELLOS!!!!

Esta empresa es una gran estafa, cuando llegas a las oficinas no son nada claros y te intentan engañar por un montón de medios. A nosotros nos subieron el precio del coche sin previo aviso, nos han cobrado cosas que no sabemos a qué corresponden y cuando hemos devuelto el coche, lleno, igual que nos lo dieron, nos han vuelto a cobrar un extra, porque según ellos aunque la línea este a tope ellos no saben si está lleno del todo o le faltan 2 litros, cuando lo hemos llenado en la gasolinera al lado de entregar el coche. Juegan con tu dinero. ESTAFA

SHOCKING !!
booked a car that didn't exist and the similar car was much much smaller. Tried to contact them many times but no response.
DO NOT USE THESE SCAMMERS !!!