Thrifty Car and Van Rental Brighton
Car rental agency Thrifty Car and Van Rental Brighton, 47 Trafalgar St, Brighton BN1 4ED, United Kingdom:
55 reviews
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Address: 47 Trafalgar St, Brighton BN1 4ED, United Kingdom
Website: thrifty.co.uk
Phone number: +44 1273 738227
GPS coordinates
Latitude: 50.8284458Longitude: -0.1404368
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reviews
Miriam Genoza
This is the third time I have used Brighton Thrifty. I went back the 2nd and 3rd time purely because I had such great customer services on my first visit. I was looked after by a gentleman called Miguel. He is awesome. He looked after me so well. I'm sure thrifty know this, but you are super lucky to have him work there. Miguel you are the best. Thank you for all your kindness and help.
2 weeks ago
Chandan Jha
Nice company and really professional.
The worker named Miguel is really nice, he was very helpfully and professional. I would definitely go back again. We went there in the morning and he found us a nice car and nice price. We was really happy.
3 months ago
Johnny Wilson
Really not sure why such low rating. I was greeted nicely, brought all my paperwork with me so didn’t take long at all. I arrived 1 hour early as decided to drop a car early next day anyway and it was not a problem. The price for automatic was the best I could get, way cheaper than well known companies were offering! And I got absolutely lovely new BMW 116. I loved the car! Drop off was quick as well and deposit came back through within 3 working days. Everything was perfect. Thank you Thrifty cars I will be coming back again!
6 months ago
Justin Powers
Thrifty have very different requirements to accept a rental than any other car rental company, including a gas bill. As a new arrival in the country, I didn’t have that (although I did have all the details their tiny small print asked for), meaning they wouldn’t rent the car or refund the money. When I asked why they had such different rules to other rental companies, the guy said it was because they have to send more solicitors letters to their customers. There’s a few different and equally good reasons here to avoid this company
2 weeks ago
Betsy Dinger
Thanks to Harry & team at Brighton.
I'm a regular hirer and have never had any issues at all in two years.
Thanks
Chris ????
11 months ago
Fakrul Syead
Poor customer service. Been waiting 6/7 minute when staff were chatting themselves behind the counter. I have been told book via website when i have all documents with me. There is enterprise car rental just 5/6 walk from them.
6 months ago
Gloria Diaz
O.k, but there was food on the floor in the back underneath the drivers seat and some sort of white spray dried over the inside on the passengers side so gives little confidence the car was cleaned properly before it was handed over
11 months ago
Myrna Judge
A nice new car, but very unhappy about my credit card being fully charged for the damage bond BEFORE even taking the car out of the depot. If using a foreign card you will be out of pocket due to currency fees and fluctuations and you won't have the use of that money whilst on holiday. Thrifty Brighton also do not immediately refund the bond on return of the undamaged car. Why they can't just process a pending payment like every other car rental company is a mystery to me. Polite customer service but the speed of service is unusually slow on picking up and dropping off the vehicle.
3 months ago
amel posner
Always accommodating and relaxed. Inexpensive and easy to deal with
6 months ago
Michael Hofmann
They refused to honour a booking I made on their website to take a van abroad even though I'd paid in full upfront, including an overseas surcharge. It was a complete fiasco that seemed to hinge on miscommunication internally about rule changes related to Brexit. I had no warning of any potential issue until I turned up to collect the van. I was then reassured that they would honour the agreement, only for this to soon be reversed at huge inconvenience to myself. They eventually reimbursed my additional costs and paid a small sum of compensation. But not enough to reflect the abysmal customer service failure that left me having to rearrange my trip a week later with a more reliable firm.
2 months ago
Phillip Tolan
Absolutely shocking customer service and clear to see when the manager is rude and dismissive! My car was not collected when requested and then a month later I notice a charge on my credit card. When calling to find out why they have charged my card I was told it was due to damage to the vehicle which was completely false. There was no damage inspection completed upon collection and no way that I caused the claimed damaged. I actually doubt there was any damage and it’s just a way of boosting their revenues... They were unable to provide proof/evidence and instead claimed it was covered by their terms and conditions! They further claimed to have made multiple calls and sent emails, which is also a complete lie! Totally unhelpful so instead I just raised a simple chargeback with my card provider. Will never use Thrifty again based on the totally appalling behaviour of the Brighton branch and will be cancelling a corporate agreement have too. You have been warned, do not use these con artists.
EDIT: After complaining to the insurer who provided the vehicle, who raised a complaint with their corporate team at Thrifty the “damage” was reassessed and it was confirmed that it was general wear and tear and that I should never have been liable. Further more also confirmed that the branch did not complete their collection processes correctly. Refund received and on the back of this I have terminated our corporate rental agreement (worth £20-30k annually) that we held nationwide with Thrifty. Hopefully this is a lesson to the Brighton Branch not to screw over customers.
3 months ago
Shelly Fowler
Decent place if you are looking for good deals on car rentals. Good selection of cars and great location (right next to the Brighton mainline station). You can check and book online and go here for pickup. Service is efficient and reasonably friendly (could be a tad warmer) but I think they are generally quite busy so this is alright.
2 months ago
Control Zeta
Very polite and helpful people. The place is very convenient, just next to the railway station and easy to get out of the city. I found it through internet as the cheapest choice in Brighton, but it turned out to be very classy! Beyond expectations! The cars are really carefully attended and are as good as new. After the delivery, they examine thoroughly the car, justify any damage made by the client, as they should do. My experience was very good! Weldone!!
1 month ago
INGRID WESTCOTT
I have to be honest, 100% unimpressed and dissatisfied. From the moment I walked in and got greeted (eventually) by a scruff in jumper and jeans (assumed vehicle cleaner) with 'someone will be with you soon mate' that started things for me and left me under no illusion as to how they would end up.
Hired a BMW 530 Saloon 'luxury' car. From arriving to leaving it took all of 40 minutes as the team seemed far too concerned about cleaning a vehicle for a customer who wasn't even there yet, leaving me waiting looking at my car blocked in. I made an observation after a further 10 minutes or so that perhaps having paid the money and being that my car was there waiting, my car could be pulled forward and then they could clean the other car?! The lady working here didn't seem to understand my advice of customer service efficiency, it literally went over her head and I was lucky to get a grunt of acknowledgment.
Staff are rude, haven't the first clue of customer service or priorities, including operational planning for vehicles coming in or out alongside cleaning and prepping.
Enterprise are just up the road thankfully and in fairness, I've always been greeted by someone smartly dressed and at least addressed by my name or Sir (not Mate!)
I would urge people to steer clear of this branch. If I rate them highly on anything, it's being very good at being utterly useless and disorganised.
Safe to say, despite friends and colleagues suggesting not to use his branch, I have now had first experience as to why. I shan't be back!
1 month ago
Sharon Niko
Ive rented a lot of cars through Thrifty Brighton and all have been excellent. Every single car has been really well looked after, low mileage and are current/new models. Each of the staff I’ve dealt with have been really friendly, sometimes there is one person in front of me at the desk but it never takes too long to be dealt with. The only drawback is getting in/out of the garage when it’s busy but ask for help if required. Remember your proof of address etc
My ‘go to’ for car hire in Brighton.
3 months ago
CE Behr
I would differently recommend!!!!
We had a booking for one night and had to extend it for two, but really struggled to find the option online. Tash and Ryan was very helpful and patient with me and helped me extend it after going through lots of stress. When we got back to pick up the car Ryan has greeted us with a big smile and had everything ready for us. After going through the usual procedures we bumped into another issue which was out of our control. I had to be in Stonehenge 8 am in the morning (I was going Skydiving for Charity). :) It was already after closing time 6 pm and I was getting more stressed again... Harry stayed with us one hour after closing until 7 pm when we finally managed to resolve the issue. Everyone was extremely patient with us and very helpful, I could not believe their commitment. We have made it on time and had an amazing time after all!!!
Thank you to Brighton Station Thrifty and the amazing team Tash, Ryan and Harry!
1 month ago
Bob Truth
Not recommended, avoid! Cheap offerings on the website and cars that look great. Friendly and easy going when you’re picking up the car. Surprisingly, their full-to-full petrol policy means filled up to about 70%, so you’re always overfilling when returning the car. When returning the car, suddenly extra costs pop up. Renting for a day for £40 changes into £100+ and their friendliness has totally disappeared. I’ve rented many cars at all kind of companies around Europe, but never experienced such a bad way to trick you into a costly adventure. I wish I read the many other telling reviews before. And what bothers me the most is I cannot longer be an easy-going car renter based on mutual trust that everything is going to be alright.
2 months ago
Pam Burgoyne
I had an issue with my booking I hadn't done correctly and was so kinda expecting it to be a bit of a battle getting it resolved and my money back, but in reality Thrifty were professional and just sorted it without palava. Given that they have better prices than almost everywhere else, I'm really pleased with that and definitely keen to hire from them.
3 months ago
Elvis Renolla
I would strongly advise people to go elsewhere. We booked a 9 seater ford transit custom tourneo as we had 1 fit driver and four people with disabilities and mobility problems. So we wanted and needed space and comfort for the 9 days we booked it for. We only went for a week but as there is no flexibility for picking up and dropping off we had to pay for a further 2 days, it was annoying but I could of lived with that. However when my husband went to pick it up he was told about them needing a deposit, no emails or contact or indeed information had mentioned this previously, so the day before we left for holiday we had to find another £750 on top of the rental fee that we had paid in full. We were given the option of paying £17 a day extra to reduce it down to £250 which we would not get back. Luckily we managed to scrape together the amount although it was basically most of the spending money for the week. However as this was our first holiday in over 8 years we stretched things. Next my husband was shown the car which was not what we had ordered but a Citroen space tourer, which is a lot smaller, we managed to fit in most things, but the seats at the back didn't go down so it was a complete nightmare. In all honesty it has to be one of the most uncomfortable cars I have ever been in, there wasn't even lumber support on the drivers seat. We also found drinks bottles and rubbish from previous passengers, the drinks bottle went out of date in April so presumably no one had cleaned it out properly for sometime. On our last day we had to lose out on what we had planned because the car needed a top up of fluid to make it start, which was nowhere near anything to visit. So unless you are renting one from the Warwick garage who were lovely. Avoid the Brighton one because they were more interested in trying to get more money out of you with hidden costs, uncomfortable and cars that only look clean on the service.
2 weeks ago
Supreen Chahal
I rent a vehicle at least once a month from these guys and have always received the best service and the nicest of cars.
It’s always nice to be greeted by my name when I go in :)
It can sometimes be busy, but at peak times, isn’t everywhere busy?!
Trust me, there are much worse places to hire from in the city - I’ve had the misfortune of using them all!!
2 weeks ago
Shivangi arora
Terrible service, car delivered to wrong address and keys posted through the wrong house's letter box. Informed them that I needed a car by no later than 11 for work which I was assured I would have, over an hour late delivering the next car and no one in branch available to pick up the phone when I called to check where my car was. Very disappointing service, would not recommend to anyone, there are much better hire companies than Thrifty.
3 months ago
Patrick Junginger
If anyone has ever watched the movie “Zootopia”, there’s a scene where a sloth is serving people at the DMV - very, VERY slowly.
That sloth looks positively speedy compared to the staff here.
2 months ago
Orashio Nicholson
Always surprise you on the day
7 months ago
Emily Jaremko
Ridiculous and unique requirement to provide them with 2 additional proofs of address. Isn't passport, drivers license and credit card deposit enough?!?!
The staff were nice, but inexplicably took nearly an hour to collect my car (which was ready) despite being the second person through the door.
3 months ago
Hartstene House
Service was fantastic, BUT .. The one thing that let them down was writing down my card details when they called to take the £1 deposit! The man read my card number back to me and, when challenged, finished up the call very quickly. Having had GDPR training at my own work recently I know this is a MASSIVE BREACH OF PRIVACY AND REGULATIONS!!!
4 months ago
Brad Bossong
The guys at Thrifty in Brighton are always really helpful, especially Charlotte, I have some special requirements for the vehicles that I hire and they always go the extra mile to help.
6 months ago
Shaun Gomness
Staff are pleasant and trying their hardest but there's not enough of them and it's generally chaotic. I've visited three times and received my car within 15, 30, and 100 minutes of walking in the door. During the waits I've witnessed some pretty angry customers and some stressed staff, where it was obvious that delays weren't the only problem. Having said that, I've always got what I paid for or something better and the staff on the desk aren't the ones at fault and deserve praise for doing their best under trying circumstances.
2 weeks ago
Katelyn Jefferies
Appalling service! Booked a rental car on Saturday to collect the following Friday, and received email confirmation followed by a phone call to say that it would need to be collected before 6pm as that is when they close. Rang them to see if it was possible to collect car earlier to which they said they had no booking for us in their records and that someone should have been in touch with us to say nothing available for those dates. The lady on the phone also gave the impression she did not care either. Rude rude rude.
6 months ago
Zachary Billips
Great cars - sub-bar service.
The Thrifty rental in Brighton - right next to the railway station - does offer a good selection of new cars (2019 Ford Focus's and Land Rover Discovery Sports's for example), but their service leaves much to be desired.
I've rented from them a couple of times and there's always some kind of a problem... The last time they gave me a car that hadn't been cleaned yet - not from inside, not from outside. To be fair they did offer they're gonna clean it right now, but as I had already waited for a while to actually get the car and was in a hurry, that was no longer an option.
In addition when we were looking the car over (a brand new Focus with less than 1000 miles on the clock), I pointed out some curb damage and although the lady did make a note of it, she forgot to add it to the record, which - dumb and trusting as I am - stupidly signed. When I returned the car they accused my off curbing that wheel and refused to get in touch with the lady who looked the car over with me, because "it's her day off". Luckily she had mailed me the photo off the curbed wheel the day before, so we sort of got in cleared. I say "sort of", cause I'm still waiting for them to return my surprisingly high deposit of 500 pounds. And it was really embarrassing to be accused of ruining their brand new vehicle in front of all other customers. It absolutely ruined my Sunday. And they didn't call me back when the situation was cleared on their end. I called them, when I found the photo of the curbed wheel in my mailbox. * Then * they told me that yes, this is cleared. Sorry. That was it. Left a bad taste in my mouth.
And then there's their ridiculous and vague fuel policy. Even though my booking said "full to full" under fuel policy, I was handed a car with like 70% of fuel in the tank and told to bring it back with the same amount. It's very hard to fuel a car to some exact vague amount. Especially as it takes a bit for the fuel gauge to catch up when you're fueling. Some times you even have to drive a bit for the gauge to show the correct amount. So it's needlessly difficult to do without doing math, which requires you to know the average fuel consumption of the vehicle and the distance traveled... it's all very frustrating and of course I ended up accidentally filling the tank to brim again. Congratulations, Thrifty!
All in all, if at all possible I prefer other rental companies. But thrifty does offer return options on Sunday, so if you only need the car for Saturday you don't have to pay for the full weekend. That's definitely a plus.
Personally I suggest going with Enterprise, whose customers service is wonderful, fuel policy doesn't involve brain gymnastics and the cars are always clean.
3 months ago
Katherine White
Really slow service and rude sarcastic person behind the desk - overpriced
3 months ago
Naomi Chang
Worst experience....zero customer care.....zero professionalism......zero empathy for customer.....better spend few extra pounds and book with some reputed company. Complete rip off.
6 months ago
Lena Wu
We tried to hire a car using the website and the price was 147pounds. When we tried to paid it was an error all the time. Four times we tried and we could not do it. We went to the office and they gave us a phone number. We called them and they told as about 500 pounds the same car that we tried to rent through the website!. That is a scam or misleading advertising.
3 months ago
Erika Thibodeau
Great car, staff were friendly and helpful. We were late dropping the car off so they let us keep it till the morning for free which is nice of them.
7 months ago
Big
Fantastic customer service and very reasonable prices - all their cars are very high spec too. We use them all the time, would recommend.
2 weeks ago
jaime torres
Terrible service. Be prepared to the last priority as the staff are stuck in a service time warp. One tablet is the excuse to keep you waiting .... and the customer is the problem!!! Go somewhere else.
2 months ago
Alexey Kutlyarov
Amazing car company, easy to get, great staff, great work! Thank you
2 weeks ago
Gloria Perez
Very friendly staff, great vehicles, I've been using the Brighton branch for years and I've never had an issue. Would highly recommend :).
5 months ago
Amber Cole
Nice staff. Very fussy about very small damage. Be careful. Was charged £80 for scrape to hub cap.
10 months ago
Christelle Deberdt
This place is awful. I got charged £88 for an OLD scuff mark that was black and rusted which I wasn't responsible for making! The man who inspected the van after seeing me drive up was rude, obnoxious and didn't communicate with me once. Is this because I am a woman and women shouldn't be driving white vans? I am absolutely fuming. Also, they NEVER phoned to explain why they deducted £88. Terrible customer service, absolutely appalling.
5 months ago
Luke Dawson
Sure somethings up here. Charged for a scuff on the back wheel but looked quite old. Also was made to sign damage inspection sheet before saw car as was raining.....didnt hit anything on journey so completely perplexed....
2 weeks ago
MIMI Warren
Decent service and very helpful.
2 weeks ago
David Sossman
Friendly and incompetent. Have been let down 3 times in the last 5 years having booked and paid for vans in specific lengths only to be told on collection they are not available. Had to wait 60mins to collect a car recently. Twice had to complain to head office.
2 weeks ago
Susan Greneveld
Great price, fantastic cars, nice friendly service
2 months ago
jessica chubbuck
Nice people working hard to provide a service in central Brighton.
2 weeks ago
scott snider
Best service good cars best rates
2 weeks ago
Ronald Williams
Unless you have £0 deductible insurance on your credit card I suggest not to rent from this establishment. Purchased their insurance and still had to pay $500 CAD.
3 months ago
Jesse Bonin
Better value than any of the other hire companies.
2 weeks ago
Kenneth Leonard
Good central location and friendly and efficient service.
5 months ago
Chieko Yamada
Good
1 month ago
Kerrie Gollaher
The rudest service at the Brighton branch from the manager, Josh.
2 weeks ago
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