Chelmsford Car Hire

When I went to collect the van there was no one there to collect it from. When I phoned they said they were out making deliveries and asked me if I wanted to cancel the rental which I agreed to, without informing me they would still be charging me for the rental. I had to request a refund for the rental which never took place from my credit card company which they refunded. David then however decided to open a court case for the rental and other made up "admin charges" which he backed down on. He also invoices as "Practical Car and Van Hire Chelmsford" but is not a part of their franchise and should not be using their name. As a result I got no support from the BVRLA. Practical Car and Van Rental are members of the BVRLA but Essex Vans are not meaning they do not have to follow any codes of conduct and can make their own rules up. I was told David ran a Practical Car and Van Hire franchise in Brentwood which December 2006 until it went bankrupt and the franchise was terminated. I will leave it up to you to decide whether you want to risk using this company or not, but if you want to risk not being able to collect your rental and a court order then go ahead and proceed. This company is a one man band, with no customer support or organisations you can go to if there is an issue. The cheaper price is tempting but I would recommend paying slightly more to use a larger reputable company who are members of the BVRLA and value customer service. I rented a van elsewhere and as a result of this I am now £200 out of pocket and unlikely to do any charity events again as a result or support small local independent companies which are not regulated.

It would be nice that instead of answering to comments in google, you would answer your clients emails back. But Like everything else, I guess that says a lot about how you run your business.
The problem here was not the time it took you to refund me the deposit money, was the fact that you didn't gave us the full deposit back, based on something that was not true.
And even if it that was true, after renting us a van that should be in a scrap yard, because was as old as hell, was all dirty, the tank had only fumes in it (By the way... Good strategy for people to leave more petro in the tank than when you give the van to them), and what caused more problems was that it had holes on the roof which soaked a lot of our belongings that caused them to leave stains of rusty water in our brand new carpets, and after complaining to you about that, the least you could have done would have been to say sorry and that you would refund us not just the full deposit but as well part of the rental value.
About the return hours, and to be clear as I have already told you this over the phone before but you choose to ignore it, when I have asked you what time I should bring the van back, you told me that it should be AROUND the same time I've picked it up, which was AROUND 10:30. Not my fault if you meant something else or if there's a misunderstanding, next time, you should register the time client has to return and the actual arrival time plus ask client to sign.
I mean... Shouldn't you guys at least let your clients know when they bring the vans backs that they are going to be charged extra for supposedly not bringing the van on time?!?!?
How about getting all this information on the signed agreement so it stays in writing?!?! Does that make sense to you!??!
Am I supposed to stay put while you guys do whatever you want with my money without even saying anything to me?!?!?
Well... I think this is enough for now. I believe I have made my point and you should really answer your emails, at least if you want to avoid bad publicity such as this!

Hope to here from you guys so we can come to an agreement without having to over-complicate this.

PS - you are lucky the minimum I have to give is 1 star as it should be 0

Response:

I cannot comment again, but I can edit my comment so I can answer you back.
I am afraid I have to say that you are lying.
We complained over the phone and when we returned the van.
I told you that the van was in poor condition and that there were holes on the roof which I have only realized while I was getting all my stuff out of the van, and at that time, it was "a bit late" too call you.

Plus, you basically turned your back on me while I was still explaining the problems we had with the van, showing no consideration whatsoever and that you didn't care about what I was saying.

And you think is strange we complain?!?!!?
And what should I think about someone that when I give the van back doesn't say anything about the time, and decides to deduct money 1 week after without saying a word!??! You don't think is logical for people to find that strange?!
Again... If you would told me when I arrived that I was late, or even giving me a call after the SUPPOSED return hour, I could have personally explained to you that I was told to return the van at the same hour I had picked it up. And that is not going to change no matter how many time you claim you told me to return at 9:00!! IT IS A LIE...

And after this, I assume that you are not going to return my money back, so I will make a formal complain to the proper authorities about you guys stealing me £30 from my deposit.
It doesn't matter if it was 3£... 30£... or 3000£
It is a moral principal and what you did was wrong and you cannot do that.
Next time leave it written in the contract so no one has the slightest doubt about the time of pick up and return.

Stay away from them. Gave me a leaking van, all my boxes got wet and then took 12 days to give me my refund and took 30£ of me for taking the van later they say (which is not true).

Been using essex van for years. Dave goes the extra mile to accomodate us. Good value for money.

Friendly service and very reasonable prices. Would recommend to a friend.

Five stars, although the cars are older, it did the job, drove to Devon, lovely car to drive, breakdown was included in the price. A lot cheaper than other hire car companies. Would definitely recommend.

We are absolutely delighted with their friendly, straight-forward, personal, can-do approach. They make everything really stress-free and are always responsive and accommodating. This is the 2nd time we have rented from this company and we will rent from them again.

New and good vehicles, good support from the team members and reasonable rate.