Thrifty Car and Van Rental Colchester

I hired a van off these guys and turned up in the morning. I only had the paper part of my license, and they said they weren't able to rent me the van. Desperate, I went to Enterprise round the corner. Enterprise rented me a van straight away without any problems and at a good price. They also seemed a lot more professional. I suggest you skip Thrifty and try their neighbours instead.

UPDATE: It gets better. I contacted them by email, and they *refused to refund me my original payment*. So, not just incompetent but dishonest.

Cheapest around but wanted so much proof. Driving license, Passport AND utility bills with details on. Was going to have to get my mum to help me out which means I would have had to pay to be the named driver as I am not a home owner and do not get bills. They said it was due to the cars being expensive and so they wanted to be safe. However Enterprise were able to lend me a car using my credit card and driving licence for the same price no big deal. I am sure they are decent enough but just thought the process was a bit excessive.

Be careful with their INSURANCE policy!!! We confirmed twice with Thrifty agent that we bought a full insurance that covers everything! The agent sold "Risk Reduce: Glass&Tyre cover" to us, charging 12£/day. Besides, we paid 14£/day for reducing maximum penalty from 1000£ to 250£. So, we paid 26£/day for the insurance. But, when we returned the car at Edinburgh, Thrifty charged us another 203£ for slightly damaging ( some scratches) the two hub of wheels! Anyway, we bought an insurance that covers tyre, but the agent in Edinburgh told us it only covers the tyre, the hub of the wheel is not covered! What's worse, their attitude was extremely rude, kept pushing us to sign the penalty! It's obvious that one of their agents must be a liar! We were fooled by Thrifty! They are the shame of GREAT Britain!

Incredible ripoff. venue is located off a buslane with camera they will charge you L42 for processing a fine hire cars are exempt from. Get you coming and going with absolutely no warning signs or information for customers. Be aware your rental will be L84 more than you expected. Business plan seeems to be to maximise revenue by charging processing fines.

ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING CUSTOMER SERVICE. Unreasonable requests and then still made to feel like a criminal by a smarmy gent on the front desk.... Customer service is so bad compared to year ago. When presented with drivers licence they telephoned DVLA to check it, experian check and then asked for national insurance number!!!!????? Given it is a hire car company which advertises at airports how do you expect tourist to have that when hiring on holiday????? GUESS THEY CAN'T HIRE A CAR!! I have family visit from overseas all the time and will never again recommend this company. Bad bad bad

Efficient check in for the car which is new, clean and tidy. Easy to find and convenient location to the station.
Melvin was super helpful and full credit to him for his excellent customer service

Their booking process is based on a 'request' which means nothing more than 'we'll ring you to confirm, maybe.' I booked 2 weeks go and went to collect the car assuming I had a reservation. I was dismissed at the counter with 'that's not a booking. It's a request.' In other words, a worthless commitment to provide a service that has left me scrambling to find an alternative.

Avoid Thrifty and go to Enterprise. Great service that saved the day.

Friendly fast service. I kept in touch the whole time about the vehicle hire as the insurance didn't.

Only had one problem. I wasn't listened too, about the size of the vehicle I needed. Meant to be like for like I was told by insurance.

However the car was much smaller. When I needed a good size boot for work and the fact I needed to fit a stroller in. Which wouldn't fit. (Stuck at home with a toddler for nearly 3 weeks) Also asked for a manual not automatic.
The car was new and did however enjoy the car.