Firefly Car Rental

Angela
5 months ago

ALICANTE AIRPORT

The 1st rental car that they gave us had scratches / bumps / and the central locking system was not working- none of this was noted down on the inventory sheet. so we handed the keys back and asked for another car, the 2nd car also had scratches all over it and yet again these were not noted. it was 12am and they were now closed – we had a 2 hour drive so we carried on.

3 days after we handed the car back – firefly have taken money from my credit card without any communication as to why, we are unable to retrieve a statement from them from their website, we are clueless to why this lump sum has been taken from my account, we now have to wait 10 working days for them to get in contact as there is no number to call.

Ryanair state that this money taken was insurance that firefly took from my account 3 days after handing the car back and that it wasn't their responsibity to sort out.

I have now started a charge back with my credit card and cancelled my credit card in fear of them taking more money.

The Payment seems to be for additional car insurance with the car hire company FIRFLY. A cost that Ryanair have since told me was optional but we were not given the option at the time of collection. It was not explained to me that this was an option or that we would be charged additional money. We had already paid RYANAIR the rental car cost and insurance cover on the 21st August 2020 when pre-booking the car. Why would I agree to another additional insurance cost with firefly if I had already bought insurance cover? We questioned the person on the desk at the time of pick up of the car, we asked them to make it clear to us that there was definitely no other charges as we had already paid the hire car cost and insurance – he said no there was no other charges. We were concerned about some of the figures in the right hand corner that was titled estimated charges – as this didn't make sense to us – the man assured us that there was nothing else to pay and he made it out that this was a holding fee on my card NOT AN ADDITIONAL INSURANCE OPTION. He didn't ask us if we wanted additional insurance he disguised it as a holding fee that would be put back onto the card. We were not made aware about any options for additional insurance or that we would be charged it or could opt out of this on the document. IT WAS A PRE-PRINTED FORM! We had already paid for hire car insurance with Ryanair (Which can be seen on my statement and firefly was aware of this) It should also be highlighted that this charge of 拢332.78 was also not made until after we returned the car and left the country – This equating to 20 days after we picked the car up from Firefly. How can insurance be charged after the event? This is obvious Fraud and deception ! We have since found whilst looking on trustpilot.com that this is a regular occurring scam and that Firefly have conned hundreds of their customers by charging credit cards after the event for insurance they didn't agree to

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Keri
7 months ago

FIREFLY AT ALICANTE, WILL NEVER BOOK WITH THEM AGAIN, I HAD A PRE-PAYED BOOKING,ON PICK-UP, SIGHED PAPERWORK! NOT UNDERSTANDING SPANISH!! LIKE I'VE DONE WITH OTHER COMPANIES FOR 15YRS!!!WHEN HOME,THEY HAD TAKEN 95euro from my acc;PLEASE DON'T USE'Firefly'they are not HONEST

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Clara
10 months ago

These people came out very competitive on price when searching for a car rental at Alicante airport. I didn't notice when picking up the car and signing the paperwork that the charges were "estimated charges." I was a bit surprised to get my final invoice a day after returning the car that they had significantly increased the daily rate. I ended up paying 50% more that the original quoted price.
When I received my credit card statement I was amazed to note that the exchange rate given for the purchase of an oven on the 10th of March was 1.157156鈧?to the pound whereas Firefly on the 20th March were giving an exchange rate of only 1.056604鈧?to the 拢. So not only do they stiff you on their quoted price they also stiff you on the credit card exchange rate.
Don't use them unless you too want to be stiffed.

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Daisy
11 months ago

Firefly at Malaga Airport is the worst car rental company I have ever used. They are con artists. One star is too much. I had booked and paid for the rental in advance through Expedia but the person at the check-in desk insisted on charging me a supplementary fee of 45 euros by claiming that I am over 70. I protested that, as my 70th birthday was only a few months ago, I am still 70 and will not be 71 until later in the year. She refused to back down and, as I had already been kept waiting for an hour, I felt unable to pursue it any further (she could see how tired I was and took advantage of the fact). Matters did not improve when I returned the car five days later. The woman on the returns desk was rude and belligerent in the way she spoke to customers, me included. Firefly spoilt what had otherwise been a really great holiday in Spain. I definitely won't use them again.

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Jamar
11 months ago

1 star is even too much, I rented a car through Cartrawler with firefly in Barcelona, first of all it takes forever to get your turn, but then when it finally was, the woman asked me if I wanted to pay for an upgrade which I declined, then started calling the parking if they had any car, called again etc, then suddenly said that there was something wrong with my reservation and that she could not give me a car. I already prepaid in full and also full insurance, I showed the credit card which was used to pay, I also had the voucher. And the she just became rude and didn't want to help me anymore. So i had to find another rental company that still wanted to rent me a car without reservation which of course had me pay way too much. Never ever rent there again!

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Tristan
1 year ago

I paid for a hire car from Alicante airport this December with Firefly, part of Hertz. On returning the car they said it had damage. I signed for 201鈧?plus admin fee. They took 拢308. This equates to around 拢138 for "admin". This is sharp practice. Watch out!

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Josh
1 year ago

Do NOT USE THIS COMPANY …

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Darcy
1 year ago

iF I COULD GIVE A ZERO STAR RATING I WOULD!

AVOID THIS COMPANY – IT WILL COST YOU OVER A THOUSAND EUROS FOR WEEKEND CAR HIRE!

Barcelona Airport, we took photos of the damaged car we were given when we picked it us and returned to the office for the lady to sign the damage – she also took photos.

We returned the car with a full tank as requested and only the damage that was already on the car.
We gave a 850euro deposit when we collected the car.

On landing back into the uk we received an email to say we had been charged for damage, fuel, etc etc of 261euro which had been taken off our credit card. None of this was chargable! its a scam!
We have also not received our deposit of 850euro.

AVOID THIS COMPANY – DO NOT USE!!

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Nancy
1 year ago

Standard hard luck story
Miss sold local insurance, glossed over as the fully comp we had bought from the broker
Lied to at the counter after an hour wait

Avoid! Avoid! Avoid!

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Justine
1 year ago

(UPDATE: get in touch with ECRCS – they will actively assist in solving your case and getting your funds back!) In October, I rented a vehicle with Firefly and had already paid for it in advance alongside full premium insurance coverage with AXA. Once at the front desk, there seemed to be no issues at all and the clerk even said that I had full insurance already, so no worries; basically 'you're good to go'. However, upon getting back home, I check my credit card statement and there's an amount of 224 euros charged by Firefly, which states everything from the rental car fee (already paid for) and insurance (already paid for). While at the front desk there was no information given whatsoever and WE WERE NOT ASKED ABOUT ADDITIONAL INSURANCE OR ANYTHING. The clerk makes conversation, and in the middle of it points casually yet directly to two specific places on the agreement to sign with a 'that's all, you're all set'. This is so clearly a scam. Any additional charges must be made aware to the customer. You really have to be there to appreciate the dishonesty of these unsavory business methods, and if you read great reviews on here that, in the same breath, recommend you to take all thinkable precautions and watch your back, I would say that actually requires a bad review as well. The whole premise of renting a car should not be that you have to watch the provider's every step as they try to cheat more money out of you. Now the Malaga Airport department is unreachable by phone, and if they do pick up they immediately hang up again. CarTrawler is unwilling to help, provide generic answers and refer to a signed agreement, even though they already received money from me. Visa is currently running an investigation into this matter, but don't risk having to waste your time and energy with this incompetent farce of a company. Trustpilot and Google Reviews say it all. Steer clear.

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Felicia
1 year ago

Sadly it is not possible to rate lower than 1 star.

Firefly Malaga Airport, is indirectly scamming their customers. I advise not EVER using this company, in case you can avoid it.

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Victoria
1 year ago

Firefly Car Hire Barcelona Airport 12/8/2019 – Arrived at 15.00hrs.

An unacceptably long (2hour+) initial wait at the Terminal 2 counter – (Don't forget to get a ticket from the machine adjacent to the desk, this has a number which is your 'turn' in the queue and shows up on a screen above the counter/desk) – Surely manning the existing five desk terminals at busy times instead of just three would help ease the congestion of around 20-30 people waiting when I was there…?

Apart from the initial queue I had no problems at all (I did take out the excess protection Super Cover which brought my three day hire to around 拢100).
The Car – Citroen C3 was new and was big enough for 3 adults and 1 child, large hold case and 3 hand luggage size cases.
Return was painless, waited around 10 minutes –
If you choose the full/full fuel policy you must produce your receipt from the garage where you filled the car up on return, failing to do this will incur a charge..There is a sign posted Garage on the return approach to terminal 2.
As I had full cover the car wasn't even checked over on return.
My deposit has been paid back into my bank account and I only paid what was quoted.

On the whole not a bad experience, however having to wait over 2 hours (One guy I spoke to had waited 3 hours !) for a pre-booked car is unacceptable.. I don't think this was a one off either as when I returned my car there were people complaining about also having a 2hr + wait…

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Brenda
1 year ago

Que mal chicos! Disappointing service. Waited for 1.5 hrs to get seen by a staff member! I will not use it again ? Nunca Jam谩s!

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Nadine
1 year ago

Fraudulant claims – avoid at all costs! Firefly/Hertz Malaga sent a bill for almost 拢300 for damage I did not cause! They sent photos of the damage, but they could have been taken any time, as it took over 6 weeks for them to send a notification of damage and payment request. I regretfully did not take photos of the car on drop off so cannot prove i did not cause the damage. The case was passed to a debt collector in Uk, and they threatened me with a home visit. I paid it for fear and anxiety over the demands. I am appalled at their behaviour. Sickened. Tantamount to stealing from its customers. Avoid at all costs.

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Rita
1 year ago

when picking up the car, they charged me around 160 euros extra.
1- service fee
2- an additional service fee because i arrived after midnight (even though that was in my booking)
3- pay for the whole gas tank
4- 21% VAT on the above

Seriously?!

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Janice
1 year ago

What an absolute shower. On hiring a car, they blocked 鈧?50 on my credit card. Car was returned ok and signed off. They debited my card with the charges pretty much as expected (about 拢86) but have never released the block on the 鈧?50. More than two weeks on, they don't respond to emails or answer the phone. My bank tells me that they can't do anything, so my credit limit has effectively been reduced because Firefly can't do their job properly.
What a terrible company – I will never use them or Hertz again.

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Darren
1 year ago

Do not use this company; just don't. Did I say don't?

I rented through the broker Holiday Autos and I took out extra insurance during the booking for Damage Refund Insurance. When arriving at the airport to collect my vehicle, I had to wait in a queue that was 2 hours long. When finally arriving at the desk there were two members of staff, one that was training and one what that seemed as if he had been there for some time.

The man tried to hard sell me their own insurance even though I had insurance of my own. He told me that I would not be covered for breakdown cover which I was under my other policy. I told him that I did not want to have any extra cover.

When presented with the contract, he got me to initial and sign about my insurance and (as I had never booked third party insurance before) had told him I didn't want their extra cover, I believed that what I was initialling was the acceptance of the cover that I had already taken. This turned out to be extra insurance that they had sneakily added to the contract and made me believe otherwise. A complete hustle of which I am very angry.

This has happened to other people as well but unfortunately I didn't read the reviews until after the fact. This is the reason they are still getting business. Make sure to tell your friends NEVER to book through Firefly. It appears my 拢90 extra insurance that I didn't want was a minor problem when you consider the problems of everyone else in these reviews.

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Natasha
1 year ago

Absolutely useless, avoid especially at Malaga airport. Nearly an hours wait, out of season, to collect the keys. A very long walk to the terminal to the maze like car lot where the employees of Firefly were happily wheel-spinning and screeching their way round the lot. The car was unclean inside and out. Oh and on leaving, some fool nearly hit us head on trying to take a short cut up the exit ramp! Dropped out refilled, on time, no damage or excess mileage and low and behold, a couple of days later a 116gbp fee appears on my cc statement, so now I've got the hassle of trying to claim that back through the broker/credit card provider. Absolute gringo's the lot of them, part of Hertz I understand so I will never use either company ever again!

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Frank
1 year ago

Car rented via rentals.com and prepaid
Refused to give me a car at 23:45 without any explaination.
Worst rent a car company ever. Dissapointed completely.
DO NOT RENT WITH FIREFLY OR HERTZ

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Hunter
1 year ago

i write on behalf of my wife. We hired a car from Malaga airport on 16/3/19 for one week. At the Firefly desk the lady said she had upgraded me to a better car for only 3 euro a day.I didn't need it but having waited for an hour we were desperate to get out of the airport. I signed the documents and was only expecting an additional charge of 21 euro. The lady said I may see a charge of 180+euro on my card but don't worry it will be refunded on return of the car. There was no mention at all regarding paying for extra insurance even though I was waiting for it having gone through the hard sell on previous visits.
I arrive home and find firefly have changed me 拢164.05 for top up insurance. I challenged though the broker Rentalcars.com and they state I signed the agreement there is nothing that can be done. Firefly are nothing but con artists who prey on people who are desperate to get out of the airport. Im sure it is a ploy to keep you waiting as long as possible to increase the pressure.
DO NOT USE THEM THEY WILL TRY EVERYTHING TO EXTRACT MONEY FROM YOU without your knowledge like charging for insurance without bringing it to your attention. I hope the advisor enjoys her commission. I regularly hire cars abroad but will never use firefly again.

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Monica
2 years ago

Very bad, stay away from this company. Could not pick up car, because the company through which we have rented the car (Cartrawler) did not pick up the telephone / answer the e-mails to change something in the contract. Unfriendly staff would not let us pass to the office to fill a complaint. Needless to say that the EUR 350.- paid in advance are lost…

Malisimo, no pudimos recoger el coche por falta de administraci贸n. Al querer poner una queja en el libro de reclamaciones los empleados desagradables no nos dejaron pasar a la oficina. Por supuesto los 350.- EUR pagados adelantado est谩n perdidos…

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Jeffrey
2 years ago

I booked on rentalcars with insurance. At firefly office (Airport Alicante) they overlooked it and made me the invoice with their insurance. In the end I had two (from rentalcars and from firefly). The invoice was also made for 6 days instead of 5 (from 24 to 29). At the end they corrected the invoice from 6 to 5 days. However, they have also very expensive children seats! I do not recomend them! Neither of them!

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Darren
2 years ago

Hired a car from Firefly on for the weekend so not expensive picked up from Malaga at midnight in a dimly lit carpark on returning the vehicle the assistant checked my car I wasn't present came back to the office to inform me I was being charged 鈧?98 for a SCRATCH see photo on returning to this vehicle I noticed this could have been covered over with a marker pen is this a scam…!? Because I know I drove the car from Malaga to my house then never went out until returning vehicle .Customer service where absolutely rubbish they just showed me the documents I signed to say I will pay for any damages BUT it didn't say for me to be SCAMED

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Zane
2 years ago

rented a car from firefly at alicante via holiday autos for the amazing price of 拢7.49p of course I expected to pay more when I went to the airport desk
and i was asked for another 50 euros which was to cover roadside assistance which i already had and unlimited mileage which I did not need,
this sum was on my september credit card bill, on my october credit card was another charge for 拢68 I asked holiday autos what this charge was for and they contacted firefly and i was told it was for insurance, as I had taken out insurance with AXA I had no need for this and had not asked for it. this company firefly are not to be trusted, I have paid almost 拢100
above the intial rental cost, not including my AXA insurance, do not rent from this company as they are scammers, I must add that holiday autos
were not to blame and tried to help me as best they could.

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Brice
2 years ago

Dire:- Appalling- have potentially been charged twice by Vehicle Rent and Firefly for rental and other costs have not been transparent.
I have been in communication with both parties for weeks- both unhelpful, with VR (Maja) asking for copies of documents and credit card statements despite having my details and the agreement number. Will never use again. I have now written to VR and Firefly/ Hertz yet again today.

In addition to this we had an absolutely hideous experience at Valencia airport upon arrival;- we were kept waiting in the extremely hot car park rather than the air conditioned unit for over an hour and a half (with children). We were spoken to by one associate in a very aggressive manner when going into the unit to check where we were in the queue- the associates were not updating the numbering system- causing much irritation to those waiting- many also with children in the heat, without seating or water.

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