Nationwidehireuk

dasyurus

I have recently had a bad experience of using this online company www. nationwidehireuk. co. uk (no spaces as new user) When I booked this I did not realise they where only a broker.

I rented a 9 seater MPV/bus and asked for a VW Shuttle. When the MPV arrived we got a Ford Toureno. This came with stickers plasted all over it for another rental company. We wanted this for personal use for going on holiday to Northern Ireland and we was not happy about this as we were camping and many sites do not like this advertising on commercial vehicles plus we did not want to advertise the fact we had a rental car to anyone. I complained to Nationwide but they just stated that they could not guarantee any vehicle would not come with stickers and they would contact the hire firm they got it from and get back to me, this was when I realised they where only a broker and not a hire firm. They never contacted me back so we had to go with what we had but not very happy to do so for many reasons.

Driving around we got a stone chip that was around a £1 size. When we eventually got through to Nationwide they said the windowscreen is not covered by their fully comp insurance. I have never heard of fully comp insurance not covering this and their terms and conditions do not state this. However it does state under their CDW

"COLLISION DAMAGE WAVER INSURANCE
The hirer can purchase collision damage waver insurance at a cost as detailed on the Optional Extras page. When CDW insurance is purchased, it reduces the excess liability of £750.00.to £250.00 on all vans £500.00 to £250.00 on cars and people carriers £1000.00 to £500 on Trucks and Mini Buses. Please note that goods in transit are not covered by the insurance supplied. Exclusions to collision damage waiver are any overhead height damage to any of our vehicles, tyre damage or punctures, glass damage costs, or driving without due care and attention, negligence and dangerous driving in any of our vehicles. All costs incurred by us will be passed onto the customer and charged directly to the credit or debit card that was used when the booking was placed."

This to me is very vague glass when I read this means all other glass ie side windows, mirrors, as my own insurance would not cover these but does include front and rear windowscreen.

After the holiday I contacted this firm by email and then they phoned me. They where very aburpt, rude and demaded a payment for this. I stated I sent them an email on various complaints about this and all the other issues and want an answer to all these before payment. They just kept demanding the £500 excess cover for the damage and again very rude so I hung up after they said I was the worst customer they had ever had. I rang back and they just kept ignoring any issues I had demanded payment and stated a legal letter would be sent out the next morning. they hung up on me 3 times in a row and not willing to talk and listen to any of my complaints. so it is looking like I have to pay this £500 and take to small claims if I wish to do so.

I contacted consumer direct but they can only pass this info onto trading standards but cant help with any of the terms that this company demand. I feel I was not told these conditions of insurance at the time of purchase. ie Fully comp insurance should have stated that it does not cover the windowscreen like any normal insurance company would do so and their terms and conditions were not fully explained on the day of purchase of the hire agreement.

I also had to pay for European cover even thou we went to Northern Ireland and I do not understand why. This was all added to an email with many other complaints and sent to them,but as yet no reply but just a phone call demand for the excess and no help what so ever on my complaints.

I would urge no one to use this company as they are both rude and very unhelpfully. This is the first time I have ever posted a complaint like this about any firm.

Kilty_2

Glass (including windscreens) and tyres is nearly always an extra cover when renting a car/van. Certainly is with Europcar who I hire with regularly (albeit corporate, self-insured hire - we still get the consumer rental agreement which says this)

Also - all hire companies say they can't guarantee a specific make and model

dasyurus

I understand that they can't guarantee what car but I asked and they said it would be a VW Shuttle and I gave reasons for why I wanted this 9 seater over others they had over 6 months to supply and sort it out but when the MPV was delivered the hire company stated they had less than a day to sort something out and did not have time to sort out our requirements and we had a MPV not suitable for our needs due to it not being big enough and the stickers plastered all over it.

as for "glass" it is still very vague as normally car insurance covers this but not for rental as I said it should state this properly in terms and conditions. in does not cover "glass which incudes the windowscreen" should be written down somewhere in the terms and conditions. It only states about the glass under the CDW insurance part of terms and not under the main insurance part so it is misleading.

Also does not cover the long list of issues we had with this company and how rude they are and lack of customer skills is just unbelievable

mark_heaton

I am currently having a terrible time with Nationwide Hire. Please be aware, this company is highly suspect and should be avoided at all costs.

We hired a van to move house (only moved just over half a mile). Booked using their online service, all seemed ok.

The van was delivered the day before it was hired as the driver said he didnt start work till after we wanted the van and so was dropping it off early. ER, ok...

The van when it arrived looked like it had been used in a ram raid! It was a wreck! When I asked the delivery driver where the check sheet was showing the condition, he said it was in the envelope with the keys. It wasnt.

I asked him if he had one so we could go round the van and his reply was "no but dont worry, I know whats up with it".

I went inside to get a piece of paper and a pen saying we could do it on that and he could sign it so I had a copy. When I came back out, he had found a blank check sheet. He gave me the blank and went and stood by his car.

I went round the van but there was frankly so much damage, the sheet would have needed to be several pages long to get it all. I got down all the major and he signed it and left.

The van was on a one day hire so we were expecting it to be collected the next evening, however the driver had said he would not be there and would collect early the following morning.

He did not turn up.

I rang National around lunch time and they said the van would be collected by 2pm. At 4.30pm, two guys arrived and went frankly mad at the state of the van. I showed them the copy of the damage sheet I had taken and the calmed right down, phoned their office and then came back and appologised for the terrible levels of customer service. They then said I would not be charged for any of the damage and left.

That should have been the last I heard....

Till a company called A1 took £500 from my account!

It turns out, National have acted as an agent for A1 and A1 have taken the money for damage to the windscreen. Damage I DID NOT CAUSE!!!!!!!

National have been replying to my emails by basically repeating I have damaged the windscreen and to talk to A1 - a company I have never heard of, did not do business with and did not have a hire contract with.

Do NOT touch National Hire UK with a barge pole. They are in breach of the DSR and I am reporting them to everyone I can think of, they are in breach of their own merchant account terms by passing over my bank details and as soon as I have tracked down their merchant provider I will be reporting it to them as well.

I am sending a full account to the Daily Mail and the local paper where the company is based. Do not pass over any financial details to this shoddy outfit!

You have been warned!!!

Yoko

Please report this fraud at actionfraud.org.uk Call them to get some advise.

sarahg1969

We had a nightmare with this organisation last year.

We were in a last-minute rush, trying to organise an MPV for our holidays as my car was suddenly off the road. We tried everywhere, and eventually, 3 days before we were due to go, this company said they could get us a Touran (not ideal, but we said OK).

It was due to arrive on the Thursday, as we were leaving on the Friday. It never arrived, so we called them late on Thursday and they told us we would have it by Friday lunchtime, and to ring another company, East Mids Hire, on Friday morning to confirm.

On Friday morning, we rand East Mids Hire, and we were told the car was still out on hire in Milton Keynes and they knew nothing about the alleged rental, and told us the car wasn't even available.

However, East Mids Hire were amazing. They said they didn't they had anything available, but would see what they could do. They found us a Subaru Forrester, which they fitted a roofbox to, and drove straight up with it. It arrived an hour before we had to leave. Mad panic!!

Afterwards, we read the reviews of Nationwide, and they were atrocious. Seems this is a common problem with them. Another one is for extra charges to be put on to people's cards. However, we were lucky and that didn't happen.