Thrifty Reviews

Car Hire - Rent a Car with Thrifty Car Rental

thrifty.ie
2.28
36 reviews
Poor Rating
Based on 36 user experiences

RatingFacts is an independent review platform and is not affiliated with Thrifty (thrifty.ie). All trademarks, logos and brand names are the property of their respective owners. Learn more · Report abuse

Discover more

Taxis & Public Transport Vehicle Rental Motorcycle & Powersports Bicycles Auto Parts & Wheels Cars & Trucks Other Vehicles & Trailers Vehicle Repair & Fuel

Rated 2.28 out of 5 by 36 Happy Customers

25%
2.8%
2.8%
13.9%
55.6%
All 5 ★ 4 ★ 3 ★ 2 ★ 1 ★ 😊 Positive 😐 Neutral 😞 Negative Reset Filter
AI Review Summary Based on 36 reviews

Overall customer experience with Thrifty is highly polarised, with many reporting extremely negative interactions while others praise specific locations. A significant number of customers allege unfair and excessive charges for minor or pre-existing damage, often citing difficulty disputing these due to out-of-hours returns or unclear inspection processes. The insurance and deposit policies are frequently criticised as a scam, with reports of forced expensive insurance, high credit card holds, and demands for impossible documentation to use alternative coverage. Hidden or unauthorised extra fees are a major complaint, with customers charged for upgrades, fuel, or add-ons they did not agree to, sometimes with forged signatures. Service quality at major airports like Shannon, Cork, and Dublin is often described as poor, involving long waits, unhelpful staff, and being pressured into costly upgrades when booked cars are unavailable. Vehicle quality is inconsistent, with complaints about old, dirty, poorly maintained, or incorrectly sized cars, including serious safety issues like bald tyres or wheels falling off. Positive experiences are largely confined to specific locations like Derry and Cork Airport, where staff are praised as friendly, professional, and helpful, offering good value and seamless service. The returns and refund process is problematic, with delayed or non-refunded deposits and unexpected charges appearing days after the car is returned. Booking and payment systems are criticised for being inflexible, particularly regarding mandatory credit card requirements that can strand customers. Ultimately, satisfaction hinges heavily on the specific rental location and staff encountered, leading to a stark divide between customers who feel scammed and those who had an excellent, value-for-money experience.

What customers love
  • Good value for money and competitive
  • Positive experiences with third-party bookings through
Common concerns
  • Unfair damage charges and disputes over
  • Predatory insurance and deposit practices with
  • Hidden or unauthorised extra fees and
  • Poor vehicle condition (old, dirty, unsafe,

Last updated 4 months ago

A

What an absolute joke of a company

What an absolute joke of a company I paid for the b grade car as i needed a bigger car than a mini and was given a Hyundai i10 even though my letter said renault clio or similar and when u originally booked it said ford focus or similar the people behind the desk could not give a monkeys and offered me to pay an additional 5 a day to get a bigger car- out of pure principle i declined this Want to know how I know this car is actually classed as a mini When you search it on search engines under hertz thrifty same company it says Hyundai i10 or similar-mini No reply via email as of yet and hopefully i will receive at least an apology They were very unhelpful on the phone Their only saving grace was a LOVELY man who check the car with me He should be the staff member behind the counter Maybe if they paid their staff well they wouldn t have to be brutal regarding the commission they get for every upgrade they manage I rent cars 4 times a year for 2weeks at a time I will NEVER use hertz thrifty again after this Recommend using europcar carhire ie instead
T

I had my worst ever car experience with Thrifty

I had my worst ever car experience using Thrifty Hertz I picked up a car at Cork and checked the damage which they had noted against the car and all was fine after I checked around the car and it matched their notes I drove the car off straight to the hotel 12 miles away left it overnight and then returned the car the next morning to the airport 24 miles total On returning the car the attendant noticed a small crack in the tyre about 2 inches above the wheel rim This small crack was not on their damage notes and I whist I checked all the body work I never checked any of the actual tyres before I took the car note I will also check tyres from now on He then insisted I must have done this damage and charged me 180 against a car hire of 28 I was incensed as to damage the wheel at that particular point on the tyre must have meant I hit a curb and hit the curb hard enough to damage the wheel would have meant I surely would have damaged the wheel hub To add to that I was no where near a curb at any point as both car parks at the airport and hotel were open car parks with no curbs in sight The damage clearly to me looked like wear and tear I didn t do the damage and what makes me angrier apart from the fact they are basically calling me a liar is that clearly they sent me out in a car with a damaged tyre which was dangerous I have emailed the branch manager twice called Paul and have received no email back in just under a week and they have taken the money from my account I have travel car insurance and so I will get this money back but I m so angry at the customer service being called liar and the injustice I m writing my first ever trust pilot review I have to admit since publishing this article the company did refund me the money so customer service did go up one star to 2
K

rented compact car from cork airport

rented compact car from cork airport for 4 days this was pre booked the first car was a skoda fabia which the vehicle condition report said the tyes were of good condition this was not the case it had a bald tyre which luckily i saw before driving away they then gave my Hyundai I10 which was ok except the areal was missing so no radio all said and done the bald tyre issue could have been very dangerous
V

B E W A R E

Upon returning my hire car a team member of Thrifty had great difficulty in pointing out to me a very small and smooth dent because it was barely the size of the head of a pencil My attempt to photograph the mark failed miserably as I was unable to get a shot of it from any angle I genuinely believe the damage was there before I took the vehicle out as there were numerous faults with the bodywork that HAD been recorded prior to my hiring In my humble opinion I think Thrifty too had failed to pick this up earlier and as a result the car could have been hired out a number of occasions previously without anybody noticing this dent My feeling about this is reinforced by the fact there were other significant ares of damage on the vehicle The car was involved in no bumps whilst in my care and was parked safely at all times I pleaded my innocence with Thrifty but they have demonstrated no consideration to my plea and I have learned that are charging me approximately 600 for it Technically there is no reason why other drivers of this car victims of Thrifty might not suffer the injustice that I believe am suffering B E W A R E
G

Hidden costs despite phoning in advance to check

I made a booking which felt suspiciously inexpensive so phoned the Dublin airport office and confirmed with a female employee she said that my booking didn t include insurance but I have cover with my credit card She advised me to have a statement from my insurer stating my cover which I did I asked her to confirm there were no further charges and she stated all I would pay was the rental charge of 41 When I arrived to collect my car the first had a broken charger so I had to go all the way back into the airport to change the car I was given a much older car with 62k k on the clock I m not sure why I was given a less desirable car due to an issue that wasn t my fault and the gent on the desk didn t even answer my question Then apparently I have to pay an extra 7 per day for NOT taking their insurance I then had another 30 cross border fee which is fine as I didn t mention this when I phoned to check the price I returned the car and received a receipt for 126 total costs Which feels astonishing when my original rental fee was 41 I ve also been charged a 22 91 location service charge I can t seem to find any way to contact them to find out what this is Please be careful with these hidden costs my price has multiplied by 3
G

Deposit on creditcard very high more insurance charged than agreed

We hired via AutoEurope two nine seaters with super cover full insurance at Thrifty Cork Airport Unfortunately the deposit on our creditcards was very high 3000 00 Too high for our cards wich are limited 2500 00 each The employee was very helpfull but she could not give us the cars without this deposit so she offered an extra insurance for 10 days for 30 00 In total it was 600 00 for the two nine seaters In the end we agreed so we could start our trip Good cars one brand new So far no comments But when we got the credit card bill we were unpleasantly surprised instead of the 300 00 per car Thrifty charged us 400 00 I m still considering to dispute this amount with my credit card company In short good employees good cars but Thrifte has to put the deposit on credit cards down since not a lot of people have this limit on their cards
G

Thrifty Rental Cork Airport

Booked Thrifty through 3rd party Part of Hertz and received a warm friendly professional welcome at Cork airport desk by Edgar and Natasha Return experience with John seamless too Still had to give credit card details in case of damages Explained card refund on return and car checks approved The damages are recorded electronically and damage check sheet received via email and can upload extra photos for any discrepancies Shame no one at drop off to sign off return and give confirmation full refund on held credit card Just have to wait and trust vendor in good faith Hence 4 stars but staff on pick up and return at Cork were faultless - 5 star desk team
C

Great Service

Picked up a car from the city centre location of Thrifty Car Rental - very speedy service
P

Excellent VALUE CAR RENTAL

Excellent VALUE CAR RENTAL If you re renting a car in Ireland don t get ripped off by others and rent through Thrifty Best Value for Money on car rental in Ireland Rented a 172 VW Golf for 3 days for 50euro If Renting not taking out full Damage Insurance BE SURE TO INSPECT CAR AGAINST THRIFTY S VEHICLE INSPECTION REPORT BEFORE YOU EVEN START THE CAR UP REQUEST THE REPORT AT THE DESK WHEN YOU COLLECT THE CAR AND DO NOT LEAVE UNTIL YOU HAVE IT AND CHECKED THE CAR THOROUGHLY AS THE INSPECTORS SOMETIMES MISS MARKS AND THINGS ON THE CAR THAT YOU MAY HAVE TO PAY FOR Any marks or damage you see on the car that s not on the Inspection Report report it immediately to a staff member before you leave just to cover yourself as if you don t you may be liable on returning the car to pay for damage that you havn t caused I didn t go for their full insurance as i rented through a car rental website and went with their Full Excess refund insurance which meant that if something did happen i would have to pay thrifty s hefty Damage Excess of 1500euro but i would get refunded from the external insurance provide eventually But thank god nothing happened in my rental period as i was careful when parking to not park anywhere near anyone else to get any nasty surprises Great Cars for Great value
I

Service price car excellent definitely recommend Thrifty Derry

Just back from Northern Ireland there for a trip Rented a car in Derry service was excellent from start to finish Phoned and spoke to Sean who negotiated a good deal for me for 3 days over holiday weekend at last minute Booked a basic car but when I got there presently surprised to get a VW Golf lovely and clean and great drive Although Thrifty are not based in the airport the driver was waiting for me coming off my flight and again going back to the airport got me there in good time for my return flight even when I was running late All staff were very pleasant and helpful Would definitely recommend and will use them again in the future

About Thrifty

Car rental made easy with Thrifty Car Rental We have an extensive range of cars globally For the best rental rates book online today

Visit Website

Own this business?

Claim your profile to respond to reviews, manage your listing, and build trust with customers.

Claim This Business

Related Companies

View All
1
Thrifty
3.57 (141) · thrifty.com
2
Thriftycars4rent
0.00 (0) · thriftycars4rent.com
3
Eurocarhire
0.00 (0) · eurocarhire.co.uk
4
Internationalcar
1.00 (9) · internationalcar.pt
5
Thrifty
1.96 (27) · thrifty.es
6
Global
1.72 (25) · global.fireflycarrental.com
7
Sixt
0.00 (0) · sixt.global
Looking for Thrifty alternatives? We've ranked 7+ similar companies by reviews.
View All Alternatives