No Car, Lost Deposit

No Car, Lost Deposit

Received a great quote w/ an easy reservation process. When we went to pick-up the car in Athens, the local agency wouldn't honor the rental as I didn't have an International Driver's License (I've rented twice in Italy in the last 6 months without one so wasn't aware). Yes, this was buried in the T&C's on Carflexi's website but wasn't cited in the multiple advance emails listing out the required documentation (they cited the following: voucher, valid credit card, drivers license, ID/passport). In-the-moment support was terrible: slow chat offering no helpful info, leaving us stranded w/ no car...it took multiple taxis, busses and 5 additional hours to get us and the kids to our destination. Follow-up support continued to be a disaster, lost all of my $672 deposit as they were of no help, took no accountability and "hid behind the fine print." Ended up going directly to Sixt and had a great experience: they gave us the info needed to get the necessary license in a matter of hours online and ultimately gave us a better price on a slightly larger car. Going direct with the rental agencies is definitely the best way to go...unfortunately this was an expensive lesson to learn.

Pros
easy initial process

Cons
no customer support, hide behind the "fine print" in the terms and conditions