Nationwide Vehicle Rentals Reviews 

Nationwide vehicle rentals have failed to return our deposit after they canceled the hire due to not having an available van after 6 weeks of requesting the refund.
For this reason I advise all potential customers to avoid using this company.
we are having to chase all the time with no communications - just “I’ll pass onto account to action promptly”

Bad communication and no deposit refund
I rented a van at the end of June to help my daughter move home. My booking was changed twice but I still expected the van to arrive as requested. It turned up 2 1/2 hours late and I hadn’t been able to reach anyone to confirm it was on its way which added to the stress. They were then late collecting it but only responded when I reiterated that it would receive a parking ticket if not collected before the following morning.
I then had to chase to get the deposit back. I received an email on the 10th of July telling me it has been released but that I was to allow 28 working days! I chased the deposit in the middle of August only to be told that I couldn’t be put through to the account department. I I have subsequently emailed them but I received no response. They have now had my deposit for nearly 3 months and I can find no way of contacting them other through the booking line. I’m hoping that this review will get them to act.

I booked a Mercedes C class and paid a GBP 1000 deposit, was given a kia Sportage. I was promised in writing that the companu would refund the digference in the car hre. The vehicle was used for one day, returned without any issues (except for chrge for GBP 19.50 for petrol (fair enough) . I was advised by email that my deposit has been refunded to my credit card in Aoril 2025 together with the difference in the car hire charge - to date nearly 6 months later I have had NO REFUND from this company. I have contacted them by phone and email nearly 30 times and all they say is that there accounts department is looking into it. This is the most unprofessional disreputable company I have EVER dealt with. DO NOT EVER RENT FROM THEM - they dont live up to their promises nor terms and conditions of hire.

As with everyone else, I am 5 month after and still not received my deposit, I call them, they put me on hold and 15 minutes later hang up on me. I will be sending a late payment fee and taking them to the small claims court.

AVOID AVOID AVOID!!! Reading other comments, I experienced similar issue. Vehicle was delivered and collected pretty much without any issues. Refunding my deposit on other hand, very different story. We returned the vehicle on 29th July and to this day (11th September) the deposit has not been returned. I made several phone calls and sent numerous emails and every time they reassured me this matter is being escalated to the accounts manager. I was not able to get any further contact details for a manager, different department and when they gave me email address for their complaint department, it simply does not exist and email bounced back. I advise if you end up booking a vehicle with this company, use your credit card and get them involved ASAP after you return the vehicle. I have just spoken to my Barclaycard team and they are starting their investigation, hopefully will get my money back soon.

AVOID!! Terrible company. Terrible communication. The van delivery was fine initially but didn’t pick up the van until two days later and that was with me chasing. We paid the deposit in July and still have not recieved a refund. I get an email once a week to pretend they are working on my refund. I am almost a hundred percent certain that they are gaining interest on all customers held deposits - it shows in all reviews! I am contacting the financial ombudsman and they will get looked into for this misconduct.

I hired 17 Seater minibus on 17 May and £2500 deposit still not returned to me
Today 9 September.
I filed payment dispute and my bank told me to wait about 8 weeks.
If they fail again I will take them to court
Whatever the cost.

I would not recommend this company, as the vehicle I was given was delivered late and had many problems with it, and then after returning the vehicle I never got my deposit back, so had to go through my credit card company to get my deposit.
When booking the vehicle, it all seems quite reasonable, but the cost for insurance is well above other rental companies, and the excess amounts are very high; so overall it is not so cheap.
I received the car on 4th May 2025, it arrived 30 min outside the 2 hour window that they assured me it would, so our holiday departure was delayed. The vehicle had squeaky brakes, one of the middle row seats would not move, so people could only get into the rear seats from one side. The back of one of the middle seats was loose and kept falling off. The front dash driver vent was broken and I was not given a full tank or fuel as I was told.
After one week I returned the vehicle on 11th May, then on 20th May I received an email saying all was OK with the returned vehicle and my deposit will be returned within 7-10 working days. I chased the deposit return on 24th May, I got a reply saying they would chase their finance department. Still nothing on 30th May, so sent another email, and on 31st May was told they will escalate. Chased again on 6th June, 11th June & 2nd July, I received no replies to these emails.
I then contacted my credit card company to help me recover my deposit. I finally got my £500 back on 30th July, over two month after returning the vehicle, only thanks to my credit card company. It is clear NVR do not want to return your deposit.
Will never be using this company again.

Do not use this company. Absolutely horrific. Vehicle smelt horrible and looked like it was just hosed out. Im still waiting for my deposit which it seems like it will never return. I will be contacting lawyers.

Do not use this company.
I received an email on 30 June saying that my "deposit of £250 has been successfully credited back to my card". They lied, because 2 months later they still have not repaid the deposit.

There appears to be no email or phone number to contact their accounts team. The rest of NVR are apparently unable to phone their accounts team.

Brought our two cats in carriers. No extra charge and no fuss from staff. Cleaned up hair easily – stress-free!

7-seater with panoramic roof made our Cornwall holiday extra special. Kids loved the views – no complaints on the 6-hour drive!

Took a £750 deposit, never delivered the van, every time I chased about the refund they said it was "coming soon", had to do a chargeback on my credit card to get the money back. Avoid. Scam.

I will never use NVR again. After two months I am still fighting with them to get my deposit back. I think they make more money from keeping people’s deposits than from renting vehicles. Use NVR at your own peril.

Please please please do not use this company, you will not receive your deposit back, you may be without a car for your personal needs and they have even been on watch dog for the way they treat their customers. Absolutely disgusting

6 seater crew cab van reserved for family holiday in July 2025. Reservation made and paid for in full in September 2024, just over £1000 including deposit.
I was called by NW vehicle rentals less than 24 hours before the vehicle was due to be dropped off. Unfortunately, I missed the call. Shortly after, I received an email telling me that the vehicle had been involved in an accident and was therefore unavailable. I called the office to discuss my options, but unfortunately, the person who answers calls is unable to make any decisions and merely passes messages on.
I received an email with an offer of a smaller vehicle, which would not have been suitable. So I opted for a refund instead. After 3 weeks and multiple requests for it, I still haven't received it, so I have had to contact my credit card provider. I am hopeful they will resolve this.
This company has a record of this sort of shoddy service. They were featured on BBC Watchdog for similar behaviour. Seemingly, they learned nothing and appear to bankroll the business by holding onto customers deposits for longer than appropriate.

Booked and hired a minibus for the end of May 2025 for family holiday to France. Booked and payed for 6 weeks in advance with very large security deposit! Delivery Booked for the Saturday (day before we leave) but, on the Friday at 16:45pm recieved a call to say they no longer have a vehicle available (13 people inc. Children excited for a disney trip) great start! But 10mins later a return call a vehicle has been found! Following day after a tense wait, 6hours after agreed delivery it arrived.
An 8yr old bus that looked like it had been completed a few laps of a rally course, but it was legal (just). It served us well for a weeks roadtrip holiday to France and back to Wales.
Collection was canceled the following day, and delayed for 9days after repeated un answered phone calls and strongly worded email. The off hire confirmation then took another 5days to come through and finally receiving notification my deposit had been released, June 16th.
It is now August 15th and the funds have only just been paid back to my account, £2750 taking 10weeks to be refunded after a hire! It took weekly unanswered phone calls, non returned voicemails and countless ignored emails, finally an unexpected new member of staff to pick my call of frustration and anger for my threats of counter claims of interest incurred and reports to Watchdog for the funds to be released by their accounts team!
This company is a JOKE!! Do not trust them with your money and do not expect any type of customer service or any level of quality vehicles, stay clear, nothing but stress and anxiety!!

Very bad company, with appallingly customer service.
We made a booking on the 25/07/25 for September 25, instead of taking a deposit they took the whole balance which was unexpected.
We cancelled the booking on the 28/07/25 and have still not received the refund, we have contacted customer service multiple times by emailed and phone and have not received any credible responses to our queries.
Please avoid using this company they are not trustworthy and i will be looking at taking legal action through my bank.

Absolutely appalling customer service. Booked a vehicle for which they took more than the stated 'deposit' then cancelled the following working day a Monday28th July. Vehicle not required until September so resonable amount of time for cancellation. Contacted NVR's on the 1st of August querying how long before I can expect a refund in the account. Emailed almost straight back 3 - 5 working days but the bank could take longer for it to show. Contacted the bank who informed us that the would process of refund should take 5-8 days before it would show in the account. The bank confirmed that there was no pending monies due to be paid into the account from NVR.
Contacted NVR by phone and email can't phone accounts directly but will put note on the account. 14 working days later still not sign of it appearing in the account and several emails to NVR they don't even have the decency to reply too.
I would advise everyone to only use these as a last resort. I feel sorry for the customer service team who have to deal with phone calls from disgruntled customers.
Had I read the other reviews posted I would of had second thoughts about using them.
A full complaint to the company is being made and this will be escalated if they continue not to engage.
If smaller companies can refund the same day there is no reason why this company cannot refund within 24 hours. Very poor practice. The single star is due to there being no option to give non.

absolutely the worst company ever do not use
still waiting for refund
Minibus should never been allowed to be on the road shambles