Drivalia UK - LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT Reviews 

Helpful staff
Abs was especially helpful today

absolutely brilliant from YAS THE TOP LAD and abs!

I took out a 5 day one way rental from Manchester to Gatwick with Drivalia in September.
Upon returning the car to Gatwick they discovered the most minuscule 15mm superficial scratch very low down on the drivers door. They demanded an outrageous and grossly unjust charge of £336. I had used them about 5 times over the last couple of years as I regularly fly to the UK on those occasions they were fine and I had quite possibly incurred small scratches then and nothing happened but this time they decided they were out to get me on whatever they were able to find.
Needless to say, on any of my future visits to the UK, I will never do business with them again as they are totally untrustworthy and this was simply a transparent scam.
In the long run it's their loss

I had a very disappointing experience with Drivalia at Gatwick North.

My flight was slightly delayed and I arrived at the rental desk just 1 hour and 5 minutes after my scheduled pick-up time, only to be told that my booking had been automatically cancelled because I was more than an hour late.

What was particularly frustrating was that, instead of honouring the booking, I was quoted around £250 to rent the same vehicle for the same four-day period, compared to the £69 I had originally booked. I declined, but it left me questioning whether the strict one-hour cancellation rule serves as a way of generating higher last-minute charges from customers who have little choice but to accept.

Airport delays are a fact of life. Flights, baggage reclaim and airport security regularly cause delays that are outside a traveller's control. In my case, Drivalia had my flight details, so it would have been reasonable to expect some flexibility. There is also the possibility of queuing at the rental desk itself. On a previous Drivalia rental, I waited around 15 minutes to be served, meaning a customer could potentially lose their booking while simply waiting in line.

The one-hour cut-off appears to be buried deep within the terms and conditions. It was not clearly highlighted on my booking voucher, nor was it made obvious when I booked through a third-party broker. I also noticed that customers are required to confirm they have had no "at-fault" insurance claims within the past five years, another condition that is not prominently explained during the booking process and could easily catch people out.

This is particularly disappointing because Drivalia's location is convenient for Gatwick North and its headline prices are very competitive. I would happily have become a regular customer, potentially using them monthly. Unfortunately, the lack of flexibility and the unexpected conditions have left me with the impression that the low advertised prices may be offset by policies that can result in significantly higher charges when problems arise.

Overall, I would advise anyone booking with Drivalia to read every term and condition carefully and be aware that arriving just over an hour late, even due to unavoidable airport delays, could result in your booking being cancelled and a substantially higher price being offered.

My recent experience with Drivalia UK was extremely disappointing, and I feel compelled to warn potential customers.

I booked a vehicle online with Drivalia, using my physical Irish Revolut Visa credit card, and received a confirmation email with my reference number instructing me to bring that specific card along with my Irish driver's license.

Upon arriving at the rental counter with my family, my driver's license and passport were accepted without issue. However, the staff member informed me that they could not accept my Revolut credit card—despite it being the card used to secure the online reservation. I have used this exact card across the UK and Europe for previous car rentals without any issues.

The staff stated that unless I purchased their highest-tier excess insurance policy, the vehicle would not be released to me. Because this insurance cost more than the car rental itself, I declined. I escalated the matter to the onsite manager and customer service, who assured me a refund request had been submitted. Unsurprisingly, that refund has never materialised.

Fortunately, I walked over to Alamo at Gatwick, where I booked a car using the exact same Revolut credit card with zero issues. Given this frustrating ordeal and lack of follow-through on the refund, I strongly advise others to avoid Drivalia.

Vejay was really helpful! Top bloke.

Abs was excellent yet again. Brilliant services.

Stood here waiting to get served only one person on the desk working snails pace. Queue out the door!! 40 minutes in and still people in front of me!
Ridiculous!

Waited for 1h at Gatwick North Terminal - long queue, only one operator, chaotic

I booked through easyJet app which pre-filled flight time, I arrived one hour late at Gatwick, I had paid in advance and they said they only hold the car for 60 minutes, no mention of this on app, conveniently they offer another car for an extra £250, original booking was paid for in advance for a £100, clearly a scam they refused to refund I have had to escalate it for through easyJet car hire- terrible AVOID!!!!

Abs was brilliant.

Excellent customer service and very efficient. Thank you for making this part of our travels so easy

I have always had a 5 star service from the team at Drivalia at Gatwick and this was even better. Firstly Dan and James were excellent. Dan went above and beyond, with a great sense of humour as always. Then James sorted out something for me later on, speedily and efficiently. I highly recommend Drivalia which is my first choice. Not only is it convenient right outside the terminal itself but the staff are great, friendly and seem to really enjoy their jobs. Well done again, I’ll be back soon.

I had a confirmed booking to pick up a car at 9.30pm. I was called at 9.20pm to be told they didn't have a car available. They have still taken my money so not only did I have to sort another car but I now have to navigate the refund process. Appalling, the sales person on the desk made no efforts to sort a solution. I can't believe they had not one back up vehicle for a case where a car is returned with a warning light on.

I booked a rental with Drivalia at Gatwick Airport that was in total for £100. My rental was due to start at 8pm. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed by 5 hours and I arrived after the office was closed and also had to pay for a hotel for the night. I tried to call Drivalia before the flight to make them aware of the problem. I spent a lot of money roaming calling with no response. The following morning I arrived at the office and was told that my booking had been cancelled and that they would have to restore this. What this effectively meant was that I would be booking for an new, immediate hire . I was told that i would need to pay a further £200 to continue my rental that was now 1 day shorter. Net I would have to pay 3 times more for the rental of a car that I had already reserved and paid for. I discovered that even if I had contacted Drivalia, they would hold as standard my reservation for 1 hour and if I called for 2 hours. This policy is at an airport where there are consistently delays to flights that can easily exceed this. The net result is DRIVALIA IS PROFITING FROM AN ALREADY DIFFICULT MOMENT FOR THEIR CUSTOMER. The reality is that the customer has already paid and reserved a car, but there is a commercial benefit to quickly terminate this rental with the opportunity for them to get a significant penalty cost from their customer, if they do still want the car and their options are limited. Finally I threw away my £100 to Drivalia and took the train and changed all my plans. Thank you Drivalia for adding to an already difficult trip. I will also be raising this with the necessary trading standards as this is, in my view, an abusive practice.

Abs service was brilliant. 🤩 thank you Abs

Vijay has been great to help us at this late hour. Great customer service !!

Had an terrible experience with Drivalia at Heathrow but Gatwick was a totally different story. Thanks Danny for sorting everything out re a change of car was much appreciated and rest of staff were great too

Abs is the man. Super service. First time using drivaliA. I am coming back in November.