Thrifty Anmeldelser 

This company doesn’t deserve any stars! I always pay for the full insurance, so never normally have a problem. However they charged me 264€ for the car, and 136€ for the fuel. It’s been 3 weeks now and I’ve still not had my money back, I’ve been given 3 different email addresses, no one cares, zero customer service! They have said they released the money (albeit the wrong lesser amount) and it’s my banks issue. My bank is saying they have not released it and now they are going to start the charge back process with them. Awful company, basically thieves!

Pratiques abusives au comptoir de Malaga (Espagne). Manque de flotte sur la catégorie réservée via Booking, l'agent en profite pour facturer de force un UPGRADE payantà 10€HT/jour ET une assurance SUPERCOVK en menacant de bloquer le véhicule. Démarche en cours auprès de Booking et des autorités de protection des consommateurs (Réservation 710974040)

Ventede 1½ på udlevering af bil i Malaga fra en uforskammet medarbejder. En uge efter hjemkomst trak Thrifty 302€ fra min konto. Det har de idag en måned senere ikke svaret på hvorfor de har gjort. Jeg kan ikke anbefale nogen at booke bil hos dem

Disgusting company.

We booked this car hire through our flight operator and paid for the full car hire in advance. The only balance we had outstanding was to pay for a car seat.

On arrival at the airport we had to wait ages in a queue. It was late at night with a young child not ideal. On getting to the desk we were given a car seat - not suitable for our daughter’s age (it was front facing) but were told it was suitable. Then we were rushed through the process and told we had to leave a deposit on a credit card and to sign the form. We had to sign for damage and we weren’t even shown the car in advance. On getting to the car there was more damage than they had disclosed and the car seat was broken and couldn’t even be fitted. We had to return back to get a new car seat at which point they gave us a new car seat which was rear facing - much more suitable for our daughter when originally saying they didn’t have any… We then returned our car with a full tank of fuel as agreed.
After returning from holiday we have now been charged nearly £300 on our credit card without any reason why. The receipt we were given states we agreed to additional insurance which we definitely didn’t (we were told it was a refundable deposit) as we’d already purchased additional insurance though another supplier. Absolutely disgusting, the reason why they make the hire cheaper is because they then rip you off after. Avoid at all costs. We will be raising a dispute through the credit card company.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!! They are scamming their customers. They make you initial a couple of boxes before taking the car, and then once you get home thinking everything has gone smoothly, a charge of £250 appears. They insist you agreed and bought supercover for £250!!!! Nobody at the desk tells you about this, or asks you about whether you want this product, they just automatically add it on!!! SCAMMERS! I will be turning up to Alicante airport in a few months time and will be letting the members of staff know what scum they are for stealing peoples money.

Absolutely shocking. The staff at Jerez Airport were lovely, both at the time of collection and return and the vehicle was excellent but then come the hidden extras!
I returned the vehicle in the proper way and all was good until I realised I had been charged an extra €110.65 on top of the original fee of £282.19 paid to Booking.com a month before the beginning of my 14 day rental. When challenged Thrifty eventually said that the extra charges were a combination of my age (72) and the pick up point (Jerez AirPort). None of this was made clear at the time of booking and means that I was charged 34% more than the original documented ‘price breakdown’. Lovely ‘front of house’ staff completely let down by rip off merchants in the background imo.

Avoid avoid avoid. Paid a £400 deposit and only got £128 back despite the car being in mint condition with a full tank of fuel and was literally only driven for 3 hours in a week. Shambolic, will be doing a chargeback soon.

It seems we were scammed the same as other people are reporting on here. Paid extra for insurance in uk with Holiday Extras. At Alicante airport the seemingly nice Spanish guy (beware shortish with dark hair, quite young) had added on Supercover without discussing or telling us. Did not realise when signing everything. Have now got a £196 credit card charge for extra insurance we neither needed or asked for. Currently trying to get the money back but nobody wants to take responsibility. When they ask you to sign, there are some lines on the left where they ask you to initial. One of those says Supercover so don’t sign next to it. Make sure you ask specifically if they are going to charge you any extras. I would also photograph the agent at the desk and record the conversation. Thought we had booked with a reputable company and we go away often so are used to car hire but BEWARE the Thtifyy desk agents. Read the other similar reviews on here too.

They charged me Euro 280+ for an extra cleaning fee because they found a few hairs in the back of the car!

Scam - that can summarise my experience with Malaga airport Thrifty Car Hire. Honestly I thought this sort of car hire companies were a thing of the past. As many previous customers reviews, I can confirm that I was:
Rushed through the payment process at the desk, being charged additional charges incl.
Airport charges, I was told the insurance I purchased via Booking.com wasn’t valid and then being charged 200% value of the initial rental!
Then, to add to the insult a Tax on top of it.
I was travelling with family and didn’t want to make a scene at the airport, but the way I was scammed was outrageous.
I will never use Thrifty again.
AVOID AND SAVE YOURSELF A NIGHTMARE EXPERIENCE ON HOLIDAY.

everything was really good UNTIL.....
I got home and noticed a £200 payment has been taken from my card for reasons unknown.
No email/phone call/text or contact of any kind from Thrifty (although the payment has been taken by Hertz who I believe are the parent company).
I booked through Holiday Autos and the process was really good.
At this time, I have no idea why I've been charged an extra £200 (the car hire itself was only £180 for the week).
Could it be that I've been fined for speeding? Don't think so as I don't recall going over the speed limit or triggering any cameras during our stay.

Have I been charged for fuel? Shouldn't be as it was absolutely topped up to the brim with fuel as close to the airpoer as we could get.

Have I been charged for damage/cleaning? Wouldn't expect so as the car was returned as new (except for some dust from our shoes but I can't remove that at the airport!

Have I been the victim of additional charges that have been applied without my knowledge? Very possibly.. Looking at other (recent) reviews I can see other people talking about identical problems.

Now I don't seem to be able to get hold of anyone at Thrifty or Hertz.

I will not use them again, no matter how low the price or how good the car.

Now to try and contact my Bank to see I can raise a dispute.

You have been warned!

UPDATE 8/6/2026.
Thrifty (Hertz) have now provided a copy of the invoice that I signed and WITHOUT TELLING ME, they added the additional insurance. I was signing what I thought was the charges to the car hire but no, they added an additional insurance without telling me and I inadvertantly signed it.
A terrible way to run a business and completely misleading.
I can't believe I fell for this but very easy to see when you sit and analyse the paperwork after the event.
The staff must have been looking at us walking away, with our 8 year old Daughter thinking ' got another sucker!'
You should be ashamed.

I will be raising a complaint, in line with the legal process in Spain.

Save yourself the hassle and avoid, avoid, avoid!

FURTHER UPDATE 12/6

Unsurprisingly, Hertz reject my complaint so I now have to raise a complaint to ECRCS (which I have done today).
PLEASE - I can see so many other people writing these poor reviews who have also been affected, please raise a complaint on their website. The more people that do this, the more chance we have of getting our money back but more importantly, to STOP this from happening!

Unfortunately, we cannot recommend Thrifty / Hertz Marbella.

Our rental car was booked through Booking.com and paid for in full before our trip. The booking included the rental charges and insurance coverage. For this reason, we arrived expecting a straightforward vehicle pickup.

Instead, we were confronted with additional insurance products and significant extra charges at the rental desk.

We repeatedly informed the employee that the booking had already been paid for and asked a very simple question: Why were we being asked to pay again for a vehicle that had already been paid for through Booking.com?

We asked this question several times and never received a clear answer. Instead, our concerns were repeatedly dismissed. In our view, the employee did not even make a genuine effort to review our booking documentation properly. Rather than examining the details of our reservation, he continually brushed aside our questions and failed to provide a transparent explanation for the additional charges.

After a long journey and travelling with our young child, we felt placed under considerable pressure. The situation gave us the impression that we had no realistic choice but to accept the additional costs if we wanted to receive the vehicle and continue our holiday.

What makes this experience even more disappointing is the way our complaint was handled afterwards. We contacted Hertz directly and requested a proper review of the case. Instead of receiving clear answers, we felt that our concerns were simply brushed aside.

Because of this, we escalated the matter and even contacted Hertz's senior management. Remarkably, we did not receive any response whatsoever—not even an acknowledgement that our complaint had been received.

To this day, nobody has been able or willing to explain why substantial additional payments were demanded despite the rental already being paid through Booking.com and insurance coverage already being in place.

For a global company such as Hertz and Thrifty, we expected transparency, professionalism and respect for customers. Unfortunately, our experience was the exact opposite.

We have now referred the matter to consumer protection organisations and will continue to pursue it.

This was one of the worst experiences we have ever had with a car rental company. We will not rent from Thrifty or Hertz again and cannot recommend them to others.

DO NOT USE!!!!!

I would not even rate this 1 star. They are a complete and utter scam and charge you for unknown amenities.

Even at the desk I asked what my payment will cover, the desk agent said this is simply the deposit and it will all be returned to you. I have then since been charge a further £200 for "additional costs."

After contact them several times asking for the money to be returned and evidence of where I signed for the additional costs, they have simply not returned my emails and are unable to provide any actual evidence!

Do not use this company they are a complete and utter shambles and a scam.

Do not rent a car from Thrifty in Malaga. They are crooks. I returned the car with a full tank of fuel yet they charged me an additional €84 for fuel and refuel and and an additional €12 of APT charges plus taxes - €116.16. Payment taken from credit card on the 24th April. After much chasing - I called 5 different numbers I finally managed to get an email response from the representative who handled our booking at the airport. On the 29th April. She admitted the error, said that the charges would be corrected but did not confirm that we would get a refund. I have called repeatedly to a number that she provided. It either hangs up or goes straight to voice mail, and I get no responses to my emails.
Be warned.

ACHTUNG UNBEDINGT VERMEIDEN! Wir haben unseren Mietwagen über CHECK24 gebucht und leider vorher nicht in die Bewertungen geschaut. Nach unserer Rückreise waren weiterhin 305 € auf der Kreditkartenabrechnung offen. Zunächst gingen wir davon aus, dass es sich dabei um die normale Kaution handelt.

Erst nach einer Reklamation stellte sich heraus, dass uns vor Ort zusätzliche Versicherungen berechnet wurden. Besonders ärgerlich: Ich hatte ausdrücklich erwähnt, dass bereits alle Versicherungen über CHECK24 abgeschlossen wurden. Trotzdem wurden weitere Versicherungen in den Mietvertrag aufgenommen.

Auf meine Nachfrage wurde mir lediglich gesagt, dass es sich um den Betrag handle, der bereits über CHECK24 gebucht wurde. Kein Wort darüber, dass neue kostenpflichtige Versicherungen abgeschlossen werden. Hätte man uns transparent informiert, hätten wir diese natürlich nicht akzeptiert.

Wie viele andere, die hier schreiben, wurde auch ich bei der Abholung des Fahrzeugs, gebucht über billiger-mitwagen.de, in Malaga am Airport abgezockt. Über die Kreditkarte wurden im Nachhinein ohne jeden Grund 512 Euro abgebucht. Absoluter Betrug!

They are absolute frauds. When picking up the car they told me I was paying for reimbursable costs/deposit. But they ended up billing me for an insurance (although they said at the pick up that the amount was the deposit and I was already insured) and say - you signed so your loss. So don’t trust them for a minute; they just lie.

Dont recommend this rental company. Their cars are new, clean but that´s not important concerning their practices during renting. I booked online via holidayautos.com, bought online insurrence and when they gave me documents on the desk, they charged me super cover disguised as some letter abbreviations. I didnt know what is it. She still repeated it´s OK, it´s OK, no worries, everything paid. So i signed it. Later i checked the documents and i just starting hesitating what is it. So i wrote them email and they replied to me, that when i come to the desk, that they can cancel it. Ok, seem to be fair. But when i was there, it was im not able to cancel it, you must write to this email and solve it there with them. And since that time just excuses. Here in Malaga it is normal thing probably at all companies - last i was in Gold Car and it was the same - but they charged it back!!! I expected it from Thrifty too, but they their customers are nothing for them. And as im readeing reviews now, i wasnt the first one not the last one. So sad. Now they loose more thant 150 EUR for cuspercover, but they lost regular customer and piece from their name. Im super angry. Maybe on me too, but still they do it on purpose. Cheating is their job.

‼️SCAM ALERT‼️

DO NOT book car rental with Thrifty/Hertz

They are criminals and will sneakily sign you for insurance (Supercover) without asking if you want it added on to your rental

I already opted for car insurance when I booked with booking.com so why would I wanted more insurance

I’m over £200 out of pocket

Please share so others don’t aren’t scammed the way I have been

PS I’ve raised a credit card dispute.
Thrifty have 45 days to challenge it.
If they don’t challenge it I will get my money back.
Let’s see

Would be no stars if that was an option. Staff will add additional insurance to your invoice without telling you and charge your credit card. The staff here are effectively thieves who are allowed to operate this way by their parent company hertz who are aware of these numerous scams and allow it to happen