Terrible aftertaste

Extremely Disappointing Experience with CarJet and Green Motion Car Hire – Avoid!

Our experience with CarJet and Green Motion Car Hire was absolutely unacceptable. What should have been a straightforward car rental turned into a stressful, frustrating and extremely expensive experience. Based on what we experienced, I would strongly advise other customers to think twice before booking with this company.

1. Double insurance charges at OR Tambo Airport

We booked and paid for our rental car and insurance through CarJet on 26 June 2026. At the time of booking, we were offered additional insurance that would reduce the security deposit. We accepted this option and paid R685.15 for the insurance.

Reference number: SXXU-PYPR-INS Policy number: CJT***8

When we arrived at OR Tambo Airport to collect the vehicle, we struggled to find the rental agents. There was no proper office; instead, two representatives were operating from the parking area using tablets.

We were then informed that we had to purchase their insurance to qualify for the reduced deposit. I explained to the representative that we had already purchased insurance through CarJet and showed her our policy documents. However, she paid very little attention to the documents and simply told us that it was not their insurance.

We were left with no reasonable alternative but to pay an additional R600 for insurance at the collection point. This meant that we had paid for insurance twice. The R4,000 security deposit was also placed on hold against my credit card.

This was a deeply frustrating start to our rental experience. Customers should not be put in a position where they pay for insurance twice because the booking arrangements between the booking agent and the rental company are not properly explained or recognised.

2. Their incorrect location caused us to miss our flight

On 27 September 2026, when we had to return the vehicle, the company sent us a pin location to find their staff and hand over the car.

Unfortunately, the location was incorrect. We drove up and down approximately three times trying to find them, wasting around 45 minutes. When we eventually stopped at the location provided and tried calling them, nobody answered the phone.

While we were waiting, another vehicle belonging to the rental company drove past us. The occupants had to signal for us to follow them so that they could show us where the actual handover point was.

Only after we finally found them did they inspect the vehicle. By then, we were extremely late for our flight.

We were supposed to board at 12:30, but because of the time wasted trying to locate their staff, we missed our original flight. We had to pay an additional R1,800 to be placed on a standby flight. Fortunately, there were seats available on a later flight at 16:30.

This was an incredibly stressful situation that could have been avoided if the company had provided the correct location and answered their telephone.

3. Additional parking charges at Cape Town Airport

We also had to pay R750 in parking fees at Cape Town Airport, when the amount should have been only R300. This resulted in an additional R450 in parking costs.

To summarise the direct additional costs resulting from these problems:

• Additional insurance at collection: R600 • Standby flight penalty after missing our original flight: R1,800 • Additional airport parking costs: R450

Total additional costs: R2,850.

This excludes the original R685.15 insurance payment made through CarJet, which we believe was duplicated by the additional insurance payment at collection.

4. Unacceptable handling of the R4,000 security deposit

We were advised that our R4,000 security deposit would be released within 13 working days after returning the vehicle.

When the deposit was still not available, I contacted the company to enquire about the delay. I was informed that a letter had already been sent to my bank on 28 September 2026 instructing the bank to release the hold.

However, instead of the process being completed as expected, I had to obtain a letter from the company and personally visit my bank to have the deposit released. I finally did this myself, and my bank restored the funds to my credit card.

Why should a customer have to spend additional time following up and physically visiting the bank to resolve a deposit release that should have been handled properly in the first place?

My overall verdict

This experience was characterised by poor communication, inadequate customer service, confusing insurance arrangements, an incorrect vehicle return location and an unnecessarily complicated deposit release process.

The most frustrating part is that we suffered financial losses and considerable stress because of problems that could have been prevented with proper organisation and customer support.

A car rental company has a responsibility to provide clear information, honour the arrangements made during booking and ensure that customers can return vehicles without being put at risk of missing their flights.

In our case, that did not happen.

I am extremely disappointed with both CarJet and Green Motion Car Hire. I would not choose this service again based on this experience, and I would strongly encourage prospective customers to carefully investigate the insurance terms, vehicle collection arrangements and return procedures before making a booking.

This was not the convenient and reliable car rental experience we paid for. It was an expensive, stressful and deeply disappointing ordeal.

I hope both companies take this complaint seriously and review their procedures to ensure that other customers do not have to go through the same experience.