Pathetic and horrible service

Let me first state at the outset that i used to the services over a period of 2 weeks, one week in Cape Town and 1 week in Durban.

My experience in Cape town was absolutely perfect from start to end and i have no complaints in that regard.

My experience in Durban was also fine with regards to getting the car, however it was on the 20th of October that I am not happy at all.

It should be noted that to rent a car out and receive it, any rental company can do that relatively competently as there are no real challenges in that regard, I however assess a company based on how they react when there are issues that arise and this is what happened in my case, issues arose and I am sad to say the manner in which it has been dealt with leaves a lot to be desired.

The following is the timeline of events:

1. 15 October was when i picked up my rental car for a period of 8 days at a cost of R3502.03 , paid up front and a R4000 deposit, the car i had booked online was a Toyota Starlett and i received a VW polo which was fine as its a similar vehicle.

At this point there is no issue.

2. On 20 October upon starting the car i noted that the aircon was making a massive noise and about 30% effective in terms of cooling the car, I then proceeded to call Woodford that tried to put me through to the King Shaka branch but each time no one answered, i tried calling at least about 5 times with no luck and thus just decided to drive to the branch to sort out the issue.

This was the first problem i had, Woodford is not able to resolve issues via phone and a customer has to drive to the actual office to try to resolve the issue.

3. Upon arrival at the office i was then sent to the guys that receive vehicles after rentals, when i get there, they then tell me to go to the office to sort out the issue.

This is the second problem, there seems to be no clear direction on how to resolve an issue.

4. The guys were then told to look at the car after which they noted that the aircon is making a noise but is somewhat working and were told by the office that that is sufficient and i can continue as is. I refused to do this as the aircon was making a horrible noise, was not completely effective and felt like at any moment in will pack in.

This is the 3rd problem i had where Woodford wanted me to continue using a defective car when i had paid in full for a proper car and proper service.

5. Upon hearing this i then called some number i had and it just so happened to be a number of a guy named Dinesh at the office who told me to come through, upon coming through i showed him the issue and he advised that i take a different car which i agreed with, however he said that all cars in this class were taken and i had to take an Urban Cruiser, this also i was fine with however only upon me asking was i told i will have to pay an additional amount to which i flat out refused as that was not part of my agreement and as far as i knew and was concerned the issue with the car had nothing to do with me. After my refusal, magically a toyota starlett became available, however i was told to pay R1 311.14, until today i cannot understand what this payment was for, the guy there said in total i will only be paying R31 more, however here i had paid R3502.03 for the full 8 days, i returned the car after 5 days and took another car for the other 3 days in the same class and in effect the exact car i initially was supposed to hire. In essence i was charged for 11 days when i only used both cars in total for 8 days.

The above is the 4th problem i had, getting charged additionally but getting nothing additonal as well as the company not making an effort to assist a client to resolve the issue without any kind of complaint, instead offering a car that would cost more or giving the same car and charging more? Even if it was R31 more, that in itself makes no sense as this is the car i hired and paid for.

6. With regards to the deposit, i was made to pay another deposit and was told the VW will be sent in for assessment to see what the issue is and based on that it will be seen if i get my deposit back, i was also told i will get feedback by the next day the 21 October. In this regard i heard nothing.

On 23 October i returned the car i had and was going to fly back home, however i stopped at the office to find out if there is any update, i was told Dinesh is not in however they will get back to me, it is now the 28th of October and i still have heard nothing.

This is the 5th problem i have as the company has given me zero feedback on this issue to date and neither have i received my deposit back.

On the whole, this was a terrible experience and i really am not happy at all with the service of Woodford