I am very busy, we have no cars! This is the 15 second conversation I had with the person working at First Car Rental, before she hung up. Ive never felt like such a nuisance to someone. Is this the level of customer service that you offer? If this is the attitude of First Car Rental, I will simply take my business elsewhere.

The sincere compliments of a satisfied customer !I had booked a car well in advance via Auto Europe. Upon arrival at First Car (Cape Town int.Airport) I found a short queue but almost immediately an extra counter was opened. Eliza helped me quickly and without any problems. No attempts to sell extra insurances but a good advice and explanation about the toll badge. A toll badge that turned out to be very handy on our trip from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Handing in the car in Johannesburg was very easy and without problems.The car I received was completely refueled. Of course the fuel will be checked and replenished upon return of the car. The nagging about one or two liters of petrol that I read in some of the comments here is inappropriate.

Thanks for the quick service, the car was what was promised and until next time have a good one.

Pain free car rental experience.Extensions are easy,they have solutions for any hiccups and the staff are awesome.Give first car rental a go!

Great service and quick no long line

The car was lovely, unfortunately 2 days from a 3 month rental I was side swiped by a lady going in the wrong lane on a roundabout. Everything was easy, she admitted fault, she is insured, police records handed over with sketches and signed statements. First choice still wants me to pay over 12k zar excess and will pay me back once its all completed (hopefully) but this could take months if the lady decides to pay thebill in instalments and Illonly get it back when thre full payment has been met. . Pointless thing to do

Excellent speedy service and very helpful! Cost effective

Excellent Customer Service

Excellent service tx Adrian

Worst customer service ever, they over charge just by telling well prices increased. And then the manager just walked away. Can and will not recommend. Expected better from a Sixt related company

I had the car filled up with fuel at the airport garage, I was then charged 119.5 rand to top the vehicle up!! and there is the additional cost on my credit card. I was caught by the same company 2 years ago for 43 rand and raised the same complaint as I wanted to avoid CC charges. So this time I made sure it was full. I raised a complaint and was basically told I wasnt telling the truth! They may be cheap but they seem intent to get their money one way or another. After a second time being caught out I will avoid them in future

As other reviewers state, this setup will do whatever it can to charge you after the event. What I was told was a credit card authorisation for a payment in the event of damage to a rental vehicle was actually debited from my account - R11,000! Only refunded after a complaint.They then charged me for a few litres of fuel, plus an admin fee, when the car had been filled up a few miles away. I have complained but they wont refund this charge. I suggest potential renters go somewhere more reputable and not ignore my and other reviews which I did to my cost and aggravation

This would be a reasonably good rental company, if it werent for the scandalous refueling policy. I filled up the tank just a few hundred meters from the place where I returned the car. I showed the First rep my gas-receipt and he signed a form that the car was returned with a full tank. Nevertheless, a few days later I receive a notice that the car had to be filled up with another 2 liters of fuel. I dont see how that is possible. In addition to the costs of fuel, they even charge me an extra refueling fee. My complaint was ignored.Therefore, I would definitely not recommend First Car.

AMAZING SERVICE NO DOUBT 🙏

Absolutely Terrible and poor customer service .....We booked a car, fully paid for it and confirmed our landing time (3:55pm), all confirmed on December 2018 for Jan 18. Upon our arrival , we came to First car rentals, at 4:00 they took our details and signed documents. First they told us that they car had not arrived yet, so we waited. In about 15 minutes time , 4 other customers have come and picked up their car. So we ask again , they tell us to continue to wait another 10 minutes as someone is fetching the car. So we wait. 30 minutes pass by and still NO CAR! As frustrated as we are, we ask again , this is when the manager came out to say that thy y crazy was broken and they went to fetch another car and that we have to wait another 10 minutes. It is now 5:10, and still no car and no explanation. Its been an hour and we, a family of four, have been impatiently waiting , squashed on 2 couch/chairs, watching time being wasted. First car rental has terrible service and I will not recommend, nor will I use them again.

Not a great company to use. The pick up went smoothly and the vehicle was fine. They put the standard R7500 hold on the credit card for excess which is normal, but then they debit the credit card R3000 for fuel cover, even though the car I had cost an absolute maximum of R500 to fill up (I am being generous as I paid less than R400 to fill it up while I was using the car). That wasnt a hold, but an actual debit. When the car is returned they then credit that back apparently.I dropped my car back at Cape Town Airport, there is a BP fuelling station a maximum 3km from the drop off point, I went and filled the car completely to the top at that station and then drove round the corner to drop it off. I have since received a refuelling charge of R141.05 to top it up (apparently). To top up an already full tank.On phoning the complaints department they said I had to log a complaint on the website, why is it that a customer service team cannot log a complaint? What a joke. Plus the arguing and the attitude from the service representative who started the conversation so well by asking, How can I put you first today?With so many other great options at Cape Town international as far as car hire goes, I wouldnt recommend this one.

On a non-busy day I was disappointed that the car was not inspected in front of me, the car was apparently inspected prior to my arrival. When I come back I had to explain a dent I was not liable for, now I have to follow procedures which could have been avoided had someone inspected the car in my presence, lesson learned.

First Car Rental is great. Ive rented here a few times and the service has been as expected. No fuss, no hassles. Deposits are settled fairly and quickly. Highly reccomended.

Very friendly and informative service from the man helping me hire a car for the first time! Car was easy to drive and the process to hire and bring back the car was simple. Thank you for making it an easy process.

Truly Helpful and great service

Terrible experience with this company. The car was returned with a full tank of fuel however they deducted the cost of a full tank from my deposit. Wont ever rent from them again, absolute scam

We had the car four days and it broke down. Clutch problems. Then when we called the breakdown service they told us we had to pay for the tow fee and processing fee despite having bought the comprehensive insurance. Clearly They didnt inspect the engine before we used it. We waited 2 hours in the queue to pick up the car and 2 hours for the replacement car to be sent out. They also then charged me most of my deposit for the breakdown callout which was clearly not our fault. They have also not send me an explanation for the final bill. We wouldnt recommend using this service.

Update: This is the poorest level if customer service i have ever experienced! This company is an absolute disgrace!My family and me were given a car with a broken clutch! The car broke down in the middle of an intersection in the middle of the night and the emergency customer service was absolutely useless! They had absolutely no plan on how to provide any help or assistance and they made me, my wife and our six month old son wait in the broken car for mor than one hour until finally the tow truck arrived - as mentioned before, in the middle of an intersection, in the middle of the night, in South Africa!The tow truck that arrived had a seating capacity of 2!!!!! So if it weren’t for a very helpful elderly couple my family would probably still be stuck in that ridiculous car!I have no Idea how the clutch of a brand new car can just break down. The assistance was absolutely terrible and the company was not even willing to give as a free upgrade after this incident!Never ever again I am rent to book a car with first car rental.The story continues the next day: after 5 hours the company finally manages to bring a replacement vehicle! A vehicle of the same category - BUT: dirty seats, less equipment, and way less spacious!!!! This is absolutely ridiculous!!!But generous as they are they offered me to pay for an upgrade....Update: now we have received the 4th vehicle from this company! All of the previous ones were in poor technical condition. Seems like first car rental doesn’t care about the maintenance of it’s cars.My personal highlight was speaking to the manager of the airport branch in person. On vehicle number three we had received the air conditioning was not working and 3 caution lights were illuminated. First she asked me whether i had switched the air conditioning on and then she asked me why I wanted to change the vehicle..... hilarious...After all that me and my family had to go through and after all this waste of time an upgrade to a higher category would have been the least first car rental could have offered - no chance for that!This company is absolutely outrageous.Whatever you do, don’t trust this company - safe yourself lots of time and trouble and hire somewhere else.

Avoid....unless you want to spend your holiday trapped in a small room for three hours while the staff struggle to process bookings due to the banks being down (not sure why all the banks in the world being down didnt hit the news, or affect the rental agencies next door, for that matter).Oh, and if you do use them after all, dont bother filling the car up before you return it, because they seem to charge you a fuel surcharge regardless.On the other hand, you get a great view of the sun setting over Cape Town while you stand in the queue regretting your decision to do business with this company.

Dishonest: Gasoline fees added. The tank was full! After the claim, the amount was only partially refunded. In my opinion, employees have their own tanks filled by noting the plates of the rented cars. An inquiry is needed!

Worst Car Rental ever, i do not recommend it to even my worst enemy.Upon arrival to my surprise there are so many hidden charges which where not mentioned on my online booking.I had to even bring back their car before i could finish my business trip because it was mulfuctioning and no one wanted to be accountable, for such bad service and disregard of myself as a consumer is unfair.They claim i owe them wherelse my refund wasnt even paid in full and i was charged a rediculous amount of money for the deposit aswell as the actual charges which was not even mentioned upon my booking online.

First Car Rental Cape Town International is a very fast and friendly place,whenever you get your vehicle or return it. The Vehicles are always new( below 10000 km) and very clean. Although i posted only 2 pics, i have made use of them almost a dozen times. i will strongly recommend them for your Car Rentals.

Didn’t get the car we booked. Offered a smaller alternative so we had to pay extra to get a larger car for the four of us- but this car was in the same class as the one we had already paid for! Even showed them their own website as proof. But no budging! Now we have a £187 charge to our credit card- no idea what for.These guys are shite.

Quick efficient service ❤️

Great personal service, upgrade to assist with parents. Wonderful awesome staff.

Had an easy and smooth rental through here. I booked through Sixt which uses First as a service. I made the mistake of booking for the following month and didnt discover that until I showed up - but the agent Sipokazi was incredibly nice and worked hard to make sure everything still worked out and I was very thankful that she was helping me. They were able to secure me a car at the last moment and she couldnt have been nicer and more knowledgeable through the whole process. Thank you!

Disaster Not nearly enough staff! 18 people waiting to be served before me! Verrry slow...Rude staff!

Pickup went smoothly. Car was ready for pickup.Upon return, the attendant was incredibly RUDE. She told us the deposit would be returned unlike the early instructions that informed us about a deposit to be returned to us immediately!Not pleased

Terrible experience having to wait over an hour for car I actually reserved and prepaid for. Clearly, I would not recommend any service that tells you about a shortage when you have a prepaid reservation. There was no shortage when you collected my money. 😡

This is probably the worst car rental company I have come across. Hidden charges and poor fleet

Unprofessional and unethical.** UPDATE AT THE END WITH THE COMPANYS LACK OF RESOLUTION **I rented a car from the loop street branch of this company for two weeks and I had two major issues with them so far.1. When I received the car they told me that there is a handling fee of 30 ZAR for every toll I pass, and that the toll charge is charged automatically.I explicitly told them that I dont wish any toll to be charged automatically and asked them to remove the toll device from the car.When I asked that, the representative told me with complete confidence there is no need to remove the device. When youll get to a toll they anyway ask you if you want to be charged with the device or not.I was naive enough to trust her word, and when I got to a toll, nobody asked me anything and they charged automatically from the device.I asked from the toll representative to cancel it and that I would pay cash directly, but it was too late.The problem is not the additional 30 ZAR I needed to pay.The problem is that since I add additional charges from the car company, they needed to use my deposit to pay those charges.And then, instead of unfreezing the transaction of the deposit, they needed to withdraw the full amount of the deposit and then to refund me for the deposit amount minus 80 ZAR (30 handling fee plus 50 for the toll).This made my bank converting from ZAR to USD twice, and for a really high amounts (because it;s a deposit of 3000 ZAR)!First, 3000 ZAR were withdrawn (charged in USD), and then 2920 ZAR were refunded (converted to USD).This caused me to lose a total of 23 USD!!!Normally the deposit charge is just frozen and after the return of the car this amount becomes unfrozen and the bank doesnt need to make these conversions.This unprofessionalism from their side cause me to lose 23 USD.2. I discovered with an email notification from this company that I got a 800 ZAR traffic fine.The fine is obviously my responsibility and I will pay it directly to the authorities (as I did in other times when I got a fine with a rented car), but the outrageous thing here is that FIRST company charged me for 300 ZAR handling fee!!!I NEVER consented for such handling fee, not to mention that I never encountered a HANDLING fee for traffic fines from any other company, since Im the one who needs to pay the fine and therefore HANDLE it.I wouldnt recommend anyone to use this companys services, there are more reliable companies out there who might be slightly more expensive but wouldnt try to earn money from you in these ways.** UPDATE **I opened an inquiry with the company regarding the second issue (handling fee of 300 ZAR, just to transfer the traffic fine to my name).Their response was directing me to clause 4.1.3 in the agreement that says: 4.1.3 All fines, taxes, charges, levies, legal costs and tolls, including e-tolls, payable by US to any third party arising out of YOUR use of the VEHICLE. There are two things that I find deeply disturbing with their answer.1. This clause is talking about charges that THEIR COMPANY should pay to a THIRD PARTY, for things that are ARISING OUT OF MY USE OF THE VEHICLE.But in the email they sent me with the fine notification, their explanation for the fee was: The reason why an administration fee is applicable is due to the fact that we have to redirect the fine from our proxy’s name to the responsible driver at the time of the offence, which requires software, software support fees, permanent Traffic Fines department staff – all of this in an effort to avoid being responsible for all offence amounts that are accrued with our vehicles.Basically, it means Pay for our inner operations regarding traffic fines, which is definitely NOT A PAYMENT TO A THIRD PARTY!2. They didnt provide any documentation of a payment they had to make to a third party, what makes me think that they might as well could charge me for 3000 ZAR or 30000 ZAR, without needing to prove anything.BEWARE!!!!

After traveling for 35 hours and running into serious issues with our reservation at a nearby car hire... It felt like a stroke of good luck to simply go next door and be in-and-out with a car (for 2.5 weeks) in 15 minutes, hastle/headache free. For people thinking about hiring a car here, just bring an embossed credit card and Siseko (Sp?) will guide you to a smooth rental. Cheers!

I am very disappointed with my rental. First Car Rental statement should be “It does not matter. Take it or leave it”.

Horrific company. Had no issue at the branch but this company is gaining a reputation for profiting off of small damage like a chip (not a crack) in the upper corner of the windscreen. They didnt even have the courtesy to get in touch with me via post, email, or phone - fortunately my bank saw the charge. I read the reviews of this company but foolishly decided to risk it anyway. AVOID AVOID AVOID.

Upon returning the car we were told that a Final invoice would be emailed to us within 48hrs. They also took a R4000 deposit which equates to approx. £200.00 for a fuel deposit for a tank that takes no more than R600 to fill.This is simply a way of the company increasing their working capital. This was not detailed in the T&Cs. We were then told it would take approx. 10 working days to refund the deposit. I am still waiting for the initial final invoice and are emailing them every day for a response.Not good service

First time using then and it will be the last. I booked my flight (Safair) and car rental as a packaged deal 6 months in advance.When I went to collect the booked vehicle they could not change the credit card linked to the order, since that card expired two months earlier. They then had to reload the order and was unwilling to give it at the same price I booked it for previously. Regardless of the deposit that I have already payed when making the booking. So the new booking was R800 more expensive and we had to pay another deposit for this order.They said would refund the original deposit, but now in the third week of struggling with their customer service I have still not received my money back.If I could have given then less than one star I would.

Booked our car through Auto Europe UK.Car was ready half an hour before our scheduled time. Straight forward and hassle free check in and the person who checked our car for damage before we left the compound was excellent ; he noted all the small scratches and some we had not seen ourselves.

We arrived to collect our prepaid sedan, 20/11/2018 at 9.44 pm, the service was average, we had to pay R7500 deposit that we were not told about, although my wife had paid R110 per day for excess liability? No hidden costs, thats a lie and imagine if we never had the money?They never had the car that we booked, we were given a hatchback, so we never had space for our luggage and had to put some of it on the backseat, they said it was in the same class, how is a hatchback comparable to a sedan on bootspace? A Toyota Etios hatchback has almost no bootspace. We are informed of a debt on the left hand passenger side of the car prior to leaving the rental office.We arrived at the car and were assisted by Lulu, who was very good. She pointed out the dent that I took a photo of, time and date stamped. We returned the car on 27/12/18 at around 12.30pm it was checked and we were told that the car was fine, we filled up the tank just before returning the car, there is a petrol station just around the corner.A few days later we were charged R65 for petrol???? We even took a photo of the fuel receipt and the mileage and petrol tank indicator afterwards. Surprise surprise we were charged R285 for the dent, we are disputing this, they cant seem to get it through their heads what I have just written down here. I also dont know how such a small amount pays for a dent? Unless they are charging everyone that until they have enough to repair the debt. I said to me wife |that they were going to try and charge us for the dent before we returned the car. Sadly I was correct

Friendly services by all personnel who always go out of their way to deliver excellent services

Utterly Useless.Cashiers have no idea what going on.Fail to mention which card needs to be present.Do not use this company to rent a car.First and last time.Wish I had read all the bad reviews here first.Managed to save two tourists which where being told by cashier that tire insurance is compulsory!Then they reply to my review unprofessionally with a “you should know better” response, no First car rental, you don’t need the credit card present when booking into a flight. Catch a wake up.

Upon car pick up I was charged deposit which was not mentioned in my voucher. In voucher there was deposit of R12000 but upon pick up they charged me R3000 more.Upon car pick up tires were very old and almost bold. Upon car drop off they claimed there were scratchers on tire and claimed that was a damage. But tire was not broken and not flat. And all the scratchers were natural because of the tires old conditions. Moreover upon pick up nobody was checking scratchers in tires (and to be honest that for the first time in my life).

Reliable service, make sure you dont take delivery of car with high mileage

Had a lovely first car rental experience with these guys - ie. It was the first time I was renting a car with anyone, ever. Haha! Ok, ok.So, the booking process was quick and smooth - part of my flight bookings. Getting the car was a breeze, and returning it was also quick and painless. Surprisingly reasonably priced, with no unexpected charges at the end. They refilled the car with petrol after I dropped it off cause I was on half tank, and I wasnt overcharged for it.I would just appreciate it if their emails prior to picking up the car included info on what to bring along with you on the day - to help first timers like me. Otherwise, experienced professional service from start to finish.

Pick up was ok - staff at the office wasnt really friendly and it took us almost an hour - but ok..But finally I had the same experience as some previous customers below:I dropped my car back at Cape Town Airport, there is a BP fuelling station a maximum 3km from the drop off point, I went and filled the car completely to the top at that station and then drove round the corner to drop it off. I have paid R 200.00 to top it up.The First Car Rental nevertheless charged me ZAR 197.-- for fuel! Thats not possible - so you are definitively cheating your customers!It took me a long time to get to the right page to send you my feedback and to ask for sending me my money back -- but youve just closed my case and said that you didnt do anything wrong. Absolutely inaceptable... Still waiting for an explanation of the company.

Good Customer Service

We booked a car in advanced via Internet with special requirements, but we still had a bad surprise when checking in.So after a veeeerrryy long wait in the queue, we were taken in charge by an agent that obviously wasnt going to help us.So we ended with a the right car but not the booster seats for the children: Because in RSA, children above 3 yr dont need them. And we dont have any!I must say I was quite annoyed by so such an answer. Be sure to check the car for ANY scratches. At the return station they will find it for you.

Very efficient and friendly service.

Excellent service. Excellent rates.

I recently book a rental through Atlaschoice which in turn use First car rental as a supplier. When i pick up the car i was told to pay a deposit which in turn they deducted from my credit card. On the day i return the car i was told that i will receive a email within two days ,still waiting. Know the fight is on to get then to refund my deposit and i dont get any assistance .Dont use this company ,bad news.

Incompetent staff. Worst car rental company in Cape Town... Maybe the world

Absolutely poor and pathetic experience. Their infant car seats are basically death traps. I would not recomend this car hire service to anyone!

Great service. Fast and easy.

Very helpfull. Freat service

Great service and friendly had a problem with the car and they swapped it with no problem

They charged us for gas even though we brought the car back with a full tank. They also added two insurances I never signed for or anyone has ever told me!

Rational

The cars are not in a good condition, scratches on the body and chips in the windscreen. Rather use the many alternative rental companies next door.

Arrive at 16h00 to miss the traffic and required to wait for a car to arrive. Useless.

I was not satisfied with the service, I booked a car two months early and when I arrived at the Airport I have to wait for the car.

Convenient, easy, fast, buget👍👌

Nil

Hands off...bad service...bad car...and unexpectet kosts - my First and my last time!!!!

They stole my credit card and made a transaction after everything’s settled by 40 days !! And I complained without receiving any reply , I am now taking legal action against them !DON’T RENT WITH THEM EVER !!!

Service i got there was brilliant.

Pay Class A and Take broken Class DTnx

No good. When I arrive here there are a amount of R4000 that I have to paid

Terrible experience. Scammed. They look for any reason not to return your rental deposit!

They will always overcharge you for petrol even though you filled up.

Quick and easy friendly service

Friendly and efficient service.

Worst car rental company ever.

Deposit not returned in full without explanation. Car doors rattle.

Awesome service Sidwell

My flight landed at 10pm, a staff member kept the office open for me

Being served by a trainee nightmare, almost an hour click here, click there, press continue ... she even cause my card transaction to be declined ....

Very happy with the price

Really friendly and fast service

All systems were down. Waited 2hrs to get the car

Very good thanks

Friendly staff, fast service

Really helpful staff

Good friendly service

Exceptional service

Worst service ever, cars not ready when arriving. Complaints go unnoticed, no one answering phones when calling. Never again!

Limited range of cars

I used Eurocar

Good service

Car rental company based at Cape Town airport

Horrible

Have always used First Car Rental and have had good service. This time service was sullen and unfriendly. Car had no mats, but had newspaper on the floor. The lady releasing the car was friendly. Not sure the First part of the name is right, it should be something like Tenth Car Hire, certainly for Cape Town Airport. Pity

Outrageous place. We waited 1 hour to get a car that we pre-booked. We had made a mistake in the form and had reversed the names between the driver and the payer. None of the employees were unable to simply change a name on a form. Place to flee !!!!!!!!!!!!!! No organization !! Rude !! Incompetent !!! Waste of time and energy.

Bad experience. We rented the car for 17 days. No accident, everything runs smoothly until a hailstorm creates some small damage on the roof and hood. For fairness I call the number available to report the thing, they answer that being a natural event and not depending on me I will not pay the deductible as logic requires. Returning the car we show the video of the exceptional hailstorm and fill out the form that is given to us. They confirm what the telephone operator said. Once at home, however, the invoice to be paid is sent to us, it was not worth anything that in the form their own operator declared that they were hail damage and that we had followed the whole procedure in a workmanlike manner, the money was taken the same, despite the video, the documents and despite the contract, a similar case was not specified and they had not even made me sign the clauses. In short, highly discouraged, refer to a more expensive but honest rent car.

Horrible experience.During our trip we caught a great hail, and soon after we called the emergency number to report the incident because there was little damage to cazzozzeria. On the phone we were told that in the event of natural disasters, nothing is chargeable to the customer and to say it on delivery. At the time of receipt no one has been able to clarify anything about the responsibility of the driver. After a few days they deliver an invoice in which they announced that they will retain all the deductible for the damage. E was unnecessary to write over and over again for groped to assert our reasons, continue to repeat in autism so that they do not care that it is natural disaster. It a real scam, considering that the telephone information tend to make you autodenunciare what happened then legitimize them to withdraw all without even properly assess the damage!

We were satisfied.Car was in good shape. Small scratches were noted when lending, but 1 was missing. At check-in this was criticized. When I told the employee that First Car had very bad internet reviews for this scam, he made me note on the contract that the scratch already existed on takeover, and I never heard of it againCar was very cheap in the end, compared to Europe.

We also returned the car with full fuel at the airport (December 7th, 2019). This was also checked by the First Personnel at the airport. Nevertheless we were charged 40 rand (20 petrol, 20 fee) via credit card because we allegedly did not fill up !!!!! We complained several times. We also sent the fuel bill as evidence, but no chance and no accommodation !!So this looks like a standard rip off from First or his employees !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were then sent a receipt from some refueling - no idea where the fuel went - certainly not in our car !!!Staff at the Cape Town car dispenser are not really friendly. There was no navigation system. Also no automatic (left-hand traffic!). The car was otherwise OK. At the handover, however, we took a close look at the car and made an all-round video.