UKC

Currently have a car booked through firefly at Madrid Airport for a trip over new years.

I'm not familiar with the company and online reviews are worrying. Anyone here have any experience with them?

Thanks in advance  

In reply to GarethSL:

I've used firefly in the past and had no problems. Just be sensible...take out a full to full fuel policy, have an annual excess policy, give the car a good once over when you receive it...check all/any damage, the fuel level, the km reading is the same as on your contract etc

Good luck, I'm sure that you will be fine! 

In reply to GarethSL:

Firefly is a cheap Hertz brand that's been going for about 5 years or so. I ended up with them once, also in Spain. The rental was OK though I recall they were even more aggressive (i.e. intimidating) than most in trying to frighten one into buying their excess refund cover and extra roadside assistance cover. Understandable as I'd paid very little and they have to make a profit somehow. Just not, this time, from me! No problem except they wasted 10 minutes of my life before grudgingly accepting my polite "no thank you" to all such offers and threats. 

None of which may happen to you. Different time, different desk, different assistant with a different boss - it could be the most pleasant car rental experience in history. There's no consistency - one time company X gives you a great experience; next time same company X is a horror story. Pot luck I'm afraid.

In reply to GarethSL:

all of the budget rentals in spain are supposed to be nightmares. They obviously don't make their money on renting out cars for 1-2 euros a day. You either buy the insurance or they try to stiff you when you bring the car back.

I rented 3 times when I was in spain last, one from recordGo, Goldcar, and Dickmanns. Just read the relatively short term agreement to make sure you wont get stiffed on fuel and mileage and then take a video of the car so you can go back to it for any damages you might have missed when the checker comes and tries to bill you for damage you didn't cause.

I personally didn't take any insurance out because I'm american and a lot of our credit cards have rental car insurance as a benefit. RecordGo and Goldcar were great(didn't even try f*cking me over when i returned the car), they just put a pending charge on the credit card and you get it removed a week or so after returning the car. Dickmann's on the other hand I would recommend against because they actually charged my card 900 euros and I had to email and call them constantly over the span of 3 months before they finally reimbursed me(which to their credit they gave me all of my deposit back).

tl;dr: budget car rentals are predatory in spain but as long as you do your reading on the policy and make sure you document all the damage(even the smallest scuffs), you shouldn't have any issues. If you want piece of mind, pay for it with their insurance or a non-budget agency.

In reply to GarethSL: I deliberately use Firefly at Barcelona; they're in the terminal, offer full to full and have never been a problem. Just come back, paid £38 for six days for a new Peugeot Partner. Just get your own insurance online.

In reply to GarethSL:

we've used them plenty of times in Spain with no problems.

Super long queue in BCN when I used them, hour+ to get the car.

In reply to james1978:

Get kaylee to check the engines, watch out for reevers and you'll have serenity.

 

In reply to GarethSL:

Photograph the car from all sides before you leave the rental area. If you use your phone it will have date and time so they can't dispute.

In reply to GarethSL:

We used Firefly in Barcelona recently, they were fine - no worse than the others. 

However we had a massive problem initially as they would only accept a credit card in the lead drivers name, which showed their FULL NAME on the card. I.e. John Smith. They would not accept a credit card that had J Smith on it, or a debit card full stop. One of our party only had a card with their initials on and was unable to collect the car they'd reserved. We ended up spending hours at the airport trying to sort it out. 

This seems to be a recent regulation, as it was the same story with the other hire companies, and our companions were regular visitors who'd never had an issue. 

Sounds bonkers I know, but seriously make sure you have an acceptable credit card!