CAR RENTAL REVIEWS ON DISCOUNT CAR RENTALS AT CHRISTCHURCH AIRPORT, CHC

No queue

Picked up at the airport and taken to the store. They said there was a free upgrade, but then there were so many steps to go through: watching videos, taking tests, even a test drive. When I finally got the car, it was a very old Highlander, with maintenance records showing it was at least from 2010 and nearly 170,000 km on the odometer. I had booked a 2016-2018 RAV4. How is this considered an upgrade? The store staff were Chinese, the woman was around 30 and very argumentative, saying the rental order received only indicated an SUV, not the car's age. She told me to either take the car or cancel. She also said that if the car couldn't be driven due to personal reasons, the rental company wouldn't provide a replacement and wouldn't refund the rent. I pointed out that this was unfair, especially since I had full insurance. If I had an accident right after driving out, would those days be wasted? She was very unhappy and said we wouldn't rent to you if you couldn't accept this. I've driven over 200,000 to 300,000 km, have experience with right-hand drive, and never had an accident, but this is a principle issue. I have never encountered such unreasonable behavior. Potential customers, be aware and prepared. PS, another young girl at the store had a better attitude. I left something in the car when returning it, and she kindly brought it to the airport for me, which I really appreciated.

Car met my expectations

Discount Car Rentals is great, only issue I had is that their pick-up/drop-off location does not populate on maps in my Iphone. It took me awhile before I could figure out how to get to the location. **Pick-up was no issue as you just meet them at the airport**

The staff were very responsible and even took us for a drive, explaining the rules and parking tips.

Excellent!

There's a phone next to the i information counter at the airport arrivals. The one on the left is free to use and there's a notice on the wall with car rental instructions. Call them by dialing 08, and you'll reach a foreigner who will direct you to walk towards the building with the purple 'Parking' sign outside the arrivals area. You'll find a staff member there to pick you up. A few minutes later, we met Aline who picked us up. The car we received was a Nissan Qashqai with over 120,000 kilometers on it. We were initially worried about the car's condition but couldn’t switch as it was the only available option. After checking the inspection records, which showed it was inspected in March and at the end of September, we trusted New Zealand’s vehicle inspection standards and took the car. After 7 days and nearly 1,500 kilometers, the car performed well and we were quite satisfied.

The staff were very friendly.

Because the originally booked model was unavailable, we were given a car of the same class, which was fine.

The car pick-up explanation in Christchurch was very detailed, but they didn't mention that you can't return the car earlier than the contract time. In Queenstown, returning the car early means only one person checks the car and assists guests, causing long wait times.

I won't choose this car rental company again. The Chinese female staff had an indifferent attitude after we picked up the car, didn't help with any problems. When we got a fine and asked her for assistance, she told us to just pay it. I contested it myself and won, so there was no need to pay at all. Overall, they didn't help us with any issues abroad, always making excuses and refusing. Very unsatisfactory!

Like: For my wife and myself, an elderly couple the Vizz is an excellent choice for new Zealand roads. It has sufficient power, easy to drive, easy to park. runs excellently. Company feedback was excellent.
Dislike: Actually the only thing is to make sure the customer knows that the pick up shuttle is not from Easy Rent cars but actually is from Discount car rentals. Knowing this would have saved some confusion at Auckland airport at midnight on the first leg of our holiday, otherwise all was good.

Discount Car Rentals operates from 9 AM to 6 PM, while my pick-up and drop-off times were outside of these hours. To pick up the car, I followed the instructions to find the 'phone wall' inside the airport and called the two numbers provided. The car rental office is about 2 km east of the airport at a parking lot managed by an agent, which seems to represent several car rental companies. They sent a large Iveco to pick us up and take us to get the car. Since it's an agency, they only checked the passport and the rental document from QEEQ, then handed over the car. There was a vehicle damage report sheet, which was fully marked. The car had a full tank, so I drove off without signing anything. For the return, I refueled at a gas station within 3 km of the parking lot, drove to the parking lot to find the agent, and they helped us pay the speeding fine on their computer. Afterwards, they used a large vehicle to take all six of us and our luggage back to the airport. It's been 14 days since the car was returned, and I haven’t received any charges for repairs or violations, so I believe the rental has ended smoothly. Hence, I’m leaving this detailed review.

The customer service team with this was extremely unprofessional - both in person as well as on the phone where communication was not clear and was difficult. After a 10 minute wait for pick up from the airport, 35 minutes was spent at the depot while the car was washed outside (it was not cleaned prior to our pick up) and the serviceman signing documentation with us made racist comments about others. Discount Car Rentals also stung with a $3000 bond that was not expressed clearly beforehand, especially when we had already covered $0 Excess insurance cover. Afterhours drop off was a breeze as it was with a 3rd party who were much more professional in their business, and we were able to complete drop off in less than 10 minutes.

All encountered issues were addressed one by one.

Terrible.