Car Hire at Christchurch Airport

Worst Rental Car Experience of My Life

Pros: Nothing. Services were not rendered.

Cons: This rental was the worst customer service experience of my life. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT BOOK WITH ECONOMY OR SCOTTIES. If I could give zero stars, I would. Kayak should drop this company immediately. While booking online, be warned, Economy serves as an umbrella company to many smaller companies in New Zealand. If you are unfortunate enough to have your reservation served by Scotties, be prepared for a terrible experience. In my case, after a flight arrival time change from 1000 to 1400, I called Scotties for a pickup (the only way to get picked up as they are not in the terminal and do not run a constant shuttle). After 2 calls and a 40 minute wait, the shuttle arrived and I was informed by the driver that my booking had been canceled (allegedly NZ law requires a company to only hold a reservation for 2 hours - other companies hold your car for 24 hrs), they had no additional cars available, they were sorry but they could not help me. There was no communication from the company that my reservation had been canceled despite them having access to my email, phone number, and the two phone calls I’d made upon arrival at the airport requesting to be picked up. Still in need of a car, I went online and booked a vehicle with Economy through Travelocity. My credit card was charged and I received a confirmation email at which point saw the company providing the car the was once again Scotties. I called again, now with a valid reservation in their required 2 hour window, and was told to wait 10-15 minutes, the shuttle was on the way. Again the shuttle arrived (35 minutes after the phone call) and again the shuttle driver refused to take me to their office stating that there had been a miscommunication and they did not have a car for me. I called the company back, (which was now the fourth long distance phone call for that day) they apologized for the inconvenience but offered no assistance or compensation for my time or troubles. I strongly recommend you never rent from “Economy” or Scotties. Their non-existent customer service is not worth the discounted prices for their vehicles. It’s a wonder a company like this stays in business. It’s quite obvious it’s terribly mismanaged and only makes me wonder the quality of the vehicles they rent to travelers. I most certainly will never book with them again and encourage others to do the same. There are several other options available that I highly recommend you explore. I ended up booking with Firefly, a partner company with Hertz and located in the terminal. Only slightly more expensive then Scotties, the car was ready as soon as I finished paying, the customer service was excellent, and there was no shuttle or long distance phone call required for pickup I emailed Scotties with a formal complaint and was answered with a shameful sarcastic response from Scott himself. They do not care the slightest bit about customer service. Avoid like the plage. Go elsewhere even if prices are higher.