Ace Rental Cars, 330 Nudgee Rd, Hendra

My wife booked a rental car from Ace Rentals in Brisbane. What an appalling experience. To begin, before we left, we decided to confirm details, only then to be told that we were not insured and had to collect the car away from the airport. We were to land after hours. This was not included in the opening spiel when the car was booked. The phone operator was defensive and argumentative and on two or three occasions had to be talked down before I could continue the conversation. When we arrived at Brisbane, we followed the instructions to find the pickup, but the people on the phone were reluctant/incapable of providing clear instructions or directions of where to go. They were arrogant and unhelpful. Eventually we got to the pickup point and found the minibus that was to take us to Nudgee Road, where the car was. When we got there the car was a grotty little Getz that smelled and had numerous damages. The staff at the after hours office also wondered where the toll card/flasher was (us: "the what?"). Turns out there was no arrangement in the hireage for paying of tolls. Great. Later, I called the hire company to ask what arrangements were made for paying tolls because on the contract there were numerous penalties listed for infringements. One was a $30 penalty for every toll that was not covered. We had not been told about the toll system in Brisbane. In answer to the question: what was arranged, "No wurries, you just register it". "uh, what?" Then a long game of twenty questions ensued, where I had to ask the right questions to elicit information from the supremely unhelpful girl on the phone. Half an hour later, I worked out what needed to be done for the tolls. About the car? Tired, dirty, smelly, and a dodgy engine management system that would cut out. Do not use Ace Rentals if your holidaying pleasure is reliant upon it. The staff at Ace Rentals in Brisbane clearly do not like foreigners (people who are not from Brisbane) or they cannot be bothered with them.

I have used ACE several times now, and the cars are always cheap and in good condition, and the staff are realistic about pre-existence of very minor damage (unlike some places I have been, where they miss tiny imperfections on the initial inspection then find them on return).

Very Very poor service, vehicle everything! we booked and payed a deposit and insurance online through 'cruisin oz' for a 7 seater (kia carnival as it turned out) supposedly from Brisbane domestic airport. only when reading through the booking confirmation (which itself was a bit of a fiasco) on arrival at the airport did we discover that they were not located at the airport and didn't even have a desk at the airport. after ringing a number from one of the courtesy phones we were collected (after a 30 minute wait) and taken to their office in Nudgee (about 15/20 minute drive away from the airport). That's where the fun started, just about nothing they said or wanted to charge matched up with the 'Cruisin Oz' rental booking. not even the rental price! They wanted us to pay more for the rental, and despite having taking out full insurance and excess reduction via the booking, they said that they would only accept their own as that we would have to pay a three thousand dollar deposit! On inspecting the vehicle the sheet passed to us had 3 entry's relating to existing damage. After 10 minutes of inspection and a full page of damage and ranging from chipped windscreen, cracked lights and bodywork dents, I was getting a bad feeling. The general state of the car was appalling and on checking found that it had done over a hundred thousand km's. This was the last straw, I stopped the rental process, and more fun and games .. the rental operator claimed that they were unable to refund the payment that they had just taken while I was checking the vehicle. I insisted of course and after phone calls with the duty manager it was eventually processed. we were taken back to the airport and given that it was Christmas day there were no 7 seaters available and ended up having to pay over the odds for a regular car rental. not to mention that we never received a refund for the initial deposit and insurance payment! - As I said at the start - Appalling, one to avoid!!

Even AFTER I stated I had a DOMESTIC flight, the company failed to explain to me that after I return the vehicle (at Brisbane international airport) - I would be required to pay a $20+ taxi fare to the domestic airport (with an additional 30 minutes) - lucky to catch my plane! NEVER USE AGAIN - for an extra few bucks you are better with the big name PROFESSIONALS