Mode Rentals
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Avoid at all cost
Mode Car in Queenstown. Upon phoning twice to clarify pick up area and description of shuttle bus to locate it, I was yelled at (yelled “it’s M-O-D-E” ) and then hung up on me. I am partially deaf, and naturally there was a lot of noise around me at the time of phoning from the airport, and the person had a difficult to understand accent on the phone. Having never been to QT and struggling to understand the poorly written pick up instructions, I would think phoning to clarify and advise ready for collection was a suitable thing to do. When the driver arrived to pick up, and when seated in the shuttle, I apologised for the phone calls, as I assumed asking twice pissed him off given yelling and hanging up on me. He didn’t respond to my apology and when we arrived at Mode office, he simply got out of the van and mumbled something about someone else coming and he disappeared inside. Then the other person said something about going upstairs, unclear what was happening at this point. Obviously it turned out to be the office. Still no one explained what was happening. The person who drove the shuttle was helping another person, when finished to return to help the new person with us. There was a $3k holding deposit that was not explained clearly at all, and then they offered to hold less, so I said sure do less. Then attempted to bill me for choosing less. Attempted to clarify again, which appeared to mean that people who can’t afford for $3 to be held from their bank account are penalised by means of charging them extra out of pocket. I refused to pay more, so for 10-days (8-day rent period) my family was unable to access this money. The car had a tiny amount of water for the windscreen wipers, evident by the blue warning light being on the dash at the time of pick up. This is unacceptable given frost conditions in the mornings and evenings. The car itself was dirty externally and had several scratches and small dents. I took a careful video of the entire vehicle to avoid getting blamed for anything. Fortunately I didn’t have to prove it when I returned the vehicle; but the service made the whole experience appear dubious and disingenuous. I would never recommend or hire from Mode Queenstown company ever again.