Apex Car Rentals Australia
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Great car - utterly appalling service! Don't rent here
This review is about Apex Car Rentals Melbourne City office. Great car, no issues WHILE we were renting it. However, the dramas started the day AFTER we returned the car - which just to be clear was checked in our presence when we returned it and everything was fine. We asked if we had to go back to the office (which is about a 5 minute walk on the other side of the building) and were told everything was ok and we were good to go. A day later we received an email telling us they'd charged our credit card AUD150 for steam cleaning the car as we had allegedly smoked inside and there were cigarette butts on the floor. None of us smoke and we hadn't even been anywhere near where people had smoked! I emailed them back and suggested they might want to check if they sent the correct email. We returned the car with the fuel tank approximately 80% full (which was pointed out upon return and we were told we'd be emailed before any charge was made to our credit card) and we were expecting a charge for this (which according to their T&Cs was AUD25 + the cost of fuel - no where near what they charged us for steam cleaning). I waited several days yet got no reply back whatsoever. In the end I proceeded to lodge a complaint with my credit card company and eventually the money was reimbursed. Then more than a month later, we got a fine from Victoria Police for a speeding offence committed in the car we had rented. The offence was committed the day after we returned the vehicle (which was also the day after the rental agreement finished) and at that exact time we were actually in the air on our way back to New Zealand. We were not in possession of the car when the offence occurred - we weren't even in the country - and could proof that with the rental agreement and our boarding pass for a flight early on the day of the offence. I have rented cars in many countries and have never experienced such utterly appalling service from what I had expected to be a reputable company. Shame on you Apex Rental Cars for ending what was an amazing holiday on such a sour note.