Çağatay K.
Updated review / Thanks
Very disappointing and consumer-unfriendly experience. I booked and paid for a rental car online using my Emirates ID. At the time of booking, there was no clear and prominent warning that a UAE driving licence was mandatory in order to collect the vehicle. When I arrived to pick up the car, I was informed that they could not hand it over because I had not yet converted my driving licence to a UAE licence. I completely understand that a valid UAE driving licence may be a company requirement. However, this requirement should have been clearly communicated BEFORE allowing the customer to complete the booking and payment. The reservation was eventually cancelled, but I was still charged a cancellation fee. I was told that this was covered somewhere in their terms and conditions. While I understand that terms and conditions exist, hiding an important eligibility requirement in the fine print is not what I would consider a transparent or customer-friendly booking process. Unfortunately, the attitude at the desk also made the experience worse. The staff member assisting me appeared quite unfriendly and seemed reluctant to help resolve the situation. I accept that I should have checked the full terms and conditions myself, so I take this as a lesson. However, from a customer experience perspective, a basic eligibility requirement such as “UAE driving licence required at pickup” should be clearly highlighted before payment, not discovered only after arriving at the counter. For me, the issue is not simply the cancellation fee. It is the lack of transparency and the way the situation was handled. I would strongly recommend customers carefully verify all eligibility requirements before booking with this company. Personally, after this experience, I will choose a more transparent and customer-oriented rental company in the future. Update: Thrifty Abu Dhabi reached out to me personally and addressed my concerns professionally. They apologized for the experience and the communication at the counter, and most importantly, they processed a 100% refund of my booking, including the cancellation charge. I appreciate their effort to resolve the issue and their customer support. I’m happy that we were able to close the matter positively, and I would consider using Thrifty again in the future.