Funchal Drive Reviews 

First of all, I did not mean to give a bad review and just leave it as is. but you asked for an honest reviwe multiple times, so here we go.

As read in many other comments, the hidde fees should be vommunicated more clarly. we purchased a premium gold assurance in advance for over 100€. which wasn't valid from your company and you made us pay almost another 300€ on top. worst thing was that the lady at the desk was not friendly anout it at all. she almost made me cancel everything and go with another rental company.

we didn't get the car we had ordered, but one of the same class, which is kinda okay I guess.

another part is unfortunaley the battery from our car should have been replaced before we got the car. the second day we got back from a 6hour hike and the car wouldnt start and we had to call assistance. after a 2 hour wait a really nice guy came to help and got the car running again in only 10minuets. this man saved you a star, he was super helpful and nice.

after this we had to get help from locals two more time to jump start the car. we did it ourselves because we did not mean to call for help and wait again.

to the custommer-service-team, save yourselves some dignity and to not reply with your common, we are sorry that we didn't blabla standard reply. just safe it and better start communicating more properly from the beginning on your page so future custommers wont have to pay 100€ a day to rent a car when being promised pretty much half the price.

# Recensione Funchal Drive – esperienza pessima

**Compagnia assolutamente da evitare\.**

La mia esperienza con **Funchal Drive è stata pessima** e ha trasformato quello che doveva essere un momento di relax in un vero incubo\.

Avevo una **carta di credito Mediolanum** e, nonostante fosse una carta di credito, mi è stato comunicato che non poteva essere utilizzata per il noleggio\. Di conseguenza, sono stato di fatto costretto a **pagare con carta di debito e ad acquistare la copertura assicurativa proposta da loro**, sostenendo un costo molto superiore a quello originariamente previsto\.

Una situazione che mi ha fatto **perdere circa tre ore** del mio soggiorno, tempo che avrei voluto dedicare al meritato relax dopo il viaggio\.

Anche la gestione della riconsegna è stata tutt’altro che soddisfacente: avendo il volo per Milano alle **6:00 del mattino**, mi è stato chiesto di lasciare la macchina al **parcheggio n\. 7 dell’aeroporto**, sostenendo anche **un ulteriore costo**\. Il servizio di trasferimento da/per l’aeroporto, inoltre, l’ho trovato **pessimo e assolutamente inadeguato**\.

La cosa che trovo ancora più spiacevole è che **Funchal Drive mi è stata assegnata dal tour operator a mia insaputa**, perché inserita nel pacchetto acquistato\. Se avessi saputo in anticipo quale compagnia sarebbe stata utilizzata, avrei scelto senza dubbio un altro operatore\.

Tra l’altro, leggendo successivamente le recensioni online, ho riscontrato che **anche altri clienti hanno lamentato problematiche simili relative alle carte di credito, ai costi aggiuntivi e alle coperture assicurative*

**Il mio consiglio è molto semplice: evitate Funchal Drive\.** Per il futuro sceglierei compagnie di noleggio più conosciute e strutturate, come **Goldcar o altri grandi operatori internazionali**, verificando sempre prima le condizioni relative alla carta di credito, alla franchigia e alla riconsegna\.

**Sconsiglio vivamente questa compagnia\.**

# Funchal Drive Review – very poor experience

**A company to absolutely avoid\.**

My experience with **Funchal Drive was extremely negative** and turned what should have been a relaxing moment into a real nightmare\.

I had a **Mediolanum credit card** and, despite it being a credit card, I was told it could not be used for the rental\. As a result, I was effectively forced to **pay with a debit card and purchase their insurance coverage**, incurring a much higher cost than originally expected\.

This situation caused me to **lose around three hours** of my stay—time I would have preferred to spend enjoying a well\-deserved rest after my trip\.

The return process was also far from satisfactory: with a flight to Milan at **6:00 a\.m\.**, I was asked to leave the car at **airport parking lot no\. 7**, which also involved an **additional fee**\. Furthermore, I found the airport transfer service **very poor and completely inadequate**\.

What I find even more frustrating is that **Funchal Drive was assigned to me by the tour operator without my knowledge**, as it was included in the package I purchased\. Had I known in advance which company would be used, I would have definitely chosen a different provider\.

Moreover, after reading online reviews, I discovered that **other customers have also reported similar issues regarding credit cards, extra charges, and insurance coverage**

**My advice is very simple: avoid Funchal Drive\.** In the future, I would choose more well\-known and established rental companies, such as **Goldcar or other major international operators**, always carefully checking the terms regarding credit cards, excess, and return conditions\.

**I strongly do not recommend this company\.**

The personnel was quite rude and unprofessional. They did not respond my calls or messages, then they were quite late for the pick up and took a lot of time to check me in. Comparing to other companies the experience was very bad, and I will never come again.

Staff very helpful
Service was excellent

We were very pleased with the service we got.
The booking process went very smooth online, as well as the actual online registration for driver etc. This made the whole delivery process on arrival supersmooth and simple.
On arrival at the airport, we did have to wait for 30-45 mins due to large influx of customers, but then on our way with the shuttle. Only point of improvement would be clarity of pickup and the driver aware of his customers which seemed not the case at that time.
We did receive a similar car, which was in line with our expectations and the trunk was even a bit bigger.
Car worked fine without question or any issues.
Also the handing in process went smooth again, as well as the shuttle delivery back to the airport. Overall very happy with the service!

Picked up from the airport, car was ready to go when we got to the office (5 mins away) and a very simple checkout plus driven back to the airport. Friendly and efficient. No complaints.

I payed more Money (~400€) because the assistant told me wrong options, and in the end he gave me a Better car, in this way he "solved the problem".

The car itself was great and almost brand new. We initially booked a manual car but asked if we could upgrade to an automatic. The man at the office told us the upgrade would cost an additional €84, which we agreed to.

However, when the woman came to deliver the car, we were suddenly told the additional cost was €114. She called the office to check and was told that €114 had supposedly been communicated from the beginning. This was disappointing, as there were two of us present when the €84 price was clearly agreed upon.

The €30 difference itself isn't a huge issue, but changing the agreed price afterwards and then claiming that a different amount had been communicated from the start didn't feel very fair.

Other than that, we were very happy with the car itself.

Everything was fine, friendly staff!

I dislike being charged an additional 30€ fee for collecting the car after 7pm without any prior notice. I understand the reason, but feel like I was not given proper notice.

Initial price was competitive and pickup to offsite location was timely enough. Some hidden charges not highlighted beforehand soured the experience for me e.g. tourist tax (ok, unavoidable but would be good to have known in advance), cleaning fee (this is a new one for me in all my years renting and was either €12 upfront or €25 on return at their discretion, even if you kept it clean), plus €35 to drop-off at the airport directly to the cheapest parking area, as we were on an early flight. All of this put a bad taste in the mouth. The car was fine.

⭐ Very disappointing experience – be careful about additional charges

I booked a rental car in Madeira for around €370. However, by the time I returned the vehicle, the total cost had increased to approximately €870.

The main issue was the additional insurance. I was told that I had to take this insurance because my bank card was a debit card rather than a credit card. I was made to understand that I had no choice if I wanted to rent the car, so I had to accept the additional cost.

In my opinion, this should have been made completely clear before the rental. Customers should know exactly what they will have to pay before collecting the vehicle, especially when the additional cost is several hundred euros.

On top of this, when I returned the car, I was charged €35 for a transfer to the airport, even though the airport is less than 2 km away. I found this charge excessive for such a short distance.

I am not leaving this review because of the car itself, but because of the way the additional charges were handled and communicated.

My advice to future customers: carefully check the conditions regarding debit/credit cards, insurance and airport transfers before booking, and make sure you know the final price before accepting the rental.

Unfortunately, based on my experience, I cannot recommend this rental company.

The personnel was rather grumpy and uninterested. And the car that I got was old and half-broken, with defects that they said they could not solve.
At picking-up the car, the battery of the remote control/keys was as-good-as empty, warning about this is the car's display.
Furthermore, in the car's display error-messages about problems with the airbag, and the tire pressure. These could not be removed or resetted.
None of the buttons on the steering wheel was working, and not even the claxon.
They said this was 'normal' for this brand/type of car, and they cannot fix this.
This gave me a rather unsafe feeling.

The car was ok, but i have to pay for recovery the car after the official time(8 pm). Our pane was late (they know the flight nuber so they know of the late) but we landed before 8 pm and we could not find the transfer waiting for us, We phoned them at 20:04 (4 min later the official time; just the time to understand that no one was waiting for us) and no one answer. Finaly we were collected around 20:40 and they asked us aditional 35 euros because we were in late!

Was told the car would be at the terminal and it wasn’t. Had to get a shuttle to collect. Shuttle arrived over an hour after it was due. Be aware if cleaning expense and fee for collecting out of hours. Don’t use.

I rented cars a lot during my life.
Never payed for car-rental cleaning. This one, was a first time.
Never payed for a turist tax on car-rental. This was a first time.
The car-jack was missing.
I returned the car in perfect order and one week later, I’m still waiting for the €1.400,00 deposit to be cancelled.
It doesn't have the nicest employees.
Less than one month ago I rented a car in Canary Islands. Full satisfaction with Cicar: not expensive, easy, no complications, no surprises, no extra hidden expenses.
Suggestion: learn with them.

nice service: picking up at the airport en bringing us back. Car was good and everybody was very helpful

when we arrived at the airport the bus came to bring us to the office .de car was ready . it was a very new car a white panda whit hybrid en very friendly people. she help us very good .all week long we have ride the entire island to see beautifull places all over. the car drove very smoothly.
thanks for the good service . . we will come back again.

I am giving Funchal Drive a poor rating because I was required to purchase an additional insurance policy for €262.50 despite presenting a valid Mastercard credit card.

The official explanation given to me was that the Mastercard I presented was not issued by a traditional physical bank. However, this is not a reasonable justification in my case. My Mastercard was issued in Germany through MLP and is fully subject to the German banking and deposit protection system. There is therefore no relevant difference in terms of security or reliability between my Mastercard and a credit card issued directly by a traditional bank.

I have been using this Mastercard for several decades and have always had very positive experiences with it. I have successfully used it in all kinds of situations and countries without any problems. This is the first time in my entire life that I have encountered such a situation.

I was therefore effectively forced on site to purchase an additional insurance policy, even though there was no reasonable basis for doing so. I consider this to be highly questionable and unacceptable business practice.

Furthermore, I had already purchased all the necessary insurance coverage through CHECK24, including coverage for potential damage to the rental vehicle. I was fully covered for any damage and had no excess to pay. There was therefore no apparent reason whatsoever to require me to pay an additional €262.50.

I expect Funchal Drive to review this matter critically and thoroughly and to reimburse me the full amount of €262.50 that I was charged additionally.

In my view, there was absolutely no reasonable basis for questioning the security or reliability of the Mastercard I presented. I therefore ask Funchal Drive to reconsider this matter, correct this unacceptable business practice and refund the full amount of €262.50.