A-1 Rent A Car

Super sketchy place. I rented through Expedia thinking I was going with a national brand (Economy) but it ended up being this sketchy place operating out of a trailer in a used car lot. Based on the image and description on Expedia I was lead to believe I was getting a newer Ford Taurus or similar. A 6 year old beat up Nissan Altima is NOT similar and I didn’t see any car on the lot less than about 4 years old. The car had warning lights all over the dash. We also watched about 6 shuttles for each of the reputable brands pass us at the airport before our crappy beat up van shuttle showed up. Do not rent here. Expedia should not do business with this company.

Refused to give a vehicle in pouring rain, with an 88 year old man as part of our group who was shivering from the cold, because we wanted to speak to the owner regarding the extremely bad customer service of his employee’s and managers. Shuttle at the airport literally an hour and thirty minutes after the person on the phone said the shuttle would be there. When we asked for some sort of discount or explanation regarding this issues, none were given. When asked to speak to the owner, the lady who works there obviously giving different names to everyone because every review mentions her with a different name, said that we can’t speak to the owner.
She even sarcastically mocked us and said «can you speak to the owner at Target no you can’t why do you think you should be allowed to speak to the owner of this business.» Ridiculous analogy, which shows her lack of intelligence, considering Target is a publicly traded company on the stock market with thousands of employees and a board of directors, and this is a small independent rental company with one sole proprietor who is doing an absolutely terrible job at running the business.
It’s clear this «rental» shop is only a used car shop that tries to make it’s margins larger at all costs: rent out their cars for sale, hire employees who haven’t graduated from high school and don’t understand basic customer service or analogies, and have no regard for what a contract with reliance is for. They should be out of business. Don’t rent from them at all costs. The «funniest» part of all this is that there was a couple that stormed out before us with the same exact issue, who chose not to get a car from here either.

DO NOT RENT FROM THEM! First of all, on arrival to Honolulu we had to wait 30 minutes to be picked up from the airport, when we were told it would take 10 minutes. Then we got our car and it had almost 80k miles on it and it was not kept well. When we returned the car it took another 30 minutes to get picked up to go back to the airport. When I asked «Heidi» (she may have given me a false name so she is the blonde) to talk to the manager she started throwing attitude at me. She then said the manager wasn’t on the premises. Then I asked who was the acting manager and she said nobody. When I told her this was bad customer service she basically told me to leave the property and said I had a bad attitude. She wouldn’t even call a cab for me when I requested it. Easily one of the worst experiences I have ever had when dealing with a company. If there was ever a company that needed to be put out of business this is it. The few dollars of savings is not worth the hassle, trust me.
Also now after reading all of the negative reviews I have noticed the owner replies to some saying «we have thousands of happy customers» essentially copying and pasting his response to many of these bad reviews. Come on man, you aren’t fooling anyone here but yourself.

WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER RENTED FROM! I rented thru a 3^rd party rental company and I usually pick one of the standards, Budget, Avis, etc. This time in an effort to save money, I chose A-​1/​Economy and figured one is as good as the other. WRONG. I prepaid for my reservation.
Upon arriving at the Honolulu airport, we saw every other company’s shuttle go by 4 times, but not A-​1. I had to call to find out where they were. They finally sent a van which barely fit our luggage. We drove to some off-​site used car sales lot where the «office» was an old construction trailer. The place is run by a bunch of kids. They issued me what I thought was a duplicate receipt and rental agreement. The «intermediate» car I rented turned out to be a Toyota Corolla which barely fit our luggage. The car had 70K+ miles and had seen better days. After driving away and removing the paper floor mats I discovered a huge hole in the carpet dug out by peoples’ shoes and a chunk of the steering wheel was missing. What a piece of crap.
After returning the car and checking my credit card bill at home, I discovered that I had been double billed by
and Economy. I called Economy to find out what happened and before I had a full conversation, they hung up on me 3 times. So I was annoyed by the time I spoke with the last person. Understandable, but apparently not to him. He offered me no resolve but did offer up a lecture on how to rent cars in the future also stating that he did not appreciate the way I was speaking to him and it «made him want to hang up on me». WOW… this is how you handle upset customers. Hey Economy… might want to hire some adults to run your business and I think some customer service training is in order.
So I ended up having to open up a dispute with my credit card company which is a huge pain in the a**. Seriously people, do not rent from this company. They could not have been more rude or unprofessional and the minimal savings is so not worth it.
Side note: Won’t rent thru CarRentals ever again also. They offer no way to contact them but by email and I wasn’t about to try to resolve why they never paid my money to A-​1 thru email.

If i could give them zero stars i would. The cars are horrible… basically a used car lot and the people who work there are even worse. DO NOT RENT FROM HERE!!! Rebecca, i think that was her name??? The sassy unkept blonde was the rudest desk clerk/​customer service rep i have ever encountered. Stay away and use a reputable service instead.

Two words: Bait and switch!
I reserved a «Ford Mustang convertible or similar» with a bit of skepticism based on other Unilocal reviews. Y’all were right! When I got there, I was 5^th in line. One lady had to return her car because the tags were expired. The others in front of me were all given the same song and dance: «We don’t have THAT car, but we’ll gladly give you another car for twice the price plus our ‘friends and family discount’ that will take off 40% of the cost above what you were promised.» When we were finally next in line, the attendant started to check us in, went outside, then returned to give us the same BS, only his started with, «It’s a long f – king story, but…» I was shocked! Not only did they NOT have the car I was promised, the customer service was artrocious! I told the guy I could easily grab the shuttle back to the airport and rent from another company. He said, «fine, wait outside.» I asked him to speak to the manager, he said, «No. He is busy doing other things. Besides, he’s going to tell you the same f – king thing.!» UNBELIEVABLE!
I did end up talking to the manager, who was much nicer. However, the best he could offer me that fit my needs was a very dirty and worn out 2012 Nissan Altima with 70,000 miles.
The valet at our hotel made a comment about our car after seeing us struggle in and our of it for several days — he said the he never hears anything good about the company’s rentals or their customer service.
When I returned the car (in the same condition in which I got it), my paperwork was «lost» so I didn’t get to sign off on anything. I don’t trust this company, and I’m just hoping that their terrible business practices don’t come back to haunt me!
My siggestion: DON’T RENT FROM THIS COMPANY! Even if it costs you a little more, go with a better known company. You will get what you pay for!
Edit: I called A1 and asked for an email confirmation that our contract was terminated and we don’t owe anything else. This seemed to bother the lady on the other end of the line. However, after some prodding, she did begrudgingly email me the confirmation… I still don’t trust them!

Their price was about half that of their closest competitor. However, I noticed that they were not open late enough to accommodate my 9:30 pm arrival time. I called them and told them that it didn’t look like I could do business with them because I couldn’t pick up a car that late. They agreed to run a late shuttle for me, which they did. I was impressed with their going out of their way to accommodate me. So I booked the reservation. True to their promise, they picked me up at close to 10:00 pm. At their rather distant off site facility, they ran my card first and then handed me the contract, which says that if you bring the car back early, you still pay for all the days you reserved. Well, having been stung by other rental car companies that take advantage of people who have to change plans, I usually tack extra days onto my reservation, planning to return the car early if things actually go as planned. (With remodeling, this rarely happens. I’ve learned not to book round trip tickets!)
Now, I’ve had to book an 8:00 am flight back. I’ll probably have to return it a day early and book from a bigger company in order to get to the airport on time.
They’d have four stars from me if they had given me the contract to look at before running my credit card!

I rented a Toyota Yaris. The car itself was already filthy, but I needed a car so I took it anyways.
Returned the car a few days, 2 week later, they charged me a $ 314 «cleaning fee» without telling me. I called them to find out why we got charged. They said that someone was smoking in the car.
NONE OF US SMOKE. I’ve been arguing with them for three days now and still haven’t gotten my money back.
I’m not letting this go. If anyone had a similar situation, wants to join me, we’re getting our money back!

DO NOT RENT FROM!!! (LOST THEIR BBB STATUS)
Used Orbitz to rent the car and paid for insurance through the Orbitz site. When I got to the place they told me it didn’t matter, I’d have to get insurance through them, because if I get in an accident I’d have to pay the money up front, immediately, then get reimbursed from the company I had insurance from. Then because I didn’t have a credit card was going to be charged an extra $ 1000, but if I got insurance through them I’d only be charged $ 300 (which was refundable after I returned the car). Then as I drove the car, any bump I’d go over the steering column would rattle! Not to mention the car wasn’t taken care of everywhere else and smelled bad! Then comes time to turn the car in and 2 weeks later no refund on the deposit! I called to inquire about it and was told the manager doesn’t come in until 10:30 am and he is the only that can deal with that. So I called back at 10:30 and a female said it would take another 5 – 7 days (magically less than time than what I was told before) and nothing, so I had to call up my bank and make a dispute on the charge. They are crap and if you don’t believe this post just google their reviews!!! Go with a nationally known business!!!

How on earth is this company able to do business? DO NOT RENT A VEHICLE, OR EVEN RESERVE ONE FROM THESE CROOKS! I reserved a car via kayak, and it seemed to be a too good to be true price. Well it was I called and they claimed they couldn’t honor it because it was not correct. But it hadn’t made it through their system yet so I was told to call back. I got back in touch with them and said that they would honor the low price. My conscience got the best of me and I decide to cancel on a Monday when I was scheduled to pick up on wed. I told the lady the reason for cancelling was due to being unsure if they would honor such a low price and I didn’t want to get to Hawaii and get stranded due to that. 4 days later they charged me $ 48 and I contacted them… But have yet to hear back. I saved them money! And they had the nerve to charge me. If I would have held them at their quote it would have been $ 79 for the week total!!! I’m pissed!

Ordered a last minute car on my last minute trip.
First off, I was picked up on a grimmy van. The driver took some time to get to the rental spot as it is NOT near the airport. It is actually located in the salt lake area across target. We pulled up in a small sales car lot. I was confused until the driver told me to walk into the office for my rental car.
I didn’t know where exactly to go so I asked a worker who was on a smoke break. Boy was she rude. I hope your lungs don’t meet karma!
Anyway, i went to the cashier and he started to ask me questions. He asked if I wanted to add insurance and I said no as my personal insurance covered rentals. He had the nerve to ask me to call my insurance company and put them on speaker to clarify that I did have covered insurance… REALLY… so unprofessional…
Pretty shaddy workers. The car I got was a nissan sentra. It smelt like someone smoked in the car, BLEH! The car itself felt like It was owned by someone. IT WAS INFESTED BY ANTS!!! GROSS!!! It was run down and parts were falling off. They gave me a run down car so I returned it run down as well with duct tape lol.
I guess you get what you pay for. I will surely get a rental on an airport site rental company.

If I could give 0 stars, I would! Hubby booked online and thought it was at the airport, it’s by Target off Salt Lake Blvd. He reserved a car but since we needed something for 6 passengers he needed to upgrade. They were accomidating but for a steep upgrade fee and we couldn’t cancel the reservation! You would think if a customer was renting long term you would be more helpful. So we got a mini van. It was dirty, had a smell inside and it wasn’t even mechanically sound. So we returned it for another van but it to was dirty inside and had a smell. There was a grinding noise when we drove it but there wasn’t any other vehicles that size available. Check in and check out was cold. And I couldn’t wait for those 3 weeks to be over with. Do not rent from here!

First, this business’ BBB accreditation was revoked in June of 2015:
That should give you an indication to NEVER do business with them.
I rented a car from them through
for my visit to Oahu. The woman at the desk was not very friendly to begin with. My boyfriend was to be the primary driver as he already has insurance, though I was paying. She said the person driving had to be the same person who’s card is charged. Then she says they charge an extra $ 20/​day plus hold a $ 1000 deposit for a credit card that is linked to a bank account. None of this information was previously given to us, so I ended up spending $ 100+ more than my original rate.
I had the car for 5 days, and 4 days into my rental they took the $ 1000 deposit from my account. I had not agreed to this, of course, and when I returned it the next day they said they would refund my money but they didn’t know how long it would take (my rent check bounced because of this). My bank is filing a dispute with them for mishandling my card, and un-​rightfully taking an extra $ 1000. A hold is a hold, not a charge.
I sorely regret trusting that Kayak only works with reputable businesses, and not checking this place out before renting. Their responses to other reviews on Unilocal are another indication of how unprofessional, rude, and plain terrible this business is.

I didn’t even get to actually renting a car with this shady establishment but it was probably a good thing that I didn’t. I was searching Kayak for a car rental place near Honolulu airport. Kayak pulled up a very sweet deal, $ 19 a day at A1 Rental. I’d never heard of this place but didn’t think twice, I booked the car. The total came out to roughly $ 75 for the few days I was renting the car. When I got to the location, it looked very shady. The office is in a trailer, yes, you heard that right. lol.
I gave the girl at the counter the same Paypal Business Debit Card that I use to rent cars elsewhere like Budget, Enterprise and Alamo. She looked at it and told me that they don’t take that card because it’s not a credit card. I told her that I’ve used it before with the major car rentals, she asked if I’d rented in Hawaii before, I told her no, she said it’s a Hawaii thing. Shortly after she tells me that she can take the card for «Added fees» and the rental will now come out to over $ 220! So first you don’t take the card but now if you charge me up the ass for the car you’ll take it!!!
Not wanting to do business with this crappy place I told her to forget it and give me my money back. She said that the card was not charged but that I will be charged $ 36 fee for canceling the reservation. Total BS, I had scheduled the car an hour before I got there. I quickly called Paypal and they are disputing the charge.
I regret that I didn’t read the Unilocal reviews before I booked this place but grateful that I didn’t have to experience the horrible cars that everyone is talking about.

COCKROACH INFESTED CARS. That should be enough to make you want to stay away from this horrible place. Also a very rude staff and a manager (Panda Takara) who doesn’t care about how his customers are getting treated. Plus, good luck trying to get a reimbursement from them if they promise you one. The manager (Panda) will lie and say it has been processed.
My bf and I noticed a rude staff from the start. The very rude girl at the front desk threw her clipboard at us while we were waiting and just said «fill this out». No smile, no «Hello, how can I help you»? She must hate her life. (Maybe Adonis should tell his employees how to be happy instead of replying about it on everyone’s Unilocal review)
About the Cockroaches:
I’m talking about infested with cockroaches. 50+ cockroaches hiding under the floor mats. After we told the manager (Panda) about the cockroach situation, he told us to come switch out the car. But the thing that irritates me is how he acted like this cockroach problem has never happened before. He said «I’m sorry I didn’t know.». If you didn’t know then why are there plenty of cockroach situations from previous reviews?! Even from months ago. Even since the old location (Nimitz hwy). I’m sure you knew, Panda. Do something about the issue and clean your filthy cars.
About the staff:
The employees don’t have a clue about customer service. I’m talking about Panda, Charlie, Jeff, And John. I had to call 2 weeks after my vacation regarding the credit reimbursement since I never received it (for the cockroach problem). Charlie picked up the phone and I told him I wanted to speak to the manager (Panda). This guy puts me on hold twice. Tired of being put on hold I call again and Charlie picks up but this time acts like he doesn’t hear me and hangs up. I call once more and I have no idea who picks up but some guy trying to pretend like he has a weird accent starts yelling «Hellloooo? Helllooo? Can’t hear you??» And hangs up. Are you kidding me? You think this is funny A1? You guys have nothing else better to do but to play jokes. I can’t even get a hold of the manager. Such a waste of time! Then they (Jeff) had the nerve to call me back to say I have been calling but I haven’t been saying anything. This place is a joke. And that’s when they tell me that Panda has been in a phone meeting. Why couldn’t you have told me that in the first place??? But then, when I finally get a hold of Panda the very next day, Panda says he wasn’t working at that time. So which one is it? You weren’t there or you were in a meeting? QUIT PLAYING GAMES A1. We don’t have time for your BS. 3 days in a row dealing with them and I still haven’t received my reimbursement.
Oh and don’t even bother leaving your name and number for them to give to the manager. You will not get a call back. And if Panda tells you himself that he will call back. He won’t.
Had to go through our credit card company and filed a dispute to get our money back.
Don’t make the same mistake that I did! Read the reviews! You get what you pay for. A place like this shouldn’t exist. According to the Better Business Bureau, their accreditation has been revoked by the BBB’s Board of Directors on June 11, 2015. Not surprised.

Reserved a convertible for $ 60/​day and when we arrived they had a spider convertible that had a leaky top and flat tire. They gave us a Camry but wouldn’t lower the cost of the rental. The Camry also had tire problems and we had to refill the tire daily which is the last thing you want to do while on vacation.
Stay away from this place! Terrible customer service and horrific rentals

This place should seriously get shut down and taken off the rental car approved vendor list with all third party vendors. I have NEVER experienced such poor customer service when asking what I considered to be simple questions. I felt as if I was renting a car from the Hawaiian mob! The lot was full of junky looking cars and the car I actually received smelled like old meat and the engine was burning. I immediately returned the car and went to a national chain. I do wish I read the reviews before selecting the rental car company which was listed under «Economy» before renting from «a1» which is very shady.
Not to mention I also reserved a full size car and was given an economy and when I questioned the transaction the rude ass rep yelled at me.
Don’t think twice and stay far away from this shady and rude company.
Oh yeah! Manager don’t even dare to comment there is nothing you and your shady rental car company can say and I will make every effort to broadcast what happened!

Lol i mean the reviews say it all one of the ladys that work there is a straight jackass
I was with my cousin trying to rent a car and she had the nerve to say people needs space and i need to take a few steps back. Everyone looks at her like wtf is her problem… awkward silence after that
I mean i clearly know how and where to stand…
Left and went to a different rental spot
O and they also have the nerve to argue back on Unilocal lol very professional but hey it wouldnt matter at this point
Much aloha to you too jackass

I too am going to have to give this place one star due to «Bait and Switch».
I rented an economy car on-​line from Kayak.
The car I reserved was to seat four passengers and hold two suitcases. My confirmation listed the car as being a Hyundai i25 Assent or similar. (4 door hatchback).
When I arrived to pickup the car, I was told «their» economy car was a Smart car (two door golf cart sized car with no room for a suitcase). When I mentioned the mistake, the agent reiterated that this is what I reserved even after I had shown her the confirmation paperwork. I did not argue as it didn’t matter to me as I needed the car for only two days, had no luggage and thought the Smart car might be fun to drive.
On a side note, the Smart car was a «dog». It had no power at all and rode extremely rough. The car also had no power accessories or «bells and whistles». It was a stripped down model with only AC and auto transmission. Maybe if it were manual, it might have been a little more enjoyable to drive.
My advise is to avoid this company like the plague. If I had arrived with more than two people and with at least one suitcase, I would have been screwed. I’m sure they would of «upgraded «me for an additional charge.
Another issue is that the lot is about four miles from the airport and there are no other rental car companies nearby making taking your business elsewhere both costly and time consuming.
I believe the company also goes by Economy Rental Car as well.

We should have done our research. Everything these reviews are saying is true. Rude and unfriendly staff. They wanted to charge me $ 100 because there was sand on the floor. This is Hawaii. There is a gas station just up the block, $ 1.25 for a self use vacuum and we were finally done with this horror story of a company. Not worth the savings. Use a respectful rental car place instead. Everyone in the shuttle back to the airport was sharing nightmare stories of dealing with this company openly even with their driver listening in. Truly the worst experience we had in Hawaii and any place ever in renting a car.
Just click this link they have included on their website for all the info you really need: