Vladeks Prokat I Arenda Avtomobiley V Almaty I Astane — Local services in Almaty

Company with good cars at well above average prices, but poor customer service and excessive profiteering over loopholes in the contract and pick up agreements. Their communication was not proactive, leading to a number of problems which left a feeling of overall dishonesty:

Most models on the website seem to not to be available even if you can book them on the website. Reservations are sent, then the company sends a "counter-offer" with the same model at higher price and other different models above the requested class.

At pick up time, even if they state that card payment is accepted, we were told that payments are cash only by default unless card payment is explicitly requested beforehand. No mention of this is made in their conditions, neither was in our extensive mailing exchanges. Anyway, bringing a payment terminal is not too much of a hassle and, coincidentally enough, Kazakhstan is beyond most countries in terms of cashless payments. The company also showed no flexibility on the return of the deposit for our convenience and their position was very defensive.

Also at pick up time, we were not handled a copy of the "condition" factsheet with initial mileage, fuel level and already existing damages. Upon realising it afterwards, this raised some suspicion, even if we decided to trust the company's integrity.

At drop off time, the issue about cleaning repeatedly reported in other comments arose. During pick up, Nick told us that the car was to be returned clean in order to be able to confirm or dismiss new damages to the car. The contract only states: "return the car in a clean state". However, at drop off, after having thoroughly self-washed the car, Nick told us the car was not clean. When asked for more details, he said that the car was to be returned "in the same condition of handling", that this condition included "hand washing" and that "the car was not ready to be handled to the following client". When confronted about these contradictions, his position was defensive and he proceeded to search and point out minor dried out droplets on the rear fender. I therefore do not recommend dropping of the car washed in any way, as this practice seems to be a systematic policy of the company. By the way, I do not think that the 3000 tenge kept from the deposit are worth confronting clients complying with the initially agreed conditions, while contradicting common business practice with abstruse arguments and reasonings. In any case, this policy should be reviewed as it only seems to bring confusion to customers who, like us, have rented cars in most other European and Asian countries where a final thorough cleaning, its extent and details are decisions concerning the company's responsibility over the quality of their services.

As a matter of fact, this extreme pickiness contrasts with the company breaching their own conditions concerning fuel: the car was not handled with a full tank, forcing us to bear the cost of returning it with extra fuel to avoid any risk.

I must say that, before the rental itself, communication was fluid and the company showed some degree of flexibility over some details, even if every request ends up being billed at a considerable cost.

So, all in all, the second star is deserved because of the initial flexibility, but I cannot give a third one because the high prices charged are not matching the rather poor quality of service and overall lack of transparency towards the customer: "hidden" costs, verbal tricks and in-person bargaining over details are not practices you expect from a company catering an international clientèle and already charging an expensive initial bill.

Update: the company came back the following day with the answer below which did not address most of the points in my review, even if I appreciated the prompt response. However, Nick sent me an unprofessional private message laughing at us and calling us "tricksters" (?), and showed again a stubborn defensive attitude. So, I conclude that the company does not deal with customers in a professional and...

I rented a 2019 Toyota Camry from this company for a long trip in Kazakhstan. While the communication was good, my overall experience was disappointing due to serious safety and organizational issues.

Pros: Communication was smooth – questions were answered quickly and politely via WhatsApp. The company offers favorable conditions for long trips: a 300 km daily mileage limit (compared to the usual 200 km with other companies), and a relatively low fee for additional kilometers. The deposit is refunded immediately when you return the car – without any delay or uncertainty.

Cons: The car's technical condition was simply unsafe. The 2019 Camry had completely worn-out tires – the tread was nearly gone, and all four tires had cracks and tears. This was especially concerning with a 1000 km trip ahead. The wipers were also severely worn, with hard rubber, and did a poor job of cleaning the dirty windshield. This affected visibility, especially in the morning and evening. The car was supposed to be delivered with a full tank, but it had only half a tank. The person delivering the car spent about 40 minutes driving to a gas station to top it up. When I informed them about the tires, I was reassured that "the roads are fine," and that the management "hadn’t bought new tires yet." The person who delivered the car refused to record the poor tire condition in the handover report, claiming that management was aware of the issue and didn’t think it was a problem.

It’s important to note that both the tires and windshield were not covered by insurance – if anything happened, I would have been fully responsible.

Summary: Although the company offers attractive rental conditions and communication was good, the car's technical condition was completely unacceptable and posed a real safety risk. Such irresponsibility, especially regarding essential parts like tires and wipers, is a major downside. It felt like this company is just waiting for an unfortunate customer to buy them new tires.

Advice for future customers: When picking up a car, make sure to allow extra time for a thorough inspection – check the tires, windshield, wipers, and fuel level. Be prepared to decline the car or have an alternative plan if its condition is unsuitable or unsafe for...

We deal with Nick in our renting terms and dateails who is easily approachable through what's app. Car price for August was 21500 Tenge per day for a fully automatic Hyundai in perfect condition. Well the price seems little salty but it was in the heart of August and the office is the only that offer you a daily limit of 300 km per day in this price. All other rentals was offered at apx 16000 but with daily limits of 150-200 km per day that did not satisfy our needs. The office accept payment like everyone else in Kazakstan with our visa revolut card and took a deposit of 50000 Tenge in cash that he return directly when we return the car. Be advised that other offices in the city return you the money through card or WU with danger to have fees and delays.We took and return the car in the office and to that since there is no sign of Vladex rental hanging outside of the building we tend to confuse calling Nick who wait us in the building entrance. So practically to not loose yourself simply call him and arrange upon your arrival in the office.There is a car washing fee of 3000 Tenge deducted from the guarantee at the delivery of the car except if you return the car washed. Travelling with train is easily since the office is located 5 minutes walking from Alma ata 2 ,especially if you are travelling towards or from Nur Sultan. Extra Top! Use Yandex maps when driving in the cities , traffic control cameras are located everywhere and send fines directly. You don't want to spend your guarantee money in traffic fines... The experience was good and service level high with Nick explaining all you need to know about the rental,highly...