Essence Cars

Booked through Groupon in Feb 2011, called and checked availability of the Bentley before ordering the Groupon voucher. Once i got the voucher i forwarded to them and confirmed the date, and that i would provide times closer to the date (Oct 2011). Between Feb and Oct was in contact for various details, times locations extra charge for extra mileage etc. Sent a final confirmation of times 1 week before the wedding to confirm times, and no response. called, no response. Even went to their originally posted business address on scrubs lane - security guard told me they moved out months ago. Went to the new location registered - residential property where there was no answer...

Saw this as a sign and booked another car 3 days before my wedding. Called Groupon who initially told me that they couldn't refund as the voucher had been cashed in (Note - before the hire had been completed!) Wedding day came, but no Bentley from Essence...

Eventually got my money back from Groupon but be aware when booking these guys... I was informed from Groupon that Essence no longer had a Bentley available and they were offering an alternative company.

Be very aware when booking with this company... I would give 0 stars, but i cant.

Thank you very much. I have only just got back yesterday. It was nice meeting you and thank you very much for driving us around.

We will certainly contact you again when we come to London.

I booked a chauffeur driven Bentley via Groupon with Essence cars. When I fist tried to book the deal they claimed that they were fully booked and offered me a Chevrolet as an although i was booking 9 months in advance. However when I tried to book the Bentley the following day without mentioning the Groupon deal the car was miraculously available. it was only when they requested payment, which is when i mentioned the Groupon deal. So by then they had to take the booking.

Nonetheless, on the morning of the wedding the company then called me to tell me that the car had apparenty been in an accident on its way to me (4 hours ahead of its scheduled arrival time) they then offered me the following alternatives: a people carrier, a Mercerdes E class (which i could have gotten from a local cab firm for a quarter of the price), a Bentley convertible (minus the chaufffer). The firm knew exactly what the car was intended for (transport for the bride) yet they offered no suitable alternative, which bride turns up to her wedding in a people carrier. additionally, the cars that they were now offering were of a lesser value and another alternative did not have the chauffeur as it was a yet they were not going to even offer any type of renumeration for giving a service of a lesser value to what I had originally paid. The firm expressed no remorse were very 'matter of fact' and only offered a refund, which my opinion isn't good enough as they were responsible for leaving a bride stranded on her wedding day.

So if you want a reliable service then I would NOT use this service, as I honestly don't believe that they have the cars that they claim to have. Additionally, when i asked them to see proof of the accident for the wedding insurance purposes they refused. they are very unhelpful and lack in customer service. Quite frankly I would not recommend them and would spend my money elsewhere.