Unreliable.
We confirmed pick up at 900. Arrived and the office was closed. Called the number no answer. Found a mobile number and they said they could maybe get the car by 945. We had to get an expensive Uber and we were late for our tour that we had booked.
Go with another company that actually will have a car.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7690 posts
Is “Borgo” the name of the agency?
Never heard of it
Always best to book with recognizable brand names
Posted by
new york
288 posts
I wondered about that as well. Where did you find this agency? Are there many online reviews?
Did you eventually get your car and what was the reason you did not get it on time?
Posted by
Tampa, FL
674 posts
I think the poster must mean this agency: https://bogarent.it/?lang=en
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34723 posts
I'm confused. I think there must be gremlins in the computer.
Where is Glorence? Do you mean Florence in Italy? If that is so how did you end up in Uber - there is no normal Uber in Italy?????
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Yes, fat fingers, meant Florence.
You can book an Uber in Florence. Not as commonly available throughout Italy, bu available in Florence.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you Kathy H, Bogo as you posted.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7690 posts
It’s my understanding that it is “Black Uber” only
More expensive
Not Uber as it is here in US
Why didn’t you just call a taxi?
Posted by
OP
4 posts
We've found FrreNow and other taxi apps to be unreliable and needed something we could be assured would get us there. In Uber, there is Black car and Taxi options. In this case we used Black car, again to ensure we got a car ASAP. It was expensive. We have found the Taxi option in Uber also unreliable.
Posted by
149 posts
“We've found FrreNow and other taxi apps to be unreliable and needed something we could be assured would get us there“
So, from your experience there are three things people should learn NOT to do.
1) don’t book a rental car from an unknown entity. Always book with known car rental companies. All reviews are available online, so, always make sure to research carefully, because, unfortunately, there are people out there who will take advantage of unknowing tourists.
2)taxi apps in Italy are very reliable otherwise Italians wouldn’t stand for it and they’d make their voices heard regarding this. All of my Italian friends use the taxi apps, when public transport isn’t running (late at night ) or on strike.
3) UBER DOES NOT exist in Italy as it does in the USA and other parts of the world. Yes, you get “black car” service, but, they’re basically taxis, so, in any event you’re better off just calling for a taxi. ANY hotel or even Airbnb will help with that.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16458 posts
At first I thought you meant Borgo Ognissanti, the street where many rental car agencies are in Florence (like Avis-Budget, Europcar, Enterprise, etc.). Actually Boga Rent is also on Borgo Ognissanti. I think it Boga Rent is a fairly new local outfit (maybe born in the last 4 or 5 years). I thought they only did ebike and motorscooter rentals, along with private van tours and transfers, but I guess the rent cars too.
The reviews on Google seem to be largely positive, but I have no direct experience, and maybe the reviews refer to their motorcycle and bike rentals, or their private car tours of Tuscany.
I used www.autoeurope.com (a broker based in Maine) to find cars in Italy, and generally go select one of the major companies (Avis/Budget/Maggiore, Hertz, Europcar, Sixt, Enterprise/Locauto, SicilyByCar, etc). I heard Gamut (another broker) is also good, although I never used it.
Regarding the Taxi apps. Uber driven by regular folks using their cars (like is common in USA and elsewhere) are not legal in Italy. In 2015, after a lawsuit for unfair competition filed by the taxi and NCC associations since regular folks were operating a transportation service without the licensing requisites required for taxi and NCC (limo) drivers, the Milan court judge sentenced that that service (which was called Uber Pop) is not permitted because of the reasons stated. As a result Uber started the service Uber Black, which is operated exclusively by Limo drivers (with NCC license) on licensed luxury cars. Obviously the service is as expensive as any limo service. In 2023 Uber reached an agreement with the Radio Taxi association (operating the app ItTaxi) to summon regular taxi cabs via the Uber Taxi service (for an additional fee of about 3€ added to the ride cost). The service works in Rome (I hear) but the two main taxi cooperatives in Florence ditched ItTaxi in protest against that agreement. So in Florence the most reliable apps used by the two cooperative companies are AppTaxi and TaxiMove. Although I've downloaded them, however I've never used them, as I find it easier to just call the two company numbers (39 055 4242 or 39 055 4390). But if you go to Florence and want to use the apps for the taxicabs, use AppTaxi or TaxiMove (depending on which of the two cooperative companies you use).