National Tool Hire Reviews 

4,961
•
TrustScore 2 out of 5

2.0

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Evaluating 258 reviews, most reviewers were unhappy with their experience overall. Customers frequently complained about prolonged delivery delays, items arriving late or missing entirely, and severe problems regarding unreturned security deposits. Consumers also noted that reaching customer support was extremely difficult, leaving many people ignored when trying to resolve urgent issues. The minority of people were satisfied with the equipment quality, mentioning that items worked well and arrived on time. Some reviewers were happy with the professional delivery drivers who handled the machinery carefully and made the process stress-free. Some reviewers were also pleased when their items eventually arrived and the required job was completed successfully.

What people talk about most

Delivery service

Consumers find delivery service to be disappointing, frequently reporting severe delays, sudden last-minute... See more

Refund

People report negative experiences with refund policies, as reviewers frequently express deep frustration... See more

Service

Reviewers express deep dissatisfaction regarding the poor service, highlighting delayed deposit refunds and... See more

Customer service

Users describe negative interactions with customer service, highlighting widespread frustration over delayed... See more

Order

Customers had negative experiences with order processes, frequently noting that items were confirmed as... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Poor communication on use, poor delayed collection of kit, no clear advice on fuel consumption charges, debacle with Keys and collection, deposit held for 7 weeks, poor to no communication throughout.... See more

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

I hired a 2T Engine Hoist from these guys. Ordered on Saturday for Tuesday. Got confirmation email then nothing. Tried to chat with them on Monday and was given expected wait 22-25 hours!. They called... See more

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

This company is a joke! If you want a reliable hire - GO ELSWHERE. You might or might not receive it. There is a small chance you will have it on time. Customer service - forget about it. They... See more

Company replied

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

AVOID THIS COMPANY - SCAMMERS They are illegally withholding my £500 deposit since my digger hire in May. They say it takes 21 days - well it’s been months and every time you call you get fobbed of t... See more

Company replied


Company details

  1. Tool Rental Service
  2. Building Equipment Hire Service
  3. Construction Machine Rental Service
  4. Equipment Rental Agency
  5. Lawn Equipment Rental Service
  6. Plant and Machinery Hire

About National Tool Hire

Written by the company

TOOL HIRE SCAFFOLD TOWER HIRE WACKER PLATE HIRE CEMENT MIXER HIRE FLOOR SANDER HIRE PLANT HIRE

With over 2,000 'Click & Collect' locations and FREE nationwide delivery, National Tool Hire Shops offers DIY and Trade customers a convenient same-day tool hire service.

Our tool hire range has over 2,000,000 products ranging from power tools and carpet cleaners to mini diggers and scaffold towers.

Book & Pay Online: Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal.


Contact info

2.0

Poor

TrustScore 2 out of 5

5K reviews

5-star
4-star
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1-star

Asks customers to review

This company invites their customers to review, whether positive or negative

Replied to 67% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 1 week

How this company uses Trustpilot

See how their reviews and ratings are sourced, scored, and moderated.

2.0

All reviews

(4,961)

248 reviews in the last 12 months

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Companies on Trustpilot aren't allowed to offer incentives or pay to hide reviews. Reviews are the opinions of individual users and not of Trustpilot. Read more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Extraordinarily poor experience provided by this company.

Very poor experience with this company.
Hired a floor sander. They did not have the relevant sandpaper in stock but I was led to believe could purchase anywhere. Not so - been to all local DIY and tool places and no one can supply the sanding belt.
The machine is therefore unusable and we have it for a week. 2 days wasted already and no prospect of getting it going.
Total waste of time dealing with customer service. First they just bang on in an irrelevant way about grades of sandpaper. They refuse a refund or to collect the item.
A team leader gets involved and sends the wrong details for sandpaper from Screwfix. Screwfix just laughed!
Same team leader Mr Pearson then says 'we work with hundreds of suppliers, each operating a range of different models' he then goes on to say they don't therefore know what model is coming out and cannot therefore specify the consumables (i.e sandpaper I presume) that are needed.
Eventually they got the third party who actually supplied the machine via them to call me. Unlike National Tool Hire they were very apologetic but said they had already told National Tool Hire they could not direct us to a supplier of the particular sandpaper system..
What a total waste of time! We took time off work to do the sanding but it is not to be.
The refusal of National Tool hire to refund on a machine that can't be used is outrageous. The way they disingenuously told me the machine supplier would sort it when they had been told by the supplier they couldn't source the sandpaper is also atrocious behaviour that lacks integrity.
I suppose this will rumble on and on as we sit here with a big heavy sander no one can use.
The worst of all of this is that instead of an apology, refund and collection of machine the company treats the customer like an idiot and drags the whole thing out.
Don't go near this company unless you are 100% certain they can fulfil the contract!
If I had looked at Trust Pilot first I would have run a mile!

22 April 2026
Unprompted review
National Tool Hire logo

Reply from National Tool Hire

Thank you for your feedback

We're truly sorry to hear about your very frustrating experience with the floor sander hire. It’s clear this has caused you significant inconvenience, wasted time off work, and left you with unusable equipment — that’s absolutely not the standard we aim for, and we apologise for the stress this has caused.

We work with a UK-wide network of suppliers, and while we successfully process many thousands of orders each month, issues like this with equipment or the hire process can unfortunately happen from time to time. We’d genuinely like the opportunity to put this right for you.

To help us investigate and resolve this as quickly as possible, could you please email us at MyExperience@NationalToolHire.co.uk with your order number, the dates of the hire, and any other details you have? We’ll look into exactly what went wrong with the sandpaper compatibility, the supplier communication, and the handling of your refund request.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your feedback. We value it and are keen to make this right.

Best regards,

Bob Jones
Customer Experience Team
National Tool Hire

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Never return my deposit after wood chipper rental

Rented a wood chipper from Mammoth/National Tool Hire.

It turned up a day late and the first machine stopped working. They did eventually get a new machine out, but I lost 2 days of time over the weekend.

New chipper was then returned in good condition exactly as it was dropped off.

They then failed to return my deposit, and I was completely ignored on their online chat platform and their customer service email for nearly a month.

I ended up starting a chargeback through my back, and that seemed to get them talking, but still nothing useful other than " we're looking into it"

Avoid this company, my experience aligns with so many others on Trust Pilot and other review platforms - they cannot be trusted with your money or to communicate properly.

12 March 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

£500 Deposit still not returned after 2…

£500 Deposit still not returned after 2 months of waiting, DO NOT USE this company you cannot reach anyone by phone, email and now online chat. They will take your money but that's the last you will see of it. AVOID AT ALL COSTS...

15 April 2026
Unprompted review
National Tool Hire logo

Reply from National Tool Hire

Hi Neil,

We requested more information via TP and you have not provided it, we cannot put something right if you have not given us more information, it would help us resolve your issues if you can add your order number to this review.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Avoid.

I ours for ladders to be delivered on 27th March and they did not turn up. Requested a refund and still not received 2 weeks later so needing to recover costs via the bank. Very disappointing and poor customer service.

27 March 2026
Unprompted review
National Tool Hire logo

Reply from National Tool Hire

Hi Steph,

We requested more information via TP but you haven't responded. We process thousands of orders every month and sometimes things don't go perfectly to plan, where this happens we want to try and put things right, but we need your help in identifying your order and getting back in touch with you.

please add your order number to this review and we will do what we can to make you happy with our service.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Hired a scaffold tower - no show - no contact

Hired a scaffold tower for delivery on Monday. It didnt arrive. Called the Mammoth number and spoke to someone who said they would contact the driver and email me with an ETA. No email. Tried calling back on all the options for Mammoth Tool hire and National tool hire but all 3 options on both companies phoes just go to a busy tone. This is clearly a scam so I am contacting my credit card company

13 April 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I am now 4 weeks in from the return of…

I am now 4 weeks in from the return of a Telehandler, I paid a £500 deposit, the equipment was returned in perfect condition and I have been told numerous times that my deposit was being processed. Still no sign of it. The telehandler was ordered via a sub company called Mammoth Hire, part of the National Tool Hire group. I have logged a complaint ticket, sent emails to both Mammoth and National tool hire, all responding in the same manner with an automated reply and a ticket number, but nothing ever comes of it. I am currently on hold trying to speak to someone, been waiting for an hour. To anyone looking to hire equipment please AVOID this company and its associated sub companies as they the most dishonest, unreliable set of cowboys ever.

9 March 2026
Unprompted review
National Tool Hire logo

Reply from National Tool Hire

Dear Andy,

Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback and for sharing your experience with us.

I’m really sorry to hear how frustrating this has been for you. Waiting this long for your deposit refund after returning the Telehandler in perfect condition is clearly not the experience we want any customer to have, and I apologise that we’ve fallen short this time.

Just to explain, our standard terms state that deposit refunds are processed within 21 working days after the end of the hire period. This gives our supplier time to inspect the equipment, check for any damages, and process any additional consumable charges. However, I completely understand that four weeks still feels far too long, especially when you’ve been chasing regularly and only receiving automated responses.

I note that you began following up just 5 days after the return and eventually raised a chargeback, which we did not contest. That said, I’m sorry this hasn’t been handled more smoothly or communicated more clearly.

We process many thousands of hires successfully each month, but on this occasion it’s clear we let you down. If you’d like me to personally look into your case, please reply to this message with your hire reference or ticket number and I’ll chase it directly for you.

Once again, I apologise for the inconvenience and poor service you’ve received.

Kind regards,
Bob Jones
Customer Experience Team
National Tool Hire / Mammoth Hire

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Avoid this company

Avoid this company – faulty tools and zero integrity.

I hired a compactor that was completely broken and unusable. When I returned it, the staff were dismissive and refused to issue a refund, claiming the machine "works fine."

It is incredibly dishonest to provide sub-standard equipment and then try to gaslight the customer into paying for it anyway. Save yourself the headache and the lost manual labor—hire from a professional outfit that actually maintains their fleet and respects their clients. Extremely poor customer service.

13 March 2026
Unprompted review
National Tool Hire logo

Reply from National Tool Hire

Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback — we’re truly sorry to hear about your disappointing experience with the compactor.

We always aim to provide reliable, well-maintained equipment, so it’s concerning to read that the machine was unusable for you. To help clarify, once the compactor was returned to our supplier at the end of the hire period, it was thoroughly inspected by their engineers. They reported that the machine was in good working order and showed no faults.

We process many thousands of orders successfully each month, but clearly on this occasion we fell short on the service you received, and for that I’m sorry.

If there’s anything more you’d like us to look into or if you’d be open to discussing this further, please feel free to contact me directly. Your feedback helps us improve, and we’d value the chance to make things right where we can.

Thank you again for sharing your experience.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Waste of time

Waste of time. scaffold tower never turned up when they said it would. nor the day after nor the day after that. Take your money and then zero contact. They just ignore all comunication.Should have looked at reviews first. You live and learn. Got my money back through paypal. Avoid at all costs.

24 March 2026
Unprompted review
National Tool Hire logo

Reply from National Tool Hire

Hi William,

Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback – we’re really sorry to hear how disappointing your experience was with the scaffold tower order.

We completely understand your frustration, especially after waiting multiple days with no delivery or clear updates.

We tried 9 different suppliers in your area to source the equipment for you. Unfortunately, the 10th supplier accepted the order but failed to deliver and didn’t inform us. We’ve now investigated this and can see it matches what you experienced. We’ve raised this directly with the supplier and asked them to review their processes so we can prevent it happening again.

We can also see the messages between you and our team (3 from us, 2 from you) and we’re sorry if it still felt like poor communication on our side. We process many thousands of orders successfully each month, but on this occasion we clearly fell short, and we apologise for that.

We’re glad you were able to get your refund quickly through PayPal. If there’s anything else we can help with in the future, please don’t hesitate to get in touch – we’d love the chance to show you the level of service we normally deliver.

Thanks again for your honesty.

Best regards

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Absolute shocker

Absolute shocker. Hired a Wacker plate to be delivered for the next day, had a conformation email so took the day off to do the job, had to chase to see when it was arriving only to be told they cant deliver!! Asked for a refund had an automated email to say it will be payed back in 21 days AVOID THIS COMPANY!!!

7 April 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

This so called company is running a scam

This so called company is running a scam ,they sound real good up front take the money but delay delivery ,then eventually use a subcontractor 'in my case hss'to deliver a sub standard piece of kit and when refused all communication stops ,don't answer the phone 'hide behind answer machine and rotating voice ,don't answer emails ,so I am £186 down after 3 weeks

23 March 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Should have read the reviews first

Should have read the reviews first!

Hired a stump grinder for the Easter weekend. Called on the day of delivery to say the could not fulfill the order!

Refund can take 21 days so this feels like a business that makes money through holding customers cash rather than hiring equipment

2 April 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

APPALLING SERVICE!!!!!!

Well if i could give this company zero stars i definately would after their shoddy approach to tool hire. ‘Why people trust us’ their website says. Also ‘Peace of mind’ and ‘get tools when you need them not when its conveinient’

Well i ordered a lawn aerator on the 19th march for delivery on the 2nd April and guess what they phoned on the 2nd April on the morning of delivery to tell me that they don’t have any availability and it will be three weeks. This is especially frustrating as i had engaged a contractor to do the work.

I WOULDNT TRUST THIS FIRM EVEN IF I WERE PAID TOO!

2 April 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

A good quality scissor lift was…

A good quality scissor lift was delivered on time to our chosen address by the supplier in November 2025.
The hire went smoothly all in all with delivery and collection running well as the item was hired over the weekend (Friday to Monday).
What wasn't so great was having to chase up a £500.00 deposit paid to National Tool Hire for the equipment.
I would've thought this should have been refunded to our account as a matter of principle as soon as the item went off hire and had been checked back in by the supplier.
Unfortunately I had to chase them for the £500.00 deposit four months later, and they're not the easiest of companies to get hold of or get a response from when you either try calling or emailing them.
Great products, poor customer service.
Would like to see improvements on their communication before I hire from them again.

31 October 2025
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Waste of Time

One star too many.
The worst company I have dealt with for tool hire. Classic online rubbish company. They will let you hire a tool, even though the tool is not in stock. Happy to take your money, not so happy to refund you.
After hiring the tool, tried to contact national tool hire to just sit on hold for hours. When you finally get through, nobody can confirm if the tool is in stock. Complete waste of time, just use a local company

1 April 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Would have given 0 stars if I could

Don't use this company I order 3 item 4 weeks ago from national tool hire and ive just had a phone call to say they can't deliver 2 of the item 48hour before they where ment to be delivered so I've had to cancel the whole order. These items where to help my mum out that have just had open heart surgery so I was doing her garden to make it low maintenance. Now I've got 6 tonne od ballast turning up on Thursday with nothing to move it with. I'm just waiting for the refund now and they have said they don't k ow when it will be refunded(quick enough to take your money but can't say when you will get it back.

Don't use this company

31 March 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Fraudulent or Incompetent? Take your pick

Hired item from 27 March to 28 March. It didn't arrived, no contact from them. Only contact was to confirm post-hire pick up (when they hadn't actually delivered. No phone number to call, waited 45 minutes on 'Live Chat' nothing. Filled out their Contact Form. Took 3 days to respond asking if the item had been delivered when the subject of my contact was non-delivery. Since then - nothing. Going to have to use Credit Card Section 75 to get my money back. Avoid like the plague, they will let you down then avoid the responsibility.

27 March 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The owner must be a crook

The owner must be a crook. Companies House shows many failed business ventures. I have given up all hope of getting my deposit back. Many others have too. I can't get an email reply. The phone rings off the hook. Are they still in business? No one knows. The replies here are all AI. Abhorrent behaviour. Don't believe the claims on their website. They don't own any equipment. They have no locations. This is a scam.

15 January 2026
Unprompted review

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