Supplier rating

A supplier rating is the customer review score a broker shows for a rental company at a location, usually out of 10, with the number of reviews behind it. Shoppers see it right next to your price.

How to read it

A rating means more with more reviews behind it. One common adjustment pulls small samples towards the average:

Adjusted rating = (reviews × rating + k × airport average) ÷ (reviews + k)

Here k is a weight, say 100. A brand with few reviews stays near the average until it earns more.

Worked example

Real numbers. At London Heathrow, in the Rate Pulse sweep of 7 Nov 2026, Arnold Clark rated 9.1 from 331 reviews. Sixt rated 8.3 from 6,374. See the Heathrow page.

Hypothetical maths. Say the airport average is 7.6 and k is 100.

• Arnold Clark: (331 × 9.1 + 100 × 7.6) ÷ 431 = 8.75
• Sixt: (6,374 × 8.3 + 100 × 7.6) ÷ 6,474 = 8.29

Arnold Clark still leads, but by less than the raw scores suggest.

Why it matters for a rental operator

A strong rating supports a higher price. A weak one makes even a low price a hard sell. Compare your market rate index with your rating: dear and well rated is a position, dear and poorly rated is a problem.

Sub-scores tell you what to fix. A low pick-up time score is a staffing question, not a pricing one.

See it in Rate Pulse

Every brand, ranked by customers lists each brand's rating and reviews, adjusted for review count, with sub-scores for cleanliness, pick-up time, drop-off time, car condition, efficiency, ease of finding the desk and value for money. Start at Rate Pulse.