EasyCar boss Stelios Haji-Ioannou trumpets his service as the low cost, low hassle alternative to renting a car from an established firm, but a growing backlog of customer complaints is threatening to undermine the bargain bucket enterprise.

Jobs & Money, the BBC's Watchdog programme and the company itself have seen complaints pour in from angry customers appalled at what they describe as "shoddy" service. Readers have told us about their experiences of turning up at easyCar depots only to find the car they booked months in advance was not available.

In some cases, the depots had been closed when they should have been open or the single member of staff supposed to be on duty was nowhere to be found. One Jobs & Money reader who booked a car so he could drive to a job interview was distraught after turning up at the easyCar Glasgow depot only to find no member of staff, no information and five other people also waiting for cars. Several of the stranded customers spent a small fortune calling the easyCar helpline - a 60p per minute premium number - but to no avail.

"After spending two hours trying to track down a second Glasgow location, I was forced to find another company which was more expensive," the reader told us. When contacted by Jobs & Money, a spokesman for the company admitted there was a "backlog of communication with customers," offered some compensation and said they were sorting out the delays in responding to complaints.

Cue more letters from readers. It appears the problems have not been sorted out at all. Other readers got in touch and not only had never been able to hire the car they booked, but are also still waiting for a refund months later. The easyCar customer services department has failed to deal with their enquiries either by phone or email.

One reader wrote to us to say how he waited for two hours at an NCP car park in Bromley for a car that never materialised and no member of staff could be found. Another two angry easyCar customers, Naomi Simcox and Peter Barrow, also wrote to us. The transcript of their frustrating dealings with the firm is testimony to the difficulties many customers encounter. The couple were on their way to a friend's wedding when they arrived to pick up a car from the easyCar depot in Battersea, South London.

They were greeted by a car park full of cars but, when they approached the single member of staff (who was sitting in a white van - there was no permanent office), they were told there were no cars available. Ms Simcox told us: "I was astonished that we were being treated in this manner and I was disgusted that when we tried to get our money back we got nowhere and still have not got our money back."

Ms Simcox says the customer service staff were "unhelpful, rude and unsympathetic." The couple eventually went to the trading standards office in Battersea and were told to take easyCar to the small claims court. "I am outraged at how we have been treated and by the fact that we may have to go to the trouble of taking legal action just to get a refund," she says. When we spoke to easyCar they promised to look into our readers' claims for refunds, but could give us no guarantee of a timespan when the backlog of complaints would be dealt with.

Mr Haji-Ioannou told us he hoped his decision this week to outsource the firm's call centre to India from December 1 would help clear it. The company, famous for its low rental rates, has 50 outlets across Europe, 35 of which are in the UK. But it has struggled to make money, and reported losses of £20m in 2001, after which it made 50 people redundant.

Mr Haji-Ioannou says he has now hired more people to be at depots to deal with customers and expects less problems in future as a result. However, if a planned new strategy of introducing some depots with no staff at all comes to fruition, it may mean that a new batch of problems are just around the corner.

There is little sign of a commitment to better quality service in the long term from Mr Haji-Ioannou either. In a recent interview with the BBC when he was quizzed about poor service standards at his London Euston branch, he said: "If you really want a low cost car you might occasionally have to make alternative arrangements."

If you have had a bad experience with easyCar or are still awaiting a refund, please email us at: jobs.and.money@theguardian.com