How to rent a car in Batumi without getting scammed by rental brokers/aggregators?

Insurance and other terms advertised by broker sites don't actually function here.

Sites with names combining words like 'local' and 'rent' are typical middlemen: they have a loose verbal deal with actual rental companies, tack on a 15% markup, and vanish once you send payment to their card.

Effectively, going through such a broker means you're just paying for the real rental owner's phone number — a 15% surcharge on the full rental cost.

There's essentially no accountability with these brokers if something goes wrong — they take no responsibility.

A smart tactic: first book for the minimum period, e.g. 3 days, through the broker just to get the rental owner's direct contact, then arrange the rest directly without the extra fee.

An alternative is to go to the very center of Tbilisi, where actual rental agencies operate and you can deal with them directly, no middlemen involved.