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Thought it might be helpful (or just cathartic) to share stories of thieving scum car hire experiences. Here's mine:
Company: AVIS FRANCE
Story: hired from Grenoble. Used snow chains to get over col de lauteret on return. Snow chain (really cheap and flimsy despite costing 50 euro or something to hire) broke. I heard it flapping about so stopped. Didn't notice any damage to the car and repaired chain with 5mm cord to get over the mountain (worked well - good tip in extremis!). Gave car back and flew home. 1600 Euro charge for damage (not specified). Called customer 'service' and was told the damage charge was by the local office and they couldn't get details. I submitted a formal complaint. Got an email asking me to name the other party and provide witness statements otherwise my liability would be assumed(!!). Told them there had been no accident. Got told the damage charge wouldn't be refunded as I hadn't responded to their request for details about the accident (there wasn't one!). Threatened to sue (small claims court) if they didn't provide details of the alleged damage and repair costs. 8 weeks later after silence, they just refunded 1350 euro to my card without comment.
I still intend to take them to court for the remaining money and the forex charges (£40 on 1600 eur!)
Grrrrrrrr! Thieving lying scum.
Thanks that's better!
Mike
edited for typos due to angry typing...
Post edited at 12:45
13
In reply to minimike:
well my feelings on Centauro (Alicante) are well documented elsewhere, so instead a story about Europcar, Toulouse. We had booked a large family car so were less than chuffed to be given a Golf. The desk said that there was an existing mark on the upholstery. This turned out to be mashed in chewing gum at shoulder height on the rear seat. Not surprisingly my long haired daughter was somewhat put out by this, so we had to fiddle through the bags to find a towel to sacrifice. Next day we went to work with detergent and a fork and managed to remove the gum, so why the hell the car hire company couldn't is beyond me. Then for some reason the amount we had paid up front and the amount the company thought was due different by 1 cent, so they charged that to our card, thus meaning we had to pay a minimum foreign currency fee to our card provider.
On returning to the UK I attempted to complain to Europcar, but they said because I had booked the car as the same time as the flights from Easyjet, my contract was with them. Easyjet did not agree. After several months I gave up trying to get either company to actually comment on my complaints as they were only interested in playing ping pong. I have never booked with Europcar since.
well my feelings on Centauro (Alicante) are well documented elsewhere, so instead a story about Europcar, Toulouse. We had booked a large family car so were less than chuffed to be given a Golf. The desk said that there was an existing mark on the upholstery. This turned out to be mashed in chewing gum at shoulder height on the rear seat. Not surprisingly my long haired daughter was somewhat put out by this, so we had to fiddle through the bags to find a towel to sacrifice. Next day we went to work with detergent and a fork and managed to remove the gum, so why the hell the car hire company couldn't is beyond me. Then for some reason the amount we had paid up front and the amount the company thought was due different by 1 cent, so they charged that to our card, thus meaning we had to pay a minimum foreign currency fee to our card provider.
On returning to the UK I attempted to complain to Europcar, but they said because I had booked the car as the same time as the flights from Easyjet, my contract was with them. Easyjet did not agree. After several months I gave up trying to get either company to actually comment on my complaints as they were only interested in playing ping pong. I have never booked with Europcar since.
1
In reply to minimike:
Bloody hell! That's extraordinary, particularly from a firm like Avis who normally have a good reputation.
Have you spoken to your Credit Card provider - they might take it up on your behalf?
I suppose the moral is to always insist on the car hire company checking the car over when you hand the keys back and get them to sign it off. Not always practical if you are hurrying to catch a plane.
Bloody hell! That's extraordinary, particularly from a firm like Avis who normally have a good reputation.
Have you spoken to your Credit Card provider - they might take it up on your behalf?
I suppose the moral is to always insist on the car hire company checking the car over when you hand the keys back and get them to sign it off. Not always practical if you are hurrying to catch a plane.
1
In reply to minimike:
Avis France...
4 of us flew into CDG for a week in font. We'd hired an estate car that we knew would take the 4 of us plus 2 mats and bags. When we got there we were told that they'd run out of the car we booked and could have a fiat 500. Needless to say, we weren't going to fit into that. In the end we had to pay £150 to upgrade to a massive Volvo then when we got back raised hell until we got a refund.
Avis France...
4 of us flew into CDG for a week in font. We'd hired an estate car that we knew would take the 4 of us plus 2 mats and bags. When we got there we were told that they'd run out of the car we booked and could have a fiat 500. Needless to say, we weren't going to fit into that. In the end we had to pay £150 to upgrade to a massive Volvo then when we got back raised hell until we got a refund.
Post edited at 13:05
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In reply to Lemony:
That's pretty poor service, both times when a car class I had booked was not available, I was bumped up a class until one was available. This once meant driving around the country lanes in Ireland with a nice big merc. I was terrified I would scratch it!
That's pretty poor service, both times when a car class I had booked was not available, I was bumped up a class until one was available. This once meant driving around the country lanes in Ireland with a nice big merc. I was terrified I would scratch it!
In reply to minimike:
AVIS Switzerland, utter crap. Crap service desk care picking up and dropping off and charged us for a full tank of petrol when returned with a full tank. When challenged refused to respond, we then started posting on their Facebook and twitter and drum roll..... turns out we where one of many unhappy people with Avis. Would not touch this brand again!
On the flip side:
Have never had a problem with Hertz, whom have gone out of their way to help us in South Africa these past 7 trips to Rocklands. We turn up with two huge hold-all's, 3 x Saturns and a Warrior and they sort us out a car that fits within the price bracket we prebooked, no questions. Lovely to talk to and always look out for is a hard year.
AVIS Switzerland, utter crap. Crap service desk care picking up and dropping off and charged us for a full tank of petrol when returned with a full tank. When challenged refused to respond, we then started posting on their Facebook and twitter and drum roll..... turns out we where one of many unhappy people with Avis. Would not touch this brand again!
On the flip side:
Have never had a problem with Hertz, whom have gone out of their way to help us in South Africa these past 7 trips to Rocklands. We turn up with two huge hold-all's, 3 x Saturns and a Warrior and they sort us out a car that fits within the price bracket we prebooked, no questions. Lovely to talk to and always look out for is a hard year.
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In reply to Lemony:
does the contract not say something equivilant to 'if a car of the same class is not available, one in a superior class will be offered'?
FWIW... ive rented cars a doxen times, including driving one 9000 miles around america and never had an issue whatsoever.
does the contract not say something equivilant to 'if a car of the same class is not available, one in a superior class will be offered'?
FWIW... ive rented cars a doxen times, including driving one 9000 miles around america and never had an issue whatsoever.
3
In reply to alx:
I think it can very much depend on the local office. We got stranded in France last year when our (too old for the AA to repatriate) Volvo died leaving us with full camping gear, bike rack and roof box with no car in the middle of France. Hertz were utterly useless at providing anything and insisted that we had to return any car to the same place we hired from, whereas Avis gave us a good deal in a decent sized car which we could drop off elsewhere and we could get our roof box on.
On the topic of bad car hire companies....
Never be tempted by low prices on Gold Car anywhere but particularly not in Barcelona. It isn't worth the saving (which probably isn't a saving in the end anyway).
Alan
> AVIS Switzerland, utter crap. Crap service desk care picking up and dropping off and charged us for a full tank of petrol when returned with a full tank. When challenged refused to respond, we then started posting on their Facebook and twitter and drum roll..... turns out we where one of many unhappy people with Avis. Would not touch this brand again!On the flip side:Have never had a problem with Hertz, whom have gone out of their way to help us in South Africa these past 7 trips to Rocklands. We turn up with two huge hold-all's, 3 x Saturns and a Warrior and they sort us out a car that fits within the price bracket we prebooked, no questions. Lovely to talk to and always look out for is a hard year.
I think it can very much depend on the local office. We got stranded in France last year when our (too old for the AA to repatriate) Volvo died leaving us with full camping gear, bike rack and roof box with no car in the middle of France. Hertz were utterly useless at providing anything and insisted that we had to return any car to the same place we hired from, whereas Avis gave us a good deal in a decent sized car which we could drop off elsewhere and we could get our roof box on.
On the topic of bad car hire companies....
Never be tempted by low prices on Gold Car anywhere but particularly not in Barcelona. It isn't worth the saving (which probably isn't a saving in the end anyway).
Alan
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In reply to La benya:
It probably does but the guy behind the counter obviously smelt blood. He spoke english to us fluently until the problem arrived and then when we produced a fluent french speaker he suddenly struggled to make himself understood in that.
It probably does but the guy behind the counter obviously smelt blood. He spoke english to us fluently until the problem arrived and then when we produced a fluent french speaker he suddenly struggled to make himself understood in that.
In reply to minimike:
Just to redress the balance, I've used Europcar for work in the UK and climbing trips abroad for years and have never had anything but excellent service from them and regular free upgrades. Found them to be flexible and helpful
Just to redress the balance, I've used Europcar for work in the UK and climbing trips abroad for years and have never had anything but excellent service from them and regular free upgrades. Found them to be flexible and helpful
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In reply to Trangia:
Re: checking the car over.. yeah I know, guilty, but the 5 hr drive over the col had left us with 40 mins before takeoff!
I guess they thought they could get away with it. 100 eur and maybe they would have, but 1600??! Who's going to roll over and take that?
I'm still in disbelief tbh. Next time I'm getting a bus!
Re: checking the car over.. yeah I know, guilty, but the 5 hr drive over the col had left us with 40 mins before takeoff!
I guess they thought they could get away with it. 100 eur and maybe they would have, but 1600??! Who's going to roll over and take that?
I'm still in disbelief tbh. Next time I'm getting a bus!
1
In reply to minimike:
Exact same company charged me 360euros for a burst tyre. Same rubbish every time I called for a receipt for the tyre... It's a local office, we cannot help. Insurance company refunded but avis (nice airport) were utter bellends. Won't touch again.
Exact same company charged me 360euros for a burst tyre. Same rubbish every time I called for a receipt for the tyre... It's a local office, we cannot help. Insurance company refunded but avis (nice airport) were utter bellends. Won't touch again.
1
In reply to minimike:
Lots of positives and some negatives with Avis.
I use their "preferred" scheme, which is really efficient and I nearly always get an upgrade. I've had no recent issues with false damage claims. However, I always take a video of the car condition before I drive off. They are also pretty good for reducing their quotes when you call them asking for discounts on their quoted prices - have saved hundreds of pounds doing this over the last few years.
A few years ago, however, I had a couple of damage claims from them (not a personal issue as my employer handled the cost). They were both spurious, so I did some investigation on my employers behalf, to find that more than 10% of our hires through Avis were attracting damage claims. Our procurement department raised this with them, and the percentage of claims dropped to almost nothing!
Lots of positives and some negatives with Avis.
I use their "preferred" scheme, which is really efficient and I nearly always get an upgrade. I've had no recent issues with false damage claims. However, I always take a video of the car condition before I drive off. They are also pretty good for reducing their quotes when you call them asking for discounts on their quoted prices - have saved hundreds of pounds doing this over the last few years.
A few years ago, however, I had a couple of damage claims from them (not a personal issue as my employer handled the cost). They were both spurious, so I did some investigation on my employers behalf, to find that more than 10% of our hires through Avis were attracting damage claims. Our procurement department raised this with them, and the percentage of claims dropped to almost nothing!
3
In reply to minimike:
Thanks for posting, minimike, and very sorry to hear about what happened to you.
I know you had to rush to catch a flight, and sorry if this sounds smug, but I personally, when returning cars, always and invariably make sure an employee from the hire car firm comes over to the car and checks it over before I leave.
I've often hired from Avis and had no problems except once - they gave me a car at Heathrow with numerous bad scratches on it, which were not marked on the hire agreement. I went back to the office and asked for a different car, they didn't like that at all [don't know why - poor service from them for once] but of course I had to do that.
Thanks for posting, minimike, and very sorry to hear about what happened to you.
I know you had to rush to catch a flight, and sorry if this sounds smug, but I personally, when returning cars, always and invariably make sure an employee from the hire car firm comes over to the car and checks it over before I leave.
I've often hired from Avis and had no problems except once - they gave me a car at Heathrow with numerous bad scratches on it, which were not marked on the hire agreement. I went back to the office and asked for a different car, they didn't like that at all [don't know why - poor service from them for once] but of course I had to do that.
In reply to minimike:
My sister had an awful run in with Hertz in Australia when they hit a kangaroo - can't be bothered to recount the saga again, but took a few months to sort out before they backed down and admitted their error. The kangaroo was ok, though.
I also had a bit of a run in with them (Sydney branch), when we arrived to collect our hire car, having pre-booked a child seat. Apart from the huge queue, which we hadn't been expecting, once I'd finished the paperwork, I had to go and get the car from the storage car park, navigate round an unfamiliar one-way system to get back to the office to get the car seat fitted - all of which meant we were about 2 hours late meeting some friends for lunch. So much for efficiency and customer service (they had all the info they needed about the child seat on the booking form).
On the other hand, the lady in the Adelaide branch couldn't have been more helpful and didn't charge us for the car seat because my daughter gave her her best smile at exactly the right moment.
Best experience I've had was Enterprise in Florida. Car we started off with had a steering problem, so took it straight back - chap in the office said no problem, grabbed a handful of car keys, walked me out to the garage and said take your pick Unfortunately, I'd left my sunglasses case in the first car and never got that back - at least I'd been wearing the glasses.
Edit - I always take detailed pictures of the car and wheels before I even get in it and do the same when I return it.
My sister had an awful run in with Hertz in Australia when they hit a kangaroo - can't be bothered to recount the saga again, but took a few months to sort out before they backed down and admitted their error. The kangaroo was ok, though.
I also had a bit of a run in with them (Sydney branch), when we arrived to collect our hire car, having pre-booked a child seat. Apart from the huge queue, which we hadn't been expecting, once I'd finished the paperwork, I had to go and get the car from the storage car park, navigate round an unfamiliar one-way system to get back to the office to get the car seat fitted - all of which meant we were about 2 hours late meeting some friends for lunch. So much for efficiency and customer service (they had all the info they needed about the child seat on the booking form).
On the other hand, the lady in the Adelaide branch couldn't have been more helpful and didn't charge us for the car seat because my daughter gave her her best smile at exactly the right moment.
Best experience I've had was Enterprise in Florida. Car we started off with had a steering problem, so took it straight back - chap in the office said no problem, grabbed a handful of car keys, walked me out to the garage and said take your pick Unfortunately, I'd left my sunglasses case in the first car and never got that back - at least I'd been wearing the glasses.
Edit - I always take detailed pictures of the car and wheels before I even get in it and do the same when I return it.
Post edited at 11:55
In reply to minimike:
I carry this policy, but there are plenty more providers out there. I think they do single trip too, but I hire often enough to make it worthwhile
http://www.insurance4carhire.com/european-car-hire-excess-insurance
I carry this policy, but there are plenty more providers out there. I think they do single trip too, but I hire often enough to make it worthwhile
http://www.insurance4carhire.com/european-car-hire-excess-insurance
3
In reply to minimike:
Just a warning for others, as we got sorted quite quickly;
Hertz, Oslo airport. (very mixed reviews)
We were about an hour late at the hire counter, partly as the 2 of us struggled to find the place whilst lugging large bags of folding canoes up and down the list system. It can't be unusual for people to be late at an airport, but they'd already given away our Focus sized car, and had nothing left. The chap wasn't particularly helpful, reckoned we should have phoned to say we were late (from the plane!!!?), until I quizzed about all other vehicles and it transpired they had a Transit van available. Given the said canoes and full camping gear bags, this suited us down to the ground, and though they wouldn't absorb the additional fee, this was only £5 extra a day which was nothing compared with the exorbitant Norwegian hire costs in the first place!
Turned out the brand-new van had a built in pop-up roofrack, which was really handy once we'd built the canoes My mate also chose to doss in the back on the odd night, rather than bother pitching his tent. Wouldn't have been much use if there were 4 of us though!
In future, I will always specify a later pick up time than I expect, I just assumed they'd keep it for a reasonable time and 1 hour doesn't seem reasonable to me given how many flights are delayed...
Just a warning for others, as we got sorted quite quickly;
Hertz, Oslo airport. (very mixed reviews)
We were about an hour late at the hire counter, partly as the 2 of us struggled to find the place whilst lugging large bags of folding canoes up and down the list system. It can't be unusual for people to be late at an airport, but they'd already given away our Focus sized car, and had nothing left. The chap wasn't particularly helpful, reckoned we should have phoned to say we were late (from the plane!!!?), until I quizzed about all other vehicles and it transpired they had a Transit van available. Given the said canoes and full camping gear bags, this suited us down to the ground, and though they wouldn't absorb the additional fee, this was only £5 extra a day which was nothing compared with the exorbitant Norwegian hire costs in the first place!
Turned out the brand-new van had a built in pop-up roofrack, which was really handy once we'd built the canoes My mate also chose to doss in the back on the odd night, rather than bother pitching his tent. Wouldn't have been much use if there were 4 of us though!
In future, I will always specify a later pick up time than I expect, I just assumed they'd keep it for a reasonable time and 1 hour doesn't seem reasonable to me given how many flights are delayed...
In reply to minimike:
Sorry if this is not strictly a name and shame, but I just wanted to point out that you can buy specific insurance against this kind of thing. It's called excess insurance and it can be bought by the year.
Sorry if this is not strictly a name and shame, but I just wanted to point out that you can buy specific insurance against this kind of thing. It's called excess insurance and it can be bought by the year.
2
In reply to Alan James - Rockfax:
We've used Gold Car twice since November from Alicante and it has been ok. Have we just been lucky? Are there any specific problems you know about? Would be good to no for future. Also can you recommend a good one from say Alicante.
We've used Gold Car twice since November from Alicante and it has been ok. Have we just been lucky? Are there any specific problems you know about? Would be good to no for future. Also can you recommend a good one from say Alicante.
In reply to Jimbocz:
Excess insurance is great if you've actually had an accident, but shouldn't be used when the hire company are blatently pulling a fast one, as it just puts the premiums up for everybody in order to boost the hire company's profits. You are better off contacting your credit card company in the first instance and reporting the hire company for fraud.
For anyone interested, here's what you need to know - section 5: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire
Excess insurance is great if you've actually had an accident, but shouldn't be used when the hire company are blatently pulling a fast one, as it just puts the premiums up for everybody in order to boost the hire company's profits. You are better off contacting your credit card company in the first instance and reporting the hire company for fraud.
For anyone interested, here's what you need to know - section 5: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire
4
In reply to minimike:
Maggiore car hire at Bergamo airport (via EUROPERENTACAR)
They didn't have the size of car we had booked, & offered a smaller poxy model instead. Europerentacar were spectacularly unhelpful
the car subsequently broke down & I had to get a train down from the Dolomites back to the airport to collect the replacement. A day's holiday wasted.
No compensation & I had to fight really hard to even get the train and taxi fares refunded
Maggiore & Europrentacar- no barge-pole is long enough
(I've been using Europcar quite a bit since (Ireland, France, Holland and Switzerland). No problems that weren't rapidly & professionally sorted out. Join their loyalty programme - seems to make a difference.)
Maggiore car hire at Bergamo airport (via EUROPERENTACAR)
They didn't have the size of car we had booked, & offered a smaller poxy model instead. Europerentacar were spectacularly unhelpful
the car subsequently broke down & I had to get a train down from the Dolomites back to the airport to collect the replacement. A day's holiday wasted.
No compensation & I had to fight really hard to even get the train and taxi fares refunded
Maggiore & Europrentacar- no barge-pole is long enough
(I've been using Europcar quite a bit since (Ireland, France, Holland and Switzerland). No problems that weren't rapidly & professionally sorted out. Join their loyalty programme - seems to make a difference.)
1
In reply to bonebag:
Google 'Gold Car' and you can find lots of horror stories about them eg http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2744712. And there are loads of other sites, including one dedicated to sharing bad stories about Gold Car. So maybe you've been lucky.
I had a bad experience with them in Sardinia. Somewhere in an attachment to an attachment it said they don't take AMEX. So my mate tried to pay with his VISA card. They said that that constituted a new contract as it was effectively a different person hiring the car, so they wouldn't honour the price we'd been quoted and charged us for a spot hire, which was a lot more expensive.
My understanding is that Gold Car are not a car hire company but an agent, and have no skin in the game. Avoid all car hire agents
Google 'Gold Car' and you can find lots of horror stories about them eg http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2744712. And there are loads of other sites, including one dedicated to sharing bad stories about Gold Car. So maybe you've been lucky.
I had a bad experience with them in Sardinia. Somewhere in an attachment to an attachment it said they don't take AMEX. So my mate tried to pay with his VISA card. They said that that constituted a new contract as it was effectively a different person hiring the car, so they wouldn't honour the price we'd been quoted and charged us for a spot hire, which was a lot more expensive.
My understanding is that Gold Car are not a car hire company but an agent, and have no skin in the game. Avoid all car hire agents
In reply to LastBoyScout:
I'm not sure that's what I would do. If I buy an excess insurance policy and the car hire company tries to charge me for something, I'm going to let the insurance take care of it. I'm not going to take on some fight for the public good, or even worse, a fight to benefit those who don't take out excess insurance.
I'm sure the excess insurance companies know all the scams and put up a fight themselves, with lawyers. I'll leave it to them and get on with my life.
That's a great link about the reasons you should get excess insurance, I didn't see anything there advocating ignoring the insurance and trying to fight the car hire firm yourself. At least not in section 5.
> Excess insurance is great if you've actually had an accident, but shouldn't be used when the hire company are blatently pulling a fast one, as it just puts the premiums up for everybody in order to boost the hire company's profits. You are better off contacting your credit card company in the first instance and reporting the hire company for fraud.For anyone interested, here's what you need to know - section 5: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire
I'm not sure that's what I would do. If I buy an excess insurance policy and the car hire company tries to charge me for something, I'm going to let the insurance take care of it. I'm not going to take on some fight for the public good, or even worse, a fight to benefit those who don't take out excess insurance.
I'm sure the excess insurance companies know all the scams and put up a fight themselves, with lawyers. I'll leave it to them and get on with my life.
That's a great link about the reasons you should get excess insurance, I didn't see anything there advocating ignoring the insurance and trying to fight the car hire firm yourself. At least not in section 5.
Post edited at 17:03
1
1
In reply to Jimbocz:
I'm dealing with this at the moment and was very surprised how proactive my credit card company is being. I let them know what was going on (without any real expectation that they would care) and despite the fact that I've raised a dispute with the rental company (Hertz Geneva) myself, they were still insistent that I give them all the details so that they could demand evidence directly from Hertz. Apparently if Hertz aren't forthcoming with this, they will reject the transaction. Still to be resolved, but I was surprised how interested they were.
They have also noted the transaction and will not be counting it in the interest calculation until after it has been resolved one way or the other, which is also nice of them.
> I'm not sure that's what I would do. If I buy an excess insurance policy and the car hire company tries to charge me for something, I'm going to let the insurance take care of it. I'm not going to take on some fight for the public good, or even worse, a fight to benefit those who don't take out excess insurance. I'm sure the excess insurance companies know all the scams and put up a fight themselves, with lawyers. I'll leave it to them and get on with my life.
I'm dealing with this at the moment and was very surprised how proactive my credit card company is being. I let them know what was going on (without any real expectation that they would care) and despite the fact that I've raised a dispute with the rental company (Hertz Geneva) myself, they were still insistent that I give them all the details so that they could demand evidence directly from Hertz. Apparently if Hertz aren't forthcoming with this, they will reject the transaction. Still to be resolved, but I was surprised how interested they were.
They have also noted the transaction and will not be counting it in the interest calculation until after it has been resolved one way or the other, which is also nice of them.
5
In reply to Andy Chubb:
Thanks Andy I'll keep that in mind for next time. Will consider alternatives but maybe not Centaur.
Thanks Andy I'll keep that in mind for next time. Will consider alternatives but maybe not Centaur.
In reply to Alan James - Rockfax:
What happened to the Volvo in the end? Is it still languishing in a field somewhere?
What happened to the Volvo in the end? Is it still languishing in a field somewhere?
Post edited at 20:59
In reply to abseil:
>... I know you had to rush to catch a flight, and sorry if this sounds smug, but...
It does..
But thanks ;-p
>... I know you had to rush to catch a flight, and sorry if this sounds smug, but...
It does..
But thanks ;-p
2
In reply to Jimbocz:
Fair point, but surely that means they just get away with their fraudulent claims.. also why should I have to pay to insure myself against being defrauded, which is illegal?
Fair point, but surely that means they just get away with their fraudulent claims.. also why should I have to pay to insure myself against being defrauded, which is illegal?
1
In reply to jon:
Not sure. Got tangled up in some strange AA activity. It was going to be scrapped in France but I think the AA actually ended up bringing it back to at least Calais, and maybe the UK, in order to scrap it. Which is quite odd when you consider that they couldn't bring it back to the UK for us to repair it since apparently that "cost more than the car was worth".
Overall it was a sobering experience that taught me two things:
1) No breakdown cover actually caters for you moving a car full of camping kit, roof box and bike rack in addition to your family.
2) Breakdown services these days do the minimum that is required on their policy and no more. This in fact went for everyone we were involved with - they all did what we paid them to do, but no more, and were very inflexible to deal with our particular circumstances. As a snapshot of the modern capitalist world, it was really quite depressing. We would have been completely shafted had it not been for some Dutch friends who took a detour with their big car to help us.
Alan
> What happened to the Volvo in the end? Is it still languishing in a field somewhere?
Not sure. Got tangled up in some strange AA activity. It was going to be scrapped in France but I think the AA actually ended up bringing it back to at least Calais, and maybe the UK, in order to scrap it. Which is quite odd when you consider that they couldn't bring it back to the UK for us to repair it since apparently that "cost more than the car was worth".
Overall it was a sobering experience that taught me two things:
1) No breakdown cover actually caters for you moving a car full of camping kit, roof box and bike rack in addition to your family.
2) Breakdown services these days do the minimum that is required on their policy and no more. This in fact went for everyone we were involved with - they all did what we paid them to do, but no more, and were very inflexible to deal with our particular circumstances. As a snapshot of the modern capitalist world, it was really quite depressing. We would have been completely shafted had it not been for some Dutch friends who took a detour with their big car to help us.
Alan
Interrent charged me a week's hire for an extra day I didn't have - this might seem a coincidence but the "extra" was almost exactly the same as the original charge which I think was designed to disguise it on my cc statement.
Moral of the story - pay by credit card and as soon as you don't get a satisfactory explanation phone up your CC people and "dispute" the payment - it seemed to solve the problem fairly quickly.
Moral of the story - pay by credit card and as soon as you don't get a satisfactory explanation phone up your CC people and "dispute" the payment - it seemed to solve the problem fairly quickly.
1
In reply to minimike:
As up the thread - SunCars Barcelona - truly appalling experience.
More recently on Gran Canaria the Thrifty rep was ultra pushy with his 'extra' insurance (€130 on a €110 rental) and told me if I didn't take it he wouldn't help with paper-work etc. if we had an incident - crap,
Chris
As up the thread - SunCars Barcelona - truly appalling experience.
More recently on Gran Canaria the Thrifty rep was ultra pushy with his 'extra' insurance (€130 on a €110 rental) and told me if I didn't take it he wouldn't help with paper-work etc. if we had an incident - crap,
Chris
1
In reply to minimike:
I don't have any specialist knowledge on this subject, but like I said, I doubt the excess insurance company blindly pays up for fraudulent claims. In fact, if a company has a policy of trying it on with every rental, it will soon become apparent.
You are right that fraud is illegal and in a perfect world there would be no need for excess insurance or even this thread.
I don't have any specialist knowledge on this subject, but like I said, I doubt the excess insurance company blindly pays up for fraudulent claims. In fact, if a company has a policy of trying it on with every rental, it will soon become apparent.
You are right that fraud is illegal and in a perfect world there would be no need for excess insurance or even this thread.
In reply to Andy Chubb:
Don't know about situation in Italy, but in Spain they own cars.
But yeah, they are like RyanAir - you have to read every small print with them. And always inspect car on pick up and drop off. Get them sign that car returned with no new damage and full tank.
Protip: use powerful flashlight for inspections. All bents, dents and scratches will shine.
> My understanding is that Gold Car are not a car hire company but an agent, and have no skin in the game. Avoid all car hire agents
Don't know about situation in Italy, but in Spain they own cars.
But yeah, they are like RyanAir - you have to read every small print with them. And always inspect car on pick up and drop off. Get them sign that car returned with no new damage and full tank.
Protip: use powerful flashlight for inspections. All bents, dents and scratches will shine.
In reply to Jimbocz:
They actually don't. I had a claim with carhireexcess.com. They wanted formal receipt and a big extra paperwork from car rental and accident report from police. It was about 2 months of sending documents forwards and backwards. Claim was for about 1k euros of hitting another car on parking lot. Reversing in a minibus is tricky if you are used to small sedans
If you want calm mind while renting only solution is to get no excess insurance from supplier itself. 3rd party insurances will try to bent you over and not pay. You can argue with them and maybe win. But reality is that car supplier will charge you and 3rd party insurance may or may not pay back.
> I don't have any specialist knowledge on this subject, but like I said, I doubt the excess insurance company blindly pays up for fraudulent claims. In fact, if a company has a policy of trying it on with every rental, it will soon become apparent.
They actually don't. I had a claim with carhireexcess.com. They wanted formal receipt and a big extra paperwork from car rental and accident report from police. It was about 2 months of sending documents forwards and backwards. Claim was for about 1k euros of hitting another car on parking lot. Reversing in a minibus is tricky if you are used to small sedans
If you want calm mind while renting only solution is to get no excess insurance from supplier itself. 3rd party insurances will try to bent you over and not pay. You can argue with them and maybe win. But reality is that car supplier will charge you and 3rd party insurance may or may not pay back.
Post edited at 12:37
In reply to Alan James - Rockfax:
If there were medal for sheer volume of bad practice vs good most of the companies would have many more happy cipustomers than not, but one would surely win , ohhh let me think "gold " perhaps ?
The number of threads on here and elsewhere saying do not use gold car probably adds up to more than all the other companies put together.
To the question above about good hire company for Alicante - Lara Car by a country mile .
If there were medal for sheer volume of bad practice vs good most of the companies would have many more happy cipustomers than not, but one would surely win , ohhh let me think "gold " perhaps ?
The number of threads on here and elsewhere saying do not use gold car probably adds up to more than all the other companies put together.
To the question above about good hire company for Alicante - Lara Car by a country mile .
In reply to nutme:
Thanks for posting that info, that's different to what I thought. Did they ultimately pay your claim?
> They actually don't. I had a claim with carhireexcess.com. They wanted formal receipt and a big extra paperwork from car rental and accident report from police. It was about 2 months of sending documents forwards and backwards. Claim was for about 1k euros of hitting another car on parking lot. Reversing in a minibus is tricky if you are used to small sedans If you want calm mind while renting only solution is to get no excess insurance from supplier itself. 3rd party insurances will try to bent you over and not pay. You can argue with them and maybe win. But reality is that car supplier will charge you and 3rd party insurance may or may not pay back.
Thanks for posting that info, that's different to what I thought. Did they ultimately pay your claim?
In reply to minimike:
Europcar in Alicante.
Ongoing horror story (after many years as a happy customer)....
Flight cancelled by easyjet, leading to a delay in arriving at Alicante. Rang Europcar to tell them I would be late picking up the car. They decided to treat this as an 'amendment' to my reservation, thereby justifying charging me the 'walk in' price on the car hire. This effectively doubled the price. I had already paid about £220 and they then charged me about the same again. They were very insistent that I also did not have the option of just walking away and hiring from somebody else (and that if I did, I would lose my £220 original payment).
They claim that this is easyjet's responsibility as I booked via the easyjet link so I'm currently still arguing with easyjet about the whole thing (which is another story).
Bizarrely, my friends who were on the same cancelled flight and then ended up on the same new flight the next day were in front of me in the queue and had absolutely no problem. No extra charge. The only thing we could think of that could explain why my price doubled while there's stayed the same was that I rang europcar to let them know, where as my friends couldn't get through when they tried.
Regardless of whether easyjet ever pay up for my out of pocket expenses (which are about £500 in total), I will be making my views known to europcar as it's unreasonable to treat notifying them that I'd been unavoidaby delayed as a reason to double the price. It cost them nothing to wait 12 hours for me to arrive.
Essentially, they are all f*cking bandits. It needs regulating.
Europcar in Alicante.
Ongoing horror story (after many years as a happy customer)....
Flight cancelled by easyjet, leading to a delay in arriving at Alicante. Rang Europcar to tell them I would be late picking up the car. They decided to treat this as an 'amendment' to my reservation, thereby justifying charging me the 'walk in' price on the car hire. This effectively doubled the price. I had already paid about £220 and they then charged me about the same again. They were very insistent that I also did not have the option of just walking away and hiring from somebody else (and that if I did, I would lose my £220 original payment).
They claim that this is easyjet's responsibility as I booked via the easyjet link so I'm currently still arguing with easyjet about the whole thing (which is another story).
Bizarrely, my friends who were on the same cancelled flight and then ended up on the same new flight the next day were in front of me in the queue and had absolutely no problem. No extra charge. The only thing we could think of that could explain why my price doubled while there's stayed the same was that I rang europcar to let them know, where as my friends couldn't get through when they tried.
Regardless of whether easyjet ever pay up for my out of pocket expenses (which are about £500 in total), I will be making my views known to europcar as it's unreasonable to treat notifying them that I'd been unavoidaby delayed as a reason to double the price. It cost them nothing to wait 12 hours for me to arrive.
Essentially, they are all f*cking bandits. It needs regulating.
Post edited at 10:27
In reply to cathsullivan:
Arguscarhire..... grrr.
Got a reasonable deal through them for Geneva. Arrived at the desk to pick up the car and tried to do so on the same card that I made the original payment with. I called them and they told me that because I called them after the pickup time, I couldn't switch the booking to another provider. I lost the cost of the original booking (about£120) and then had to stump up for a new rental.
Arguscarhire..... grrr.
Got a reasonable deal through them for Geneva. Arrived at the desk to pick up the car and tried to do so on the same card that I made the original payment with. I called them and they told me that because I called them after the pickup time, I couldn't switch the booking to another provider. I lost the cost of the original booking (about£120) and then had to stump up for a new rental.
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