You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
We're planning to hire a car on holiday in France in September. The plan is to follow current advice and get separate insurance to cover the excess rather than pay through the nose to do it through the hire company.
However, I hired a van this weekend and did the same thing. On returning it, they tried it on with me, probably because they knew I didn't have their excess liability reduction.
The woman went and looked at the van, came back and said one of the alloys was dented. The van didn't have alloys. I went outside and she showed me where one of the plastic wheel trims had bent inside the steel rim slightly. It was barely noticeable. I pulled it out with my bare hand, making it entirely unnoticeable:
[img] 
[/img]
She said she'd have to ask her manager, who wouldn't be in for half an hour. Argued, she got someone else over, who couldn't see it, relented and it got signed off OK.
So I've mentally ranked hire companies (Thrifty in particular, if you're interested) just above letting agents at the bottom of the scum barrel.
I realised that although I was covered so I wouldn't end up paying £1200 or whatever for a scratch, it makes no odds to the hire company, who would get the money from my insurer all the same. Also I went for a cheaper policy with a small (£100) excess, and there'd still be hassle and probably a "damage admin fee" even if I had no excess to pay.
My question is, is there any advantage to hiring with a better-known company (e.g. Hertz, Avis) with regard to them trying to sting you in this way? I'd like to think I'm pretty savvy to their tricks (documenting everything, getting evidence, etc.) but a) I'll be in a foreign country with a loose grasp of the language, and b) I'd rather not have the worry/hassle when I'm supposed to be on holiday.
Anyone got more experience with this?
I've always found the off-airport companies easier and more reasonable to deal with. Have a look on tripadvisor or similar for the airport (assume you're flying?) you're flying to, see if there's any recommendations?
If you're flying to Bergerac or Limoges then try [url= http://www.buggscarhire.com/ ]these guys[/url]
Not quite an answer to your question, but I always make very sure the hire company staff see me taking lots of photos when picking up and dropping off...tends to avoid issues like the one you had.
Getting the train actually, to Avignon. There are a few places by the station, and some in town - wonder if it makes a difference.
Good advice re. taking photos. I made a point of letting them know that I had 3rd party insurance this weekend but taking photos transcends the language barrier!
I usually take pics but recently they've not even bothered checking that cars. The bigger scam these days seems to be an admin fee for passing you details to the authorities for a traffic offence. Had this a few times now. Never had a fine or any other contact from the police, etc.
So you reckon there's no traffic offence and they've just made it up? What's to stop you refusing to pay? The threat that you're somehow withholding information from the police? Surely the police must have a way of getting the information whether the hire company like it or not?
In this country, if I'd only driven within a couple of police force areas, I'd be contacting them directly to see if they had a record of it. In another country, it's probably worth ignoring it, I doubt they'd find it worth it to chase you.
They take the 'admin fee' straight from your card. As is in the terms and conditions you sign without reading. Last couple I got the credit card to chase it as an unauthorised payment and got the money back but it was a pain.
No idea if there was an offence that the police didn't bother chasing once they found out we were foreign or if it was a scam or a mistake. Never heard any more.
Against all conventional wisdom, we hired a car from Madrid airport last year, drove it for two week and returned it.
They charged exactly what they said they would. We had no hassle at all and the car was good to drive.
We paid for a Golf from Sixt with a Nationwide credit card for a holiday in February. We put a small scratch in the rear bumper and admitted to it. More importantly the place was so hilly that driving out of junctions scratched the skirts of the car.
Got charged €440 under duress at the airport for two new bumpers! (Having argued the toss and got it down from €600 - so obviously they were just trying it on).
When we got home we argued that the car was not fit for purpose if it couldn't be driven in the town without scratching the skirts and Sixt just would not listen and kept insisting that it was damaged during our rental and we would have to pay up - the money having been blocked off on MrsJulianA's credit card.
Nationwide kept fighting our corner and nearly six months later the block was quietly removed from the credit card.
Moral of our story: don't use Sixt and pay with a credit card from a company who will fight your corner!
A few months later we hired a car in Crete and the company (a different one, obviously - Europecar I think) were just so laid back and said 'We only look for real damage and not for minor stuff'. Such a difference.
Always happy to tell the story about Sixt after that experience!
If you're flying to Bergerac or Limoges then try these guys
+1 for Buggs
I booked a car at Rome airport through EasyCar. Turned out that the actual rental agency was some outfit which had loads and loads of bad reviews and horror stories. I started getting stressed about it, thinking like the OP, planning what I was going to do (take pics etc.). I got to the agency desk in the airport with blood pressure in the red zone and ... they noticed that my driving licence had expired and they wouldn't rent me the car. Doohhh!!!
Paying on a credit card is always a good idea since (in my case at least, with an 11 day hire) it will be over £100 and I'll get section 75 protection. I'm not sure that's what nickjb was claiming under given it was reported as an unauthorised transaction, but still.
Europcar look pretty competitive for where we're going so it's good to here a positive review, but I do wonder how much it varies location to location, or even staff member to staff member.
Whatever happened to saying what your service costs and then taking that amount from the customer without trying to shaft them for more money?
I returned a car to Avis at Paris CDG a few years ago. The Avis rep brazenly asked me if I would mind if he noted some damage on the car as "I see you have the full damage waiver, Sir". He went on that it wouldn't cost me anything, and they had a quota to meet for this sort of thing.
Having had kittens many times driving it throught rush-hour traffic around the outskirts of Paris for a couple of weeks and bringing it back un-scathed, I was having none of that! He seemed most put-out. (He was Canadian, btw, so minimal language barrier).
Robbers! The lot of them...
We hired a car through Avis on a recent trip to 'Straya. Picked up the car at Cairns airport, used it for a week, no problems. As we were loading the car to head back to the airport (an hour away from where we were staying) I noticed one of the tyres was soft. Quick look, found a screw in the tread. Changed the wheel, put the damaged one in the boot. If it had been any other time I'd have rung the hire company, asked what to do about getting it fixed (not keen to continue driving without a spare) but as we were on our way back to the hire desk at the airport anyway, I figured I'd leave it and just tell them at the desk.
The woman at the desk was downright rude. Insisted that the tyre might have gone down because we'd damaged it hitting a kerb or something, and that there could be suspension damage as a result. Refused to come out to the car park and see the screw in the tyre. They charged us A$400 to cover this potential damage, on the promise that it'd be paid back in a day or two once their mechanics had checked it over. There wasn't a whole lot we could do as we were about to jump on a flight out of the country. Took us several weeks of chasing up/complaining to get the money back. To be fair the customer service guy on the phone was very helpful, chased things up 'offline' and called me back when he said he would, but the whole situation shouldn't have happened in the first place.
A few months later we hired a car in Crete and the company (a different one, obviously - Europecar I think) were just so laid back and said 'We only look for real damage and not for minor stuff'. Such a difference.
same here, just used Europcar in zante. they said we were covered for any damage, we'd not have to pay anything at all for any damage, and they were good to their word. didnt check the car over at all on return.