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Oh great STW knowledge base..
Has any one successfully found a way to get recompense from a foreign Car Hire company who've added charges to your credit card post hire.
I've been ripped of not once, but twice, by two separate car hire companies at Turin airport.
Despite videoing the cars before and after hire, they have billed me for damage that either doesn't exist or that was showing on their paper work pre hire.
And despite what would seem like conclusive evidence - they just won't accept responsibility and make a refund.
That's why you pay on the credit card, so that the credit card company can fight your battle...
I think the clue here is credit card. Raise the complaint to your credit card company and get them to do the hard work
We had to go through the credit card company. Also a hire from Turin airport. The credit card company cancelled the payment after the hire co failed to provide any paperwork. It was a slow process as the hire co were unresponsive but the credit co wouldn't do anything without chasing up
Despite videoing the cars before and after hire, they have billed me for damage that either doesn’t exist or that was showing on their paper work pre hire.
And despite what would seem like conclusive evidence – they just won’t accept responsibility and make a refund.
Did you do a walk around before and after the hire with them?
Were these main stream brands or local ones?
It's just taken me a month to get reimbursed from Enterprise for a fuel charge but that was mostly just incompetence rather than obstruction.
OK - my credit card company is already on the case.
But - my experience so far isn't great despite me having conclusive evidence.
So - is there any other way of doing this - like a pan-european small claims court or something ??
The first time - I was invoiced for damage that is clearly marked on the pre hire damage paperwork.
The second time - I did a pre and post hire walk round and they've charged me for damage that is clearly not there.
Maggiore via Rental Cars and Budget via Holiday Autos.
I'm close to a grand down and hoping someone can give me some constructive options...
That does seem to be bad luck. I avoid Goldcar for similar reasons.
May be worth getting annual third party car hire excess insurance. At least then if they do charge for damage, you can claim it back elsewhere.
Take photos of the car from all four angles when you collect it.
I’m close to a grand down and hoping someone can give me some constructive options…
we have given you a constructive option. Get the credit card company to do the work using your evidence.
I had a hire chap last month be rather awkward about me taking lots of pictures of the hire car at the end of the hire. I think it was a close call. Work now have a policy of *always* taking pics or video, and *always* being mega fussy to get the person on the day to say they are happy.
I got done over by Maggiore a few year's ago. The hire was via an agent as you have and I got them to fight my corner. It took months and I didn't get it all back.
(I know it doesn't help now but after a few bad experiences I joined Europcar's loyalty programme, and now just rent from them - hassle free for 4-5 years so far)
I take photo's before and after... upload timestamped into the cloud...
A few places are noticeably obstructive and/or try and push you to not use a CC... ALWAYS use a CC.
Even if a Eurosmallclaims exists then do you really want to go to Turin to follow up ??? way easier to let the CC fight your battles ... and mostly the hire companies know this so don't even TRY when you have the evidence.
Last time I got given the hire car with a nail in the tyre though didn't spot it even though the tyre looked a bit soft we'd been kept waiting for 4-5 hours... got to the villa and it had deflated to dangerous.
Tried calling and they wanted to charge me for the new tyre... so I stuck in an anchovy and it held up the set of the week.
Got kinda misled in that the company we'd used the year before along with 6-7 others in Ibiza had all been taken over by Ibiza-We_buy_any_car_hire.com (or whatever the name was) .. either way I'd prefer going with Europcar, Hertz, Avis or someone who charges up front!
it appears to be the MO for the small companies in popular holiday destinations - infact every time one of my family or friends has an issue its ALWAYS with someone you ask -*WHO* when they tell you the company name.
Incredibly annoying. Car hire companies are in dire need of regulating.
I know after the event advice is annoying at best but here it is anyway!
I hire cars around the world all the time and my three things are:
1. In Europe I use Zest (previously economy car hire). The reason being is because they give free excess insurance with each hire, do offers on additional drivers (I'm getting 7 weeks additional driver for free this summer), but, and this is the most important part. Consistently no hassle. I've paid for my voucher, no extra charges on pick up, and no messing with accident charges (as they have to fight it out with the insurance who are harder to bully than the customer). They also do a 10% loyalty bonus + free cancellation once you get going with them and the account can be shared with the family/friends to get this.
2. Buy your own excess insurance. I typically have a yearly on going for us. You're talking c. £50-70 a year and it covers us worldwide for this type of messing about.
3. Book on a CC. If the above goes wrong you've got some comeback. I've got a international no fee card so I can use it all over the place with no extra charges.
Some places are a bunch of thieves. Interestingly all the horror stories I've heard are from the big names and so I've gravitated towards smaller companies because of this. They trade more on reputation and so seem to provide a better service. The last three times I've gone with off-airport site places like Green Motion and Thrifty I've ended up with decent upgrades - 320i for a 318i, etc. One caveat would be holiday rather than business destinations as they can get away with ripping passing trade.
I got done by Maggiore charging me extra insurance in Italian without me requesting any. Took months of back and forth. Eventually cc agreed with me. Eventually. Car
Last 2 times I used Sicily by Car. Been fine by I have insisted and waited for a 'all clear' receipt each time. Thats the trick I reckon. Insist they do a inspection straight away or insist they sign it off blind.
Thats the trick I reckon. Insist they do a inspection straight away or insist they sign it off blind.
Yep you need to leave with paperwork saying it's all clear, especially from the cowboy/local outfits
Just out of interest: how do these companies charge your card? I thought they raised a pre-auth at point of hire, which would be closed down on return of the vehicle. Do they take a second swipe of the card to do a customer-not-present transaction later on? If that's the case would it be worth having a card with fek all limit to hire with - enough for the pre-auth and hire payment but would sadly decline if they attempted to charge €1000s later on?
Just out of interest: how do these companies charge your card? I thought they raised a pre-auth at point of hire, which would be closed down on return of the vehicle.
They have to close the pre auth, so they can keep it going a bit longer if they want. Also in the contract you sign to allow them to charge you
Lisbon airport is interesting. All the car hire companies operate out of the multi storey car park. The level you pick the car up from has the worst lighting in the world. You drop off on a different level where it's lit up like Christmas. I had to get the torch on my phone to check for damage.
Car hire companies are SCUM. They represent one of the worst, soul destroying, purposely anxiety inducing experiences of all time.
Step 1:
Advertise really low price
Step 2:
Jack up price actually paid with high pressure selling of insurance, extra driver nonsense, Fifty quid a week sat navs and baby seats, £100 a week snow chains that they wont let you leave the car park without. ad infinitum. Go to pay and "we dont take that type of payment".
Only 2 people ahead of you in the queue at this point, but somehow photocopying a license and sorting out the bloke infront of you takes around 45 mins.
Be in an international airport, but only open 7-10:30 or other nonsense hours.
If you are weak willed and or susceptible to pressure sales techniques, your rental could now cost easily 4x the advertised price.
Step 3:
Take the car - but constantly on edge about a tiny scratch somehow costing you 6 years pay.
Step 4:
Return car - scramble to fill it up at last possible moment otherwise £2.00/L.
Familiar sense of dread returns when the "check in agent" who is clearly paid to find "damage" to the car goes all Sherlock Holmes on your vehicle. Sense of dread justified when they try and take £500 off you for a "scratch" that your brain isn't even sure exists. Thing is, you've got a flight to catch, so you have to leave and cant argue the point.
Rant over.
P.S get the insurance that covers all your costs. Get it external for about £50 a year.
Car hire companies are SCUM. They represent one of the worst, soul destroying, purposely anxiety inducing experiences of all time.
Step 1:
Advertise really price
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Pay price if you book with a reputable one, have nothing other than that with Hertz, Europcar, Sixt and Budget all over the world
Nah dude,
I mean just go and google car hire company reviews.
Trustpilot gives:
Sixt: 1.8/10
Enterprise: 2.4/10
Hertz: 1/10
Budget: 0.8/10
The facts are (and the Office of fair trading or whatever they are called now) back me up on this- see their report from 2015.
This industry is ripping people off all over the place, the evidence is all there.
Well that is my experience world wide, might not be representative but I'd take any of them over the no names, BTW when did you last rate on trust pilot for good service?
Europcar tried nicking £20 for some 'unspecified shit'. Customer service ignored my requests for clarification so I set my bank on them via CC charge back and they recovered the money straight away. When in the Med I book from the local companies (I don't class Goldcar as local) who just exist on the island / area / resorts. The cars are older and tattier but they're easy to deal with, you pay up front, they park outside and hand the keys at arrivals so no queues, and best of all they DNGAF if you (or anybody else) bang or scratch it. Misfuelling and underbody/tyre damage from driving off road or pissed will cost but no worries with anything else. I always take my own child seats (even Ryanairscum don't charge extra) as some of the rental company ones are horrendous both in terms of safety and cleanliness.
Well that is my experience world wide, might not be representative but I’d take any of them over the no names, BTW when did you last rate on trust pilot for good service?
Yeah yeah, there is some bias there no one is denying that.
But look dude - car hire companies are doing bad business, and they're pissing everyone off. Yes, they have to make money, but they should be making money through hiring cars, not through charging people £20 a week hire, then £1000 to repair a windscreen chip. You cant easily escape these poor business practices either - its a terrible experience for many many people (although I do understand if you've never experienced it).
I also hire cars around 6 times a year for fun/work all over the world, and have been stung many many times (Europe is easily the worst offender).
All I can say is, do a quick google (or just read this thread!), look at the number of investigations going on into the industry and the issues that have already come to light (reports of 44% of people getting screwed) and you'll see there is a problem in the way these business are being run.
FWIW I stick by my Scum comment.
Yep, had about 20 through Hertz last year,(and for the 2 years before) gold probably helped. Few others along the way, all main stream which seem to be a lot better than the others.Most of my previous experience is in business accounts and it works really well. I have seen reports of excess charging and problems there but not systematic screwing of people, if life and reading STW has taught me a lot is that people struggle to read before signing and check over things.
but not systematic screwing of people, if life and reading STW has taught me a lot is that people struggle to read before signing and check over things.
Yes mate, but what I'm telling you is the systematic screwing of people has been proven to be happening:
CMA recently closed legal action on car hire sites breaking consumer protection laws AKA systematically screwing people.
Several recently opened investigations into damage charges in the hire care industry - again breaking consumer protection laws and the fraud act. AKA systematically screwing people.
It’s just taken me a month to get reimbursed from Enterprise for a fuel charge but that was mostly just incompetence rather than obstruction.
Ah come on man.
I've always had excellent service from Enterprise - particularly at heathrow. Anything damage smaller than a 50p doesn't even get logged (their policy) so you don't have to examine the car in excruciating detail at pick-up.
They seem to put all the fast-track graduates at heathrow for "work experience", and so they are always insufferably cheerful and helpful at 6am when you've just come off a 24 hr flight. It grates a bit at first - but I've come to appreciate it. I've even had one of them offer me a choice of six cars off the forecourt (all in the same price category).
Budget at Manchester have been ok - although last time they "gave away" my car because my flight was 2 hrs late arriving. Apparently all that was left was an upgraded car for an extra 80 quid a day (2 week hire!). After making a bit of a fuss - turned out that they DID have exactly the car I'd ordered available after all. Fancy that.
Even with third party excess insurance, they might try-it-on (they don't know you have insurance, after all). The ONLY way to guarantee that you avoid any sort of nonsense is to get their own zero-excess insurance. You'll have to weigh up the cost of that vs the cost/hassle of getting stitched-up. Given your experience at this airport, I would say that's probably the best way to go in future - stings a bit, but just factor it in to the hire cost.
Pay price if you book with a reputable one, have nothing other than that with Hertz, Europcar, Sixt and Budget all over the world
Funny, Europcar (and Avis) have pulled the "Oooh, sorry, that rate isn't available now because the moon is in it's 3rd quarter" line with me. Funnily enough, both at Manchester airport. I refused to pay and went with one of the others there on the spot even though it was marginally more expensive out of principle.
gold probably helped
Almost certainly does! Loyalty is something that counts. Good for upgrades and cheeky offers - I got the "if you pay for this 40 quid of insurance (that I was already covered for) then we'll upgrade you two levels" a couple of trips ago. For two weeks? Yes please.
BTW when did you last rate on trust pilot for good service?
Personally, I think Trustpilot is a reasonable gauge. I got through Zest most of the time and they get 8.7, which when compared to the actual car suppliers is off the scale. Often end up with Green motion and they get 5.4 in the UK and 7.2 worldwide.
life and reading STW has taught me a lot is that people struggle to read before signing and check over things.
Absolutely right! Go over the car with a fine tooth comb, especially the alloys and tyres, and record everything. Don't fall for the "that's too small, we don't need to put that" and when dropping off don't sign anything until you've double checked it all. When picking up I'm sure there's a box which says "don't try it on" which is ticked!
Budget have started e mailing everything to you including the pre hire damage inspection doc about an hour after you leave the depot - so its now almost impossible to see if damage is listed by them pre hire or not.
Looks like 3rd party excess insurance is the way to go - they will find a way of scamming you so at least you can claim it back don't need to lose hours of your life and the stress involved.
BTW - as well as being scammed for non existent damage last time - the snow chains that had to provide by law were broken and the wrong size anyway - that created a great start to the holiday when we had to drive over a 2000m pass in a blizzard. A 2 hour trip back down the autostrada until we found a garage selling the right size and a €79 outlay that they aren't prepared to cover.
Like someone said above - the industry seriously needs regulating ...
It’s just taken me a month to get reimbursed from Enterprise for a fuel charge but that was mostly just incompetence rather than obstruction.
Ah come on man.
and on that just got £100 cash for my troubles, to say this is one problem in a huge number of hires per year, on the whole I guess that means I'm either doing something right or just very lucky.
FWIW I used Centauro near Majorca airport, and had no issues with extra charge or false damage claims etc, though I did do a bit of reading up before renting.
Its fair to say there are more than a few cowboys out there. Do your research, though and there are reputable companies that don't take the piss.
I use Auto Reisen when on holiday now, no issues with them at all. Nothing hidden, the price of my voucher was the price I paid. They included a free child seat too at no charge. They don't have obscure fuel policies either. I'd recommend them to anyone.
In the UK I use Enterprise, never had any issues although this is always arranged through work so don't know if this makes them less likely to misbehave
this is always arranged through work so don’t know if this makes them less likely to misbehave
Absolutely correct! Losing a customer because you've ripped them off is one thing - losing a corporate account is a whole other one. No car hire location manager flunky wants this being escalated through customer services!