Cheap car hire article discussion

Stubie1

Stranded Abroad - Do not use this company
We were stranded at Dalaman airport because Economy Car Rental's supplier did not turn up with our car and did not answer their phone. Had to pay for a taxi to Kalkan (£70+). Very poor customer service from this company. Had no interest in the costs incurred by their failure. Referred us to the small print. After ten weeks of phone calls and emails, I finally got my deposit back. Find someone else.

EPS_2

Totally agree about Car Trawler. They are also known as Holiday Autos - complete rip off !! They state an administration charge may be payable in the fuel policy but give no idea how much that charge is - surely illegal ?? They stole £25 from my credit card as an administration fee for checking that I had filled the car with petrol (which I had ). Totally ridiculous - AVOID HOLIDAY AUTOS at all costs !!!

BigBelly

Is excess payable on Alamo rentals in the US booked from the Alamo UK website?

http://www.alamo.co.uk/helpfulinformation/us says

CDW – Collision Damage Waiver
All inclusive rates include CDW, which contractually waives or limits the renter’s liability for damage to or loss of the vehicle

I'm concerned by the "or limits" bit. But there's no mention of what excess there could be, like the conditions for other countries.

livelaughlove

My husband and I booked and paid with Debit Card on-line Alamo Car Hire at Zurich Airport for two weeks in December 2014. When we arrived at Desk to collect the car we were very rudely refused as we did not have a credit card although on booking the car we rang Alamo and they informed us that we would be alright without one. We immediately rang Alamo/sales and a lady informed us that we read their terms and conditions and slammed the phone down on us. We are both severely disabled and usually I need to use wheelchair or scooter to be mobile. On our return to UK we got in touch with our bank to see if the full amount of car hire had been taken from our account and it had on the same day of booking. They told us they would get in touch with Alamo and try to get our money back. We eventually were informed that they could not do this. We lost over £400.00. to this company. I am so unhappy as we are pensioners on a limited budget. This company have taken our money and we do not have any chances of getting it back. I urge people to read the terms of contract very thoroughly.

Hern

livelaughlove wrote: »

My husband and I booked and paid with Debit Card on-line Alamo Car Hire at Zurich Airport for two weeks in December 2014. When we arrived at Desk to collect the car we were very rudely refused as we did not have a credit card although on booking the car we rang Alamo and they informed us that we would be alright without one. . . On our return to UK we got in touch with our bank to see if the full amount of car hire had been taken from our account and it had on the same day of booking. They told us they would get in touch with Alamo and try to get our money back. We eventually were informed that they could not do this. We lost over £400.00. to this company. I am so unhappy as we are pensioners on a limited budget. This company have taken our money and we do not have any chances of getting it back. I urge people to read the terms of contract very thoroughly.

In summary, then:

1) You and Alamo were parties to a mutually agreed contract;

2) Alamo agreed to provide you with a rental car at Zurich Airport; you agreed to pay £400. You did so via your debit card and have proof of this;

3) Alamo refused to supply you with the promised rental car. But it took, and kept, your money;

4) Your bank says it cannot help.

You should not be resigning yourselves to the loss of this £400. I don't know if yours is a Visa debit card or not but if it is, banks have been able to work with Visa to secure chargebacks -- even though many people believe that chargebacks are only possible / only applicable to credit cards at Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

A few more details on here would help -- what, precisely, did your bank tell you about its failure to assist?

Hellsbells77

We are currently looking at our car hire for our holiday to Florida later this year. We keep coming across a statement of "£0 excess" but don't really understand what this means. Is there truly no excess for any damage, etc, and would it still be worthwhile getting independent excess insurance or is this not necessary?

Thanks

NiftyDigits

Hellsbells77 wrote: »

We are currently looking at our car hire for our holiday to Florida later this year. We keep coming across a statement of "£0 excess" but don't really understand what this means. Is there truly no excess for any damage, etc, and would it still be worthwhile getting independent excess insurance or is this not necessary?

Thanks

It likely won't cover windscreen, tyres etc. It should cover SLI, but you should check this for yourself.

Hern

Stubie1 wrote: »

Stranded Abroad - Do not use this company
We were stranded at Dalaman airport because Economy Car Rental's supplier did not turn up with our car and did not answer their phone. Had to pay for a taxi to Kalkan (£70+). Very poor customer service from this company. Had no interest in the costs incurred by their failure. Referred us to the small print. After ten weeks of phone calls and emails, I finally got my deposit back. Find someone else.

Just what was the "small print" here? Be interesting to know -- thanks.

Will.Power_2

I've been looking at Alamo prices for two weeks in June '15 but am now v.confused. For a Toyota Rav4
.co.uk quote £1475
.com quotes £1429
.co.uk/brits quotes £1286.
auto-europe.co.uk quotes £306 for an Alamo Rav4, which seems like a bargain. They say it includes VAT, Liability & Fire Insurance, Collision Damage Waiver & Theft Protection with zero excesses, plus Unlimited Miles... but I'm just a little suspicious that being £1,000 less, it may be other than it suggests.
Any advice or experience would be warmly received.

Hern

You may wish to follow this link:

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.autoeurope.com