Cheap car hire article discussion

hexland

Any info worldwideinsure ?
They seem to have an annual policy for US residents driving in EU (while the UK is still in the EU )

UsOrThem

loststeve wrote: »

Hi all, anyone got any advice on paying for damage?!

I put a large scrape in the front bumper of a car from Enterprise recently. I hadn't paid for the DEW (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't - it about doubles the cost of rental for a weekend so for short trips I don't always). So, fair enough I expected to pay for repairs, possibly (given how hire companies work) even a new bumper. The car had a £150 deposit on it so when I took it back in they took the rest of the £500 excess, also fair enough. However I've just got a cheque back for the "unused" excess - of only £116! So they've charged me £384 - and this was on a Toyota Aygo which isn't exactly an expensive car.

There weren't any details with the cheque so I'm going to phone and ask for them - but a. does this sound reasonable and b. have I got a leg to stand on in challenging this? Is there anything specific I should be asking?

cheers,
Steve

why gamble with the risk of damage by not always getting excess cover? either get it all the time or never. The cover needn't double your hire rate if you look at the 3rd party companies (i use Questor as with the MSE voucher it always is the cheapest). If you hire more than twice a year the annual policy is best. Ii take great satisfaction in declining the at the desk cover fees and smirk when i see the people paying the huge additional amount.

As far as your question, there's no reason you can't leverage 'future custom' with them to get more back but as already mentioned it's not just the bumper repair cost it's the admin too you're being charged for. But hey, make them work for the money, i'm sure you're entitled to an itemised bill.

SuzRBull

29. Re Hiring car from Swiss side in Geneva to take to France

My family and I always hire a car from the Swiss side to avoid the vignette charge, distance etc and are about to book again but luckily I spied this point re the new EU law. I have tried to get assurances from one car rental firm that they will be a car that's EU registered for us when we arrive but they just say to let them know when we arrive at desk. Seems a bit risky for me especially as a quick google search brings up nightmare stories re this issue. However, wonder whether things have settled and that it would be ok to just rock up? Anyone got any recent experience and advice? Thanks

R_Jackson

If you are only going to France then make sure you hire from the French side of Geneva airport, and follow the signs in the Terminal which say France to get there. You will hire a car which does not have a Swiss carnet and cannot be taken into Switzerland, but you can safely drive it into France and back to Geneva airport without doing so. BTW, watch out for the speed camera on the route from the airport to the French motorway.

gavandi

Obviously people reading MSE will know AtlasChoice and its issues. We used them recently in Puglia, Italy. Hired 2 cars - 1 good the other a bit weathered. Local company was Autovia, not one of the main players. ( get what you pay I guess! ). Brought cars back in same condition without any extra scratches or damage, left cars in rental area and handed back the paperwork. All OK!! No way - as we were boarding plane, we got an email saying there was damage to one of the cars and they were going to debit my CC. We had asked for the staff to come and inspect the cars but they refused saying there was no need. We demanded the pics and realised that the car had been moved from where we left it as the pics could not have been taken from that position. Now they refuse to repay my £300 plus. Had taken excess cover out locally but ......AtlasChoice... promised to refund but....they have sunk without trace! My advice is read carefully what MSE suggests, use main stream companies -(stay away from Autovia), drag the staff out to view car, take pics, write "NO DAMAGE" in returns box, and don't sign the returns box up front! A total rip off!:mad:

gavandi

I know its all a bit late - see my recent post. My advice and I will be sticking to this is to always use the main players and follow all MSE advice. Recently been had by AtlasChoice and local rental company in Puglia -Autovia!:(

neverbetter

Hi,
Planning to hire a car from Belfast Airport and drive it to Dublin for a couple of days. I've called 3 car hire places and the cross border charge varies from £20 to £60. Does anyone have knowledge of a company which doesn't charge to drive across the border?
Thanks

Caroline_Sowerbutts

We hired a hire car for 2 days in Gran Canaria with Orlando rent a car, who we've used before in Tenerife. No problems, but the deposit was taken from my husband's credit card, then refunded the next day when we returned the car. This incurred exchange rate and transaction fees of over £22 on a car hire of £55! This has not happened to us before - previously the car hire company just held the credit card details until we returned the car safely. Is this now standard practise? PS I made a fuss through Holiday Autos and got a refund, but need to know for future bookings.

AllanA

You mention they are taking the money from your credit card. As long as the hire charge was more than £100 and you used a credit card to pay for the car hire, the credit card company are jointly liable under Section 75. Look on the MSE site for loads of stuff on Section 75 if you're not fully up to speed with it. As an alternative, and this works if the hire charge was less than £100 or you paid it with a debit card, try Chargeback. Again loads on the MSE site about Chargeback.

davenoble37

This is a subject that bothered me and I couldn't get much advice on, but having done it I thought I'd share my experience in the hope that others are less worried when doing something similar...

I wanted to hire a car in Geneva on the Swiss side and drive into France for skiing but felt that the change in EU law would make this very difficult. After reading widely on the subject, and getting virtually nowhere, I contacted Alamo direct (I did do a skyscanner search first but the problem with Internet shopping is that it only works if you have no questions) - I rang Alamo, they said providing I advised them at the time of booking that I wanted to drive into France there would be no problems. I booked with Alamo direct, they put the note in and I also didn't need to pay for the booking until I arrived at their airport counter - it may be something the others do too but whenever I've booked via a screenscraper they want paying within 48 hours of booking

When I got to Geneva airport, the experience with Alamo was superb, they were really helpful, allayed my fears over the Swiss border - said there'd be no problems with the border guards and there weren't, I sailed through in both directions without a hitch...

I know what the EU law says and I know what the car companies say to cover themselves but I think that common sense has prevailed, certainly in my own experience anyway.

I took CDW and went to MoneyMaxim for the excess cover, Alamo were brilliant and there was no damage to the car, and plain sailing all the way.

Things of note - the petrol forecourt at the airport wasn't working when I came back through so if you can fill up earlier, you should probably do so...

I'd always advise hiring on the Swiss side - you'll get the Swiss motorway vignette, winter tyres as standard, and with Alamo a set of snow chains in the boot. The only thing you'll need is the French approved breathyliser - there are plenty on eBay. I wouldn't personally hire French side, winter tyres aren't standard and there's an additional charge for snow chains you might not need plus you can only use A Roads without paying €40 for a car specific motorway vignette.

Best of luck...