Cheap car hire article discussion

accorian

jimmyjackhaynes said:

I've had this note when I tried to cancel a car rental "As per the Terms and Conditions of your reservation, Auto Europe would like to remember that we will not charge any cancelation fees up until 48 hours prior to pick-up, however due to the higher cancellation volume caused by the Covid-19, Auto Europe will be charging a small fee of £20 to cover payment fees and processing the cancellation. "  Is this legal?

You have to wonder if car rental companies make it a policy to only hire halfwits.

Auto Europe is basically saying that yeah, you entered into a contract with us on the basis of terms and conditions which we spelled out and which you accepted, one term of which was in regard to there being no cancellation charge.. . . but now, now,  there is to be a cancellation charge after all. . . Except we wish to pretend that there isn't and are hoping you as a customer is an even bigger clown than those managing our business.

Go ahead and cancel if you're still able to do so under the original, unrevised T&Cs. The company is very obviously an amateurish outfit pretending to be clever and not to be regarded as anything more than a joke. Its attempt to unilaterally change the terms and conditions of contract after the contract was entered into is laughable, and especially the way it has so clumsily tried to pretend that it is doing no such thing.

jimmyjackhaynes

Well looking at the grammar you are right with the halfwits comment. I don't believe I can cancel quoting the old Ts and Cs. I've checked with those I know in the car rental game and they have said this could well be illegal. I'll report them for this. Thanks for replying.

MEDavis

jimmyjackhaynes - who will you report them to? I want to do the same. Thanks.

jbrassy

Just wanted to post about a positive experience I've had regarding car hire excess insurance.

So I recently went away to Iceland and hired a car from Budget. The car was in a terrible state to begin with, but I thought they'd identified all the scratches etc in the damage report when I picked it up. When I dropped the car off a week later, I thought it was fine - there was no new damage. However, I received an email a few days later telling me there was a new scratch. I was pretty peed off since I'm convinced I didn't do that damage and it was already there when I picked it up. However, I feel like there's little you can do when it comes to arguing with car hire companies.

Therefore, I swallowed my pride and paid the £400 that Budget asked for (a ridiculous sum considering the supposed damage). Luckily, I had taken out car hire excess insurance with Eversure. I've always done this on Martin's advice, but never had to claim. I've always assumed it would be a bit of drag if I ever had to claim because insurance claims are usually a pain. However, the process was dead simple. It took me 30 mins to complete the form. I submitted it on the Friday night and the £400 I claimed for was in my account on Tuesday afternoon. Amazing service. This insurance policy from Eversure cost me just over £16 and have saved me from forking out over £400. 

Overall, I would like to double down on Martin's advice and suggest buying car hire excess insurance from a third party rather than at the desk from the car hire company itself. It will honestly work out fine in the end and save you a small fortune. 

JaneC20

Hello, is anyone else having problems getting a car hire deposit returned?
I hired  a car through Easirent in Dublin in mid June for 6 weeks (taking into account quarantine and visiting family.  I was told that, because of the duration of the hire, the deposit would actually be taken from my account, which it was - a total of £2,038 sterling on 14th June.  The car was returned on 31st July but I am still waiting for the deposit to be returned.  When I enquired before I was told it would take 25 working days minimum.  Today I've been told it could 3 months + as there is a backlog!   In the meantime I'm paying interest on this deposit!  The article on exchange rates says it can take up to 30 days to return the deposit - 3 mths + is taking the *** but I can't see anything online about any legal limit on it..
Thanks, Jane

mooreat80

Cheap Car Hire in the UK. Steer clear of Car hire UK firm. Any deposit paid by you, be prepared to kiss the money good buy. The firm has figure many times with excuse after excuse for your deposit return. Many of the victims are overseas and the British  Government System for refunds or disputes will not help any person not from the UK.

It is a shame this happens and hinders tourists from visiting and or spending money in the UK. I have visited the UK a number of time since 2010 and have never and will never hire a car in the UK since my experience with the car hire uk firm and the Government System for refunds or action against this firm.

accorian

mooreat80 said:

Cheap Car Hire in the UK. Steer clear of Car hire UK firm. Any deposit paid by you, be prepared to kiss the money good buy. The firm has figure many times with excuse after excuse for your deposit return. Many of the victims are overseas and the British  Government System for refunds or disputes will not help any person not from the UK.

It is a shame this happens and hinders tourists from visiting and or spending money in the UK. I have visited the UK a number of time since 2010 and have never and will never hire a car in the UK since my experience with the car hire uk firm and the Government System for refunds or action against this firm.

I've never heard of "Cheap Car Hire UK" as a British-based car rental company. I can't find any reference to it in any Internet search, either. As for 'Government system for refunds', I'd be surprised if the government of any country anywhere in the world operated a 'system' for 'refunds or action against this firm'. The UK's civil courts are pretty good at that, even if it can be a bit problematical for plaintiffs not resident in the UK, just as it's difficult for any UK resident to take legal action in any overseas country in respect of a vehicle rental agreement in that country.

RobKett

Hi - this thread looks a bit dead but I thought I'd just let people know that the £1 Europcar deal that Martin Lewis mentions here [You have to be around for a little while longer before you can post links. - er ok - on his cheap car hire page] seems to be over.

The page opens and there appear to be deals available but whenever I tried to actually book one I got an error message. I emailed Europcar and got an email saying that this offer is over but they hadn't got around to taking the webpage down.

If anyone knows of any other good offers???

accorian

RobKett said:

Hi - this thread looks a bit dead but I thought I'd just let people know that the £1 Europcar deal that Martin Lewis mentions here [You have to be around for a little while longer before you can post links. - er ok - on his cheap car hire page] seems to be over.

The page opens and there appear to be deals available but whenever I tried to actually book one I got an error message. I emailed Europcar and got an email saying that this offer is over but they hadn't got around to taking the webpage down.

If anyone knows of any other good offers???

I'd love to know that, too. 

I've never dealt with Europcar and even -- or especially -- at a mere £1 I doubt I'd go anywhere near them, but I have had experience of discounted deals with Hertz (thanks entirely to another MSEr here whose name unfortunately i can't remember, nor find my thankyou message to him.)

Hertz have in my experience always been more expensive than anyone else, but their cars aren't wrecks-on-wheels and the desk staff have always been superb. Several times, we've paid more than the usual cheapo going-rate to get a Hertz rental, but our funds are pretty tight nowadays, hence why any info about any kind of Hertz promo or discount would be greatly appreciated.  

RFB_2

RobKett said:

Hi - this thread looks a bit dead but I thought I'd just let people know that the £1 Europcar deal that Martin Lewis mentions here [You have to be around for a little while longer before you can post links. - er ok - on his cheap car hire page] seems to be over.

The page opens and there appear to be deals available but whenever I tried to actually book one I got an error message. I emailed Europcar and got an email saying that this offer is over but they hadn't got around to taking the webpage down.

If anyone knows of any other good offers???

I have seen similar return to Airport deals from Hertz see https://www.hertz.co.uk/p/hertzone and other companies probably offer similar deals but the basic problem is that the availability is few and far between and only occurs where there has been a one-way rental where it is unlikely that someone will want to make the reverse journey.