beware "deposits" on debit card when renting a car

munsterforever

i rented a car from europcar in penzance recently-i took it back showing full on the fuel guage-a week later they charged me £12.21 fuel charge as it wasnt full to the top! im unsure about my rights in relation to this-i thought my responsibility was to bring it back showing full on the dial which i did...the guy must have took hours dripping in as much fuel extra that he could and then charge it out at £2 a litre...can anyone advise me?

Davey2009

The digital picture idea is a good one when I last hired a car I made the person wait until I noted minor damage to wing mirrors little scrapes on the boot it may have seemed trivial but I expect they may have noticed them later & billed me.

harveybobbles

I would have to leave £900 eeuros on said debit card,was told it was merely a deposit and would not actually be taken out,

Thanks,but it does seem outrageous that they can do that without warning and for such a large amount

Erm......................

harveybobbles

Annie01 wrote: »

Beware of Europcar - type in complaints about Europcar into your search engine and be horrified by what you find.

You could do that with any company in the world.

Everyone is quick at writing complaints and moaning, but never as quick to complement a company...

Inactive

harveybobbles wrote: »

You could do that with any company in the world.

Everyone is quick at writing complaints and moaning, but never as quick to complement a company...

Several people, including myself have given details of our " hands on " bad experiences with Europcar, yet you seem to be defending them, we can't all have been wrong.

deano19690

Surely you check the car when you take it out, making sure they note down any marks on the sheet....

and when you return it next day or when ever you go round the car with them again, noting `new` marks and check fuels levels there and then.....

and agree any damage with you, face to face...

When i rented a car many years ago, thats how they did it,
thats how it should be done

Maybe you could make a claim on your credit card for unauthorised charges

vikingaero

deano19690 wrote: »

Surely you check the car when you take it out, making sure they note down any marks on the sheet....

and when you return it next day or when ever you go round the car with them again, noting `new` marks and check fuels levels there and then.....

and agree any damage with you, face to face...

When i rented a car many years ago, thats how they did it,
thats how it should be done

Maybe you could make a claim on your credit card for unauthorised charges

Car rental companies are the new Estate Agents of the crooked world.

At one time car rental companies ran their businesses reasonably and fairly. But with margins squeezed and costs rising they have sought to blag money from innocent renters. The problem is particularly marked on Continental Europe where it's much harder to challenge disputes through the courts. In some ways tapping the Brits is acceptable to raise revenue.

Lately the main problem seems to be the franchises of major rental firms where they are extremely unscrupulous.

About a week ago I rented a car and the car was reversed really close against a brick wall. The rental agent insisted it was fine apart from a door ding. I insisted on moving the car forward to check it and found a damaged bumper. Treat these people as fools and never believe anything they say. If they say it's raining - walk outside and check.

deano19690

I`ll bear that in mind....

Mind you i tend not to trust anything i`m told anyway,
some people get annoyed that i`m so disbelieving,
but Hey, it`s my money here...

harveybobbles

Inactive wrote: »

Several people, including myself have given details of our " hands on " bad experiences with Europcar, yet you seem to be defending them, we can't all have been wrong.

No one comes back from a holiday and thinks "oh I must log onto TripAdviser and tell everyone how wonderful it was".

Yet if they had an awful time, they are the first to complain...

Pssst

Europcar are bent. I had one bad experience...never again.