Spain car hire horror??!

kazmeister

We are booked with Auriga Crown so naturally are panicking. Emailed our broker in the UK and got this response

Dear Mr xxxxxx,

Thank you for your email.

I can confirm that as per your pre-paid booking details, the vehicle has been reserved with Auriga Crown for you for 23rd August-1st September.

I hope that this eases your concerns.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further queries.

Kind Regards,

Sarah Haines
Reservations Department
Economy Car Hire Ltd
[EMAIL="sarah.haines@economycarhire.com"]sarah.haines@economycarhire.com[/EMAIL]
tel: +44(0)1362 853938
fax: +44(0)1362 696123
http://www.economycarhire.com/

I am still not convinced and have just checked that I paid with my credit card so if there are any problems hopefully I will have some comeback.

Quick question Is my contract with to supply the car, the UK broker or the Spanish car hire firm

Thanks

tece

I would suggest that this is becoming the norm for car hire in Spain reading the posts on here.
I believe that I got a good deal on this car booked in April 09 so do not mind the fuel policy and hope that there are no nasty surprises when I get there.
I may review my usual holiday plans for 2010 though based on the increased cost of car hire in Spain.

nearlyrich

Mr_P wrote: »

Just wondered with all this doom and gloom... and i am expecting the worst when i go.. has anyone had any success in getting a car in Spain during June/July/Aug?

We had a decent experience in June from Palma airport.:beer:

pompeyrich

kazmeister wrote: »

We are booked with Auriga Crown so naturally are panicking. Emailed our broker in the UK and got this response


I am still not convinced and have just checked that I paid with my credit card so if there are any problems hopefully I will have some comeback.

Quick question Is my contract with to supply the car, the UK broker or the Spanish car hire firm

Thanks

Hopefully all will be well, I cant answer your question in red but I booked a car through Carjet and the rental company charged me twice. E-mailed Carjet, who emailed the hire co. who emailed me in Spanish, went round and round in circles and only got it sorted when my bank stepped in.

Auriga Crown only recognise their own tyre, glass and clutch insurance, it was 3 Euros a day in Feb. If you refuse they TAKE 300 Es deposit from your card, they are the only hire company I know that actually debit the card and refund it, other rental firms just authorise a deposit amount and debit if there is damage.

jn316

I arrived in Malaga yesterday and got the car without any issues. I prebooked (by creditcard) with ebookers end of June (£220 for 10 days - 4 door car). The carhire is with Alamo.

The only thing I'd note is that the car is older than usual (but in good shape). Typically they are new(ish) cars with 5000 - 10000km on the clock. However this one has nearly 60,000 km on the clock so they are obviously keeping the older stock running longer.

omeyas

bestyman wrote: »

I have arrived at the car hire place at Malaga countless times and always had a car. Sometimes the ques are really long so might be a good idea to send the driver downstairs to car hire while the others get luggage to save time.

If you was really unlucky and your booked car was not available then there are many other car hire places at the airport, they will charge a lot more but at least you will get to your villa.

Dont worry, have a great hol.

I don't think you know anything about the current situation in Malaga! In the past, yes, fine, just turn up and grab a car. However this summer the situation is completely different. The banks aren't lending money, so the car hire companies are not renewing their fleets. Purchase of new cars by fleets has dropped by over 90% this year, compared with last year, so cars are few and far between, and what is there is bloody expensive! In a Spnish forum people with prebooked cars are turning up to find they don't have a car, or if they do, the prices have often more than doubled. It's extortion, no more no less. Just remmeber them next year when you are thinking of booking your holidays and go elsewhere.

sheslookinhot

Cars booked months ago for say 300 per week are now being offered at 800 per week. If the car company can "sell" your hire for a greater fee, then that's what they are doing.

kazmeister

Am feeling a bit more positive about our booking having spoken to our UK agent today. (Economycarhire - based in Dereham Norfolk whose rates were very reasonable compared to a lot of the others.)

She didnt deny that there are problems in Spain but what she said was the people who seem to be having the trouble are the ones who have not paid up front (but I am sure you will correct me if I am wrong!). They book thousands of hire cars in Spain and many with Auriga Crown who we are booked with. She can only remember having problems obtaining just a couple of cars out of the thousands they book. They pay the hire car companies upfront so this could be the difference. When we arrive on Sunday she has asked us to call the UK office (they have someone on call all the time just in case) if we have any problems on getting our car. In these circumstances they arrange and pay for a taxi and make arrangements for the next available car to be delivered to your accommodation.

With regards to the additional insurance/credit card charges, there are certain parts of the car as listed previously - tyres etc which are not covered by the normal inclusive insurance. They offer the additional insurance for 3 Euros per day or they take a swipe of the card. She advised me that they do not make a charge to the card but get a preauthorisation for 300 which they then make should the car be returned with any of the problems. My brother who is also hiring a car has said he will take the additional insurance for the sake of 30 euros as he is having to leave the car outside the office due to it being outside the opening hours. I can see his point as anything could happen in the time after he leaves it.

I have to say I do feel more positive having spoken to the agent and will let you know what happens.

pompeyrich

Good news Kaz, I'm sure you will be fine. The agents description of the preauthorisation of the credit card is how it usually works but Auriga definately TOOK the cash from my card in Feb at Gerona. It was refunded the next day, when I returned the car. I lost £1.50 due to exchange rate fluctuations. I would copy my cc statement but I can only go back 4 months. As you are taking out the extra insurance it won't affect you. I didn't take it as I had already bought cover here and they have a minimum 5 or 7 day rate, so 15/21 Euros for a day seemed excessive to me.

Anyway, glad you feel reassured and hope you have a great time.

kazmeister

Hi

Back from Spain and I can report we had no problems

Queue for car hire with Auriga Crown took an hour to get through though, but we paid for the additional insurance, chappie on desk admitted he got commission on it so we took it and he upgraded our car for us.

Yes we paid for the tank of fuel but we knew we had to anyway and yes we did take nearly half a tank back but I think we had a reasonable deal compared to some.

Economycarhire have very reasonable rates compared to some and we would be happy to use them again.

Both my brothers had no problems either.