Car Hire Con - Cartrawler, 121 carhire

Fijiana

Hi everyone
has anyone ever used Cartrawler or 121carhire through moneysupermarket.com. they are the same company.just got back from swiss holiday in early august 09 and the broker/agent was Cartrawler and guess what

- i was charged more than what i had been informed or agreed online
- Cartrawler took 2 direct debits from my account for car insurance and late pickup fee coz we got into swiss airport at 11.30pm. i agreed online to the total rental cost which was paid to Europcars but not the other two direct debits.

However those costs have been written on the Europecar receipt I received. I asked Europcars and Europcars says its all to do with Cartrawler. On my account statement, it points to Cartrawler. Cartrawler says all complaints are emailed which is crap as I need to write.
Can anyone give me a clue on Cartrawler address in the UK ??

Keep away from these CON companies plus tell us if youve had similar encounters. Publicise the Crooks :eek::eek::eek:

isplumm

Fijiana wrote: »

Hi everyone


- i was charged more than what i had been informed or agreed online
- Cartrawler took 2 direct debits from my account for car insurance and late pickup fee coz we got into swiss airport at 11.30pm. i agreed online to the total rental cost which was paid to Europcars but not the other two direct debits.

Hi,

I suspect that if you read the small print of your contract it will state that there will be an extra charge for pick up after a certain time .... was you flight delayed?

As to the insurance - did you agree to it when picked up the car ... I suspect that this was excess insurance .... what does the paperwork you signed on picking up the car say?

Mark

archiebald01

Watch out. Insurance4carhire double dip your credit card. When I queried it I was told in an unconcerned way that 'this happens sometimes'. They did repay however.

isplumm

archiebald01 wrote: »

Watch out. Insurance4carhire double dip your credit card. When I queried it I was told in an unconcerned way that 'this happens sometimes'. They did repay however.

Hi,

I have used them a number of times .... never had this issue .... would make a bit of fuss ... maybe send them letter ...

Mark

Fijiana

Hi all
thanks for your reply. first
- no, my flight was not delayed. it simply arrived there at 11pm and we checked out towards 11.30pm. apart from that, the airport never closes as we all know major airports are on 24hr shift so what is this crap about late pickup fee. easy money for them I guess.
- the insurance excess was never discussed to me online, on the phone or at the airport. was suprised to see it so I queried and was passed around between Europcars and Cartrawler.

Quite amusing & low how these car companies try to make things sound so dramatic and that we must pay for blah...blah ...blah. feel like shouting in their face ...HELLO, DO WE LOOK LIKE WE DO NOT KNOW ABOUT CARS AND ITS RUNNING COSTS.

isplumm

Fijiana wrote: »

Hi all
thanks for your reply. first
- no, my flight was not delayed. it simply arrived there at 11pm and we checked out towards 11.30pm. apart from that, the airport never closes as we all know major airports are on 24hr shift so what is this crap about late pickup fee. easy money for them I guess.
- the insurance excess was never discussed to me online, on the phone or at the airport. was suprised to see it so I queried and was passed around between Europcars and Cartrawler.

Quite amusing & low how these car companies try to make things sound so dramatic and that we must pay for blah...blah ...blah. feel like shouting in their face ...HELLO, DO WE LOOK LIKE WE DO NOT KNOW ABOUT CARS AND ITS RUNNING COSTS.

Hi,

So have you read the t&cs of your booking? Does it mention anything about paying more after a certain time .... ie a late fee ... just because the airport is open 24 hours doesn't mean that you will not get charged a late fee .... especially for a smaller company like Cartrawler ...

Do you have your paperwork from when you picked the car up? Does it talk about extra insurance on it?

By the way - why are you talking to Cartrawlers - your booking is with Europcars ... so only deal with them .... ask them to show you in their t&cs the bit about late fees ....

Mark

isplumm

Hi,

Have you looked at the carcrawler website - they are a company who provide an application to companies like Europcar to book cars ....

Mark

isplumm

Hi,

Did you book the car via https://www.121carhire.com?

If that is true, than that is who I would deal with - as far as I can see there is nothing about a late charge - so I would definitely moan about that ....

Did you select the extra insurance option on that page? This may have appeared as a different cost on your credit card, as they are a different company to 12carhire?

Mark

knightstyle

We to have been caught like this and the clause "local charges may apply" seems to be on all the major car hire sites but try to finding what these charges will be before you make the booking is impossible!!!

Fijiana

hi Mark
i am talking to the con people Cartrawler as it states in my statement:
* insuranceforcarhire - xx
* cartrawler - xx
* europcars - xxx

so Europcars took £1 above the agreed sum. am okay with that while CARTRAWLER MORE LIKE CARPROWLER took amounts which i never agreed to !!!

vikingaero

I'm very careful with car hire in the UK and abroad. I probably have to rent once a month minimum for work. If I can I try and pay with a debit card as I have to reclaim the cost form work on expenses. Most majors will accept this, normally with extra ID such as utility bills, so I make sure I have these handy.

The debit card I use is always a Visa debit card as this gives the same chargeback rules as a Visa credit card. The debit card is linked to a savings account so no chance of a big unauthorised charge - it will simply be bounced. I find out the cost and deposit required, ie £100 for rental and £500 for deposit, and transfer the rest out of the account so they cannot add spurious charges. They can of course take me to court if they wish, but this changes the rules - I hold the money and not some faker at a hire car franchise on the take.