Economy Car Hire Question

alanryan100

Hi,

I'm off to Croatia in July and wish to pick up a car in Zagreb, drive down to Plitvice Lakes and the coast, before dropping it off the next evening at Split Airport.

I've seen economycarhire.com recommended on several threads here and found what I think is a good deal compared with Hertz, Avis etc. In the terms and conditions, however, it mentions the following:

"One way rentals between destinations are free of charge if the rental duration is 3 days or more. For rental durations less than 3 days one-way rentals will incur a 62 EUR charge, payable locally. Please note, one-way rentals to or from Dubrovnik will incur a Border Exit charge of 25 EUR payable locally."

I don't exactly understand what it means as this will be my first time renting a car. Could anyone provide assistance on this as if I do end up paying the 62, then it means that Hertz and Avis will be around the same price.

melb

hi to the rep from Economycarhire - please can you confirm whether you provide full collision damage waiver and free additional driver for bookings in Spain as well. also if you do provide full collision damage waiver is this with "no excess fees" as with some other brokers? thanks for any advice

Theshipscat

I wouldn't use Economycar hire again.
I booked a car in Valencia through the above when I arrivied Advantage then told me I needed to take out the extra insurance even though I have my own CDW. I argued and she stated it was Spanish law, she then said it would be repaided to me on my return. Once back at he depot I mentioned it to another member of staff and she said it was an insurance charge she agreed I had been wrongly sold the insurance and I would be refunded. I contacted Economy upon my return and recieved an email from them this morning telling me:

Dear Mr Mc,

Thank you for your comments, feedback from our customers is always appreciated.

I am sorry to learn that you were not completely satisfied with your recent rental through Advantage in Spain; I can of course appreciate your dissatisfaction on being advised you were required to take out the additional insurance if you have previously taken out an alternative policy. Please be assured that all additional insurances are optional; however, as the policy has commenced and terminated we are unable to offer you a refund or a method in which to obtain a refund.

Please accept my sincere apologies on behalf of Advantage for the standard of service that you received, as this is not the level of service we have come to expect from our car rental partners.

In regards to the fuel policy that Advantage advise, you are required to pay for a full tank of fuel on collection and return the vehicle empty and this policy is correct for rentals lasting 4 or more days; we are aware that this policy is unpopular with many customers and as a car hire broker we will continue to pass on feedback in the hope that this policy is reviewed in the future. Please be aware that at Valencia airport we do work with one supplier called ‘SolMar’ who advises the following fuel policy:

“Fuel: Clients will be provided with an amount of fuel, for which a charge will be made. This will be refunded when the vehicle is returned with the same amount of fuel. If the vehicle is not returned with the same amount, a refuelling charge of 20 EUR will be applied, together with the cost of missing fuel. Please note: due to refuelling logistics you will be charged a higher rate per litre compared to the normal pump price.”

As a returning customer you are able to log in to your account prior to obtaining a quotation in order to view which supplier each vehicle is through, enabling you to book through SolMar, should you choose to do so.

In light of your dissatisfaction I will be passing your comments on to the management team at SolMar in order for them to address these matters accordingly in the future.

I do hope that despite your dissatisfaction on this occasion, we can continue to be of service to you in the future.

Kind regards,

They can't even get the correct hire car company.
If you want a hire car in Spain and don't want to get ripped off for fuel or insurance go with Solmar or Sixt.
I hire up to 12 cars a year in SPain and Economy have just lost a good customer for the sake of 30 euros.

Theshipscat

melb wrote: »

hi to the rep from Economycarhire - please can you confirm whether you provide full collision damage waiver and free additional driver for bookings in Spain as well. also if you do provide full collision damage waiver is this with "no excess fees" as with some other brokers? thanks for any advice

Take out your own insurance here it's about £37 for the year and book direct through a company that doesnt charge for fuel regardless whether you use it or not. Economy really don't care what their car suppliers try and charge you for.

Theshipscat

As a further reason not to use Economycarhire. I have just booked two Renault Clio size cars for Valencia airport in July. 8 days £162.48 no fuel charges so you bring the car back with a full tank. So the hire for the car is £162.48 no more. A similar car with Economy is £177. Plus as it's over 3 days hire you will be charged for the fuel in the tank and you bring it back empty. If there's any fuel left in the car you've lost it. So put at least 60 Euros on that price, another £55 so your total car price is £238. Then the car supplier will try and charge you for insurance too.

Unless we stop using these companies they will not change!

Theshipscat

The rep seems very quite?

melb

yeh i know but equally i looked on the Sixt website and the price was way higher than anything else I'd seen so i don't think I'll be using either!

Theshipscat

melb wrote: »

yeh i know but equally i looked on the Sixt website and the price was way higher than anything else I'd seen so i don't think I'll be using either!

The thing for me is the fuel. I don't use it, I drive to my house in Mountains and stay there. In june I took a car back with over 3/4 of a tank and they stung me for insurance (not sure how I fell for that one). The intial price was £94 then 119euros for fuel tax and that bloody insurance. If you require the car for 3 days go for the cheapest. Don't go anywhere near Goldcar they are terrible. Eurocar used to be good until they teamed up with Easy jet but they've become very greedy.
Auriga Crown are ok but the fuel problem remains. I like Solmar but they're more expensive normally. Best of Luck


You are going at the most expensive time,even the Spanish are on Holiday.