Be careful of 118Carhire.net

XmasCarHire

Saw an ad for 118carhire.net in the paper. Looks quite convincing, but very cheap. Based out of a virtual office, no evidence of any real branches. I remember a scam last year called Rentmac (lots of posts on here) where people paid large deposits by bank transfer and didn't receive their car.

If you pay by credit card only you'd probably be ok, but I would be really careful if asked to transfer cash - no reputable car hire firm will ever ask you to do that.

Statement posted on behalf of the Metropolitan Police

The Metropolitan Police Service's Economic and Specialist Crime Directorate is investigating 118carhire in relation to fraud.

If anyone believes that they are a victim - i.e. anyone who has paid for a vehicle that has not been delivered or who has had more money taken from their account than expected - then they should report the matter to Action Fraud via the internet at https://www.actionfraud.org.uk or telephone number 0300 123 2040, and also contact their bank.

Remember; if an offer looks too good to be true then it probably is. Always check as far as possible the legitimacy of a company that you are paying up front for services.
For fraud prevention advice visit http://www.met.police.uk/fraudalert/

NFH

By failing to give their legal company name and company registered number on their web site, they are in breach of Regulation 7 of the Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2008. By failing to provide an e-mail address on their web site, they are in breach of Regulation 6(1)(c) of the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002.

Jay1969_2

Beware 'unbeatable' car rental offers

The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), the trade body for the UK car rental industry, is advising customers to take extra care when confronted with cheap deals on the Internet or in the press.

Police and Trading Standards officials are currently investigating a number of companies who have lured consumers with low prices and offers to deliver vehicles to their door. In many cases, customers have handed over hundreds of pounds in advance only to find that their car never arrives and the company does not really exist.
“If a deal looks too good to be true, then it probably is,” says BVRLA chief executive, John Lewis.
“Unfortunately, it is all too easy for fraudsters to pass themselves off as legitimate businesses over the Internet.

These sham operators are damaging the reputation of car rental and many other industries. We are working with the authorities to help stamp them out.”

In the meantime, the BVRLA is offering five simple tips for customers looking for safe and hassle-free car or van rental.

1. Only use a BVRLA member. Seeing our logo on the front desk or website is a sign that you are dealing with a reputable company that has been vetted and operates to a professional code of conduct. You will also be able to use our conciliation service in the event of any dispute
2. Never hand over cash. Most rental companies will only want to accept credit/debit card payment
3. Make sure the company is operating from a bona fide commercial premises, not a PO Box or virtual office, no matter how prestigious the location sounds
4. Make sure the company actually has the cars it is offering - all BVRLA members operate their own rental fleet
5. Remember, if the price or service being offered seems too good to be true, it probably is!

About the BVRLA
The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association is the national trade body for companies engaged in the leasing and rental of cars and commercial vehicles. Its members provide short-term rental, contract hire and fleet management services to corporate users and consumers. They operate a combined fleet of around 2.5 million cars, vans and trucks, buying nearly half of all new vehicles sold in the UK. Through its members and their customers, the BVRLA represents the interests of more than two million business car drivers and the millions of people who use a rental vehicle each year. As well as lobbying the government on key issues affecting the sector, the BVRLA regulates its members through a mandatory code of conduct.

Sloman86

Hi, I have recently tried to hire a car through 118carhire.net, a guy calls you and has a London accent and says it is all ready to go, the prices are cheap but the deposits are very steep. I am meant to be having my car delivered on Monday 19th December, but after trying to call the number all day the number is dead and they are not replying to emails. If anyone knows anything about this company please get in touch with me on luke.sloman@pic-uae.com. Anything will help at this point as they have taken a substantial amount out of my account.

Thanks,

Luke

Attention2detail

Having not heard anything back from these people by way of email confirmation, I'm now very suspicious that they are a scam business. Ring them again to triple check they had my email address correctly there is now no answer.. on 0845 2699118 or 0844 5979019 / 0844 5979017 .. these last two numbers give to me from my credit card who say their trade name is Arrow Motor Homes and are based in USA. They also say they can't do anything about it until I have not received the service (car hire) that I've asked them for So I'll have to make a new booking elsewhere to ensure that I'll have a vehicle when I need it! They have taken 586 GBP, the total quoted to me was only 336!!!

aarenson

They are most likely scrupulous. I spoke to Metro Newspaper and they have been banned as an advertiser. Also no email confirmation. I paid via credit card so may be covered. Not sure yet... Please don't make a booking!

richardw

Seems bogus http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/dec/16/beware-bogus-car-hire-offers?INTCMP=SRCH even the ad is very similar to last years Rentmac scam.

mudweiser_2

Sloman86 wrote: »

Hi, I have recently tried to hire a car through 118carhire.net, a guy calls you and has a London accent and says it is all ready to go, the prices are cheap but the deposits are very steep. I am meant to be having my car delivered on Monday 19th December, but after trying to call the number all day the number is dead and they are not replying to emails. If anyone knows anything about this company please get in touch with me on [EMAIL="luke.sloman@pic-uae.com"]luke.sloman@pic-uae.com[/EMAIL]. Anything will help at this point as they have taken a substantial amount out of my account.

Thanks,

Luke

Hi Luke, did you get your car today as planned?

My girlfriend booked a rental for over the Christmas period with this company at the end of November and, on a 'bad feeling' gut whim, did a bit of research on them today and uncovered this thread and the Guradian article.

Has anyone received a car from them as planned?

She received an email confirming the booking so it's not been complete radio silence but any attempts to call their number on the website are met with the engaged tone.

Obviously we're extremely anxious we'll have wasted a good few hundred pounds and be without a car over Christmas...

If anyone has any further information please, step forward!

landsberger64

And presumably, as last year, he's hoping to use the "bad weather" - as he did last year - to explain the delays. It's a pity the weather is not playing along with his plans !

The company appears to be registered to Mr Roger Doyle and a Mr Darren Symes. It could well be, as it was also last year, that Mr Doyle and Mr Symes are innocent parties. The Rentmac scam had a 'director' in Brighton who had no idea he was involved, at a false or misleading address. Unlike last year, the company is registered at the same address as the one given on the website - 120 Bath Road, HARLINGTON. HAYES, Middlesex, UB3 5AN. It was previously called Abbeyworth Limited, and Mr Doyle's address is given as 90 Onslow Gardens, London, United Kingdom, SW7 3BS. There is another director listed - a Mr.Jeffrey Mark Edgar, registered to Warwick Mansion S, Lower Richmond Road, Putney, London, United Kingdom, SW15 1ES.

I'm glad to see people aren't having a go - as they did last year - at the newspapers who took the ad - people slagged off the Guardian for ages; I assume the Guardian are much more circumspect now, which is why the scamsters moved onto the Metro and the Times.

dzug1

Yes - the Guardian article is very circumspect, stopping short of actually saying it's a rogue company but really leaving anyone with an ounce of sense in no doubt.

JND_2

118 Car Hire Ltd

1st Dec 11: Called 118 Car Hire on 0845 269 9118 & booked a Polo from 18th Dec 2011 to 2nd Jan 2012 with Thomas Grey. I opted for a 10am drop off at my address on the 18th Dec 2012. TG suggested 2pm as a collection time on 2nd January. I said that I didn’t mind what time and queried whether going past 10am would incur an extra charge. TG said that it wouldn’t. He had agreed the advertised £20 day rate for the full period, including 18th Dec. (It had been advertised as £20 per day for 19th Dec to 2nd Jan.)
I gave him my driving licence number and also my son’s.
The agreed price for the whole period was £268 (15 days) with a £250 deposit which would be refundable providing the car was returned undamaged (and presumably with full tank or equivalent of what it was on receipt). I asked if the £250 deposit would be taken nearer or at the time and TG said that he wasn’t sure – he’d look into it and let me know.
Thomas Grey said that I would be getting an email in about an hour.

No email was received on 1st December.

2nd Dec 11:
Called them again, more than once. One time was to amend my son's licence number. Was told that the last two numbers were an issue number and so that part didn’t matter. Was told the email had been sent yesterday afternoon and would be resent. I checked my spam box but nothing there. I rang again and think it was a Brian I spoke to (male anyway but bad line as I think they hold headset microphones too close to mouth!) He said he’d resend and to check my spam box.

Email received in spam box.
Subject: 118 car Hire - Booking Successful
Thank you for your booking,
Below are the details of your booking, please note the standard £250 Security deposit will be debited from your chosen credit/debit card and returned when the vehicle is collected or returned to 118carhire.
Hire Details

Vehicle: VW Polo 1.4
Hire From: 10:00:am on 18/12/2011
Hire To: 02:00:pm on 02/01/2012
Hire Period: 15 days, 4 hours
Total Rate for 16 days: £320.00
Pick Up Details

(Address with incorrect postcode)


Drop Off Details

(Wrong postcode again)


It did not have my name on it or my son’s. There was a logo that had been dropped into the email with ‘118 Car Hire’ (which won't copy onto this site) on it but no other company details. It said that £250 security deposit would be taken but didn’t say when. It said that the hire was for 16 days for £320 (after I’d been told that I’d be charged for 15). It did not say when this payment was being or had been taken. It had the wrong postcode on my address. (Very different to mine that I’d given over the phone.)
The email did not confirm any money had been paid and had no person’s name on it. When I clicked on the reply button, my own email address came up – although this could have been because I’d dragged it from my spam box to my inbox.

I called again and spoke to Julie Wells. She said that she would amend the address and amount of days to 15 and send another email.
No other email was received although I kept checking both my inbox and spam box.


7th Dec 11:
Rang again and asked to speak to Thomas Grey. He wasn’t available and so I spoke to Kelly. I told her my concerns and asked for a confirmation email to say whether and when the money had been taken, along with the amended details I’d originally requested.

I rang 118 Car Hire again and asked for Kelly. I was put through to Thomas Grey. I said that I hadn’t received an amended email and was getting very concerned. He was defensive and rather unpleasant, saying that he’d sent it but he’d had to ‘go into the automated system’ and that he didn’t want to keep doing it as it might recharge me as it was the same system as the one through which internet bookings were put though. (I doubted that this was true.)
He said that the email had been sent and he couldn’t help it if I had a problem with my email system. I said that I’d received one with the errors mentioned above on 2nd but no other emails and so he should surely understand that I was concerned about whether a payment had been taken and if so when and how much, and not being able to get any confirmation. I said that rather than try and blame my system he should be telling me that he would print it off and put it in the post.

As hadn’t received anything after a while, called Barclaycard to find out if money had been taken. £518 (which is the £268 PLUS the £250 deposit) had been taken on 1st December 2011 but by a company called Arrow Motor Homes. I tried ringing the company from the number I found on the internet for Arrow Motor Homes Ltd but no answer. The whole thing was getting more and more unprofessional and I just wondered if this was all a scam to get money and run just before any cars were due to be delivered.

I called 118 Car Hire again and asked to speak to Kelly. I was put through to a man who asked if he could help but I said ‘no’ and asked to speak to Kelly. I told her about my concerns. She said that Arrow Motor Homes was their other company. I complained (a lot!) about Thomas Grey’s attitude and told her that I just wanted confirmation of my payment and something that had the company details on it – and whether 118 Car Hire was a trading name for Arrow Motor Homes. I said that normally, one is told what reference to look for on card statements if it’s not going to be obvious. I said that my next port of call had been going to be BBC’s Watchdog! She listened to everything I said and said she would speak to her Manager and get it sorted out. (During the conversation I’d also mentioned the fact that I’d called in the amendment to my son's driving licence number. I asked if it had been changed and if not whether it could affect any insurance claim if not changed.)

I checked my emails and a new one had been received:
Sent: Wed, 7 Dec 2011 14:46
Subject: 118carhire
Dear (my name), Please be aware that as we have processed your booking through our online system it does not take into account the Xmas discount allocated to your booking by Mr Thomas Grey. For your peace of mind I would like to make it clear that only £268.00 has been debited from your card and £250.00 has also been debited as a deposit that will be returned when the vehicle is collected at the end of your hire period. Hope this clears up the confusion and we look forward to seeing you on the 18th December 2011. Kind Regards Peter NolanAdmin Team118carhire ltd(and he'd wrongly typed in the website address without the 8 in 118 car hire dot net)

7th December 11 continued:
I think the mention of BBC Watchdog did something! – or, it may have been because I was querying payment going to Arrow Motor Homes.

Kelly rang me back and said that she’d spoken to her manager and that they’d refund the whole payment back to me, keep the booking and take the payment when the car came (18th December).

During the conversation I asked her if 118 Car Hire was a Limited company (as had received the email above with the first mention of the company being ‘Limited.’) – she said it was. She also said that there’d be a £50 cancellation fee if I cancelled the booking.
I expressed my gratitude (and will be calling Barclaycard to check the money’s come back into the account! I still think there’s a possibility that no car will materialise and so will be making contingency plans.

Looked up the company at Companies House to find it is a Limited company although only about a year old and their accounts, due in October, were overdue:

I then checked Arrow Motor Homes – Companies House online showed that the Limited company had been dissolved, yet this is where my money went to from Barclaycard, rather than to 118CarHire Ltd, although to Arrow Motor Homes without ‘Ltd’ after the name on the statement reference:

Saturday 17th December 2011

Called 118 Car Hire Ltd to check booking still on for 18th Dec and to find out when money would be re-taken. Spoke to Julie. She said that she’d been called into work today to tell everyone with bookings for cars from today to Monday that they wouldn’t be getting them as there were no cars. She said that the third-party car supply company had ‘pulled out.’

17th December 2011

A friend called 118 Car Hire Ltd to see if it was possible to book a car for 18th Dec. She spoke to Kelly. Kelly was prepared to take the booking (which we obviously didn’t make as had already been told that there weren't any cars).

So – it looks as though they’re still taking money for cars they know they can’t supply.

I suspect that anyone expecting a refund will be disappointed. If the payment was made with a credit card, it may be covered though. I think I only got my money back as they didn't want to be rumbled so early on in December when there were so many other payments to be had.

My sympathy goes out to all those who paid out and banked on one of these cars for Christmas but didn't get them, especially as trying to book another may be very difficult now and probably much more expensive.