Foriegn car hire suspected rip off

katana_3

Hello

Recently booked a hire car, from a big chain, and paid before collection so it would be cheaper. The reciepts include Vehicle Damage Cover (CDW), Vehicle Theft Cover (TP), Tax, Location Surcharge, Registration Fee. On the booking page it does say much else after choosing your dates and the airport your collecting from and then pay. I thought that this would cover everything and mean that whatever happened, it was nicked or damaged, I would have nothing else to pay.

Well when I collected the car I was told that i didn't have full indemnity and that was common on the internet bookings and to have full indemnity i would have to pay extra, or be left with a hefty excess of 850 euros for damage and £1500 euros for theft. I was then given the option to either take the car with or without indemnity but couldn't get a refund and there was no manager to speak to.

I was also offered rates to fill the vehicle up at pump prices at no extra cost. I went to the car and found the car no full. I went back to the desk and was told it was alright that it would be settled when i returned the car.

On return of the vehicle they told me looking at the vehicle gauge how much fuel it needed and charged me, but didn't tell me how many litres were needed to get it to full and not how much i was being charged per litre. The car was over 3/4 full closer to 7/8 full and the tank wasn't that big.

I contacted the company about this and they said the booking contains basic damage and theft cover but this is not what is stated on the initial booking invoice or anywhere on the web pages.

I feel I have been scammed by a major company as the website doesn't mention this anywhere in the booking process.

What can I do further as I really feel unhappy with the service i got as I ended up getting the bill almost doubled by the charges and the fuel. Is there anything i can do about the unmentioned charges?

trets77

The Times was running a major campaign on the dirty tricks that the car hire companys use, yet sadly they have gone off the boil since the new year.how much progress has been made i don,t know

never mind you can still find out all the under hand tricks they use and how to avoid them here. they won,t get you next time after you read this !!!!

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/your_say/article713476.ece?token=null&offset=24

they have recently complete re vamped this site which is why the old links don,t work. just type in car hire in the site search engine to get all the articals.

as for what you can do complain or write a report on the above site to draw attention to this. the company will probably site terms and conditions but you have nothing to lose by trying

if this has been of help please click the "thankyou" tab below

plane_boy2000

Sorry, cant really help, but does the company in question begin with the first etter of the alphabet?

They scammed me last year in Portugal - booked a car which was a Peugeot 307 or equivilent. Got there and they gave me a Peugeot 206 which was to small. I complained, but they insisted that a 206 was an equivilent vehicle and the only other thing they had was a full size people carrier for which I would have to pay for an upgrade..................