Car Hire Fuel Rip Off

djtomsmith

You hire a car over the internet, when you arrive at the car hire desk they now charge you for a full tank of fuel (around £60). For hires of more than 4 days this is non refundable, so you would have to do the mileage & make sure you returned it empty to get the full value.
Personally, I regularly hire for 3 days, the rules for this are that you pay for the full tank in advance, & if you return it full, then you get a full refund, unless there is ANY fuel missing, in which case they keep your total fuel deposit.
Neither of the above are as fair and simple as the old system of returning the vehicle with whatever amount of fuel you took it out with.
Here’s the bit that really annoys me. When you pick up the car with the “full tank” go to the nearest petrol station, I guarantee, you’ll get £10 worth in it, also when you return the vehicle, even though it shows a full tank on the dial, they can also squeeze a quids worth in, thus losing all your fuel deposit.
I have had to go to the lengths of taking pictures of the dial at the start & finish of the hire, along with a petrol receipt as well as fuel stats from the manufacturer & email them to get the refund sorted. They are relying on the rest of you to cough up and accept this clever stealth scam.
Read the small print, & don’t let them have your £60
I've pasted the text from the small print below:
fuel conditions
Full to Empty. All cars are supplied with a full tank and must be returned empty. All clients will be required to pay for a full tank of petrol on collection of the car. For rentals 3 days or less. The client will be given a refund if they return the vehicle full of fuel. If the vehicle is not completely full on the return, no refund will be issued for any unused fuel. For rentals of 4 days or more. The client is not required to refill the vehicle with fuel. No refund is given for unused fuel in the vehicle when it is returned. No compensation will be given for fuel charges if there is a vehicle upgrade to a larger car.:mad:

redux

What happens if you do your £10 top up right at the start and then bill them?

slyracoon

Which hire company?

I've always found the option of paying for the fuel upfront as an option and not mandatory. Whenever I pickup a car they ask something along the lines of, "Do you want to pay for the tank of fuel now so you don't have to bring it back full?". I always decline and just take it wth a full tank and return it with a full tank.

djtomsmith

I wish it were possible to check the initial fill up, sadly this option is not available.
My experience is based on rentals at Knock (West of Ireland) Airport, with Hertz & National.

Crabman

It helps when cars have the "miles remaining" readout on the display as although not 100% accurate it is a reference point that both the rental company and the customer can rely on.

I always read the terms and don't go near the ones I don't agree with. If more people did this, it would help eradicate these rip-offs.

Enterprise seem better in that they ask for the vehicle to be returned with the same amount of fuel as at the start of the rental. Alternatively they offer to fill the tank (or part of the tank) with fuel at a rate that's much cheaper than from a fuel station. They count on you not using it all, presumably.

knightstyle

Recently hired from Avis, Holiday Autos/Eurocar, Hertz and an independent and each time I was careful to select full-full option. All was OK except Avis who later billed me for £27 with no explanation, when I asked they said it was for fuel but I had a receipt for fuel from the garage 1/2 a mile away and in the end they refunded it.