Car hire rights?

knightstyle

In the past I have ben let down by car hire companies and wonder what rights I have?
I want to hire an automatic car at La Rochelle airport. Two companies seem to supply small reasonably priced cars there, Nova car hire from Co Kerry Ireland and Rentalcars.com who may be American and say i can rent a car from the rail station.
So what rights do I have if, as has happened before, I turn up and they can only offer me a manual car?
All I got last time was a refund two months and many phone calls later.

bris

You have the right to a refund, you may have to phone a lot and wait a couple of months for them to process it.

withabix

Hire direct from a car hire company, not an agency website.

Avis, Hertz and Europcar appear to be in La Rochelle.

Avis appear to be at the station.

knightstyle

So how can i protect myself as last time it cost a fortune in taxi fares, phone calls and train fares till I found an automatic car in Nantes which is miles away?

knightstyle

Withabix, thanks but Avis and Eurocar have NO automatic cars at the airport and Hertz only have one Merc A class which is rarely available. No matter what they say on website and UK call centers I have recently spoken to their staff at La Rochelle.

agrinnall

Surely if you're booking far enough in advance a major hire company will shuffle cars around so that what you want is available to you at the location you want it?

Alternatively, could you just book one from the place in Nantes where you found one last time and ask if they can deliver it to La Rochelle to meet you?

peachyprice

knightstyle wrote: »

In the past I have ben let down by car hire companies and wonder what rights I have?
I want to hire an automatic car at La Rochelle airport. Two companies seem to supply small reasonably priced cars there, Nova car hire from Co Kerry Ireland and Rentalcars.com who may be American and say i can rent a car from the rail station.
So what rights do I have if, as has happened before, I turn up and they can only offer me a manual car?
All I got last time was a refund two months and many phone calls later.

Nova and Rentalcars aren't car hire companies, they're agencies that will make a booking through the car rental companies on your behalf, so they're still trying to book the one and only Hertz A class automatic you say is available in the area.

You still stand far more chance of actually getting the car you need by booking direct than going through a 3rd party. Evenso I don't think you can protect yourself from lack of availability, no car hire company guarantees a car type.

Can you not fly into a main airport that has a larger rental fleet?

arcon5

If they don't refund you then you can do a chargeback through your bank. It if over £100 use a credit card for extra protection. Should make several months in to 4-6weeks

knightstyle

Thanks for all the replies, what I really want to know is how to best protect myself. If I book am automatic car and none is available is there any way I can recoup the extra costs? Holiday insurance didn't want to know! Rental companies just ignore you!
Small claims court??? Any ideas?

peachyprice

No, there isn't, hire companies rarely guarantee a group of car.
There is no insurance, no other guarantee, no compensation for not getting the type you have booked.

withabix

Admittedly, you've got more chance of an auto at a Corporate branch at an airport than anywhere else.

Maybe the La Rochelle branches are all Franchisees and the airport is hardly a major hub - 7 flights in and out today for example.

I often find that I am offered an auto instead of a manual when I hire cars, usually because the autos just sit there in the depots, because they are higher spec and twice the hire rate of a manual.

Book well in advance, direct with the hire company and not through an agency.

Maybe it works differently in France, the home of not-giving-a-toss-and-shrugging-their-shoulders.