Fuel 'Theft' Policy

jackieblack

gmespana wrote: »

I don't believe full/empty is ever fine. You can't take a car back empty,

Yes you can, we always do this. Of course it only works if you are driving further than a full tank of petrol will get you during the hire period, but we usually drive 1500-2000miles on holiday so this works fine for us.

gmespana wrote: »

and there is really no need for this arrangement.

there's no need for alot of things but it's better to have the option IMO

gmespana wrote: »

Full/full should always be an option.

We have never not been given this option, we just prefer the full/empty option.

If you have a specific preference, maybe you just need to do a little more research into which rental companies best suit your needs

gmespana

jackieblack wrote: »

Yes you can, we always do this. Of course it only works if you are driving further than a full tank of petrol will get you during the hire period, but we usually drive 1500-2000miles on holiday so this works fine for us.

No you can’t, unless you run out of fuel on the car hire company's forecourt, you are always taking the car back with some fuel. It may only be a splash, if you can judge that well, but most people will not want to run dry on the way back and will probably return it with few quids worth of fuel, after all, just a litre is worth nearly £1.50.

Another problem with this system concerns what they charge you for the fuel. I have the invoice from Europcar, and they have charged me £66.70 for a tank of diesel. I filled the car up myself, when the fuel warning light was on, and the trip computer was telling me I had about 20 miles left in the tank, and it only took 46 litres and cost £64.00. That means Europcar are charging £1.45 a litre, hardly a bargain!....and before someone comes back with another glib comment like "use another company", how the hell do you know this until you're committed?

Oh joy. While searching on line for car hire companies that operate a full/full fair fuel policy, I found the following article by Fred Mawer in the Mail Online.

“The Crafty Traveller: Hiring a holiday car? Don't let yourself be taken for a fuel

Car-hire firms are increasingly hitting customers with unacceptable fuel charges. I found this out to my cost a few weeks ago renting a car with a company called Record Go at Malaga Airport. While the rental itself was cheap, under the booking terms I had to pay upfront for a full tank of petrol.

I was told I should return the car with the tank as empty as possible, and that there would be no refund for unused fuel. Given that it's impossible to return a car with an empty tank, and obviously foolish to try to do so, this so-called 'full-empty' policy is a blatant rip-off.

Don't be taken for a ride: Hire car companies are increasingly charging fuel fees. The rental company can charge the next customer for the fuel you've left in – in my case, nearly half a tank. To make matters worse, Record Go overcharged me for the petrol. I paid them €81.54 (£64) for the full tank. The fuel tank capacity of the Ford Fiesta Trend 1.25 I was renting is 42 litres. Petrol currently costs around €1.45 in southern Spain, so filling up should cost about €61 (£48).
I'd booked the car through Holiday Autos, one of the UK's leading car rental brokers. It told me that full-empty fuel policies have become much more common with rental companies in the past few years, and are now 'almost standard' with local (as opposed to international) rental firms in Spain.
It says it's trying to make the fuel arrangements clearer on its website. But I think Holiday Autos, and other brokers, should also use their financial clout to pressurise rental firms to stop the full-empty scam – and to stop overcharging for fuel”.

Looks like I'm not the only disgruntled customer!

Gloomendoom

I'm just resigned to it now and factor it into the overall cost of hiring the car, a gallon or so of fuel isn't much extra. Having said that, it's only not such an issue for us because, generally, we use several tanks of fuel over a holiday.

Bob_the_Saver

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I'm just resigned to it now and factor it into the overall cost of hiring the car, a gallon or so of fuel isn't much extra. Having said that, it's only not such an issue for us because, generally, we use several tanks of fuel over a holiday.

Run it low then just keep a 'little' in reserve for the last few metres.

http://p.playserver1.com/ProductImages/5/4/0/0/8/5/7/2/27580045_700x700min_1.jpg

jackieblack

gmespana wrote: »

No you can’t, unless you run out of fuel on the car hire company's forecourt, you are always taking the car back with some fuel. It may only be a splash, if you can judge that well, but most people will not want to run dry on the way back and will probably return it with few quids worth of fuel, after all, just a litre is worth nearly £1.50.

We generally can work it out so we return it with the low fuel light on, yes 'a splash' still in the tank but at just over £2 a gallon (USA), 'a splash' isn't worth getting stressed about and the convenience of being able to work this out in advance, rather than having to try and to find a gas station close to the drop-off depot, still makes it our preferred option

Either way, it still isn't fuel 'theft' as you're agreeing to it when you sign the rental agreement - if you don't agree to the t&C, don't hire!

benjus

It's not something I'm keen on either, but I'm not sure what you can practically do about it, other than checking the fuel policy in advance and avoiding Full/Empty ones (in my experience, the search sites do usually let you find this out in advance).

If you feel like taking this through the Spanish legal system as a test case, by all means go ahead. You'd probably want to check Spanish law to see exactly which law you're accusing them of breaking. Given that most people on this forum are based in the UK, don't speak Spanish, and don't understand the differences between British and Spanish legal systems, I don't think many of us would be brave enough to try it.

gmespana

benjus wrote: »

It's not something I'm keen on either, but I'm not sure what you can practically do about it, other than checking the fuel policy in advance and avoiding Full/Empty ones (in my experience, the search sites do usually let you find this out in advance).

If you feel like taking this through the Spanish legal system as a test case, by all means go ahead. You'd probably want to check Spanish law to see exactly which law you're accusing them of breaking. Given that most people on this forum are based in the UK, don't speak Spanish, and don't understand the differences between British and Spanish legal systems, I don't think many of us would be brave enough to try it.

Actually, I live in Spain but hired the car from Europcar in the UK. I wouldn't dream of trying to take anything through the Spanish legal system!

I was thinking more of a case in the UK, challenging what I and many other consider to be an unfair practice, designed purely to defraud the hirer. I know in English law that just because it's in a contract, it doesn't mean you can't challenge it in court. I'd love to see how they would try and justify it. Many such practices have been effectively outlawed in the past. People are blase about it, because it's not a great deal of money on an individual basis, but over many hirers and many car hire companies, it probably amounts to millions of pounds every year.

benjus

gmespana wrote: »

I was thinking more of a case in the UK, challenging what I and many other consider to be an unfair practice, designed purely to defraud the hirer. I know in English law that just because it's in a contract, it doesn't mean you can't challenge it in court. I'd love to see how they would try and justify it. Many such practices have been effectively outlawed in the past. People are blase about it, because it's not a great deal of money on an individual basis, but over many hirers and many car hire companies, it probably amounts to millions of pounds every year.

How would an English court have jurisdiction over a contract with a Spanish car hire firm? (this is a genuine question - I'm no lawyer and I'm not saying it's impossible, but it sounds dubious, and I'd like to know how it could be done)

gmespana

benjus wrote: »

How would an English court have jurisdiction over a contract with a Spanish car hire firm? (this is a genuine question - I'm no lawyer and I'm not saying it's impossible, but it sounds dubious, and I'd like to know how it could be done)

It wasn't a Spanish firm Benjus, I hired the car in the UK from Europcar.

benjus

gmespana wrote: »

It wasn't a Spanish firm Benjus, I hired the car in the UK from Europcar.

Presumably the contract was with Europcar Spain?

It's been a while since I hired a car in Spain, but last time I hired in Italy via a UK-based broker I had a contract with Hertz Italia.