CarTrawler Refund Issue

T-faz

Hi all,

A few weeks ago I booked a car through Argus Car Hire and I was informed that I would have to pick up my car at a local Europcap Branch but the "agent" was Alamo.

Before the pickup, I decided to cancel the booking because a change in circumstances. The cancellation was done through the office in the pick up depot. The person at the desk informed me that he had an option to cancel and he did so while also providing me with a cancellation number. He asked me to call the booking agent to get an exact number for the refund. I went home and called about three or four numbers I found and after an hours worth of wait got through to someone who was from CarTrawler. They took my information and asked me to open a ticket online.

I logged onto my computer and tried to create a ticket to no success. The system wouldn't notify me of a successful submission but I assumed that this was due to their old system working this way. I called again a day later and informed them of all this so a person created the ticket for me. I was told that I would hear back in 48 hours. I also made it clear that I understand that they would deduct 3 days worth of rental from my refund for late cancellation. they should just refund the remaining money.

A few days later I hear back from them and the email stated that I am not eligible for a refund because I didn't cancel with CarTrawler directly. The clause they referenced from their T&Cs was the one about early cancellations and late cancellation and the refunds as a result. I agreed to the late cancellation charges being deducted but there was nothing about cancellation with CarTrawler itself.

I called again and I was told that it was stated while I made the booking and as I agreed to the T&Cs, the clause was valid. I was also sent the T&Cs again and the relevant sentence was referenced.

I am not happy with the outcome. My hard earned money has been taken away from me. I agree with the late cancellation deductions. However, the confusion with all the companies and CarTrawler itself is very infuriating. CarTrawler has a very bad reputation and I should have known but you never really know with the way these companies work.

I would like to state however that the person I dealt with was very calm and understanding. Its the company which is working in the wrong way.

so the question, is there tny way I can recover my money?