Firefly Car Rental - Traffic Fines

dacbo

Hi,

I recently rented a car in Italy in October 2013, through Auto Europe as the broker and with Firefly as the rental company. All went well with the rental, and I returned the car with no issues at the end of the holiday.

6 months later in April 2014 I notice a charge on my card for 36euros taken by Firefly car rental. After much digging (their website provides no contact details and the query form goes unanswered) I was able to find an email contact for their customer services.

They informed me that the charge was the administration fee for a traffic penalty. I, quite obviously, asked for the details of the infraction in question to which they have responded that I need to take it up with the issuer of the fine.

5 emails later, repeatedly asking for more information and they are essentially refusing to provide any details or proof of the traffic penalty, any contact details for who issued the penalty, or any further information whatsoever, telling me that isn't their responsibility.

Does anybody have any advice on how to deal with this kind of a situation? My first thoughts is to ask my credit card company to reverse the charge for an unauthorised transaction but I fear they might reject this.

It's not unlikely that I might have incurred a fine in Italy, but it's surely acceptable to ask for proof that a fine was issued?

Thanks,
Chris

benjus

By all means try disputing the transaction - it sounds like you've made a reasonable effort to get them to justify it. You may be contractually obliged to pay, but they should be prepared to justify what they charge for.

I've got into the habit of cancelling credit cards after my return if I think I might have this problem. I got a penalty for entering a ZTL (limited traffic zone) in Italy recently (18 months after it happened!). I'd cancelled the card so the car rental company couldn't help themselves to my money weeks/months after the rental ended. They evidently didn't think it was worth pursuing me for their admin fee though, as I haven't heard from them.

budgetflyer

benjus wrote: »

I've got into the habit of cancelling credit cards after my return if I think I might have this problem.

Ive got into the habit of just not renting a car. Id rather walk over broken bottles in my bare feet than deal with any of these crooks.

The car rental industry seem to be able to dip your account far easier than a Nigerian Scamster

5orcha

Yes, 8 all within three hours in Sicily through a ZTL. We arrived on a Sunday which was when the ZTL was in force (during the time we were there) exactly 9 months after the holiday I am notified.
I had an admin charge attempted last autumn by the lease company which my bank didn't authorise but do I have any rights against the tour operator (who provided the hire car as part of the holiday) as they did not notify us at all of the ZTL and how strict it is when we arrived? These fines amount to £580 and I have to pay before the tour operator can 'investigate'. The directions they provided did not explicitly mention the no drive zone and if it had we would have been extra careful if we were made aware of the consequences. Getting lost when trying to navigate through narrow streets in a Fiat 500 is highly possible!!

benjus

5orcha wrote: »

Yes, 8 all within three hours in Sicily through a ZTL. We arrived on a Sunday which was when the ZTL was in force (during the time we were there) exactly 9 months after the holiday I am notified.

Worth seeking out a specialist forum about Italy to see if there's anything you can do about the penalties. Did you keep leaving and entering the ZTL or were you driving around it and picked up by multiple cameras? If the latter you might be able to argue that it's a single offence, but I know nothing about Italian law.

5orcha wrote: »

do I have any rights against the tour operator (who provided the hire car as part of the holiday) as they did not notify us at all of the ZTL and how strict it is when we arrived?

I don't think so. If you want to drive abroad it's your responsibility to educate yourself about local traffic laws.