Car hire in spain - given smaller car

[Deleted User]

Booked with alamo. Intermediate - Skoda Octavia or similar.

Was given an Audi A3 which is MUCH smaller but the rental agent was not having any of it.

Aren't there codes for bookings for car hire? Got a feeling I've been stitched up here.

Any ideas?

AlexMac

I'd do a heavy number on their UK customer service people. A pity you used Alamo, but we are where we are, so give 'em grief. Do some comparative research 1st (just like you maybe should have prior, lol?)

My favourite car rental broker is carhire3000.com; uk based so you can ring em up or book online, and they scan offers from major operators like hertz Avis/budget, Alamo (!!) etc but always get cheaper prices. They have never let me down over dozens of rentals in in Spain, Italy and Greece (as you'll see from my many tripadvisor posts), nor have I experienced the usual insurance damage scams nor had to claim on my multitrip excess cover (from insurance4carhire or similar).

But back to your experience, look at thgeir website; while Carhire3000 do group an A3 and an Octavia in the same 'intermediate' band, there is over £100 difference for a weeks's rental in August from, for example Malaga (A3 £244; Octavia £345).

So you should argue that they owe you the comparable differential. And while Alamo's website doesn't show either an Octavia or an A3 form malaga, their prices are generally 50% higher than my favourite; starting at £225 versus £149 for an economy car.

And as regards the future, here's a tip; I always book a small economy car- the cheapest one (as long as it isn't a 'Smart'). I always end up with an upgrade to at least a 4-door hatchback like a golf or a Seat Ibiza as in practice, they don't have 2 door minis! In over 50% of cases I end up with something bigger or better- once a Passat, once an Alfa - Romeo.

Any way- go in, by email, all guns blazing but with a well argued complaint to alamocr@rentpremier.com

and if you can't get satisfaction, write a reasoned letter to their CEO- get her or his address from Alamo on 0871 384 1086

Or live with it and put it down to experience! Happy holidays.

rustyboy21

They are usually in the same price band, I think it is based on value of the car, so I don't know how you are going to get anywhere with it TBH.

photome

AlexMac wrote: »

I'd do a heavy number on their UK customer service people. A pity you used Alamo, but we are where we are, so give 'em grief. Do some comparative research 1st (just like you maybe should have prior, lol?)

My favourite car rental broker is carhire3000.com; uk based so you can ring em up or book online, and they scan offers from major operators like hertz Avis/budget, Alamo (!!) etc but always get cheaper prices. They have never let me down over dozens of rentals in in Spain, Italy and Greece (as you'll see from my many tripadvisor posts), nor have I experienced the usual insurance damage scams nor had to claim on my multitrip excess cover (from insurance4carhire or similar).

But back to your experience, look at thgeir website; while Carhire3000 do group an A3 and an Octavia in the same 'intermediate' band, there is over £100 difference for a weeks's rental in August from, for example Malaga (A3 £244; Octavia £345).

So you should argue that they owe you the comparable differential. And while Alamo's website doesn't show either an Octavia or an A3 form malaga, their prices are generally 50% higher than my favourite; starting at £225 versus £149 for an economy car.

And as regards the future, here's a tip; I always book a small economy car- the cheapest one (as long as it isn't a 'Smart'). I always end up with an upgrade to at least a 4-door hatchback like a golf or a Seat Ibiza as in practice, they don't have 2 door minis! In over 50% of cases I end up with something bigger or better- once a Passat, once an Alfa - Romeo.

Any way- go in, by email, all guns blazing but with a well argued complaint to [EMAIL="alamocr@rentpremier.com"]alamocr@rentpremier.com[/EMAIL]

and if you can't get satisfaction, write a reasoned letter to their CEO- get her or his address from Alamo on 0871 384 1086

Or live with it and put it down to experience! Happy holidays.

Other brokers are available!

I often use Carhire3000 but they are not always the cheapest altho they will price match, Alamo Brits is the cheapest this year.

IMO an A3 and an Octavia shouldnt be in the same band but it may be of course that the A3 is seen as a premium over the Octavia so they could be

desperation_2

An Audi A3 in the uk is classed as an intermediate car, the actual code is IDMR ( meaning, intermediate, 4/5 door, manual transmission, with air con)

Car rental uses a standardised classification, see https://www.acriss.org for code details.

N.b. not ALL companies follow the rule exactly and SOME companies may use variations of codes to identify specific groups/classes of vehicles on their fleet however for the most part this guide is used by most companies.

photome

desperation wrote: »

An Audi A3 in the uk is classed as an intermediate car, the actual code is IDMR ( meaning, intermediate, 4/5 door, manual transmission, with air con)

Car rental uses a standardised classification, see www.acriss.org for code details.

N.b. not ALL companies follow the rule exactly and SOME companies may use variations of codes to identify specific groups/classes of vehicles on their fleet however for the most part this guide is used by most companies.

would an Octavia normally be the same code

desperation_2

It would be, Yes.