Car hire through expedia

guiriman

Last month I booked car rental in France through expedia picking the car up at one airport and dropping off three days later at a different one. Expedia's price was £86, this was substantially less than other sites or booking direct. Duly arrived to pick up the vehicle and was charged an additional 75€ for booking through an agency, I didn't have much choice but to pay as I needed the car and the rental company wasn't going to budge on this.

I contacted expedia on my return and after several phone calls and emails (including me sending them the confirmation I received showing £86 and also the receipt for what I paid) I got an email saying that their investigation team would look into it on 30th September. Nothing further from them (despite two emails requesting an update) so I phoned yesterday. The guy on the phone said that a drop-off charge showed on the booking confirmation so I asked him to send this through as I couldn't see it. Having now got it via email what they have done is changed the confirmation to now read £136 with a £50 charge when picking up to be paid! Question is, what to do now? If it was the old days I would write them a letter but that's not an option now and they've already shown that they're happy to disregard emails but I'm not sure about the best way to approach this over the phone to show some 'muscle' and get a response, any thoughts? I'm legally in the right, aren't I? Can't see anything in the T&Cs that would allow them to change it after the event.

daytona0

Well I've just tested it on the website and I can see that a pickup and drop off in different locations in France shows a quotation of;


Paris, France (CDG) In terminal - Nice, France (NCE)
Sat, 8 Nov 12:00 - Tue, 11 Nov 12:00
£71.33 Due today:
£49.51 Due at pick-up:
£120.84 Total:

That is the economy car price too so if you've picked a better car then you'll likely have paid a bit more than what is shown above. This seems to run in line with the 136 total you paid.


I suspect you've probably mis-interpreted an email you received which was practically a receipt for the "due today" balance you paid.

An alternative is that you are trying it on.

One final option is that they have committed fraud by doctoring a contract and changing the amount without you having an opportunity to consent (remotely likely)



UNLESS of course you are saying that you were charged MORE than 136 pounds, your post is not entirely clear (not less because you've mentioned euros and pounds and they don't match up on currency conversion). If that is the case then the companies will be in the wrong, unless of course there are some hidden t's and c's with the company you went with via expedia

guiriman

daytona0 wrote: »

I suspect you've probably mis-interpreted an email you received which was practically a receipt for the "due today" balance you paid.

An alternative is that you are trying it on.

The email they've sent is a "travel confirmation", this includes a box marked price summary which says £87.06. Underneath this is another box called "Additional Car Services" within which there is a mention of unlimited mileage and nothing else. Also on the confirmation is the text "Your reservation is booked and confirmed. No need to call us to reconfirm this reservation."

What they've sent me yesterday is identical in every way except that the price is now £136.99 and the Additional Car Services contains a comment about extra fees at pick-up of £49.93.

The price they're charging today is irrelevant, my issue is the price they quoted that I agreed on, paid and that they then confirmed and that they've now changed after I hired the car and after I contacted them to say I'd been charged extra.

Not sure how you interpret that I'm trying it on when I already mentioned that I had their confirmation and then had to pay extra (and have a receipt for it).

ThumbRemote

If they're refusing to do anything about it, you may have no option but to take them to the small claims court.

What proof do you have of paying the extra? I presume you got a receipt.

Send them a letter before action as the first step.

guiriman

I have the receipt and also credit card slip for the amount I had to pay on pick-up of the vehicle. The guy on the phone yesterday said that they would pay the difference between the £136.99 and whatever I'd paid, which he thought was roughly 13€/£10.