Europcar - Late Return

SamBGB

Hello,

While its in the terms and conditions that you have a grace period of 29 minutes or 30 minutes whatever it is I think it would be helpful if that was discretionary at the branch.

If the car is an hour late and there was no one that booked it is there really any need to charge for a full 24 hours again, why not have some sort of late fee or pro-rated charge depending on how late the car was.

Now if the car was late and a new customer decided they where not going to wait and the company lost that money then perhaps the full charge of 24 hours is justified.

I know the company has to cover itself but honestly sometimes just good old customer service is priceless.

Regards,
Sam

skid112

SamBGB wrote: »

Hello,

While its in the terms and conditions that you have a grace period of 29 minutes or 30 minutes whatever it is I think it would be helpful if that was discretionary at the branch.

If the car is an hour late and there was no one that booked it is there really any need to charge for a full 24 hours again, why not have some sort of late fee or pro-rated charge depending on how late the car was.

Now if the car was late and a new customer decided they where not going to wait and the company lost that money then perhaps the full charge of 24 hours is justified.

I know the company has to cover itself but honestly sometimes just good old customer service is priceless.

Regards,
Sam

would the same apply if you were waiting for a car that was late being returned? Hire companies do not have an unlimited supply of cars and most, if busy, look to turn round a car in an hour. As someone who has been kept waiting by a late returned car I fully agree with the policy

oneye14

leespot wrote: »

Just a heads up really for any car hirer's on the forums!

After online booking confirmed and accepted, on the day, Europcar:
- Office was closed with Tel No. which advised
- There were no cars available anyway !....


On complaint to HO they advised of accident/crash which forced closing of office at an international airport.
On asking why such an important office was 'manned' by one person and no cars available,, came no answer....

Europcar have been subsequently blacklisted by my client company

bod1467

skid112 wrote: »

would the same apply if you were waiting for a car that was late being returned? Hire companies do not have an unlimited supply of cars and most, if busy, look to turn round a car in an hour. As someone who has been kept waiting by a late returned car I fully agree with the policy

Devil's Advocate ..... If they charged the previous hirer a full day additional rental AND charged the new hirer a full day rental, they would be profiting from the previous hirer's late return. Thus it would be a penalty, which is not allowed in contract law for contracts with consumers.

This could be challenged in court by the precious hirer, as the rental company would only be allowed to claim any provable losses caused by the previous hirer's breach of contract (late return) ... such losses would be minimal if the vehicle was being immediately put out to hire again.

Of course the daily rental charge would be a factor in this ... the rental company could include administration costs in their claim - maybe £25 - and this could easily equate to the daily rental charge.

ivavoucher

When booking a car 2 weeks ago for Mallorca - Airport.
My ideal drop off time would have been 1 hour into next day making 4 days hire instead of 3.

I opted to take the car back the hour earlier and save a days hire costs.
On collection I was very happy that they gave me an hours grace on the return time which worked out perfectly for me.

It never entered my head that I could return late without a days extra cost.

ATESA / Enterprise were fantastic from start to finish. cost / service / people - 5 stars

Also I have found that it was so much cheaper to hire a basic model online and upgrade when collecting the car. This last time I upgraded to auto and better car for a total of 15 Euros.

mad_dr

skid112 wrote: »

would the same apply if you were waiting for a car that was late being returned? Hire companies do not have an unlimited supply of cars and most, if busy, look to turn round a car in an hour. As someone who has been kept waiting by a late returned car I fully agree with the policy

SamBGB said: "If the car is an hour late and there was no one that booked it is there really any need to charge for a full 24 hours again, why not have some sort of late fee or pro-rated charge depending on how late the car was.

Now if the car was late and a new customer decided they where not going to wait and the company lost that money then perhaps the full charge of 24 hours is justified."

Did you read ANY of what SamBGB actually posted??

stevemLS

bod1467 wrote: »

Devil's Advocate ..... If they charged the previous hirer a full day additional rental AND charged the new hirer a full day rental, they would be profiting from the previous hirer's late return. Thus it would be a penalty, which is not allowed in contract law for contracts with consumers.

This could be challenged in court by the precious hirer, as the rental company would only be allowed to claim any provable losses caused by the previous hirer's breach of contract (late return) ... such losses would be minimal if the vehicle was being immediately put out to hire again.

Of course the daily rental charge would be a factor in this ... the rental company could include administration costs in their claim - maybe £25 - and this could easily equate to the daily rental charge.

IMHO this shows a half understanding of contract law.

Penalties per se are not permitted in any contracts in English law, it makes no odds whether it is B to B or a consumer contract.

However, liquidated damages are and I can quite see why a late charge of a day's rental would be upheld given that they potentially lose a rental for a day directly attributable to the late return. It is a genuine pre-estimate of loss.

xHannahx

Phone Europcars customer services, not the branch.
They are normally pretty good at refunding in instances like this.
The branch charged me for being 17 mins late. I phoned up the customer service number to complain and the lady reimbursed straight away.

SamBGB

skid112 wrote: »

would the same apply if you were waiting for a car that was late being returned? Hire companies do not have an unlimited supply of cars and most, if busy, look to turn round a car in an hour. As someone who has been kept waiting by a late returned car I fully agree with the policy

I would agree if someone was taking the P with returning the car but things happen and people can be late in returning cars. Now of course the possibility of a possible charge if the car is late may mean people will try their best to get the car back on time BUT then thats if they only read the TOS and saw the charge would be applicable.

Its a no win situation really for the customer, unhappy customer if the car is not ready and unhappy customer that the car is being returned and being charged for another day.

Now is there anything to stop someone saying oh well if your charging me another day I may as well keep it another day, which could mean that a waiting customer is left with NO car should the hire company not have a reserve. Its risky. I think a decent grace period, contact with the current hirer and discretion would be the best way forward and looking at the circumstances.

-Sam