Car Hire Fuel Charges

vegasvicar

I recently hired a van from Europcar.
I returned the van with half a tank full. I tried to fill up at the forecourt but it was a Vauxhall Vivavo (?) van and I couldn't see the fuel cap!
Anyway I have since received the invoice for this fuel and have been charged...
£2.29 per litre for 46 litres an additional charge of £126.41.
I wish to take this matter further any ideas to the course of action that I can take would be greatly appreciated.

tykesi

You agreed the charge when you hired the vehicle, the price for them re-fuelling would have been available to you.

It's not their fault you couldn't find the cap, why didn't you ring them to ask them where it was or ask them when you picked it up?

Blame culture at it's best!

InsideInsurance

Look at it another way, you've been charged for the fuel plus ~£40 for the pain of someone having to go fill it up, invoice you and chase you if you mess about rather than paying whats due. As admin fees go £40 isnt too bad and presumably you arent claiming you didnt realise that you were supposed to return it with a full tank.

vegasvicar

No not at all, it is totally my fault and I accept that however I feel the charge is exorbitant and could be classified as an unfair charge but perhaps I am wrong?
(Couldn't call them as it was 10pm at night!)

InsideInsurance

Its not a simple fuel charge but the cost of them providing you credit, the cost of them having to fill it up, admin costs, credit card fees etc.

There may be an argument that it should be £50 + fuel at cost rather than an inflated per litre amount but then there are probably more complaints when someone who is just 2-3L short gets a bill for £55 rather than £10 under the current system.

jase1

This is why I prefer the small independent hire places that generally hand the van over nearly empty and just advise to return the same way.

Much more straightforward.

basedowbaggie

jase1
You must be talking about the "same to same" policy, which I saw the first time yesterday while searching. Have you (or anyone else in the forum) experienced problems with this fuel policy?
It's not mentioned anywhere in the Cheap Car Hire article.

AdrianC

basedowbaggie wrote: »

You must be talking about the "same to same" policy, which I saw the first time yesterday while searching. Have you (or anyone else in the forum) experienced problems with this fuel policy?

The only "problem" with picking it up and returning it empty is that sod's law says you'll hand it back with half a tank, having mis-judged the distance from when you filled it, having collected it on fumes.

martinsurrey

AdrianC wrote: »

The only "problem" with picking it up and returning it empty is that sod's law says you'll hand it back with half a tank, having mis-judged the distance from when you filled it, having collected it on fumes.

or the even worse sod, you'll aim to drop it off on fumes and run out at the entrance to the trading estate...

basedowbaggie

Taa for that. That's what I thought. But seeing the hire charge difference between a "same to same" and a "full to full" policy is usually around double, filling up an extra 10 litres or so over the odds isn't too bad.

Nothing to do with the issue: Where's the Log Out button to get out of the forum site?!

AdrianC

basedowbaggie wrote: »

Nothing to do with the issue: Where's the Log Out button to get out of the forum site?!

You don't need to log out. Just go to the main site - https://www.moneysavingexpert.com instead of forums.moneysavingexpert.com - there's links at the top of the page to take you to any of the specific bits of the main site, or just click on the main name/logo right at the top.