Car Hire in Spain

Donatella_too

Hi on the back of this thread I've had two incidents in the last two years with RecordGo in Alicante, booked through Doyouspain.
2015 we didn't pay the insurance excess, they took the hold on the cc. Upon collecting the car we examined it and found two major scratches that hadn't been noted on the paperwork. We got the chaps in the office to come out and make a note. Upon returning the car the girl in the office couldn't be bothered to come out and examine the car and as we had a plane to catch we weren't in a position to argue. This was at the end of July. It wasn't until the end of Aug when I got the credit card bill that I saw they'd taken out over €500. After much arguing, by the end of Sept we had an answer and photos of damage to the car that they claimed we'd done. We hadn't. I fail to see how we could be blamed for it and charged without a signature? The height of the damage was just about right for a trolley to have run into it. We got no satisfaction and put it down to experience. However 2016, rented again through doyouspain with RecordGo. Having been burnt last year and having a 5 hour delayed flight arriving at 6am I paid the extra insurance. We had the car 23 days. When we returned the car the two people in the office again didn't bother to get up and as we had the full cover I didn't fret. Upon return to the UK checked the cc for the fuel refund only to find a charge of €628 on the card instead. It turns out that there was a clause in the contract stating that if we were going over 2000kms we needed to drive back to the airport to change the car - are they kidding me? They knew our address was already 150km away and we were there for 23 days - nobody thought to highlight this fact upon collection? Was this me being stupid not sitting down and reading the contract after being up 24 hours and travelling for 18 of those? I was also charged €95 for cleaning..nowhere does it state the car needs to be returned clean, what I think they're referring to is the sand. Again, big surprise, we're on a beach holiday and there's sand left in the car after 23 days. it wasn't an excessive amount at all as I remember debating this with myself before we returned it and thought no, that's no more than standard use. Does anyone know if I can go anywhere with any of these things? Anywhere I can go to complain or raise awareness? I really cannot afford to lose that €600. Or was I in the wrong? Neither RecordGo nor doyouspain are interested and after talking to the lads in the rental office in Alicante they confirmed that the complaints procedure is deliberately impossible and basically ignored. Sorry for the essay, I'm beside myself.

Raymondo111

As I stated in my previous post buyer beware!! Alicante Airport is well known for Car Rental scams, you need to read all the terms and conditions prior to collecting the car to familiarise yourself with these conditions. Ok you were tired and stressed after your delay but after having problems with Record and DoyouSpain why did you go with them again? The problem is that what seems a good deal on the rental sometimes ends up costing you more when the Rental Company have very stringent rules and conditions that they bury in their terms and conditions. I always used to use DoYouSpain and have rented from Record a few times but found their collection and return process a bit slapdash and again most people have smart phones so identify any marks and problems and photograph them and bring to the attention of the check out staff before taking the car. Make sure when you return it that you check it and photograph any marks again just to be on the safe side and make sure the paperwork is signed as perfect before giving the keys back, it least you can argue your point this way.

z1a

We hired a car from Europcar in Benidorm last week, if you pay for full insurance they only want a €150 deposit, which can be by credit card, debit card, or even cash. We got the deposit back as soon as we returned the car with a full tank.
We hired a Citroen C3 for 2 days at an all in price of €87.10, and obviously a max. liability of €150.