Avis "Admin Fee" for Data checks in order to pass it to police - need advice

yessuz

Here's the situation:

I have rented a car (via rentalcars) from AVIS/Budet in mid July in France. Upon taking the car, I had to leave credit card details and deposit (I have a separate insurance for 0 excise on CDW).
They also pre-authorised 30 EUR from the card, in case the speed camera will catch us, so they will need to pass my details to Gendarmerie (police).

Well - on the return, last day of rental, we got flashed by speed camera. Speed limit was 90, and it was long down-hill, and we were doing 98 probably.

so I am waiting for the ticket now.

the issue is, that now I really know that we should receive the ticket, because two days ago AVIS tried to charge my credit card for 30 EUR. so one and a half month later they are charging my credit card with the amount which they pre-authorised... Pre authorisation lasts 30 days, right?

However, my bank (LLOYDS) have stopped the transaction and informed me, that someone is using my credit card in France, asking me "Is it you or not?" :eek:
I answered obviously - it is not me.:cool:
So bank has declined the payment, blocked credit card and sending me a new one...:cool:

So now the question - what should I do with this AVIS request for 30 EUR? they pre-authorised the amount, the preauthorisation expired. I am not willing to pay for this, how ever, I am worried that they may add me to the black list? do such things happen?
or what should I do in such case?

richardw

It's not worth risking being added to the no future customer list for 30 Eur.

Murphy_The_Cat

yessuz wrote: »

So now the question - what should I do with this AVIS request for 30 EUR? they pre-authorised the amount, the preauthorisation expired. I am not willing to pay for this, how ever, I am worried that they may add me to the black list? do such things happen?
or what should I do in such case?

You've done the 'crime' now pay the fine.

When AVIS contact you again, its up to you and your your conscience.

Is it really worth the aggro for 30euro/£25

Pay up, move on and put it down to experience

yessuz

richardw wrote: »

It's not worth risking being added to the no future customer list for 30 Eur.

so what should I do? should I wait for some letter stating about this?

because, to be honest, if I bocked the card (because lost) in the time between hiring and charge, they could not charge the pre-authorised amount anyway.

k3lvc

yessuz wrote: »

so what should I do? should I wait for some letter stating about this?

because, to be honest, if I bocked the card (because lost) in the time between hiring and charge, they could not charge the pre-authorised amount anyway.

Looks like you've decided what you want to do. Enjoy public transport in future but in the long run that's likely to cost you more than EUR30

yessuz

Well, i, as probably everyone here, would be happy to save 30 eur.

I wonder, what the steps should be. because how should I know, if for example, my card has been lost, blocked and etc. that they tried to charge it?

quite a possible scenario.

so what, should I call them, out of the blue, and to ask them to charge me 30 eur? for real?
would you do that yourselves?

k3lvc

yessuz wrote: »

Well, i, as probably everyone here, would be happy to save 30 eur.

I wonder, what the steps should be. because how should I know, if for example, my card has been lost, blocked and etc. that they tried to charge it?

quite a possible scenario.

so what, should I call them, out of the blue, and to ask them to charge me 30 eur? for real?
would you do that yourselves?

Your EUR 'saving' is likely to be short lived. You know that Avis have tried to charge the card so you're not exactly calling out of the blue. You can of course wait for the paperwork/fine to come through together with an increased charge from Avis for the refused payment - the outcome will be the same but you may gain some interest on your EUR30 for a few weeks.


I tend to drive my own car abroad but have a number of colleagues who fly/hire and having seen their experiences I wouldn't be messing around if you expect to hire through them again - not much fun turning up at a foreign airport at 1am with a booking only for the hire desk to tell you you're blacklisted

yessuz

k3lvc wrote: »

Your EUR 'saving' is likely to be short lived. You know that Avis have tried to charge the card so you're not exactly calling out of the blue. You can of course wait for the paperwork/fine to come through together with an increased charge from Avis for the refused payment - the outcome will be the same but you may gain some interest on your EUR30 for a few weeks.


I tend to drive my own car abroad but have a number of colleagues who fly/hire and having seen their experiences I wouldn't be messing around if you expect to hire through them again - not much fun turning up at a foreign airport at 1am with a booking only for the hire desk to tell you you're blacklisted

i agree with this. but in this case, which avis should I contact? the one in UK, in france? what reference numbebers to use and so on?

richardw

yessuz wrote: »

...should I call them, out of the blue, and to ask them to charge me 30 eur? for real?
would you do that yourselves?

Yes, Yes, Yes.

Murphy_The_Cat

yessuz wrote: »

i agree with this. but in this case, which avis should I contact? the one in UK, in france? what reference numbebers to use and so on?

Here you go

always happy to help :beer:

eDicky

yessuz wrote: »

what should I do with this AVIS request for 30 EUR?

Have they actually made such a request? Did Lloyds identify Avis as the party trying to take card payment, or specify the amount? Is there any way to be sure that your card was not in fact cloned and a fraud attempt made?

There is no certainty that a camera flash will result in a speeding penalty.

I'm not certain, but the time limit under French law for the notification and request for driver's details is likely to be much less than the six weeks it took for Avis to administer the process of charging for it, and probably well within the thirty days of the card pre-auth.

Personally, unless there is a specific indication of what the payment request is for and by whom, I would not take responsibility for guessing that it's a legitimate payment unless or until there is a formal request or invoice from Avis for the charge. They can hardly blame the customer for non-payment without this.