Car hire-refuelling charge scam

abacab

iolanthe07 wrote: »

I noticed that Alamo in San Francisco no longer gives you the option of full to full, despite there being a gas station right by their garage. As MarkmarkD says, it is a way of keeping down the daily rate, as they make quite a lot of profit on the fact that no on is going to risk running out of petrol on their way to catch their flight back home. I don't think it's really a scam, as such; more a marketing ploy.

We did with Dollar at Boston logan.Took a Chrysler Concourd back with 4 miles showing left to empty.We were sweating a bit on the mess that is the I 95 coming back though.

goosander

Just been ripped off by Hertz, or rather my work has.

They delivered a couple of cars for us and unfortunately we were unable to inspect them at the time of delivery. Turned out that one of them had way more scratches and damage than noted on the delivery form, so phoned up to complain and inform them of the damage.

We had been (wrongly) under the impression that the terms of the hire included fuel, so were gob smacked when they wanted to charge us in excess of £2.40 per liter for fuel. I had expected a premium over the normal rate, but double?

We had a flight to catch and didn't have time to go else where so had little choice but to pay. As if the price weren't bad enough, it turns out that they don't actually fill the car up and work out what you have actually used, rather they enter the fuel gauge reading in to their computer and it tells them how much fuel you should be charged for.

Their computer thinks that 1/4 tank of petrol for a Ford Focus works out to £56. Not sure how big a Focus fuel tank is but probably about 50L. So by reckoning we were actually charged approx £4.40 per liter.

The final insult came when they claimed the scratches on the other car were down to us, so they have charged the company £500 for damage.

Absolute cowboys, would never use them personally and I hope my work doesn't give them any more business.

Desperado99

goosander wrote: »

Their computer thinks that 1/4 tank of petrol for a Ford Focus works out to £56. Not sure how big a Focus fuel tank is but probably about 50L. So by reckoning we were actually charged approx £4.40 per liter.

I could fill my Focus up from empty for that price! :eek:

CHR15

goosander wrote: »

They delivered a couple of cars for us and unfortunately we were unable to inspect them at the time of delivery. Turned out that one of them had way more scratches and damage than noted on the delivery form, so phoned up to complain and inform them of the damage.
.

Whenever I've rang up about damage found after drop off both Avis and Hertz have been fine.
They both have simply given me reference numbers for the damage which I annotate on the damage form.

Mostly mine are dropped off to me whilst I am away so I rarely get to check it with a Rep there.

Even if I have collected one if it is at night, they are fine about inspecting it the next morning in daylight and reporting any issues.

orcadian

Just returned from holiday in Malaga. When I collected the rental car from Budget they told me they supplied the tank full and expected it returned full, or there'd be a charge. Fair enough. But I filled the tank just before returning the car. The dashboard showed the tank full when I returned it. When I got home they had charged my credit card £27.07 for costs of "refuelling the car".
If that's not a scam what is?

BillTrac

Booking a car through Carhire 3000 in Vegas is the same. Full tank supplied, supposedly at a discount to the local pump price.

The car went back on fumes....:rotfl:

spiro

orcadian wrote: »

Just returned from holiday in Malaga. When I collected the rental car from Budget they told me they supplied the tank full and expected it returned full, or there'd be a charge. Fair enough. But I filled the tank just before returning the car. The dashboard showed the tank full when I returned it. When I got home they had charged my credit card £27.07 for costs of "refuelling the car".
If that's not a scam what is?

Dispute the charge with your CC company.

Kilty_2

goosander wrote: »

Just been ripped off by Hertz, or rather my work has.

Hertz' fuelling charges are outright ridiculous - I hired a Vauxhall Combo from them and the amount they wanted for fuelling if it was returned without a full tank was outrageous.

Two prices on the invoice I signed - one if it was returned without a full tank (the amount authorised on my card) and the actual amount of the rental. Massive difference - a lot more than the £72.80 it'd have cost to fill from empty at 139.9p/L.

orcadian

I emailed Budget about the wrongful "refuelling" charge at Malaga airport. They replied, requiring me to scan and email back to Budget the receipt from the petrol station where I refuelled the car. I paid cash for the petrol. Luckily I still had the receipt! Today I got an email from Budget
Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in resolving your complaint.

As you are aware we have been investigating the charges which you are disputing. We have been in dispute with our colleagues in the country of rental to substantiate the charges they have made. Therefore we have decided to resolve the case in your favour and refund the disputed amount.
Budget have acted fairly in this case and I can't fault their UK operation. However this shows the importance of keeping all receipts.