End the "FULL/EMPTY SCAM" car hire rip-off NOW!

ashtondav

I am a frequent traveller to Malaga. Often staying 1 or 2 weeks.

Thanks to this board I now take out annual insurance so i pay no excess or other charges.

However the hidden charge of the "FULL/EMPTY SCAM" is an absolute disgrace and prevents any semblance of fair price comparison. This is perpetuated by the major brokers such as carjet and doyouspain.com.

The scam works like this. You arrive at the airport and are charged for a full tank of fuel. 2 very BIG problems:

1. You are overcharged for the fuel compared to what it costs at the station 800 metres form Malaga airport. Usually this is about a €20 - €30 surcharge.

2. You are told to bring it back empty and are not compensated for any fuel you return it with. Since the average person is unlikely to less than 10 litres in the tank this an extra €10 or so.

Even worse is if you are hiring the car for, say 7 days, for a beach holiday. Say the average tank will take you 480 miles. You do maybe 100 miles for your return trip to your resort. you do maybe 140 miles on beach trips and a few other excursions. Thats 240 miles in total. You GIVE them back half a tank of petrol for FREE.

The average price for a 7 day hire, for the smallest car, in southern spain is about €100. If you are lucky and drive the required 70 miles a day you will pay an extra €30 a week for your hire. Thats 30% more than the quote you got from carjet, holidayautos, doyouspain etc.

If you are unlucky and use only half a tank, you will probably be paying an extra €60. that's 60% more than the quoted prices.

So, if you are assigned a FULL/EMPTY SCAMMER" by your broker do remember to add about 30% to the quote when comparing it to a "FULL/FULL", "HALF/HALF", "QUARTER/QUARTER" operator.

I don't know about elsewhere but the "FULL/EMPTY SCAMMERS" in Malaga include:
AurigaCrown (since July) if hiring more than 4 days.
Goldcar
Solmar
Europa gold.

Either boycott these companies or let them know your feelings. Or both!

These companies (Malaga again) do not operate the "FULL/EMPTY SCAM". For a weeks holiday they will be €30 to €60 cheaper (but remember to add in the various insurance costs if you don't have an annual policy):

Hellehollis
Record rentacar
Royal car hire
Centauro ( but you have to point to their T&C as they often try to scam you)
Europcar (not Europa Gold).

If your broker allocates you a scammer, get a quote from one or two of the others. Or ask your broker to reallocate you. This they will usually do. The quote maybe different but if its less than €30 extra for a weeks hire your talking about a few beers every night to celebrate.

Name and shame the "FULL/EMPTY SCAMMERS" - NOW!

dan2002

hi there glad to see other people out there have seen this,the only company I have found not to charge full/empty was recordrentacar,I hired a car in Tenerife 2 weeks ago and was told ,they didnt know what petrol was in the car, so just bring it back the way I got it, great.I hate using Solmar in Reus airport they do the full/empty,but i found if you insist full for full 80% of the time they back down.

taxiphil

I agree this is a complete scam and should be made illegal. These car hire firms must be making a fortune out of this!

As you say, it's a double whammy because firstly they are forcing you to buy a full tank of their fuel and charging you whatever they like for it, and secondly they are getting some of that fuel back off you for FREE unless you drive 480 miles! Then the next customer comes along and they are re-selling them that fuel that you left in your tank and already paid them for!

What's so deceitful is that the broker (e.g. HolidayAutos) don't tell you the exact fuel T&Cs for your rental location before you book.

They just have a vague statement in their T&Cs like: "Fuel policies vary. Please check when you pick up your car."

It's only after you book and do some further investigation with the agent when you find out about this policy (in most cases it's when you actually turn up at the rental desk). By then it's too late!

This is a blatant case of mis-selling.

The broker should clearly state, before booking, "YOU WILL BE CHARGED £X.XX A LITRE FOR A FULL TANK OF FUEL, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU USE IT ALL."

It's ridiculous that you only find out what they're charging for fuel when you get there, as it prevents any form of price comparison and basically means you're signing a blank cheque when you book with them and give them your Credit Card number.

jaymac_2

Doyouspain. com is a broker for car hire. Their prices are good, no charges up front and if you need the car for more than three days you can ask for full/full. If we only hire from people willing to do full/full the others would soon change.

brummiekid

We had a similar experience in January when we went to Barcelona via Girona. We looked at the famous "shuttle" along the coast to Callela (our destination) and by the time there were 5 of us it was a no-brainer to hire a car. We only needed the car to get to and from Calella which is about 40 miles or so. We were told we HAD to buy a full tank!:mad:
We found ourselves trying to find things to do miles away in an effort not to leave any fuel in the tank which I knew they would charge the next renter for!
I did feel a little guilty as this policy was not exactly ozone friendly but at least we got to see more of the area.
I would definitely check this legalised scam out before my next car hire.
Incidentally I have just booked a car for a week in Las Vegas with a full/full policy but for an extra £10.00 I can add up to three drivers and pick the car up full and return it empty - now that's how to do it!
Mark F

itsakidsworld

Jaymac,

Are yo sure that it's not "full-full" on LESS than three days hire, not more as quoted and "full-empty" on more than three days hire as this is what I get quoted on a regular basis. Which car hire company does "doyouspain" use?

It is interesting about companies like Record who have no fuel charges which is excellent. I use a very good company which I have mentioned on here many times and they did inform me about the new "full-empty" policy with Aurigacrown which was new.

The charge for a full tank does leave you feeling ripped off and we do have to do something about it, if only by using other companies. I have travelled abroad for many years and seen the car hire companies vary their policies as they see the customers using other companies and so even though you may feel it a small gesture to stop using it helps.

I will be making my own small statement to the broker I use and comparing prices across the board again from competitors.

donnie_darko_3

Our car hire in canada Euorpa included a "free" tank of fuel but we had to return the car fuel tank empty. A bit odd but a cracking deal £185/week for a chrysler 300D

mncollyer

We have just returned from Majorca where we used Hiper, they pick you up from the airport and take you to the rental base by minibus to collect the car.
We were told in Palma to return the car empty back to the airport.
Due to illness I only payed my creditcard over the phone the night before we flew and the payment was not cleared when we went to collect the car but we were allowed to pick up a car in Puerto Pollensa the next day when the payment had cleared.
In the Pollensa office I was told I could return the car to the base in Palma full and they would credit the initial fuel charge back so we only paid for what we actually used.

vikingaero

I suspect that if you sit in the car outside the car rental office and rev it for an hour to burn off fuel then they might change their policy!

john77_2

does anybody know which companies from amsterdam airport use the pick up full return full policy as i am only having a carfor one day a do not want to pay for a tank of fuel

thanks

jaymac_2

itsakidsworld wrote: »

Jaymac,

Are yo sure that it's not "full-full" on LESS than three days hire, not more as quoted and "full-empty" on more than three days hire as this is what I get quoted on a regular basis. Which car hire company does "doyouspain" use?

It is interesting about companies like Record who have no fuel charges which is excellent. I use a very good company which I have mentioned on here many times and they did inform me about the new "full-empty" policy with Aurigacrown which was new.

Just checked my voucher for January which says full/empty so I have emailed to request full/full and I'm interested in seeing how they respond. Last year we had the car for two weeks and asked for and got full/full. No charges up front so i can cancel without penalty if neccessary.