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

LesD

taxiphil wrote: »

HolidayAutos just have a vague line in their T&Cs which says: "Fuel policies vary. Please check when you pick up your car."

That simply isn't good enough because by the time you pick up your car they've got you by the balls and can charge whatever they want.

Do Carjet, Argus and DoYouSpain actually tell you what the fuel cost will be? If not, don't you agree it makes price comparison impossible and leaves the door open for them to charge whatever they want for your full tank?

And that's the real point the OP was making: how can you book the cheapest service in advance if you are basically writing them a blank cheque to charge whatever rate they want for the fuel (that you don't even want)?

Imagine the same principle in any other scenario, e.g. holidays. You book and pay in full, but the hotel reserves a right to levy an extra charge for the electricity you use, and the hotel will only tell you what it charges for electricity after you get there, at which point they tell you it's a compulsory charge of £20 a night. Ludicrous!

Sounds like Holiday Autos ARE scamming then!

As for pricing fuel, can you say what your local fuel will cost next week let alone in x months time?

dekeweild

Steer well clear of carjet / goldcar as they operate a full tank / return empty policy. i was just charged £70 for a tank of fuel in malaga (a seat Leon does not have an 18 gallon tank!).

The fuel gauge was stuck permanently on FULL so we had to keep topping up as if we ran out of petrol then recovery would be at our expense. they didnt want to know when we tried to complain.

PNEfan

Had this problem with Holiday Autos (EuropCar) booking in Cyprus.

Protested that we only wanted the car to get to accommodation, then back to airport, so would not use all the fuel. At desk we were assured that this was now standard practice and no exceptions. I had spotted on their paperwork that someone else was getting Full-Empty rental, so after some discussion(!) were charged instead for half a tank, and told to leave car with half a tank at drop off.

John_G66

ashtondav wrote: »

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!

6. Petrol Policy.

• Centauro car hire will always endeavor to give you a car with a full tank of fuel and we ask that you then return the car with the tank empty as there will be no refunds.
• Only on rentals of 3 days or less, we provide a refund option ie if the vehicle is returned with less petrol than was in the tank at the beginning of the rental then you will be refunded the difference minus a refueling charge.
• The charge of the fuel will vary depending on the size of the vehicle that you have. These charges range between 40€ and 75€.

John_G66

Well I'm still looking and determined not to pay ' the cowboys ', do you spain can't put me with record as they have no vehicles left, although if I go through record directly I can get one. Trouble is they work out at about £150-160 and that's about £70 more than the rest !!

Ah well keep looking I guess, any ideas anyone, destination is Majorca.

gameboyuk

I booked a car for four days at Reus airport using AmigoAutos.co.uk the company used Auriga Crown Car Hire didn't have the small car I booked. Opel Corsa Diesel replacement was return full ONLY.

Refused a refund, refused the small car booked and refused return full option.

I was charged Euro 60 and although we used the car each day returned with 3/4 tank of Diesel with no refund.

I could have driven home to the UK without emptying the tank!

Contacted Amigo Autos on return and they have not returned my emails.
Car booked July 2008

knightstyle

Used 1car1 at Stansted and they note the fuel reading so you return it with the same fuel in as when you picked up. Good rates too.

dan2002

Reus is always the same ,I think I have used Auriga in Reus ,did you pick the car up in the car park and leave the keys in a parked car in the car park????.Reus is a small airport and they know most of us have picked up a cheap flight so someone is out to make as much money as possable from us

Bob63

OK this isn't Malaga, but just to show not all rental companies are scammers, Avis' price for a full tank at San Francisco International is consistently cheaper per gallon than any local gas station. I always choose the return empty option if I'm there for more than a few days as the convenience is well worth the cost of leaving a gallon or two in the tank.

SaverSteve

I stumbled upon the scam earlier this month at Reus Airport when I collected a car from Auriga Crown which I had booked through Holiday Autos.. Although I booked it for 8 days, I knew that I would do very little mileage. It came as a complete surprise when I was charged €55 for fuel and told to bring it back with empty tank.

I emailed Holiday Autos the next day to complain that this was in complete contradiction to their slogan "low cost car rental with no hidden extras" and to ask them to intervene with Auriga on my behalf.. They acknowledged the complaint but did not respond to the request.

So before I returned the car, I topped it up with petrol ( €10 worth!) and made sure that the Auiga Crown agent noted it was full. I also photographed the fuel gauge and odometer as further proof. I then asked the clerk at the Auriga Crown desk to refund me the €55. She was reluctant to do so but when I pointed out how little mileage I had done, she relented and initiated the credit.

Two aspects anger me about this incident:
1)The outrageous daylight robbery of “full tank / return empty” practised by Auriga Crown. There can be no justification for this practice other than to fleece the customer.

2)The failure of Holiday Autos to point it out to me at the time of making the booking that this policy was in operation In my case, the cost of the unused fuel would have added 40% to the cost of the car-hire. This is in direct contradiction to their slogan “Car hire with no hidden extras”

When I spoke to Holiday Autos about it today in the context of making another booking for a friend travelling to the same resort, I was told that it was out of their hands as Holiday Autos is just the broker and that this is a condition imposed by the car hire company from which Holiday Autos does not profit. (This is their standard line and it is disingenuous to say the least). I pointed out that Holiday Autos is a major broker and it can influence such practices.

[FONT=&quot]Anyway, I await the response from Holiday Autos to my complaint and will pursue it from there.

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