Car Hire Spain - Rip off ?

AJS

Last weekend I hired a car from Malagacar.com


After the a tyre pressure warning light came on, went off, came on and went off again I intended to put a bit of air in when we passed a petrol station (it seemed a tiny bit low but nothing to worry about). Before I had chance to put air in, the tyre split.



When changing the wheel I noticed that part of the rim of the steel wheel was damaged where the tyre was split.


I brushed a kerb coming out of a parking space but definitely didn't hit anything, let alone hard enough to damage a steel wheel.


There was no damage to hub cap (there was a mark on another wheels hubcap though) when I picked it up and when I dropped it off so can only assume the previous person hit a kerb and swapped the hub caps.


I know there is no way I can prove my innocence and have to accept the costs but I do have a couple of questions:


1) The hire company took the entire 1100 euro deposit from my credit card and said they will refund the difference when the repairs have been done. Is this normal/legal ?


2) With them taking the full amount I incurred approx £25 in non-sterling transaction fees. Am I within my rights to ask for this to be taken into account with regards to the refund ?


3) They seem to be charging more than I expected. Am I within my rights to ask to see a sales invoice for the repairs ?


Thanks

forgotmyname

1. Is it normal/legal. You agreed to it when you hired the vehicle.

2. No. Not their fault you card charges non sterling fees.

3. You can ask, but i doubt they will send you one. Do you also want proof of the persons wages who will take the car to have the repairs done and how much money they will lose not being able to send it out on hire?


You brushed the kerb but didnt hit anything? Except the kerb of course??

Not sure what the hub has to do with kerbing the wheel or tyre damage?

If the tyre was faulty you should have mentioned this on your walk around check.

AJS

forgotmyname wrote: »

1. Is it normal/legal. You agreed to it when you hired the vehicle.

2. No. Not their fault you card charges non sterling fees.

3. You can ask, but i doubt they will send you one. Do you also want proof of the persons wages who will take the car to have the repairs done and how much money they will lose not being able to send it out on hire?


You brushed the kerb but didnt hit anything? Except the kerb of course??

Not sure what the hub has to do with kerbing the wheel or tyre damage?

If the tyre was faulty you should have mentioned this on your walk around check.

I don’t know why you bothered to reply if that’s the attitude you have - and I’m also not sure why I’m bothering to waste time replying but here goes:

I would like a breakdown because I think I have been charged for a higher band car than I booked.

BRUSHING a kerb reversing out a car park space is a bit different to HITTING a kerb at driving speed. If you hit a kerb hard enough to damage the rim of a STEEL wheel, there’s no doubt that the PLASTIC hubcap that covers it would be damaged as well.

If the tyre was visibly damaged I would have pointed it out on collection - but it wasn’t noticeable.

Aylesbury_Duck

You should be able to see if you've been overcharged for the hire by comparing your booking price with that stated on the paperwork they gave you to sign when you collected it. You could then claim a refund on the difference. That's a different matter to the wheel problem.

forgotmyname is correct in their answers to your three questions. The eventual cost of the repairs will include their consequential losses which will be covered under the Ts & Cs. Next time you hire a car, take out excess waiver insurance. Not with the hirer though, because it's expensive that way. I just hired a car overseas for a week and covered my excess for just £15.

AJS

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

You should be able to see if you've been overcharged for the hire by comparing your booking price with that stated on the paperwork they gave you to sign when you collected it. You could then claim a refund on the difference. That's a different matter to the wheel problem.

forgotmyname is correct in their answers to your three questions. The eventual cost of the repairs will include their consequential losses which will be covered under the Ts & Cs. Next time you hire a car, take out excess waiver insurance. Not with the hirer though, because it's expensive that way. I just hired a car overseas for a week and covered my excess for just £15.

Thanks for that. Who did you use for the excess cover ?.

Having gone through the paper work again I think the issue with the costs is that I booked a Group C car but they actually gave me a Group D. I have it in an email that the charges would be for the group I booked. The list of charges is a little bit weird as it doesn’t list ‘wheel’ anywhere but there is Tire (€105), Flat Tire (€35) and New Tire (€100).

The prices above are for the group of car I booked. The next group up lists Tire as €270 which is what they are trying to charge me.

Aylesbury_Duck

Leisureguard. I think they were suggested on this site, actually. I can't vouch for their service personally because I've not had to make a claim.

The car you "booked" might be an ambiguous statement. You ordered a group C car but presumably they gave you group D paperwork to sign. Which is the booking? I'd argue that the actual car you hired constitutes the booking, not the one you originally ordered, so I think they're correct to apply the charges for the actual car. Your original order was a form of reservation and they upgraded you at the desk. The paperwork you would have signed when collecting the car would have stated it was a group D car so I don't think you have an argument there I'm afraid.

Mercdriver

If you hire cars regularly, there are also annual policies. I got mine for less than £50.

AJS

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

Leisureguard. I think they were suggested on this site, actually. I can't vouch for their service personally because I've not had to make a claim.

The car you "booked" might be an ambiguous statement. You ordered a group C car but presumably they gave you group D paperwork to sign. Which is the booking? I'd argue that the actual car you hired constitutes the booking, not the one you originally ordered, so I think they're correct to apply the charges for the actual car. Your original order was a form of reservation and they upgraded you at the desk. The paperwork you would have signed when collecting the car would have stated it was a group D car so I don't think you have an argument there I'm afraid.

I’ll lookup Leisureguard. Thanks for that.

The email says “the charges will be applied for group c” so hopefully it won’t take too long to get sorted.

AJS

Mercdriver wrote: »

If you hire cars regularly, there are also annual policies. I got mine for less than £50.

Cheers. I normally only travel once a year. Although this year is different and I have another car booked with the same company for 2 weeks time - well it’s booked at the moment. I’ll see what happens with this charge before deciding whether I cancel or not.

forgotmyname

AJS wrote: »

I don’t know why you bothered to reply if that’s the attitude you have - and I’m also not sure why I’m bothering to waste time replying but here goes:

I would like a breakdown because I think I have been charged for a higher band car than I booked.

BRUSHING a kerb reversing out a car park space is a bit different to HITTING a kerb at driving speed. If you hit a kerb hard enough to damage the rim of a STEEL wheel, there’s no doubt that the PLASTIC hubcap that covers it would be damaged as well.

If the tyre was visibly damaged I would have pointed it out on collection - but it wasn’t noticeable.

I have no attitude, you posted questions and i answered them from an outsiders view with only the details you provided.

I have no attitude to pass on and no sides to choose, my answers are impartial. I do not know you or the car hire company.

Brushed a kerb is the same as hitting it in my book, you made contact with it and appear to have damaged the wheel in doing so.
Yes its possible to damage a wheel and not the plastic wheeltrim.

Years ago i clipped a brick at fairly low speed and it ripped a hole in the tyre sidewall. No damage to the plastic trim at all.

Not sure what the invoice for repairs will show regarding being overcharged for a vehicle in a higher/lower group?

You seem to be changing the questions, do you not like the answers i gave?

AJS

forgotmyname wrote: »

I have no attitude, you posted questions and i answered them from an outsiders view with only the details you provided.

I have no attitude to pass on and no sides to choose, my answers are impartial. I do not know you or the car hire company.

Brushed a kerb is the same as hitting it in my book, you made contact with it and appear to have damaged the wheel in doing so.
Yes its possible to damage a wheel and not the plastic wheeltrim.

Years ago i clipped a brick at fairly low speed and it ripped a hole in the tyre sidewall. No damage to the plastic trim at all.

Not sure what the invoice for repairs will show regarding being overcharged for a vehicle in a higher/lower group?

You seem to be changing the questions, do you not like the answers i gave?

No problem with the answers just the sarcastic/accusing way they’re written.