Charged extra at car hire pick up due to unclear Ts&Cs

tac1980

Just tried to call ebookers and left in a very long telephone queue. So I hung up, I'll email them. That way I can attach the incomplete Ts and Cs I received and have a paper trail.

I suspect one of two things has happened
1) IT problem at ebookers meaning I didn't receive full Ts and Cs
2) Deliberate withholding of this info to ebookers by Green motion so they can catch people out.

Having looked at online reviews I suspect 2. Because I booked with ebookers my complaint is technically with them for not providing all the required info. It's then down to ebookers to raise their own complaint with green motion.. I guess a fair amount of customers can't be bothered.

Now also paranoid that they will invent some damage on drop off. At least I have my own third party insurance..

Kicking myself. They were a lot cheaper than their competitors but I assumed this was because they were off airport (requiring a shuttle to get to them) as opposed to on the airport site like the big providers.

Aylesbury_Duck

Just make sure you take photos and video of the car once you've dropped it off, including the odometer. It helps combat any false claims of damage.

tac1980

Interestingly looks like I might.. Be able to claim with my excess insurance. The policy says I am covered for any extra administrative fees charged by the car hire company. It says I'm not covered for
"Any payment or any claim where You have not met the terms of Your Vehicle Rental Agreement."
So it depends how they define the vehicle rental agreement. From my perspective I fulfilled what was asked of me in the terms and conditions I was given when I booked. I guess I'll give it a try if I don't get anywhere with ebookers

Jumblebumble

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

All you can do is ask. If they say no and you're certain that the terms and conditions don't make the charge clear, it's up to you how legal and technical you want to get over £45. Ultimately, their argument might be that you accepted and paid the charge to the hire company voluntarily. If you disagreed with it you had the choice to make a new booking directly with the company there and then or go to another desk at the airport and hire from someone else.

They would not get very far with me with that kind of argument as I am very confident that the cost of a new booking at the airport over a pre booking with Expedia would way exceed £45
Do be aware that you may be put on a do not rent list if you dispute the charge on a credit card

tac1980

Spoke to ebookers earlier today, explained what had happened and that the car hire firm had insisted that ebookers were at fault for not passing on their terms and conditions.
They said that technically they are only liable for the costs of the booking and not for any extra charges, but that as a goodwill gesture they offered a ebookers voucher for £50. The guy was obviously practiced / trained in making conciliatory offers to complaining customers because I found myself accepting and not bothering to argue that I'd rather have cash. Happy though I think, I'm sure I'll spend at least £50 on a flight+Hotel at some point in the next year, so I'll have technically recouped my loss in the end. Mainly glad just to have drawn a close to it.
Dropping off the car was fine, no quibbles and I made sure to get a copy of the sign off sheet. Lesson learned, won't be using green motion ever again. Thanks for the advice everyone.

tac1980

Jumblebumble wrote: »

They would not get very far with me with that kind of argument as I am very confident that the cost of a new booking at the airport over a pre booking with Expedia would way exceed £45
Do be aware that you may be put on a do not rent list if you dispute the charge on a credit card

Not to mention that the green motion rental place was in an industrial estate that was off the airport. I'd called for a shuttle when I landed and was then driven 10 minutes to their office. It was also pretty late in the evening (730pm) so I'd have had to convince them to give me a lift back to the airport AND hope that the on airport companies had some cars free. As you say, the cost would almost certainly have been more than £45. Worst case there might not have been any cars available at all.

I'm still convinced that green motion have deliberately made their terms and conditions as awkward as possible on purpose (nothing to do with insurance requirements) so that they can trip up as many unsuspecting customers as possible and force them to pay extra (or else they end up stranded on an industrial estate near the airport)