AVOID DoYouSpain car hire company

simopco

Booked a hire car with DoYouSpain for a trip to Murcia first week in March a trip I had to bump from last year due to travel restrictions.
Paid up front end of August, good price and contract stated FREE cancellation and amendments, which was obviously important due to volatility of travel. I have prrof of this as I took a screenshot of the quote page at the time.
Been keenly watching developments and came to the conclusion that the trip wasn't going to happen, so contacted DoYouSpain regarding cancellation.
They replied that the rate I paid was a 'special' one that DIDN'T include cancellation or amendments.
I have contacted them on several platforms as well as directly regarding this, they simply don't respond.
I thought that I could attempt a credit card chargeback but didn't realise that there was a 120 day time frame.
If anyone has any ideas how to pursue this, please let me know.
Otherwise please be warned, only ever use DoYouSpain car hire brokers if there is no other option and never pay up-front.
Unfortunately a retrospective search on opinions regarding this company throws up many unhappy, out-of-pocket 'customers'.

eskbanker

simopco said:

I thought that I could attempt a credit card chargeback but didn't realise that there was a 120 day time frame.

For future purchases such as this, the 120-day clock starts ticking when the service itself is due to start rather than the payment date, so time-barring shouldn't be a barrier to a chargeback claim.

Upsidedownandaround

Have you tried a S.75 claim?

simopco

eskbanker said:

simopco said:

I thought that I could attempt a credit card chargeback but didn't realise that there was a 120 day time frame.

For future purchases such as this, the 120-day clock starts ticking when the service itself is due to start rather than the payment date, so time-barring shouldn't be a barrier to a chargeback claim.

That's good news, thanks so much for the info.

simopco

Upsidedownandaround said:

Have you tried a S.75 claim?

It was less than £100 so not covered under S75.
Thanks for response though.

fryderykchopin

I'm sorry you had this bad experience. In Spain we have a 'Consumer Office' (Organización de Consumidores y Usuarios, OCU) where you can submit complaints when you are not satified with a service. I have never used it but my understanding is that the problem is usually resolved quickly when the company is contacted by OCU. Here is the website: https://www.ocu.org/reclamar  
I think it's only in Spanish but many web browsers can translate automatically, hopefully that should work. You can also try to contact again the company and tell them if you don't hear from them you will submit a formal complaint to OCU, in some cases they may take you more seriously as it is bad for them when OCU is aware of a company's bad practice. Hope this helps.

simopco

fryderykchopin
Excellent advice, thanks so much for posting.
After leaving a negative review on Trustpilot I was sent an email from a customer service rep.
He tried to explain away the fact of the proof of contract I have, claimed it just so happened that exactly the time I booked there was a hire company (DoYouSpain is just a broker) that was offering a deal with FREE cancellation.
He claimed he would get back to me, but from what I've read from other critics, it's highly likely he won't.
He also posted a reply to my negative review attempting to put DoYouSpain in a better light. I don't think I have a right to reply to that, so they have the last word.
It's also impossible to reply to emails sent by the company, they just get bounced straight back.
Will give them until tomorrow afternoon to reply if nothing, will try your suggestion, Thursday.
Many Thanks again.

Westin

Which car rental firm did you ultimately select and book with? (given as you correctly say that DoYouSpain is a broker).

I notice that the company responded to your TrustPilot review within 4 hours and that this was only yesterday. Hopefully they will follow through and reply back to you after they contact the car rental firm your reservation was made with. 
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/doyouspain.com

They make a comment about refundable and non-refundable rate plans.  Does your confirmation indicate either of these plans?  

simopco

Hello Westin,
Correct,
Eduardo the customer service rep(who I assume is a very busy man) did respond to my Trustpilot review quite quickly.
Just a shame that when you contact them directly, you get an automated response acknowledging your query but nothing after that.
My confirmation email tells me that I should collect from Interrent cars(which I believe is also operates as Goldcar) the exact same company named on the quote screenshot.
As I've said my quote prior to payment clearly stated FREE cancellation which is why I booked, then as soon as payment was made I received a confirmation email stating that this was a special rate with no refunds.
Eduardo obviously didn't properly check my details because he is suggesting via a direct message that it was just coincidental that at the same time Interrent were offering FREE cancellation.
Unfortunately attempting to respond directly to his message gets bounced straight back so difficult to communicate.
For some reason I think he thinks I am booked with another company.
I will give him 24 hours to get back to me after which I will be contacting OCU.
cheers

Westin

The site seems to offer both "Inter Rent" and "Inter Rent non-refundable".  A small red asterisk is the only initial difference although on each car category it does then state "Special Offer - Non Refundable".



A banner down the page on the red asterisk options says "Free Cancellations on Most Bookings"


If you click on this it then displays and offers the free cancellation options, albeit at a slightly higher price.

I am not trying to catch you out but is there a chance you saw the offer of free cancellation but actually clicked and booked one of the special offer category options?

I hope DoYouSpain can sort this out for you.  Even perhaps with a mistake then a good customer service resolution to just cancel without penalty given that your rental is not until early March.

simopco

This is the screenshot I took of the quote page after I had been sent the confirmation email that stated No Cancellation.
Price was exactly what I paid. I was very careful at the time of booking that I wanted a refundable contract.
It's the page that pops up when you chose which car/provider you want.