EasyJet Car Hire in Madeira - EasyJet flight cancelled but not refund for car hire

SpecialZuzu

I had booked flights to Madeira with EasyJet. I subsequntly booked car hire in Madeira with CarTrawler via EasyJet car hire and paid nearly £1000 for two weeks car hire. The flight on 21 July took off with no problems but could not land in Madeira, because of the wind. We were eventually flown back to Bristol and our flight was cancelled. On Friday 22 we rebooked a flight to travel on 25 July and I rang CarTrawler to let them know that we would now be picking the car up on Monday. I was told that as we did not pick up the car at the appointed time the car hire was cancelled and that we weren’t eligible for a refund. I asked if I could pick up a car on Monday using the same booking and they told me I couldn't.

EasyJet have refunded the cost of our flights but EasyJet car hire which is run by a company called CarTrawler refuse to refund us our money. It does say in their Terms & Conditions that if the flight is cancelled there will be no refunds but I thought that since they were both EasyJet I would be able to get a refund. Can anyone help?

brianposter

Firstly you should be dealing with Easyjet not Cartrawler.  If Easyjet sell car hire then the resulting problems become their problems.

Secondly I would be inclined to go as far as the small claims court on the basis that the refund restrictions are unfair in the circumstances. Look for flaws in their defence - "you did not pick up  the car at the appointed time" is rather ridiculous when you are stuck in an aeroplane supplied by the same company that has sold you the car hire.

Did you supply your flight number to Easyjet ?

eskbanker

brianposter said:

Firstly you should be dealing with Easyjet not Cartrawler.  If Easyjet sell car hire then the resulting problems become their problems.

EasyJet don't sell car hire as such - they cross-link to an affiliate arrangement and slap the EasyJet name on it, but https://www.easyjet.com/en/terms-and-conditions/car-rental makes it clear that, despite the name, bookings made via the service initially branded as EasyJet car hire are actually made through CarTrawler (and fulfilled by actual car rental companies), so trying to hold the airline legally (or even 'morally') liable on the basis of the common name is unlikely to get anywhere.

brianposter

They can write what they want in the T & Cs, but the reality is that this is a car hire sold by Easyet (and I have not had the time to check but I believe the payment goes to Easyjet).

I certainly cannot see Easyjet turning up in court to claim that the OP should rightfully lose almost  £1000 because he was stuck in one of their planes.

macman

Just because the payment is made to Easyjet does not mean that the contract is made with Easyjet rather than Cartrawler.
The airline tickets and the car hire are two entirely separate contracts.
And yes, it matters very much what is written in the t and c's.
The OP should see if they can reclaim the car hire cost via their travel insurance.

macman

Just because the payment is made to Easyjet does not mean that the contract is made with Easyjet rather than Cartrawler.
The airline tickets and the car hire are two entirely separate contracts.
And yes, it matters very much what is written in the t and c's.
The OP should see if they can reclaim the car hire cost via their travel insurance.

Standingstrong

Contact card issuer go down chargeback/ dispute route , provide all infomation on what’s happened 

if not…

issue a claim on small claims court. Can be done online 

brianposter

It is a fundamental principle of British consumer law that you sue the person who takes your money and we seem to be agreed that that is Easyjet,.That is despite the fact that there are contracts between the OP and Cartrawler and the car supplier.

It is Easyjet who have to sort out the remaining responsibilities.

eskbanker

If the payment goes to EasyJet then yes, that would point more towards a subcontractor type of relationship where the topmost entity would retain ultimate liability, but that's not the implication from the payment elements of the Ts & Cs, which clearly suggest that the payment is taken by CarTrawler (or a subsidiary thereof):

For UK customers who make Transportation bookings through this booking engine and who pay with UK issued credit cards, CarTrawler sub-contracts the following services to its wholly owned UK subsidiary, Etrawler UK Limited (Company number 08565121): (i) payment processing; (ii) issuing of Transportation vouchers; and (iii) customer service (dealing with general customer queries, cancellations, refunds and complaints).

[...]

No Liability in Credit Card or Debit Card Transactions

CarTrawler endeavours to ensure that all credit card and debit card transactions conducted on this booking engine are secure. HOWEVER, if unauthorised charges appear on any credit card or debit card statement, for any card (i) which you used during the booking process on this booking engine and/or (ii) the details of which you disclosed on this booking engine, CarTrawler will not be liable or responsible in any way for any damage or loss of any nature whatsoever suffered by you arising from or in any way connected with such use or disclosure, save that this will not affect any statutory rights which you may have. Please note this booking engine is VeriSign secured. CarTrawler is fully compliant with the requirements for cardholder data that are prescribed in the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

brianposter

The large print is far too large for that "small print" to be of much consequence.

eskbanker

brianposter said:

The large print is far too large for that "small print" to be of much consequence.

I think you're misunderstanding the point there, in that I wasn't asserting that that wording had much consequence as such, but merely that it appears indicative of CarTrawler being the party collecting payment - it'll be a matter of factual record who was paid here though, in terms of what appeared on bank/card statements, etc.  OP, how exactly does it show up there?

As ever, Ts & Cs can't override statutory rights and so on but EasyJet's stance on (lack of) liability for additional (non-flight) services is clearly laid out at https://www.easyjet.com/en/terms-and-conditions/additional-services

Additional Services Terms and Conditions

We offer a number of services in addition to our flight services, which are provided by our third party suppliers (“Additional Services”). You can purchase these Additional Services through us or via links we provide. 

Specific terms and conditions apply when you purchase Additional Services. The applicable terms are as set out at the time of purchase in the booking process and in your booking confirmation for the particular Additional Service. Please make sure to read them carefully before completing your purchase.

• For car rental provided by CarTrawler, please see cars.easyjet.com. In addition, if you book your car together with your flight in one Booking with easyJet, this is treated as a ‘Package’ and our Package Booking Terms apply;
• For hotels provided by Booking.com, please see hotels.easyjet.com; 
• For tours and activities provided by Getyourguide, please see activities.easyjet.com;
• Where you purchase car rental, a hotel or a tour separately to your flight but within 24 hours of making your flight Booking with us, this is treated as a ‘Linked Travel Arrangement’ –  please see Linked Travel Arrangement for more details; 
• For easyJet Holidays, please see holidays.easyjet.com;
• For other Additional Services such as parking and airport transfers, please see the relevant sections of our website and/or the partner site where you make the booking.

Your contract for Additional Services is with the relevant supplier. Where we arrange Additional Services for you, we do so only as the supplier's agent and we have no liability to you (except for any negligence on our part or where our Package Booking Terms apply) in making such arrangements. Prices offered for Additional Services are offered by the relevant supplier and accepted by you at the time of purchase.

You are responsible for making any necessary changes to your Additional Services if your flights change.

OP - perhaps worth noting the references to packages or linked travel arrangements arising from purchasing such services alongside flights, how long was it between originally booking the flights and the car hire?