Car Hire Cancelled Horror

2520years

Hi everyone

I can't find an answer to this, so here's my question. 

We went to Italy last week and got a minibus 2.5km away from the airport to a small office to collect our hire car.  We were told it was cancelled because we were there more than 2 hours after the pickup time.

I checked through my 4-page voucher and there was a paragraph saying if we were late it could be cancelled, but it didn't say how late.  When I read it I thought, "fair enough, if we don't turn up they can hire it out again".  But 2 hours?!  I was thinking the next day, especially as it didn't mention a time period, because 2 hours could be down to flight delays, shuttle bus delays etc.

They told me and my daughter to leave the office and that they would keep our money.  They showed zero compassion or customer service. We were sat in a multi-storey car park in the middle of nowhere with all our luggage as it was going dark, which quashed our holiday excitement and made us feel unsafe.

Is there anything I can do to at least get my money back?

(We eventually had to get a taxi which cost £150!  )

DullGreyGuy

Who did you buy from/via?
Which hire car company was it?
Did you make any efforts to advise them you were going to be late when landing at the airport etc?

thegreenone

That's very harsh, especially considering the office was still open. 

Definitely, contact the UK HQ (fingers crossed they have one), with timeline and that "you were very disappointed as you cannot find anywhere in the Ts&Cs to show a two hour cut off".  Two hours is nothing.

Please report back.  

2520years

The Broker was called Qeeq and the hire company was called SurPrice. They do seem to have a worldwide presence so I'll try to contact them.

I didn't realise we were late enough to cause a problem until he told us the car was cancelled. 

We'd paid about £200, and he said we could rent another one...for about £900 for the week!

DullGreyGuy

Looking at a random vehicle from SurPrice in Milano via Qeeq it states:

Grace Period

Suppliers offer a grace period of two hours between the booked pick up time and the actual time the vehicle is picked up. After this period has lapsed, a "no show" fee may apply. Keep in mind that the grace period is not applicable outside the opening hours of the local station

The only other place where "no show" is mentioned is in the cancellation section where it says a cancellation or no show will be £50 which is the same as a cancellation up to the minute of your collection time.

So were you actually over 2 hours late by the time you got to speak to their staff or under?

The Terms are unclear, to say the least, but to me reads as its cancelled for a refund less £50 or you get the car but have to pay a £50 surcharge... either are possible. Obviously using a middleman makes who you have to complain to more difficult to work out too.

2520years

Wow, thanks DullGreyGuy!

We were over two hours late. If I'm right it happened because I had to change the flight, but it was on the same day.

I've messaged Qeeq to explain, so hopefully they'll be able to make sense of it.  I guess my contract is with them...

Lavendyr

Your contract is unlikely to be with Qeeq as they are a broker so will be acting as an agent. Your contract is more likely to be with the car hire company i.e. SurPrice. I recently rented a car from Noleggiare via DiscoverCars, and the terms were very clear that my contract was with Noleggiare, not DiscoverCars. 

I hope you get a good resolution. In my case I initially booked with Sixt but then our outbound flight to Italy was changed and I couldn't amend the collection time without paying significantly more. However, weirdly, I could cancel and get the full fee back - so that's what I did, and then booked elsewhere!

2520years

Just a quick update.

I've emailed the car rental company, SurPrice, to tell them I've searched high and low for the 2 hour deadline in their T&Cs, rental agreement, website and still not found it. I hope they'll reconsider, but if they don't I'll go to to Trading Standards or someone of that ilk.

Just a note on SurPrice Car Rentals. Here are the reviews...they're the worst I've ever seen for any company:
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.surpricecars.com