28 working days to return my 500 euro deposit for car hire

CuriousPigeon

Last week I hired a car from Hertz in France. I don't have a credit card, so used my debit card to give a 500 euro deposit. A notification on my banking app confirmed immediately that I had spent that amount of money (it wasn't a Hold; the money actually went out, and that's fine). I returned the car to them at the end of the week with everything having gone to plan. No damage, no problems, etc. The car was checked by a member of staff when I brought it back, and everything was fine. I forgot to ask what happens about the refund of my deposit, so I got in touch with Hertz via the website when I got home. They said it takes up to 28 working days for the refund to come through. I wrote back and said that's ridiculous - the car was checked by their staff as soon as I'd returned it, and everything was fine. They've come back again and said the 28 day thing is due to the banks. I wrote back and said that's rubbish because the French campsite returned my deposit (AND I got a notification on my banking app) within an hour of me driving away from the campsite. I think I'm being fobbed off with duff information. I don't think it's the bank's delay. I think Hertz are deliberately dragging their heels to keep the significant sum of money in their account for as long as possible. Are they really allowed to take up to 28 working days to return my money?

Aylesbury_Duck

It would depend on what the contract says.  Do you still have the documents?

born_again

CuriousPigeon said:

Last week I hired a car from Hertz in France. I don't have a credit card, so used my debit card to give a 500 euro deposit. A notification on my banking app confirmed immediately that I had spent that amount of money (it wasn't a Hold; the money actually went out, and that's fine). I returned the car to them at the end of the week with everything having gone to plan. No damage, no problems, etc. The car was checked by a member of staff when I brought it back, and everything was fine. I forgot to ask what happens about the refund of my deposit, so I got in touch with Hertz via the website when I got home. They said it takes up to 28 working days for the refund to come through. I wrote back and said that's ridiculous - the car was checked by their staff as soon as I'd returned it, and everything was fine. They've come back again and said the 28 day thing is due to the banks. I wrote back and said that's rubbish because the French campsite returned my deposit (AND I got a notification on my banking app) within an hour of me driving away from the campsite. I think I'm being fobbed off with duff information. I don't think it's the bank's delay. I think Hertz are deliberately dragging their heels to keep the significant sum of money in their account for as long as possible. Are they really allowed to take up to 28 working days to return my money?

Company processes refund, does not require banks authorisation. Credits your bank in the same timeframe as the debit. So NO banks is not the hold up.

But are you sure that you have a debit on your account to them, for the deposit. As that is very unusual.

Just because your available balance is down £500 does not mean it has actually debited your account. As car hire can hold a authorisation for 32 days without it physically debiting your account.

CuriousPigeon

born_again said:
But are you sure that you have a debit on your account to them, for the deposit. As that is very unusual.

Yes, and that was with my full knowledge. It's because I don't have a credit card, and apparently car hire companies normally require you to have a credit card. I found a company that accepts debit, but they told me up front that they would actually be debiting and holding that money. But I had no idea they'd then want to hold onto it for a month after I've returned their car in good condition.

Re the paperwork... yes I do but need to dig that out. Still, even if it did say in the contract that it would take up to 28 working days to get the money back, I would still argue that's morally wrong. They've checked the car, they've signed it back in, so in my view the money should be refunded promptly (i.e. 2-3 working days, max).

Thanks for the answers so far!

user1977

Even if they were meant to return it more quickly, what remedy would you have which would be any faster? I'm guessing French small claims courts aren't any faster than UK ones...

Alderbank

CuriousPigeon said:

Still, even if it did say in the contract that it would take up to 28 working days to get the money back, I would still argue that's morally wrong. 

My ideas of principles and ethics are different from yours.

In my opinion it is morally right for both parties to uphold the contract they have agreed to.
I think it is amoral for one party to claim that regardless of the contract, the other party should behave differently.

CuriousPigeon

Sure, but... if the contract had said "up to 1000 days", I would still have had to sign it if I wanted to proceed with the booking. As a customer, I don't have the luxury of reading every clause of every potential supplier and then saying I agree to that bit but not that bit. What I meant was, I cannot see how there can be any justification for holding onto a customer's money for that long after the hire period is complete. Plus I am miffed that they tried to fob me off with that rubbish about it being the bank's fault. Hey ho.

eskbanker

CuriousPigeon said:

Are they really allowed to take up to 28 working days to return my money?

Turning this round the other way, what do you believe would compel them to return your money sooner (other than a nebulous concept of 'morals'), i.e. who do you feel determines what is and isn't 'allowed'?

Aylesbury_Duck

CuriousPigeon said:

born_again said:
But are you sure that you have a debit on your account to them, for the deposit. As that is very unusual.

Re the paperwork... yes I do but need to dig that out. Still, even if it did say in the contract that it would take up to 28 working days to get the money back, I would still argue that's morally wrong. They've checked the car, they've signed it back in, so in my view the money should be refunded promptly (i.e. 2-3 working days, max).

Have you dug it out yet?  As other have said, what you consider to be morally wrong doesn't come into it if it's a contractual term you agreed to. This is a consumer rights forum, and if the contract does say "up to 28 days" then your consumer rights haven't been breached.  As you pointed out, you had to shop around for a company that would let you use a debit card, so you're already on the back foot.  Had you had and used a credit card this would probably be a non-issue because the funds would be returned before the bill needed paying.

I don't think it's unreasonable for them to withhold immediate repayment.  They may have checked the car superficially, but there's a chance that problems caused by you might not manifest themselves until the next customer takes the car out, which could be days or weeks later.

powerful_Rogue

CuriousPigeon said:

Sure, but... if the contract had said "up to 1000 days", I would still have had to sign it if I wanted to proceed with the booking. As a customer, I don't have the luxury of reading every clause of every potential supplier and then saying I agree to that bit but not that bit. What I meant was, I cannot see how there can be any justification for holding onto a customer's money for that long after the hire period is complete. Plus I am miffed that they tried to fob me off with that rubbish about it being the bank's fault. Hey ho.

That would be pretty foolish though.

CuriousPigeon

Thanks everyone for your thoughts

I dug out the small print of the contract I agreed to when taking out the rental agreement, and there's nothing either way about how long it takes to refund the deposit, so the contract is out of the equation. We're back to them telling me it's up to 28 working days and blaming the banks for the delay while they sit on the money. It's not how I'd want to treat my customers.