Car Hire Problem - any advice?

PurpleTurtle950

We hired a car through Holiday Autos on a recent trip to Italy but when we got to the car hire desk (Italybycar) at Milan airport, we were told that our booking had been cancelled. We told them that we definitely hadn't cancelled the booking and hadn't received any notification from Holiday Autos that this had happened.

They refused to show us their computer screen that showed the cancellation (because of GDPR regulations) and that they didn't have any other cars that they could give us.

We had to hire a car from a different company for the few days we were there. When we chased it up with Holiday Autos on our return, we were told the car hire company in Italy had said we were ‘no show’, so weren’t entitled to a refund.

We've contacted Holiday Autos (no help), Italybycar (they still say we never turned up), and our credit card company (they are going by what the car hire company have told them). We've sent proof to everybody concerned that we had to hire another car from the airport - to try and get them to understand that we wouldn't have needed to do this If we had been given the original car.

Has anyone else found themselves in this situation?

marcia_

 I would push the bank for a chargeback if you have evidence of hiring another replacement car. 

BFBW

Did you arrive within the allotted time for pick-up?

PurpleTurtle950

marcia_ said:

 I would push the bank for a chargeback if you have evidence of hiring another replacement car. 

We're trying to, but the credit card company have asked the car hire company who said we were a no show.

PurpleTurtle950

BFBW said:

Did you arrive within the allotted time for pick-up?

Yes! They said it had been cancelled a couple of days previously by Holiday Autos

marcia_

PurpleTurtle950 said:

marcia_ said:

 I would push the bank for a chargeback if you have evidence of hiring another replacement car. 

We're trying to, but the credit card company have asked the car hire company who said we were a no show.

 Formal complaint to the bank then including again your evidence of payment of an alternative vehicle 

BFBW

PurpleTurtle950 said:

We hired a car through Holiday Autos on a recent trip to Italy but when we got to the car hire desk (Italybycar) at Milan airport, we were told that our booking had been cancelled. We told them that we definitely hadn't cancelled the booking and hadn't received any notification from Holiday Autos that this had happened.

They refused to show us their computer screen that showed the cancellation (because of GDPR regulations) and that they didn't have any other cars that they could give us.

We had to hire a car from a different company for the few days we were there. When we chased it up with Holiday Autos on our return, we were told the car hire company in Italy had said we were ‘no show’, so weren’t entitled to a refund.

We've contacted Holiday Autos (no help), Italybycar (they still say we never turned up), and our credit card company (they are going by what the car hire company have told them). We've sent proof to everybody concerned that we had to hire another car from the airport - to try and get them to understand that we wouldn't have needed to do this If we had been given the original car.

Has anyone else found themselves in this situation?

I understand that you now know that this company regularly scams people, due to the overwhelming amount of negative reviews describing the scams.
Gather your evidence that you were there in time. Flight details etc and do a Chargeback or Section 75 claim, as appropriate.
The fact is that they didn't supply you with a car and they will have to present evidence of the cancellation by Holiday Autos in order to reverse or challenge your claim. 

brianposter

Your claim seems to be clearly against Holiday Autos and you are presumably looking for the cost of a replacement car rather than a refund. In those circumstances I might be inclined to use MCOL rather than claiming through your credit card.

A record of the arrival time of your flight might be useful evidence.

PurpleTurtle950

brianposter said:

Your claim seems to be clearly against Holiday Autos and you are presumably looking for the cost of a replacement car rather than a refund. In those circumstances I might be inclined to use MCOL rather than claiming through your credit card.

A record of the arrival time of your flight might be useful evidence.

BFBW said

PurpleTurtle950 said:

We hired a car through Holiday Autos on a recent trip to Italy but when we got to the car hire desk (Italybycar) at Milan airport, we were told that our booking had been cancelled. We told them that we definitely hadn't cancelled the booking and hadn't received any notification from Holiday Autos that this had happened.

They refused to show us their computer screen that showed the cancellation (because of GDPR regulations) and that they didn't have any other cars that they could give us.

We had to hire a car from a different company for the few days we were there. When we chased it up with Holiday Autos on our return, we were told the car hire company in Italy had said we were ‘no show’, so weren’t entitled to a refund.

We've contacted Holiday Autos (no help), Italybycar (they still say we never turned up), and our credit card company (they are going by what the car hire company have told them). We've sent proof to everybody concerned that we had to hire another car from the airport - to try and get them to understand that we wouldn't have needed to do this If we had been given the original car.

Has anyone else found themselves in this situation?

I understand that you now know that this company regularly scams people, due to the overwhelming amount of negative reviews describing the scams.
Gather your evidence that you were there in time. Flight details etc and do a Chargeback or Section 75 claim, as appropriate.
The fact is that they didn't supply you with a car and they will have to present evidence of the cancellation by Holiday Autos in order to reverse or challenge your claim. 

Thanks, I'll look into this. I'd just be happy with a refund. Holiday Autos want proof that we we went to pick the car up. Not sure how to give them this as we have no photos and they won't check the CCTV.

DullGreyGuy

Did you not ask them for something in writing to say their system was showing it as cancelled? Accept they may not be willing to show you the screen for any reason but they should have been able to put something to headed paper to substantiate your claim. 

PurpleTurtle950 said:

brianposter said:

Your claim seems to be clearly against Holiday Autos and you are presumably looking for the cost of a replacement car rather than a refund. In those circumstances I might be inclined to use MCOL rather than claiming through your credit card.

A record of the arrival time of your flight might be useful evidence.

BFBW said

PurpleTurtle950 said:

We hired a car through Holiday Autos on a recent trip to Italy but when we got to the car hire desk (Italybycar) at Milan airport, we were told that our booking had been cancelled. We told them that we definitely hadn't cancelled the booking and hadn't received any notification from Holiday Autos that this had happened.

They refused to show us their computer screen that showed the cancellation (because of GDPR regulations) and that they didn't have any other cars that they could give us.

We had to hire a car from a different company for the few days we were there. When we chased it up with Holiday Autos on our return, we were told the car hire company in Italy had said we were ‘no show’, so weren’t entitled to a refund.

We've contacted Holiday Autos (no help), Italybycar (they still say we never turned up), and our credit card company (they are going by what the car hire company have told them). We've sent proof to everybody concerned that we had to hire another car from the airport - to try and get them to understand that we wouldn't have needed to do this If we had been given the original car.

Has anyone else found themselves in this situation?

I understand that you now know that this company regularly scams people, due to the overwhelming amount of negative reviews describing the scams.
Gather your evidence that you were there in time. Flight details etc and do a Chargeback or Section 75 claim, as appropriate.
The fact is that they didn't supply you with a car and they will have to present evidence of the cancellation by Holiday Autos in order to reverse or challenge your claim. 

Thanks, I'll look into this. I'd just be happy with a refund. Holiday Autos want proof that we we went to pick the car up. Not sure how to give them this as we have no photos and they won't check the CCTV.

Was this in the main airport area or in a private office off the airport? You could attempt a GDPR SAR request to the airport to see if their cameras have you but there may be the normal arguments over the privacy of the others in the video. You also dont say how long ago it was and potentially records may have been deleted by now.

brianposter

It seens unlikely that you would have any evidence that you went to pick up the car but I suspect that a court would normally accept what you say if you provide evidence in respect of the car that you did hire.

Were the two car hire offices close to each other ?