UK resident refused car rental at UK airport

Jaysaab

My step daughter's clutch has gone on her car which she uses to commute to work.
No garage can repair it for a week so we looked into renting her a car.
The few rental firms we have on the high street like Enterprise wanted over £500 for something like a Fiat 500 or Toyota Aygo.
I went on a price comparison site and well known firms could offer the same car for under £200.
We live near Stansted Airport so paid for the car online and set off to collect it.
When we got to the airport they refused to rent the car as we had not just got off a flight and could not provide flight details.
So they are happy to rent to someone that may have just had a 12 hour flight and not used to UK roads but not to a UK resident with a clean licence.
This seems so unfair and once again we are being ripped off.

MyRealNameToo

Jaysaab said:

My step daughter's clutch has gone on her car which she uses to commute to work.
No garage can repair it for a week so we looked into renting her a car.
The few rental firms we have on the high street like Enterprise wanted over £500 for something like a Fiat 500 or Toyota Aygo.
I went on a price comparison site and well known firms could offer the same car for under £200.
We live near Stansted Airport so paid for the car online and set off to collect it.
When we got to the airport they refused to rent the car as we had not just got off a flight and could not provide flight details.
So they are happy to rent to someone that may have just had a 12 hour flight and not used to UK roads but not to a UK resident with a clean licence.
This seems so unfair and once again we are being ripped off.

Why do you think people just off a flight arent used to UK roads? As a UK citizen and resident have hired cars from UK airports when taking a flight rather than driving or training up to Scotland etc and never had a problem 

Troytempest

Jaysaab said:

My step daughter's clutch has gone on her car which she uses to commute to work.
No garage can repair it for a week so we looked into renting her a car.
The few rental firms we have on the high street like Enterprise wanted over £500 for something like a Fiat 500 or Toyota Aygo.
I went on a price comparison site and well known firms could offer the same car for under £200.
We live near Stansted Airport so paid for the car online and set off to collect it.
When we got to the airport they refused to rent the car as we had not just got off a flight and could not provide flight details.
So they are happy to rent to someone that may have just had a 12 hour flight and not used to UK roads but not to a UK resident with a clean licence.
This seems so unfair and once again we are being ripped off.

The OP said MAY have just had a 12 hour flight. The OP didn't say or imply ALL.

Why do some on here have to be so pedantic.... 

Mildly_Miffed

Jaysaab said:

We live near Stansted Airport so paid for the car online and set off to collect it.
When we got to the airport they refused to rent the car as we had not just got off a flight and could not provide flight details.

It wouldn't surprise me if it was a condition of their lease with the airport.

As for 12hr flight or otherwise, Stansted doesn't even do long-haul... Half that time would be the upper end of their typical range.

user1977

Alternatively, spend less than the £300 difference to travel somewhere else and fly back in...

Jaysaab

user1977 said:

Alternatively, spend less than the £300 difference to travel somewhere else and fly back in...

I must admit that it was only after we left the airport the thought of booking the cheapest flight into Stansted may solve the problem.
All they would have wanted to see was the booking, not proof we were ever actually on the flight.
The step daughter has given up and is car sharing for the week.

saajan_12

Which rental company is it? I doubt its an assessment of who's the bigger risk.. but instead part of the contract with the airport. Passenger tickets will have a built in fee for the airport, which they don't get for walk ins and I'd guess Stansted don't want to lease out space to rental companies without getting that fee. 

Other airports in the world do manage this by charging an 'airport premium' on rentals, which one way or another increases the lease the rental co pay to the airport instead. I've certainly hired cars from airports when abroad without a flight in, because its still cheaper than the downtown locations which have limited fleets. 

Unfortunately if it was part of the rental conditions then you may be restricted from renting there. I tried a random company (Europcar) and it was indeed part of the 'additional info', that hirers must show a flight in. Check if yours has the same. 

Grey_Critic

When our youngest used to come over from the USA they would only hire him an automatic, It was a rule they had for anyone arriving from America. 

GavCB

Mildly_Miffed said:

Jaysaab said:

We live near Stansted Airport so paid for the car online and set off to collect it.
When we got to the airport they refused to rent the car as we had not just got off a flight and could not provide flight details.

It wouldn't surprise me if it was a condition of their lease with the airport.

As for 12hr flight or otherwise, Stansted doesn't even do long-haul... Half that time would be the upper end of their typical range.

Stanstead DOES fly long haul, to Dubai

Car_54

Jaysaab said:

My step daughter's clutch has gone on her car which she uses to commute to work.
No garage can repair it for a week so we looked into renting her a car.
The few rental firms we have on the high street like Enterprise wanted over £500 for something like a Fiat 500 or Toyota Aygo.
I went on a price comparison site and well known firms could offer the same car for under £200.
We live near Stansted Airport so paid for the car online and set off to collect it.
When we got to the airport they refused to rent the car as we had not just got off a flight and could not provide flight details.
So they are happy to rent to someone that may have just had a 12 hour flight and not used to UK roads but not to a UK resident with a clean licence.
This seems so unfair and once again we are being ripped off.

I can understand you're being upset, particularly since you'd booked and paid for it online. However, I don't understand "ripped off" - didn't you get a refund?

jimjames

Jaysaab said:

user1977 said:

Alternatively, spend less than the £300 difference to travel somewhere else and fly back in...

The step daughter has given up and is car sharing for the week.

On a money saving site that would seem to be the best option ands has saved her £300-£500