Alicante Car Rental - RecordGo

Canny_cheapo1

Having just returned from Spain and handed back a hire car to RecordGo in Alicante airport, I was charged a €50 fine for a missing V16 Beacon Light. The fine was issued by email and has been deducted from the fuel refund that I was due when I returned the car full of petrol. The company had my credit card details from the initial purchase of the full petrol tank, so they have simply deducted what I feel is an unjustified charge from the credit card details that they had.

I emailed the company to disagree with the fine as soon as I received their email but have had no response. My email explained:

• the V16 Beacon Light was not on the check list when I collected the vehicle
• it was not mentioned to me by any of their staff before collection
• it was only briefly mentioned when handing back the car, no fine was mentioned
• the fine is not listed in section 4.4 of the rental agreement as stated in their email

I hadn't even opened the glove compartment which is apparently where it should have been kept. I strongly suspect that the company may have known there was no beacon light in the car when I collected the vehicle.

I would just like to make people aware of this situation so that you may be able to avoid the same thing happening if using RecordGo Alicante for hire car rental. Thankfully, I had booked through Expedia and they have now recovered my €50.

born_again

What's a V16 Beacon light?

Expedia will have just paid you back as a gesture of good will.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81907558#Comment_81907558

It's a legally mandated device in Spain, it replaced the warning triangle you used to have to carry and place behind the vehicle if you break down or are immobilised after a crash etc. It's more sophisticated though as in addition to flashing and warning traffic visually it also has GPS and internet capabilities and informs the authorities when activated.

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81907558#Comment_81907558

It's a small flashing beacon with a GPS transmitter. All cars in Spain have to carry one, the idea being that if you break down you don't leave your car to set up cones or a warning triangle, you just reach up and put it on the roof. The beacon notifies traffic authorities of a breakdown when activated.