Held at ransom at car hire desk in Italy

NLW1

We had a terrible experience at Pisa Airport last week where it felt that we were scammed and held at ransom by the car hire company.

I had booked a car for a week with VIP Cars about two months ago for an agreed sum of around £300 (paying a small deposit up front). When we got to the Noleggiare car desk they scribbled a number of options for us on a piece of paper. The main one being I had to pay more than £5000 deposit on my credit card if I wanted to keep the original price of around £300.

Alternatively, I could pay a smaller amount on my credit card of around £800 but the car price more than doubled to €615. I already had third party hire car insurance but this didn't seem to matter.

Needless to say, I didn't have the facility to add this much money onto my credit card and wouldn't have wanted to do so. I reluctantly paid the inflated sum, having wasted almost an hour.

All in all it's a horrible experience at the start of your holiday. We had an 82 year-old with us who was struggling in the heat and you are left with a sort of sickening feeling in the pit of the stomach that you've been conned.

This must have happed to others, too! Is there anything I can do about this? Could I claim the difference back from VIP Cars? And when booking in the future how can I guarantee that I won't face this situation at a car hire desk again?

Worried_fool

If a deal seems too good to be true…

I mean, the amount you ended up paying is reasonable. You were sucked in by an impossible promise, and wasted time and effort trying to get it. I mean, no business is going to hire a car for next to nothing unless they are making a hefty profit elsewhere.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday, and be thankful that you can afford it.

NLW1

I hear you, but I don't think that's excessively cheap for a medium car for a week. The point though is about lack of transparency up front and the fact that you effectively have no choice once stuck at a car hire desk.

Woodstok2000

This is the problem with third party brokers for services like car hire, where it's a race to the bottom and it pays to offer the cheapest headline price and maximise the extra charges.

These providers have huge pre-authorised waiver deposits to try and scare people into buy their insurance policies. Third party insurance doesn't help you because you're generally claiming back after the fact so you still need to cover the waiver with the hire company.

Best advice, book with well known names and book direct. It won't guarantee to eliminate any issues but youll have a better chance of resolving them without huge additional costs.

saajan_12

Agree its ridiculous practice and despite looking for the best value option in every other avenue, this is the one area I've resolved to just go for the higher priced big names from the outset. My logic is you end up paying the same plus the agro, whether its the insurance at the start or making up non-damages at the end. Or in some holiday destinations, smaller independent car rental companies which have older cars (still gets me from A to B and no stress about getting a tiny scratch).

As for your case, look at the T&Cs - the small print may have stated that price was only with a £5000 deposit hold on the card. If it did, you're out of luck, they did technically offer that option and you chose a higher priced one (albeit misleading to only state major requirements in small print etc etc). IF it didn't, then you have an argument to say that the rental co didn't provide the deal as stated. However you'll still come up against how you raise that argument - your credit card will likely say you had a middle man (VIP cars) in the mix so no S75. VIP cars gave you the reservation, if the car hire co failed to fulfill it that's on them. The car hire co is likely based abroad, so short of going back there to sue.. ?

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6674312/held-at-ransom-at-car-hire-desk-in-italy

Thats how car hire works… if you dont choose to reduce the excess to £0 by buying their CDW then you have to prove you can pay the amount of the excess you are committed to which will have a hold put on it so that they can claim it if you return the car damaged.

If you have third party insurance is irrelevant to them, they dont know if you've cancelled the policy or not, if you've made false declarations when buying it etc. Plus it will pay you not them hence you need to evidence you can afford to pay the excess.

It happens all the time, you also get people who dont have the right sort of card, there is a Spanish operator that insists the credit card has to be embossed, all in the terms that people agree to when buying the hire. Big operators are no different, they still will hold the excess if you havent reduced it via their CDW.

Buying excess insurance is cheaper than CDW but only works if you have the facilities to pay the full excess up front and then reclaim it from the insurance.

bagand96

I agree with @MyRealNameToo

Every time I've hired a car I have had to leave a security deposit. The amount does vary but I've always been notified of the amount in advance, it is standard Car Hire practice.

You can typically choose to reduce or eliminate the excess by paying extra for an upgraded insurance package which it seems is what happened here.

This must have happed to others, too! Is there anything I can do about this? Could I claim the difference back from VIP Cars?

It's unlikely however you need to check your rental Terms and Conditions and see what they say about the deposit amount.

A quick search on VIP Cars for a Pisa Airport rental with Nolegiarre states:

"Deposit:
A refundable deposit varying from EUR 600 to EUR 2000 (depending on the vehicle group) plus the rental amount is held from the credit card at the time of rental until the vehicle is returned."

Check your terms to see what deposit amount was quoted. If it was up to €2000 and you were asked for €5000 then you may have a valid complaint. However proving what happened at the desk may also be difficult.

bagand96

And when booking in the future how can I guarantee that I won't face this situation at a car hire desk again?

Read and understand the T&Cs (you've agreed to them after all!) as well as what hire and insurances you've purchased. Be ready to challenge at the desk if anything isn't correct.

NLW1

Thanks for your responses; that's helping me to understand the lie of the land. Avoid third party brokers when booking, go direct to the company, buy their collision damage waiver up front – cancel my third party excess insurance as in reality next to useless – read and understand Ts&Cs, expect to pay a lot more for car hire in the future!

Interestingly, buying at a good price from third party brokers has worked for me for years until fairly recently, including a trip to Scotland in April, but the uncertainty of it all when you're away on holiday is unsettling.

saajan_12

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82052019#Comment_82052019

Big operators are no different, they still will hold the excess if you havent reduced it via their CDW.

Not been my experience, having hired cars across South America, USA, New Zealand and within UK, I've never taken their extra insurance and take whatever huge excess figures over 2k. I've never had a deposit hold of more thatn £2-400 or equivalent ccy.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82052795#Comment_82052795

You've had very peculiar experiences then, have been hiring cars and vans about once a month for 20 years in many different countries and the only one that doesnt is a single brand that has a tie up with AmEx for their higher tier customers and so they neither try and sell CDW nor ask for a deposit.

CDW isnt insurance, it's a waiver, so if you are saying you have only excluded insurance then maybe you have included CDW hence the lack of or a low excess?

What has happened over the years is that the excesses have increased significant, £500 used to be common, now it's more like £2-5k depending on the vehicle.