Belfast airport Budget car hire- been stung!

potsandpans5559

Hello,

Thank you in advance for advice, these are the problems I encountered and wondered if anyone can help. I booked car hire with Avis Budget for 3 days hire through Expedia.

Do I have a case to say I have been misled/ treated unfairly under the Consumer Act?

Problems:

1. Expedia in an email said I needed a credit card to pay a deposit for renting the car on the day - I assumed it meant any type of card - I paid with a debit card - I thought it would be fine. I’ve never owned a credit card and never been asked to us one ever in my life
2. ⁠Since i didn’t have a credit card, at the Budget rental desk in Belfast airport I had to pay £148 for the insurance for 3 days car hire! They said I had to pay that or I would wouldn’t get the car.
3. ⁠Weeks earlier through Expedia I had already paid £24 for ‘collision protection’ which I thought was paying for the car insurance anyway. This wasn’t clear on the website - I thought I was paying for extra insurance.
   So in total I paid £272 to hire a VW Up for 3 days when I expected it to be £124. Not so ‘budget’ it turns out!

Ayr_Rage

"Expedia in an email said I needed a credit card to pay a deposit for renting the car on the day"

As you haven't complied with their explicit requirement then I'm sorry but you haven't a leg to stand on.

Just about all car hire companies require a credit card.

potsandpans5559

Thank you Ayr_Rage, appreciate your time replying.

On-the-coast

Agree with your first reply, but if it’s any consolation you got off quite lightly in my opinion, at just £148 extra. There would have been a real chance that you’d have been prevented hiring at all, or had to stump up a lot more cash up front.

potsandpans5559

Thank you On-the-coast, yes I thought we weren’t going to get a car either and was costing up taxis. Glad it wasn’t a lot more money, it is a consolation thank you.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6677831/belfast-airport-budget-car-hire-been-stung

1. a credit card is a credit card, a debit card is not a credit card. This ultimately is on you so any complaint fails from here. Almost certainly it was on screen when they asked you to confirm you had read and agreed to the terms before the email turned up

2. In the good old days you could often slip them a debit card and as long as they didnt look it would go through. These days IT systems are better and often it will block a debit card from being used if you try to use a debit card. That said, I normally use a charge card, a third type of card, and normally they do go through despite not being a credit card

3. You paid for excess protection, its likely it is actually insurance, unlike the CDW that Budget sold you. The problem with excess protection is that you have to pay the excess up front then recover it from the insurer so Budget will still want to ensure you can afford to pay the excess given its often a couple of grand.

Personally would step through the process again, without actually buying, and when you get to the screen saying you agree to the terms actually look at them. In most cases the need for a credit card is called out fairly early and often in big text, especially if it requires it to be an embossed credit card. Assuming it is there then this is a user error not misselling.

potsandpans5559

Thank you MyRealNameToo, for your very thorough response, it is appreciated.

brianposter

Car hire is different from most other commercial transactions that we normally undertake. You need to read everything carefully and understand it. If in any doubt you need to ask.

You need to stick precisely to the T&Cs, or get an email confirming that a particular T&C will not apply.

potsandpans5559

thank you brianposter, good idea in future to not only check thoroughly but also ask for an exemption, they can only say no.