UK car hire hidden charges

knightstyle

Just got to let off steam.
I am trying to book a car to go from East midlands airport to Stanstead airport, with a couple of stops on the way. But ALL the hire companies have a clause "additional charges MAY apply, payable on collection" I can't see these charges before I make and pay the booking so I rang several companies, some have no idea how much, if anything, these charges will be others say "£35 plus local taxes" and when pressed think this refers to VAT. The car hire is around £24 so these hidden charges are more than the hire. None of the Best buy websites include the charges so they are misleading to say the least!
There feel better now!

RadoJo

What exactly are the 'local taxes' that apply when driving from East Midlands to Standsted? This sounds ridiculous - I could understand if they were covering themselves for any charges they make for damage to the car for example, but how can they advertise a price, stipulate extra charges and then have no idea how much they are or what they're for?!

timnicebutdim_2

Sometimes 'extra charges' means; young driver surcharges, additional driver surcharge, and the old favourite 'excess protection' - which is a daily charge of up to £10 per day to waive the excess (usually about £500 that would have to be paid in the event of any damage to the hirecar). These charges differ from company to company so the screenscraper websites are giveing a basic price.

With some companies like Enterprise, National etc if you have reserved a hire car you haven't necessarily paid for it so if you disagree with any of the charges upon collection you should be able to cancel the contract without penalty.
Whatever you do print out a copy of the reservation so you can show the quoted price when you pick the car up.