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I would appreciate some advice.
We recently booked car hire via rentalcars.com and were due to collect the car from Thrifty at JFK airport.
My husband made the booking and was our principle driver. However, when we arrived he was told that his old-style paper UK driving licence was not acceptable, although they were happy to rent to me and also my son who both have plastic licences. Neither of us was willing to drive in New York so that wasn't an option.
We phoned Rentalcars who spoke with the manager, but she was adamant. We asked Rentalcars if they could arrange car hire with another firm but they said it would take at least two hours. Since we had a 3-4 hour drive ahead of us, this also wasn't an option.
We were therefore obliged to rent from another firm, who did what they could on the rental price, but the insurance (usually included when you rent from the UK) was extra and made the rental £650 more.
We contacted Rentalcars to explain the situation, and they in turn (quite rightly) tried to get compensation from Thrifty. However, Thrifty have declined to compensate.
This has been escalated with Rentalcars and we are waiting to see if they will compensate us.
Does anyone have any thoughts on how we stand legally? Rentalcars cancelled the initial contract and refunded the money. Is that the end of their obligation?
Intermediaries like Rentalcars, Hotels.com, Booking.com are becoming more popular now. If there is no legal obligation to provide you with what you have paid for, that has serious implications.
I should point out that Thrifty refused to deal with us direct as we had no contract with them - and the rental firm next door had no problem with my husband's paper licence. Also, we had rented a car from Thrifty (Seattle) quite recently with no problem at all for the paper licence.
Judi
We recently booked car hire via rentalcars.com and were due to collect the car from Thrifty at JFK airport.
My husband made the booking and was our principle driver. However, when we arrived he was told that his old-style paper UK driving licence was not acceptable, although they were happy to rent to me and also my son who both have plastic licences. Neither of us was willing to drive in New York so that wasn't an option.
We phoned Rentalcars who spoke with the manager, but she was adamant. We asked Rentalcars if they could arrange car hire with another firm but they said it would take at least two hours. Since we had a 3-4 hour drive ahead of us, this also wasn't an option.
We were therefore obliged to rent from another firm, who did what they could on the rental price, but the insurance (usually included when you rent from the UK) was extra and made the rental £650 more.
We contacted Rentalcars to explain the situation, and they in turn (quite rightly) tried to get compensation from Thrifty. However, Thrifty have declined to compensate.
This has been escalated with Rentalcars and we are waiting to see if they will compensate us.
Does anyone have any thoughts on how we stand legally? Rentalcars cancelled the initial contract and refunded the money. Is that the end of their obligation?
Intermediaries like Rentalcars, Hotels.com, Booking.com are becoming more popular now. If there is no legal obligation to provide you with what you have paid for, that has serious implications.
I should point out that Thrifty refused to deal with us direct as we had no contract with them - and the rental firm next door had no problem with my husband's paper licence. Also, we had rented a car from Thrifty (Seattle) quite recently with no problem at all for the paper licence.
Judi
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Comments
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the change and affect on car hire was well publicised
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/driving-licence-changes0 -
Our problem was that Thrifty were looking in a book titled "forms of identity" which said the paper licence wasn't acceptable (of course not, there's no photograph, but we had passports for ID). They interpreted that as the paper licence wasn't valid in the US which is completely wrong.0
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I have rented many times in the USA since 2015 with just a paper license...not with thrifty.
Try a chargeback on your credit card.
My guess is that it doesn!!!8217;t say anywhere on rentalcars website that only a photo style license will be accepted0 -
That link tells me my paper license is still validthe change and affect on car hire was well publicised
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/driving-licence-changes0 -
I appreciate the reassurance that my husband isn't the only person still driving on a paper licence.
I don't think I can try a chargeback on our credit card because Rentalcars refunded the original purchase, and the firm we eventually rented from (Budget) did nothing wrong.
We have booked another trip to the US (Virginia this time) and again have used an intermediary company to book our hire car. I'm a bit nervous about it!0 -
I appreciate the reassurance that my husband isn't the only person still driving on a paper licence.
I don't think I can try a chargeback on our credit card because Rentalcars refunded the original purchase, and the firm we eventually rented from (Budget) did nothing wrong.
We have booked another trip to the US (Virginia this time) and again have used an intermediary company to book our hire car. I'm a bit nervous about it!
Sorry I was reading as you hadn’t been refunded by rentalcars. Didn’t know where you go next, I suspect rentalcars have fulfilled their obligation to refund0 -
I appreciate the reassurance that my husband isn't the only person still driving on a paper licence.
I don't think I can try a chargeback on our credit card because Rentalcars refunded the original purchase, and the firm we eventually rented from (Budget) did nothing wrong.
We have booked another trip to the US (Virginia this time) and again have used an intermediary company to book our hire car. I'm a bit nervous about it!
Logic says get a new DL and live an easier life!0 -
Same thing happened to me at Dubai airport last year. Fully booked through Budget using Autoeurope. Imo Budget had misunderstood the change in rules from 2015 and thought my paper licence was a counterpart licence to the photo card which I don't have. Cut a long story short I went to Hertz and rented a car no problem. Made all the calls to Autoeurope similar to you, they eventually refunded me but no apology made. Considering the t&cs state a valid licence is required with photo I'd, I thought I would be fine.
I appreciate it is a very stressful time when put on the spot like that, you don't need all the inconvenience especially after a long flight.
I think some rental companies are misunderstanding the change in rules from a few years ago. I have used my paper licence both before and after my Dubai experience without any issues. For future trips I would just contact the rental company and check the paper licence is adequate for rental.0 -
worried_jim wrote: »Logic says get a new DL and live an easier life!
Yes logic says that but until I have to legally I will just pre check with the rental agent.
Saying that your comment doesn't help those that in good faith rent a car but are misfortunate due to the poor understanding of the rules by the rental agent.0 -
My understanding is that you cannot renew your paper licence unless you have changed your name, your address, or your licence is about to expire.0
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