Argus Car Hire - AVOID AVOID AVOID
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dimipar
Posts: 1 Newbie
Avoid & go to a more credible & easy to contact company !!
A month ago I had booked a car for 4 days. Due to sickness arrived 3,5 hs late to pick up the car from the airport. The provider (Hertz) said they didn't have car available anymore and we should contact our agent (Arguscarhire) to resolve and get our money back. There was no phone number to call Arguscarhire and find alternative and only way to communicate was via online chat. I did that and was on the chat with them over 15 minutes trying to get a solution. I asked the employee if he could transfer the booking to any other Hertz branch in London and we would go alone to pick up. He said he couldn't do this and the booking being valid the same day, only if we wanted it to start from the day after. So he recommended to do a completely new booking to get a car at that time and also raise a case to get our money from the original booking refunded. I said that's what we were going to do and he should raise the case. The communication crashed a few minutes after so I never got confirmation if he did raise it or received a transcript of that conversation. In the following week I contacted them again and again providing the same information. The new employees were not so sure a refund would be granted. In the end a case was raised (not sure if it was done from day one or later on). They started mentioning that it is written in the terms that in case of delayed pick up they cannot guarantee a car. Of course those terms don't clarify a specific time! Late can be even 10 minutes then. The employee the first day reassured that we would raise the case and receive the refund. Had we known this was not going to happen we would have waited 2-3 hours there until a car is returned and becomes available which is what the Hertz employees had mentioned we could do.
Almost a month after I got in touch to receive update. They said an email was sent as response to me basically rejecting the case saying no money would be given. ..And what a surprise, that e-mail was one of these that always end up in your spam.
End of the day, AVOID BY ALL MEANS a company that is inconsistent and does not respect it's clients. They will not care if you have any problem or take any action to resolve.
A month ago I had booked a car for 4 days. Due to sickness arrived 3,5 hs late to pick up the car from the airport. The provider (Hertz) said they didn't have car available anymore and we should contact our agent (Arguscarhire) to resolve and get our money back. There was no phone number to call Arguscarhire and find alternative and only way to communicate was via online chat. I did that and was on the chat with them over 15 minutes trying to get a solution. I asked the employee if he could transfer the booking to any other Hertz branch in London and we would go alone to pick up. He said he couldn't do this and the booking being valid the same day, only if we wanted it to start from the day after. So he recommended to do a completely new booking to get a car at that time and also raise a case to get our money from the original booking refunded. I said that's what we were going to do and he should raise the case. The communication crashed a few minutes after so I never got confirmation if he did raise it or received a transcript of that conversation. In the following week I contacted them again and again providing the same information. The new employees were not so sure a refund would be granted. In the end a case was raised (not sure if it was done from day one or later on). They started mentioning that it is written in the terms that in case of delayed pick up they cannot guarantee a car. Of course those terms don't clarify a specific time! Late can be even 10 minutes then. The employee the first day reassured that we would raise the case and receive the refund. Had we known this was not going to happen we would have waited 2-3 hours there until a car is returned and becomes available which is what the Hertz employees had mentioned we could do.
Almost a month after I got in touch to receive update. They said an email was sent as response to me basically rejecting the case saying no money would be given. ..And what a surprise, that e-mail was one of these that always end up in your spam.
End of the day, AVOID BY ALL MEANS a company that is inconsistent and does not respect it's clients. They will not care if you have any problem or take any action to resolve.
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Comments
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Not sure how any car company can expect to enforce delayed pickup cancellation as a car had already been reserved and paid for by you. I've had to wait in a queue for up to two hours to collect a car from certain hire companies and have always had a car in the end.0
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Avoid & go to a more credible & easy to contact company !!
A month ago I had booked a car for 4 days. Due to sickness arrived 3,5 hs late to pick up the car from the airport. The provider (Hertz) said they didn't have car available anymore and we should contact our agent (Arguscarhire) to resolve and get our money back. There was no phone number to call Arguscarhire and find alternative and only way to communicate was via online chat. I did that and was on the chat with them over 15 minutes trying to get a solution. I asked the employee if he could transfer the booking to any other Hertz branch in London and we would go alone to pick up. He said he couldn't do this and the booking being valid the same day, only if we wanted it to start from the day after. So he recommended to do a completely new booking to get a car at that time and also raise a case to get our money from the original booking refunded. I said that's what we were going to do and he should raise the case. The communication crashed a few minutes after so I never got confirmation if he did raise it or received a transcript of that conversation. In the following week I contacted them again and again providing the same information. The new employees were not so sure a refund would be granted. In the end a case was raised (not sure if it was done from day one or later on). They started mentioning that it is written in the terms that in case of delayed pick up they cannot guarantee a car. Of course those terms don't clarify a specific time! Late can be even 10 minutes then. The employee the first day reassured that we would raise the case and receive the refund. Had we known this was not going to happen we would have waited 2-3 hours there until a car is returned and becomes available which is what the Hertz employees had mentioned we could do.
Almost a month after I got in touch to receive update. They said an email was sent as response to me basically rejecting the case saying no money would be given. ..And what a surprise, that e-mail was one of these that always end up in your spam.
End of the day, AVOID BY ALL MEANS a company that is inconsistent and does not respect it's clients. They will not care if you have any problem or take any action to resolve.
Appears to be totally your fault;Due to sickness arrived 3,5 hs late to pick up the car from the airport.
That doesn't appear to be the fault of Argus, not Hertz.
What is in the Terms and Conditions supplied by Argus about being late to pick up?
Did you call the Hertz at the location to inform them of your late arrival?
If no different than if you turn up 3.5 hours late and miss your flight. At that point, neither the agent nor the provider have a responsibility towards you.
I am sure that the T&C state you need to inform someone if you are going to be late. Not just to rock up hours later with excuses.0 -
That is not a fair analogy. If you book a seat on a plane, other people are booked on the same plane, and the airline has a responsibility to those passengers to leave on time.EveryWhere wrote: »Appears to be totally your fault;
That doesn't appear to be the fault of Argus, not Hertz.
What is in the Terms and Conditions supplied by Argus about being late to pick up?
Did you call the Hertz at the location to inform them of your late arrival?
If no different than if you turn up 3.5 hours late and miss your flight. At that point, neither the agent nor the provider have a responsibility towards you.
I am sure that the T&C state you need to inform someone if you are going to be late. Not just to rock up hours later with excuses.
If you rent a car, then that car should be available to you from the start until the end of the rental period - assuming the rental has been pre-paid, of course. No other customer should be able to rent that car, as contractually it is 'yours' for the duration, whether you choose to park it in the airport car park or drive it around country lanes or on motorways. Having taken your money, they should be legally obliged to provide you with what you have booked and paid for.0 -
That is not a fair analogy. If you book a seat on a plane, other people are booked on the same plane, and the airline has a responsibility to those passengers to leave on time.
If you rent a car, then that car should be available to you from the start until the end of the rental period - assuming the rental has been pre-paid, of course. No other customer should be able to rent that car, as contractually it is 'yours' for the duration, whether you choose to park it in the airport car park or drive it around country lanes or on motorways. Having taken your money, they should be legally obliged to provide you with what you have booked and paid for.
Contractually, you need to pick the car up within a certain window or you will breach the contract.
The proviso is that you need to contact either Argus or Hertz to let them know if there is a change of circumstances.
One might have to agree a Late Pick-up charge, but that would all be within the T&C pursuant to the contract.
I am guessing that the OP did none of the above, including the reading of the T&C in the first place.
Argus is in no way responsible.0 -
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EveryWhere wrote: »Contractually, you need to pick the car up within a certain window or you will breach the contract.
The proviso is that you need to contact either Argus or Hertz to let them know if there is a change of circumstances.
One might have to agree a Late Pick-up charge, but that would all be within the T&C pursuant to the contract.
I am guessing that the OP did none of the above, including the reading of the T&C in the first place.
Argus is in no way responsible.
And how does that work when you are on a delayed flight and have no way of contacting the rental company to advise?
I have been delayed by flight issues for two days and still been able to pick up the rental vehicle. And, any contract entered in to Under English Law is unlikely to be able to be enforced for such a patently unfair contract term.
Agree Argus unlikely to be responsible, but Hertz need to take responsibility for what appears to be their unprofessional sharp practice.
OP needs to get in contact with Trading Standards to ensure these cowboy operatives are taken to task. Hertz need to be made aware of how their station has behaved too.0 -
And how does that work when you are on a delayed flight and have no way of contacting the rental company to advise?
I have been delayed by flight issues for two days and still been able to pick up the rental vehicle. And, any contract entered in to Under English Law is unlikely to be able to be enforced for such a patently unfair contract term.
Agree Argus unlikely to be responsible, but Hertz need to take responsibility for what appears to be their unprofessional sharp practice.
OP needs to get in contact with Trading Standards to ensure these cowboy operatives are taken to task. Hertz need to be made aware of how their station has behaved too.
Presumably you're picking the car up from the airport and in my experience, they ask for your flight details so they can be made aware of delays automatically for airport pickups.
I've booked a car with Hertz directly before and turned up 3 hours late without notifying them (totally my fault) and they told me that they only keep the reservation for an hour (maybe 1.5, can't remember exactly) and then the car is available for someone else if required. My car was given to a walk in and I had to wait another 3 hours for one to become available.
They won't hold a car for you forever, their parking lot is not yours to use freely. Every rental company I've used has a window for pickup before they give the car to someone else. Maybe they need the parking space for returns later, maybe a walk-in really needed a car and that was sitting there presumably not going to be picked up. Who knows. It's all laid out in the T&Cs, if you didn't read them or notify the rental company that you're were going to be late, it's hardly the fault of Argus or any rental company.0 -
And how does that work when you are on a delayed flight and have no way of contacting the rental company to advise?
I have been delayed by flight issues for two days and still been able to pick up the rental vehicle. And, any contract entered in to Under English Law is unlikely to be able to be enforced for such a patently unfair contract term.
Agree Argus unlikely to be responsible, but Hertz need to take responsibility for what appears to be their unprofessional sharp practice.
OP needs to get in contact with Trading Standards to ensure these cowboy operatives are taken to task. Hertz need to be made aware of how their station has behaved too.
Nonsense. Perhaps you didn't read the OP;Had we known this was not going to happen we would have waited 2-3 hours there until a car is returned and becomes available which is what the Hertz employees had mentioned we could do
So they were told that could wait until a car became available, but they chose to not do so.
So what "sharp practice" was there on the part of Hertz?
The OP could have contacted Hertz or Argus beforehand and had likely no trouble at all. Instead,they didn't follow the T&C and further to that, decided to enter into a new contract.
As to your question of a delayed flight, if you have supplied the rental company with your flight details and there is nothing you can do, then there is nothing you can do.
Get there and sort it out.0
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