Urgent advice needed

Anzhelka · 13 March 2017 at 10:05AM

hello. not sure if it's the right thread to post into. I just need to ring the company and need to be prepared. I have booked a car through rentalcars.com and on the website it was clearly said "book now , pay later", however the full amount was taken after a week (my car hire is for September), when I came with a full trolley of groceries with 2 kids I've end up with my card being declined and later I've recognised that this company has taken all my money. I've rang my bank and asked to cancel payment (as it was pending) and bank has advised that I need to provide 6 digit code from that company to speed up refund process and with this code bank can pay me back straight away. However spoken with somebody from rentalcars.com over the customer service chat and been advised "we don't know what's happened, maybe technical issue, but we don't have to provide you the code and you have to wait". Did anyone has this and what are my rights? do you know how this code is called? any help will be much appreciated. sorry for a bit of emotional post , it's just very frustrating situation, never had experience with such a terrible customer service.

soolin · 13 March 2017 at 10:21AM

Anzhelka wrote: »

hello. not sure if it's the right thread to post into. I just need to ring the company and need to be prepared. I have booked a car through rentalcars.com and on the website it was clearly said "book now , pay later", however the full amount was taken after a week (my car hire is for September), when I came with a full trolley of groceries with 2 kids I've end up with my card being declined and later I've recognised that this company has taken all my money. I've rang my bank and asked to cancel payment (as it was pending) and bank has advised that I need to provide 6 digit code from that company to speed up refund process and with this code bank can pay me back straight away. However spoken with somebody from rentalcars.com over the customer service chat and been advised "we don't know what's happened, maybe technical issue, but we don't have to provide you the code and you have to wait". Did anyone has this and what are my rights? do you know how this code is called? any help will be much appreciated. sorry for a bit of emotional post , it's just very frustrating situation, never had experience with such a terrible customer service.

Firstly rentalcars.com appears to be a broker, so you are not dealing with the rental company and just a third party which makes this slightly more complicated. The landing page when you get a quote shows 'Rentalcars.com connects you to the biggest brands in car hire.', I can't see anything prominent at all about guaranteeing that the rental company you eventually choose will not take payment.

Further digging shows this as their guarantee 'No credit card fees
No amendment fees
24/7 phone support' still nothing about book now pay later.

Where did you see that guarantee about paying later and did it refer to any rentalcar.com fees *and* the car rental fee or just their own fees (assuming there is a separate charge).

I've just done a random quote for Malaga and still can't see the book now pay later, it just shows me the various companies I can use and the prices.

As for a refund code, I've never heard of it and have no idea what it is, perhaps someone else will know what the bank wants if you wait to see who else responds, or perhaps the bank could clarify.

Anzhelka · 13 March 2017 at 10:28AM

When you try find the car and where the price is under the price is written "Book now, pay later" and when you point mouse on that it says "book today and pay 4 weeks before travel with only £30 deposit". also customer advisor advised that there is option like this and he doesn't know what's happened with my booking (great, who knows then)
and the code is needed for bank to speed up refund i guess, but they didn't tell how it's called (

theonlywayisup · 13 March 2017 at 10:49AM

Did you choose the right option. I can see there is an option to CHOOSE to pay later but that doesn't mean all options are for paying later.

How do I pay for my booking?
When you book a car with us, you can pay with either a debit or a credit card.
When you book a car with us, you can pay with either a debit or a credit card.

If you book more than 28 days ahead of your trip, you can choose to pay a deposit when you book, and the rest of the cost 28 days before your trip.

(If you rent with Hertz, you'll pay in full when you book.)

When you pick your car up, you'll pay the car hire company directly for some parts of your car hire, such as:

Extras such as car seats, GPSs and additional drivers
One-way fees, young driver fees and senior driver fees
Other charges, such as local taxes, winterisation fees and cross-border fees.

How much are we talking about and have you confirmed it is the full amount that is being held. I say held, as from what I understand the payment is pending on your account, is that correct?

Anzhelka · 13 March 2017 at 10:53AM

We are talking about £350 (full price of the car hire). I've choosen the right option and i didn't buy any extras at this point, as I understood that I need to pay for them immediately. So I don;t see any reason why they took full amount (specially that it was taken after a week since my booking was made). Transaction is pending and my bank has advised that they can cancel this but I need to get 6 digit code from the company and I don't know how to explain this to them, how is this code called. Also as there was not enough money on my account this may cause me a negative balance and I will get charge from my bank for unplanned overdraft. Over the customer service chat from Rentalcars they advised that they may have some technical issues and he doesn't know what's happened and how to help me (I have saved copy of that chat by the way).

theonlywayisup · 13 March 2017 at 11:01AM

Anzhelka wrote: »

We are talking about £350 (full price of car hire). I choose the right option and i didn't buy any extras at this point, as I understood that I need to pay for them now. So I don;t see any reason why they took full amount (special that it was taken after a week since my booking was made). Transaction is pending and my bank has advised that they can cancel this but I need to get 6 digit code from the company and I don't know how to explain this to them, how is this code called. Also as there was not enough money on my account this may cause me a negative balance and I will get charge from my bank for unplanned overdraft. Over the customer service chat from Rentalcars they advised that they may have some technical issues and he doesn't know what's happened and how to help me (I have saved copy of that chat by the way).

Did you pay by Debit Card? If so, it sounds like the whole amount has has been earmarked and is pending being claimed by Rental cars. Normally (and I am no banking expert) this happens when you pay a deposit for a hotel or such like. The amount is put through the card but not actually taken. The bank earmark the funds pending the payment being claimed. From my limited knowledge the payment is returned to your account after 10 working days if it's not claimed.

I know with my bank (HSBC) that although the funds are earmarked, you won't go overdrawn if the funds are never taken.

Can you ring rentalcars and ask if you can cancel that payment and use another means of paying the deposit.

Anzhelka · 13 March 2017 at 11:05AM

Yes, I have paid with debit card. I have booked a lot of hotels before and have also some of them booked currently, but none of them has taken the actual available money from my account. But currently my balance is NIL. I had there around £200 and after this payment has appeared in "pending" all my money has gone. It's a shame that after speaking with rentalcars they can't even explain what's happened. I've already cancelled this booking and they advised me to wait up to 10 days for a refund but as I don't have any money available this may end up with 10 x £10 fee for unplanned overdraft. Also spoken with bank and they say they can get this money straight back to my account, just need that mystical 6 digit code. I will try to ring bank again advising that rentalcars doesn't seem to be knowing what is that code really and what are the other option for me.

theonlywayisup · 13 March 2017 at 11:08AM

It doesn't really matter what has or hasn't happened in the past. The rental company appear to have pended the full amount now. Whether that is because you failed to opt for the deposit/pay later option I don't know but what is clear is you have a pending transaction on your account now.

What bank are you with?

theonlywayisup · 13 March 2017 at 11:12AM

Having a quick google, it would appear you have two avenues to attempt to resolve this.

1. Go back to rental cars and ask them to cancel and refund the transaction. The caveat being I don't know what your cancellation rights are.

2. Give the bank the unique reference number for the transaction (from Rental cars) so the bank can release the pending transaction. Further caveat I guess this will cancel the transaction and lead you back to knowing your cancellation rights.

takman · 13 March 2017 at 11:15AM

In the future you should always pay for things like Car Rental and Hotels with a Credit Card so that all your money isn't taken up by pending payments. You will also get the added Section 75 Protection on purchases over £100 aswell.

Anzhelka · 13 March 2017 at 11:20AM

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Having a quick google, it would appear you have two avenues to attempt to resolve this.

2. Give the bank the unique reference number for the transaction (from Rental cars) so the bank can release the pending transaction. Further caveat I guess this will cancel the transaction and lead you back to knowing your cancellation rights.

That's what I'm trying to get from them to get my money back quicker and my bank (by the way it's Lloyd) said that with that reference money can be released today - however been advised (in quite rude form) that they never give such as details to their customers.

However they've cancelled transaction and I don;'t have to pay anything for that, it's just the matter of time, they said I have to wait 10 days for the refund.

Urgent advice needed

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