Rentalcars.com unfair no show fee
AndySofa
Posts: 6 Forumite
Hi
Due to a delayed Eurostar train I missed my pickup time for a car I had booked through rentalcars.com for two weeks in France at a price of £410. I tried to get through to them on the morning of the pickup many times on the phone with no success. I was on hold for more than half an hour whilst trying to navigate my way around Paris. I also asked my dad to contact them. He was on hold for over 45 mins with no success. I also tried tweeting them - they responded a day later. They are told me that I couldn't have a refund or have the car that I paid for as I was a no show. I don't believe this to be reasonable as I did try to contact them on multiple occasions and have evidence of this. I raised a case with them but got a generic response back from their customer services team regarding there T&Cs.
Any advice on how I should proceed next would be much appreciated. I was thinking about maybe claiming a chargeback through the credit card company that I made the booking on (not sure whether this is the correct mechanism or whether to use section 75).
Many Thanks
Andy
Due to a delayed Eurostar train I missed my pickup time for a car I had booked through rentalcars.com for two weeks in France at a price of £410. I tried to get through to them on the morning of the pickup many times on the phone with no success. I was on hold for more than half an hour whilst trying to navigate my way around Paris. I also asked my dad to contact them. He was on hold for over 45 mins with no success. I also tried tweeting them - they responded a day later. They are told me that I couldn't have a refund or have the car that I paid for as I was a no show. I don't believe this to be reasonable as I did try to contact them on multiple occasions and have evidence of this. I raised a case with them but got a generic response back from their customer services team regarding there T&Cs.
Any advice on how I should proceed next would be much appreciated. I was thinking about maybe claiming a chargeback through the credit card company that I made the booking on (not sure whether this is the correct mechanism or whether to use section 75).
Many Thanks
Andy
0
Comments
-
You could try chargeback through the credit card, but if you failed to comply with the t&c's it would appear that the car rental company has acted correctly. They aren't psychic and couldn't know you were trying to get through to them.0
-
Thanks for your reply. I will give the chargeback a go. I just cannot believe that they can charge me £410 and then say I couldn't have the car for the rest of the period that I had booked it for. It would not cost them anything for me to have it one day less than booked.
Whilst I agree that they're not psychic, what was I supposed to do if I couldn't get through to them. I believe that I made every reasonable effort to do so before the pickup time.0 -
When you contact your credit card issuer about a chargeback/Section 75 claim, make sure that you point out that you fully complied with Rentalcar's T&C's regarding the late pick up:If you are unable to pick the car up at the agreed time and date, it is essential you contact us as soon as possible. If you do not, there is no guarantee that the car will still be available – and you will not be entitled to any refund.
https://www.rentalcars.com/TermsAndConditions.do
You did speak to them as soon as you possibly could and if they couldn't or wouldn't answer the telephone any earlier then there was nothing else that you could have done to make them aware of what was happening.0 -
:T Thanks I that's really helpful. I hadn't focused in on those words in the T&Cs0
-
Just out of interest, did you also try to contact the car rental company or just rentalcars.com?0
-
Rentalcars.com is who I tried to contact as advised through their app0
-
Rentalcars.com is who I tried to contact as advised through their app
A shame that you didn't try to contact the car rental company itself, as they may have been able to hold the car for you. I am sure even if they had levied a fee, of say 30 euros, that you would have accepted that, rather than the inconvenience losing the whole thing.
Rentalcars would simply have done the same thing. Contacted the outlet to let them know you would be late. You could have done that yourself.0 -
I agree with the posts above about contacting the rental office. Rental cars.com are just an agent and don’t rent any cars out. If you’d called the rental company office directly I expect you’d have been able to speak to them in a timely manner and been able to get some practical help. I appreciate it’s of no use now though - but hindsight is 20/20.
Good luck with your chargeback or section 75 claim. Rentalcars.com are obviously sticking to their T&Cs so it will all depend on how your bank view the fact that you tried to contact them. If this was on a mobile I would screenshot the call logs and keep as supporting evidence.
Have you tried your travel insurance? Given that delayed public transport caused the issue then you may well have a valid claim on that. Your bank may refer you back to travel insurance in the first instance.0 -
Thanks I'll also take another look at my travel insurance policy. Yes hindsight is a wonderful thing but difficult to think of these things at the time whilst sorting everything else out. I still think i made a very reasonable effort to contact them.0
-
You should have no trouble reclaiming your costs in court using the phone bills and the Rentalcar instructions as evidence.
So prepare your case and send a "letter before action".
There are several cases on here of car hire companies backing down when presented with phone bills to corroborate the customer case.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.7K Spending & Discounts
- 235.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 607.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173K Life & Family
- 247.8K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards