Have you had a car hire nightmare?

Hertz Madeira. Prepaid hire and have annual excess insurance. Still had 1/2 hour sales pitch to which I said no to everything. Told promotion on petrol price on return at competitive price on fuel used. At last someone being sensible on petrol! On return with 3/4 full petrol tank charged for a full tank, for personal insurance and cleaning clean car. Complaints and 3 e-mails produced nothing. Cost more than the original hire fee.
DON’T USE HERTZ
CBR Kefalonia Excellent friendly service, no probs, and didn’t charge me for a dink on the back!

Hertz, Belfast. Lousy experience with a defective vehicle that, once they had it back, they declared it was fine and billed us for the towing and for filling the tank. I’ve been reminding myself that HERTZ HURTS ever since, and haven’t used them again.

What about the Great Motability car lease Rip-off? Nothing charitable about them! You can get better deals from the better dealers without the hassle when things go horribly wrong! I was left in Ukraine for almost 5 months without support and a great big bill. A week in Hungary before BMW stepped in to save me and two weeks of wasted time in Russia while they tried to fix a puncture. My trip of a lifetime almost took a lifetime with Motability! Can we have a full Which? examination of this awful outfit? An organisation who told me: We are not a Charity you know… we are just a Limited Company who works for one… And dam right too! I am sure they have helped thousands but do they have a dark side? Members! If you are disabled or a carer and have had a bad experience please be heard and write in to Which? please.

I returned a car to Budget car hire at Belfast airport, where as soon as I parked the car a member of staff immediately pointed to a chip on the windscreen and said that I would have to sign a accident report form. I was taken aback and told him I thought that this was a scam because he did not check the rest of the car and I refused to sign any paperwork. Upon reaching home I searched the internet for any evidence of this being a scam, my very first hit described the exact same thing happening at Budget care hire in Vancouver airport and the guy who owned the Budget franchise also owned a windscreen replacement company. I wrote describing the above incident in full detail. After a number of emails between myself and Budget car hire company their interest in this incident was closed. Don’t let these bully boys force you into signing anything.

My worst story of car hire is with Europcar in Spain.

I hired a car from the Europcar office at Madrid Airport in January 2012. There were many problems which I reported by email to Europcar within 24 hours of hire – adding a few more a few days later – but they did not answer my emails until after the car went off hire. Emails went back and forwards for two months until Europcar offered me 2 vouchers. I replied asked for the value of the vouchers and did not receive a reply. I have sent 7 reminders since and have not received just one reply. And yesterday, two years after the initial complaint and just days before the peak Christmas hiring period, I learned at the same Madrid office to collect a prepaid car that Europcar has blacklisted me!! (My next problem is how to get the prepaid sum back.)

So, Europcar make a mistake, the customer complains and Europcar then blacklists them. This is a new and innovative approach to customer care – one which I imagine is not sustainable in the long term!

Do not focus just on the car hire companies – the car hire aggregators can be even more dishonest, deceitful and devious than the car hire companies.

It is they who introduced the idea of charging high prices for an obligatory full tank of fuel, adding excess cover that the customer does not need or scarring customers with ludicrously high excess figures, cancelling unprofitable contracts etc.

And, the best of course to last, they collect the customer’s fees up front and in full but pay the car hire companies 30+ days after the car goes off hire creating a nice and large cashflow upon which to earn interest for nothing.

I was astonished to find on 12 November 2013 that my credit card had 3 identical debits for over £35 each from Avis in Pisa. I had not been advised of these debits and have contested them as they relate to car Hire from Avis (2 to 8 June 2013) paid to BA along with airline tickets and hotel.

I have since found out that these are Avis’s administration charges for advising the Italian authorities of my name as it appears traffic offences had been committed. I have asked Avis for proof and have written twice to BA to complain and await their response. I have not heard from the Italian authorities and have been advised that it can take a year to process. “Manana” takes on a new meaning in Italy!

The car that Avis in Pisa provided was the worst car I have ever hired – minor dents and scratches but it was sound mechanically so we persevered.

I have nearly 50 years of driving experience many of them as a sales executive and have driven hire vehicles, own cars and vans in most countries of Europe and this FIASCO in Pisa is the first time I have had a problem. Both of my brothers in law experienced similar problems in 2012 in the Pisa area with the BA/Avis package.

Generally I find car hire business to be run by “Mafia” types who failed their dentistry exams so they try to “extract” as much dosh as possible from their helpless customers.

I found Wroclaw in Poland the cheapest place in Europe although the models are not the latest but Poland’s roads are now very busy unlike the Iberian peninsula.

Last September we took our Honda CRV on a Ferry from Portsmouth to Santander and drove to Lisbon, Seville, Malaga, Almeria, Barcelona, over the Pyrenees thru’ Paris and tunnel – No problems – after nearly 3K miles and nearly 3 months we no hidden charges or mysterious debits.

I find many of the comments to be exaggerated and often due to people who don’t read the small-print. If they did and they searched around they would get far better service but I’m afraid many people are too lazy or too naive or just want premium service at rock-bottom prices. I have hired cars in Spain and Mallorca around 8-9 times now with different companies and my biggest gripe as often mentioned is having to pay for a full tank at collection and having to return it empty or lose out. With the best will in the world I am not going to drive 700+ km in a week in Mallorca and usually return a half-full tank. I won’t accept this any more and I’m now using Sixt and getting first class service but admittedly at slightly higher prices.

There is another common problem especially at Palma Airport where external radio aerials are often missing – and often removed by other drivers to replace their own. So it’s not always the rental company trying it on. What you must do is to check the car thoroughly and make sure any defects are noted on the documents or go and report it before you drive away.

There is another point which I have made before and that is that the hire charges are generally much lower than in the UK and it’s hardly surprising that you will be charged for extras to boost any profit. Taking out the renter’s insurance for windscreen and tyres makes huge sense as far as I’m concerned because I don’t want any hassle when I’m away on holiday.

Of course renting cars abroad can be stressful and you have to have your wits about you, but I do find that at least 50% of the blame lies with the person renting the car.

Van hire can be even more problematic than car hire.
One needs to match up capacity with the load to be carried.
My nightmare was several years ago with a local company – they did not know
the load capacity of their vehicles even when challenged. I had to hire a professional
to transport some building materials after the hire company let me down badly.

I recommend Europcar who have supplied me a drop tail vehicle a number of times.
For a house removal this vehicle is excellent.

I recently booked a hired car through Holiday Autos, with Alamo to be picked up at Orlando with a family of 5. When I got to the Rental desk of Alamo I was told that the car was for 4 people. I showed the voucher from holiday autos and said it clearly states for 5 people ….they said the category is for 4 people, but accept the voucher says 5 but there is nothing they can do. Either I pay a supplement of several hundred dollars for a 5 seater , or else they cannot offer me the car. I tired to ring holiday autos but could not get through, and Alamo said they could not make international phone calls. They said I would have to take it up with Holiday autos. I reluctantly paid the extra amount, as I had no choice and then once at the hotel rang Holida autos in the uk to make them aware and open a complalint. I was told by Holiday Autos, thanks for letting them know, and they had opened a complaint and when I return to the uk to progress and let them know the full details. I did and now couple of weeks I have been told that there is nothing they can do…as looking at the agreement , I had signed at the desk for the car and decided to pay for an upgrade ….totally forgetting the fact that there was no choice but to accept car …..so beware that using a car broker just adds another layer in any dispute …..and each side and blame the other,!!