It’s time for the EU to bring these car hire firms to book
EVERYONE, including myself seems to have car hire horror stories. The Irish Daily Mail recently revealed that some holidaymakers face bills of over €2,000 if they damage their hire car as rental firms hike their excess. Then this week, the Mail did sterling work all week, using undercover reporters to expose the myriad of tricks of the trade, ruses, and downright scams used by car hire companies to squeeze more money out of dazed travellers as they collect their vehicles at airports.
A year ago when I arrived to pick up my prebooked car in a busy airport in France I told them my travel plans had changed and that I wished to drop the car at a larger airport where they had an even busier base. They refused point blank – indicating that if I did not bring the car back to them directly they would consider it missing and bill me accordingly! I was forced to cancel the hire and forfeit the total cost. I then proceeded to another rental company five yards away that did allow you to leave their car at a different location at no extra cost.
Three years ago when I arrived to pick up a car on a busy bank holiday weekend, they simply told me there was no car as I was two hours late. With me delayed on the journey – and without a phone signal as I’d been stuck on a plane on a runway – they had simply hired out my car at the last minute to a higher bidder, leaving me and my family stranded! There was simply no other car available in the airport – and I had no comeback. A long letter to the company was simply ignored.
It seems that there is no comeback if you are ripped off by car hire companies who insist on holding a significant amount from your credit card. Who has had €70 whipped off their credit car for ‘administering’ a speeding fine which never occurred? I have.
I have seen parents with young kids, stressed out after long journeys being dragooned and emotionally blackmailed at busy car hire desks to take out totally unnecessary exorbitant ‘extra’ insurance.
I have seen drivers being charged extra for a portable sat nav, only to discover that there was an inbuilt system in the vehicle.
The undercover reports by the Mail also exposed the long-held suspicion that ‘damage’ to cars is either exaggerated greatly or simply fabricated. We are all used to the tiny ruler they now produce at car hire desks to warn you that if a scuff, scratch or so called ‘dent’ exceeds an inch you will be charged accordingly. We now know the ‘fine’ is a multiple of the cost – if any – of repair. The latest scam is to charge you if you dare slip into another country: for example, if you decide at the last minute to slip over the non-existent borders within Europe, you will be fined €500 for not telling them in advance.
There is now a serious need for a full investigation into the car hire companies. We know national consumer bodies are toothless but if the European Union can fine companies billions for alleged tax avoidance, they can surely bring car hire firms to book.