Hire firm’s bum steer
Financial worries or just looking for better value for money? Consumer champion Fergus Muirhead answers your questions Pensioner couple faced massive rental bill after car company tried to change booking
Q I AM a regular reader of your column and I am writing to ask for your help on behalf of my elderly father. John, 75, and his partner Helen, 76, recently travelled to France and hired a car for their month-long stay. He booked a small Citroen C3 via EasyJet’s website from Europcar and they arrived at Nice Airport via Easyjet on Saturday, September 1. The cost of the car was going to be €600 for the four weeks. When they arrived at the Europcar desk, the couple were advised there was no car for them. Their only choice, they were told, was to take a seven seater Renault Scenic at a further cost of €400. The lady who served them was clear that if they did not take the car and pay the additional money, they would be left without any car for their stay. It was, she claimed, the only car left. They said they wanted the car they booked but were repeatedly told the only car Europcar had left to give them was the seven seater Renault. Having been up since 2.30am and travelled from Glasgow to Edinburgh for the flight, keen to complete the last stage of their journey and fearful of having no car for their longawaited break, the pensioners felt they had no option but to pay €1000 for a car they didn’t book, need or want.
My brother tried to help. He called Easyjet, who tried and failed to connect with Nice Airport. He eventually called Europcar and spoke with the lady who served my father. The sales assistant however came up with another story. She said my father and his partner had wanted the upgrade.
She said if they wanted to change (the car they originally booked and paid for had, it seems, become miraculously available) they would need to make the 1.5-hour trip back the following day. Being elderly, tired and stressed by the situation, my father didn’t feel up to making another three-hour round trip. Europcar refused to bring the car he had hired to them.
Surely this amounts to extortion by preying on the elderly and vulnerable? What two elderly people would do with a seven seater car is beyond any of us but the whole experience has left my father facing being €1000 out of pocket and upset. The start of what should have been a relaxing late summer break was in effect ruined. Carol Antuofermo
A
I’VE printed Carol’s email in full so that other readers can appreciate what her father was going through. But also because I hear about this type of thing more and more, so it’s important for other readers to know that there are things that can be done if you find yourself in the same situation as John.
It was a horrible start to a holiday, having all of that extra expense as well as having to drive a car for a month that wasn’t the one that you booked.
I’m delighted to say that after I spoke with them, Europcar recognised the issues John had faced and dealt with his situation very quickly and efficently.
They called him the same day to tell him that he wouldn’t be charged the extra money and that he could keep the bigger car that he had if he wanted to do that and at no extra cost.
In a statement, Europcar apologised and said: “Europcar is sorry for the unexpected charge incurred by Mr Young on his recent trip to France.
“This matter has been fully investigated and the company can confirm this was due to human error, for which it apologises.
“Europcar can confirm that the extra charge has been removed from Mr Young’s rental agreement.” All’s well that ends well and I have to say, I was impressed with the Europcar response. Firstly, because they responded so quickly and secondly, and to my mind more importantly, because they were big enough to admit that they made a mistake.
We can all make mistakes and my basis of judgment on a company is how they deal with and rectify their mistlake.
The first step is admitting to it and Europcar did that. They also sorted it quickly, so well done. I wish more