A costly change of gear over car hire charge

QMY SON and his family, who live in Switzerland, needed a hire car from Glasgow Airport. On the Holiday Autos site they found a bargain – £25 for three days from Green Motion plus £16 for Axa insurance. He was told he’d have to pay a £400 credit card deposit. He paid the car hire £25 and the insurance.

When we arrived at Green Motion (not at the airport as had been indicated but a distance away needing courtesy transport) the deposit had inexplicably risen to £1,205 – beyond his credit card. Green Motion offered an alternative – £200 deposit and £96 extra charges making the hire £121 – nearly five times the original fee. We decided to walk away, losing the insurance.

I phoned Holiday Autos which refunded the Axa £16. I asked for the £25 hire fee but was told this was “forfeited for administration costs”. I was promised a call back but this never happened.

I had even less success with Green Motion. It refused to refund the fee, saying it had received nothing as the deal was not finalised. I accept I have probably lost my £25. What are my rights dealing with car rental firms? John H

ACAR hire generates many complaints – there are websites and forums devoted to many car hire firms, including Green Motion.

Problems include virtually invisible scratches charged exorbitantly; “unavailability” of cars so you end up with something more expensive or unsuitable; and arguing over fuel costs. They have your credit card so they can deduct whatever they want.

Which? advises complaining to the car hire company first, giving it 14 days to respond. If that fails, escalate to European Car Rental Conciliation Service – but that only applies to certain big companies, and in Europe. In the UK, there’s the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association, of which Green Motion is a member.

Green Motion says that while “it is regrettable that you had such an unfortunate experience” it blames the problem on your failure to read the terms and conditions.

However, it adds: “If the branch subsequently advised that the deposit was £400, this was an unfortunate error on their part, possibly due to the recent change