Cruise with confidence when renting a car
Know your options and responsibilities before you sign the contract
Renting a car will always cost you a lot more than the advertised price after all the add-ons are tallied up.
Insurance for the car and personal effects, service charges, airport surcharges, concession fees and taxes can sometimes sour a sweet $9.99 per day weekend getaway deal.
Premium roadside assistance, addition- al driver coverage, with an added cost if that driver is under 25, late return fees, and gas fill-up charges if the vehicle is returned without a full tank, can add to the cost.
As do additional products used, including GPS security and tracking, satellite radio, child seats, ski racks. And there’s even a fee for using frequent flyer or loyalty points in some cases.
Add an unpaid parking ticket or toll road fees and the related administrative costs that some companies charge to your credit card and you may wish you’d chartered a plane instead.
Those are consumers’ options, costs and liabilities, but what are the rental firm’s responsibilities when a low-mileage, latemodel car has mechanical issues out of the blue and far from home?
When a warning light came on, as it did when Barrie resident Sid Priddle and his wife Elizabeth were on a recent trip to the U.S., the couple were suddenly faced with just that kind of question.
Most assume the rental company, or its service partner, will come to their assistance to fix or supply a replacement vehicle with the auto’s warranty covering the repair cost.
At least you’d like to think so. A former journalist, public relations specialist and the current GM of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, Priddle had a curious rental car experience on a trip south of the border when the 2014 Chevy Cruze’s engine warning light came on.
The couple was heading north for Watkins Glen, N.Y., after spending some time at a family gathering in Virginia Beach in September, when the car’s emergency light came on.
So they stopped at a service centre in Carlisle, Pa. The gas station didn’t have a diagnostic scanner to determine why the engine light came on, even though the Cruze was running fine.
“I phoned the Budget rental office in Barrie (where he rented the car) and I was told to call roadside assistance using the 800 number on the key chain, which I did,” said Priddle.
A roadside assistance rep said to him: “For us to come and get you will cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars, and for you to turn the car into us to change it will cost hundreds of dollars.
“He said I had refused roadside assistance and I told him I’d turned down the insurance coverage and signed off on it — a loss damage waiver at $27 a day and personal accident coverage at $8.99 per day — because the rider on my (personal insurance) policy covered rental cars.
“In the meantime, my wife read through the whole contract and there was no mention of roadside assistance, or that it was turned down,” said Priddle.
“Then I called the guy back at Budget in Barrie and told him the roadside assistance rep said I had refused it, when it didn’t say that on my contract. And he said: ‘Well, that’s not us, it’s them.’ ”
Days later, after dropping off the car when he got back home to Barrie, he called Budget’s customer care number and spoke to a woman who told Priddle there was no roadside assistance available for Budget’s Canadian customers travelling in the States.
It was a circumstance she referred to as a “loop hole” and for Priddle, it just added to the confusion.
Meanwhile, days earlier, back at the Carlisle service centre, a friendly State trooper who stopped by directed the couple to a nearby Auto Zone outlet, where a tech was able to electronically scan the car’s workings. The reading indicated the problem was in the “brake pedal positioning centre” and the mechanic wasn’t sure what that meant, but he determined the brakes and lights worked fine and the car was safe to drive, so the Priddles continued their drive to Watkins Glen and then homeward and ignored the warning light. Three hours later Budget’s roadside assistance rep called back and Priddle told him the problem had been solved and he didn’t need help anymore. An hour later, the engine light went out without warning and stayed off all the way home. As a CAA member, Priddle was covered by AAA in the U.S. and had he needed an alternate source for roadside assistance, he would have contacted AAA. He just assumed he was covered when renting from Budget, which is part of the Avis Budget Group, a global organization that boasts 10,000 rental locations in approximately175 countries around the world. After the Star contacted the firm’s corporate office, Amy Ackerson, senior manager with Avis Budget’s corporate communications looked into the matter and responded via email. “In light of the renter’s experience, we are reviewing our procedures with the appropriate teams to ensure that renters get the information they need or can be properly directed to the appropriate team for assistance. And she explained Budget’s roadside assistance policy. “Budget in Canada and the U.S. offers roadside assistance, which is standard with every rental, as well as the optional Roadside SafetyNet coverage,” said Ackerson. “The phone number for roadside assistance is included on the rental jacket and on the key tag. Roadside assistance should be contacted anytime there is a concern about the rental vehicle while it is being driven. “We believe there may have been some confusion regarding the standard roadside assistance (included with every rental) and the optional ‘Roadside SafetyNet.’ ” Ackerman said “standard roadside assistance ensures that help is provided to the renter and the vehicle; however depending on the situation, the customer may incur some additional costs. The ‘Roadside SafetyNet’ covers costs associated with potential problems, for a daily fee. “This optional coverage covers unlimited towing, free gas delivery, replacement cost of keys and tires (rubber only), windshield repair and/or replacement, and battery boosts. There are no distance limits within North America to have costs for these items covered when Roadside SafetyNet is purchased.
“If a customer encounters a problem with the vehicle during their rental, he or she should contact roadside assistance. Depending on the issue with the vehicle, the customer would be advised as to how to proceed (i.e., take it to a nearby location, wait for assistance, etc.). If repairs are required, the customer would be provided with a replacement vehicle, so he or she can continue on his or her journey.”
Regardless of who you rent a car from, there are certain driver actions that violate the rental agreement, such as cruising off-road, or even on unpaved roads, and using an unauthorized vehicle to tow something. wheels@thestar.ca