YOU’RE TIRED, STRESSED – AND THEY’RE READY TO RIP YOU OFF
IT IS 10am and the arrivals terminal at Malaga Airport on the Costa Del Sol is teeming with bleary-eyed families and groups of friends. I have flown there because of repeated concerns that car rental firms are ripping off British holidaymakers, writes Victoria Bischoff.
A year ago the Mail revealed how firms were penalising drivers for buying insurance through third party websites. excess waiver insurance policies – which can be bought online for about £10 – pay out if there’s any damage to the car.
But car rental firms insisted drivers could only use these if they also let them take a huge card deposit, only to be repaid if the car was returned undamaged.
On my return I found salesmen were up to the same tricks – and had added some more ... ready to wring extra cash out of the tourists leaning wearily on their suitcases, desperate to get to their hotels.
FORCED TO INSURE THE CAR FOR THREE DAYS
AT HeRTz I have booked a Fiat 500 for one day online for 57.92euros and separately taken out a policy from iCarhireinsurance for £8.97.
After approaching the desk, the pitch starts. ‘At the moment there is not included the full insurance. Just the basic,’ the saleswoman says. ‘I need to take from your credit card now 1,400euros’.
The sum will be held and then be released as long as I return the car undamaged. I hand her the certificate showing I have full cover through another company. ‘Yes, this is very good. But you still have to pay,’ she insists.
‘This is not with us.’ She says the only way to avoid the deposit is to buy Firefly’s own insurance. But the firm does not offer cover for just one day. Instead, I must pay for three days at 56euros.
And, instead of being billed the price I was quoted online, the price has risen to 61.91euros. Firefly has added a charge for paying by credit card and tax. What’s more, I can only drive 60km without incurring extra costs. Anything over this and I’ll pay 37p per km not including VAT.
A spokesman for Firefly said the credit charge fee is not included in the booking process as it only applies if a credit card is used to pay.
The firm said it is ‘standard practice in the industry’ to block an amount as a deposit on the driver’s card if they do not take out full cover with them.
It said its maximum deposit is 1,100euros and fee quoted was ‘ human error, for which we apologise’.
In the event of damage or theft, a driver with insurance from another firm still has to pay Firefly up to the excess amount and then claim this back from the third party insurer.
FUEL OPTION COULD NOT BE CANCELLED
AT GOLDCAR I also reserved a Fiat 500 for 44.86euros. I am served by enrique. ‘I’m guessing you’re not taking the insurance,’ he says. ‘So you have to also leave a deposit of 1,100 euros.’
I show him my excess insurance document. ‘Yeah but that’s with a broker – that’s not with us,’ he says.
The salesman at Goldcar said third party excess waiver policies are ‘not worth it’ and that, because of the time it can take to get refunds through them, ‘it is better to spend a little bit more money’.
My options are to pay 60euros for Goldcar’s insurance or have the huge deposit held from my account.
I have chosen a ‘Flex Fuel’ option, meaning I can return the car without having to fill up the tank. This is the best choice, enrique assures me. All he needs is a €53 deposit – the cost of the full tank. If there is fuel left when I return the car Goldcar
will refund the difference. ‘The emptier the better in fact,’ he adds.
But there is a catch. Car hire firms typically charge more for fuel than a regular petrol station. so the emptier my tank, the more i’ll overpay.
When i ask the salesman if Goldcar charges the same rate for fuel as a petrol station, he says ‘a little bit more’.
Only when i ask if there is a fee for this service, he reveals there is also a nonrefundable 18euro charge. Can i switch so i can refuel before returning the car? ‘ We cannot change it. You’ve chosen the vehicle that way, it’s that way,’ he says.
Enrique says there is an extra 5euro charge because i have less than four years on my driving license – a fee not mentioned in my booking terms and conditions.
The extras mean my 44.86euro bill is now 68 – 52 per cent extra. On top of this i must leave a 53euro deposit for a tank of fuel and a 1,100euro deposit in case i damage the car. so, for the duration of the holiday i could be €1,221euros worse off.
Europcar announced last month that it is buying Goldcar but it would not comment on current issues with the firm.
Goldcar said the charge for new drivers was not in its terms and conditions because of a mistake in the English version. it said there is also a 4euro a day charge for having a diesel car to reflect the additional benefits of ‘lower fuel consumption, lower fuel price and usually a more powerful engine’.
it apologised if it was the case that staff had not explained the insurance options clearly. A spokesman added: ‘The Flex Fuel option is popular because many customers are obliged to return their vehicles very early in the morning and cannot be sure they will be able to fill up before return.’
CAUGHT OUT BY EXCHANGE RATE PLOY
AT EUROPCAR i’ve reserved another Fiat 500 for the day at 101euros, which is double the price at Goldcar. Again i’m told i only have basic insurance. so in the event of a crash i’ll be responsible for an 870euro excess. The saleswoman recommends full cover with Europcar. When i pull out my own excess policy, she accepts it but a deposit of 300euro must still be held. This is to cover charges other than damage.
The petrol tank is given full, with no deposit required, and i must return it full. i hire the car and return it with no problems. Later, when i look at the breakdown of charges, i spot a 15euro fee for something called ‘premium station charge’ included in the 101euro bill. When i ask what it’s for i’m told it’s an airport charge, automatically added by the firm to all rentals just because it is from the airport.
i then notice the bill an additional 3.25 per cent charge for converting the 101euro price into pounds. This has bought the total bill up to £92.38 instead of the £89.22 estimated on my email booking.
At no point was i asked if i wanted to pay in pounds. Doing so works out more expensive because companies can use their own exchange rate and there is usually a fee for doing the conversion. A spokesman for Europcar said: ‘The customer should be asked their currency preference. The company apologises if this didn’t occur on this occasion and it would be happy to refund the difference. A premium location surcharge is applied because of the charges levied by airport operators.’
CARS WERE ‘DOUBLE THE ONLINE PRICE’
WhiLE at the airport i also tried renting without a pre-booking. At BUDGET, i ask for a car big enough for three plus suitcases. They don’t have any left, i’m told. it’s either a very small or very big car.
For a seven-seat Volkswagen Touran it’s 1,200euros for seven days with full cover included. however, when i look online i see the firm will allow me to pick up a very similar car within 24 hours for 517.24euros – less than half the price.
At ThRiFTY, which is owned by hertz, i am told that i can have a Citroen Picasso for €723. its website is offering a similar car within 24 hours for €300.81.
A spokesman for Budget said: ‘We have investigated this incident and have addressed the issue to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. We strive to deliver a satisfactory rental experience and apologise that this was not the case in this instance. Across Europe, Budget’s standard walk-up rates are the same as the non-prepaid rates online.’
Thrifty said prices might be ‘ nominally cheaper’ on the internet – but the difference should not have been as high as we found. it said prices could fluctuate demand, destination and other factors.
For both Budget and Thrifty, online prices quoted did not include full excess waiver insurance. The fee quoted at the desk did.