Yet Another Rental Car Rip Off

Newworld,

Thanks for the link to the Trustpilot reviews.  First off I was surprised by Centauro low rating, then I tried a few more and most are low, including Hertz UK which is through the floor!  The only company that I found with a mediocre score was Goldcar (6.5 Average).  

Many of the ratings are based on low numbers of samples and from my school statistics days recall that this creates inacuracies and samples that are easily corrupted by a few bogus reports, standard deviation and all that.  But still, interesting.

How easy it is to make sweeping statements 

The "big boys" as they are called operate much better than ever

Fuel refunds notified within 24hrs on the card within 48hrs

Deposits only held against card money not taken 

If you have excess insurance just be firm that you've made your own arrangements

The " big boys " are happy to check over the vehicle with you when you take it and on return 

Get them to sign your copy that all is ok or for specific incidents 

With this information your insurer will settle your claim and if they feel they've been duped will go after the rental company themselves 

To finish I've never classed record as much a company and not a " big boy" !!

David W,

You are correct, I recall the days of us booking all inclusive flights, villa with pool and quality car in Menorca, the worst that ever happened is that our Megane saloon was replaced with a brand new Megane cabriolet, a tough call but we got over it.

Somewhere within the passage of time we got used to cheap and not very cheerful, I suppose that you get what you pay for, pay little get little. 

When we did rent we went with Holiday Autos for years. They always achieved prices well below those that we would have got had we gone directly to the rental operators.

When we stopped using them it was because we found a rental car broker in Birmingham who not only did better than Holiday Autos but would revise the price for you when he found a better deal.

However neither paths insulated us from the fuel and insurance scams but we did get exceptionally good deals on the basic rentals. To me the rental was a large part of our expendidure and there was no way I would pay through the nose by going straight to the operator when I could get a car 50% or more cheaper.

Why not try https://www.eyeonspain.com/car-hire-rentals.aspx Eye on Spain Car Hire must be honest and no scamming.

ELSIETANNER

EYE ON SPAIN DOES NOT OFFER ANY CAR RENTAL SERVICES.

THE WEB SITE ONLY FACILITATES ACCESS TO MULTIPLE CAR RENTAL COMPANY 'QUOTES' THROUGH OUR SPECIFIC SEARCH ENGINE IN ORDER TO SAVE YOU TIME. 

[I think we've been here before haven't we? Maybe we didn't explain ourselves clearly enough the first time. We trust you have understood it this time......]

Just an update on my car hire claim :-

the UK insurance company will not pay out unless i get written confirmation that Record have not already re-imbursed me - OK but having called them 12 times and sent 10 emails still no response - they dont even pick up the phone.

On the second issue where they charged me for existing damage the insurance quite simply say "they shoudny have done that" well thats bloody obvious but how will you help me ? "i must deal with Record direct "

I guess the moral of this story is always take out the extra insurance - dont bother with UK covewr its a waste of time and then batter the Record car before returning it !!!!

 One of my mates wouldn't pay the hire car SC, don't know the price quoted, because he had bought the UK insurance, the hire car company did what they do and actually took a 900€ deposit of his card, some say they don't do that, think the £££ conversion price at the time was about £800.00, anyway it has taken him a couple of weeks to see that it was returned and when it was £60.00 had been taken out, no reasons given and he couldn't get any, the rental was with Dickmans, of which I know nothing about so not rubbishing them at all.

I suppose that this is a daft question, but what the hell? Does any car hire firm actually publish on-line what their comprehensive insurance upgrade costs?

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g187427-i42-k6102328-Dickmanns_car_rental-Spain.html

I have now had my credit card company stop the payment to Record Go - lets see what happens next.

My findings show Centauro as the most transparent in respect of pre booking information, for an example of 8 days hire, see below.

Ford Focus

Basic Full-Empty hire with mandatory deposit and insurance excess = 174.80€

Comfort Full-Full hire with aditional driver, mandatory deposit and insurance excess = 214.80€

Premium Full-Full hire with express check in, no excess and no deposit = 328.80€

Quite a difference between Basic and Premium.

Well its now been 6 weeks and my claim still hasnt been setled.Eversure now tell me that i am not covered for an accident involving a third party if its their fault and you catch them - although the car hire company will charge you for the damage using your XS deposit i am told that when the claim is settled between the third party and the car hire company i should then be paid back the money they have already taken from my card.I can say that i am not convinced i will ever get my money back.For Eversure to just leave you to it and not help you in this instance convinces me that next time i go abroad i will just pay the robbing bastards the full cover insurance.

Dodworther - didn't you instruct you credit card company to withold payment?  You have to prove your case but I've found them to be very reasonable people.

I did try that but because i input my PIN when leaving the deposit they would not withold payment - once burnt twice shy !

Said this many times, I always buy the extra rental super cover more for one reason then anything else, as you have found out.

A few weeks ago I rented a car in Spain and asked if they would do the super cover a bit cheaper as I always use them, sorry no, but it would be the same price if you rented the car for 1 month / 2 months etc, they said, the car had a decent sized dent in one door which I didn't report, took it back, the agent asked me for the paper work, looked at it and said okay you have Super so you don't have to wait for the inspection, I did notice and wonder why so many were standing around with agents reps going over the cars with a fine tooth comb, never noticed this before and perhaps just another means to get extra money from renters.

 All I can say is It is a bit pricey this extra cover, but for peace of mind it's not a lot.

Yes Baz i agree with all your observations - if you look at Records T&C's there is a meximum super cover charge .

The hire companies locations also compound the problems as they are all located in the subterranean world of Malaga airport which is as dark as a glow worms armpit.

Also have you seen the number of people photographing or taking a video of the car body work before leaving the airport - that in itself should tell us a story and make us wary of what to expect.

BTW i have never had an accompanied review of my car upon return.

I have learned my lesson with car hire but the cost has now risen to a ppint where it exceeds the cost of two flights from the UK.

Hey  Ho !

Yes, dodworther, I have seen the cameras / video's going full swing, I have done this myself in the early days past but now due to the super cover don't bother anymore, did try buying a policy in the UK as it was ridiculously cheap and when I went to get the car I couldn't be doing with the explaining about these, got a full refund when I came back.

I have been hiring cars in Spain for extended periods for many years now with few problems but I  feel I should warn potential car hirers that things are not what they used to be and there is now a distinct possibility that you WILL be taken advantage of by Spanish car hirers.

For the first time ever I unfortunately allowed Dickmann's at Alicante Airport to take (not reserve) an Excess Insurance Cover amount of Euros 950 from my Mastercard on a recent car hire of 3 weeks. However, since I returned to the UK in October, they have failed - despite a number of 'chasing' Emails from me - to arrange the refund of the Euros 950 to my Credit Card.

I now well understand from other unfortunate people hiring cars in Spain that I have been very lucky indeed to have only dealt with car hire companies who just 'reserved' an amount to cover the Insurance excess figure and did not actually take the money from my Credit Card. I was NOT impressed in my first dealings with this Dickmann's car hire lot and I will make sure I never darken their doorstep again. The problem of their failure to return my money is now in the hands of Mastercard. Be warned - avoid this Dickmann's car hire company at all costs !

Dickmann's have form for this kind of thing. The hold on to the deposit way longer than they should. Other companies put the money on the card and then, when you take it back, put the money back in virtually straight away. In most cases, unless your hire period goes over two billing dates, you won't even see the charge on the card. Trouble with Dickmann's is that wait a long time so not only does it go on your card but you can lose out a lot on the difference in exchange rates. I can't remember how many times this particular company has done this.