Car Rental - Is it always painful?

Antar Bolaeisk

Or am I just doing it wrong?

No matter what I do, no matter what company I go with, I always seem to get stung with hidden/extra charges.

Of course there's the airport tax which you're immediately stung with, some companies at least let you know what this will be whereas others will leave it as some vague, unspecified amount.

Most recently, in Ireland, I was given the spiel about how in danger and at risk I was should I accept full liability on the car (€2000 blocked on the credit card) and that instead I should accept their eminently affordable insurance, at only four times the original cost of the rental. I politely declined and was instead slapped with an extra €25 charge for literally nothing. When I asked the sales person why, I was told it was an administration charge, again I probed to be informed it was an administration charge as I was not taking any extras. So, an administration fee to do nothing.

Previously I was stung with having to pay the car rental's excess insurance despite having my own as they would only allow locals to accept the full risk. Additionally I had the choice of pre-paying $8 a day for toll roads or waiting until the end and paying a $25 per day administration fee and the costs of whatever tolls I had incurred. Both of these combined to more than double the initial cost of the car rental.

Am I the only eejet who can't book a car rental without finding all the costs up-front? Is there a reputable car rental company who won't try to swindle you? Is there some form of secret hand-shake which must be performed upon greeting the sales person? Should I maybe look in to horse rental instead?

The_Valeyard

Were on on the radio recently about this?

Antar Bolaeisk

What were they saying on the radio?

One More Toy

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

What were they saying on the radio?

They said you were on it

Antar Bolaeisk

One More Toy wrote: »

They said you were on it

Unless I've been cloned and don't know it I'm fairly certain it wasn't me.

One More Toy

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

Or am I just doing it wrong?

No matter what I do, no matter what company I go with, I always seem to get stung with hidden/extra charges.

Of course there's the airport tax which you're immediately stung with, some companies at least let you know what this will be whereas others will leave it as some vague, unspecified amount.

Most recently, in Ireland, I was given the spiel about how in danger and at risk I was should I accept full liability on the car (€2000 blocked on the credit card) and that instead I should accept their eminently affordable insurance, at only four times the original cost of the rental. I politely declined and was instead slapped with an extra €25 charge for literally nothing. When I asked the sales person why, I was told it was an administration charge, again I probed to be informed it was an administration charge as I was not taking any extras. So, an administration fee to do nothing.

Previously I was stung with having to pay the car rental's excess insurance despite having my own as they would only allow locals to accept the full risk. Additionally I had the choice of pre-paying $8 a day for toll roads or waiting until the end and paying a $25 per day administration fee and the costs of whatever tolls I had incurred. Both of these combined to more than double the initial cost of the car rental.

Am I the only eejet who can't book a car rental without finding all the costs up-front? Is there a reputable car rental company who won't try to swindle you? Is there some form of secret hand-shake which must be performed upon greeting the sales person? Should I maybe look in to horse rental instead?

Got car rental for the first time in the UK, couldnt have gone better tbh, this was with hertz, upgraded car, almost new. Cant complain

Antar Bolaeisk

One More Toy wrote: »

Got car rental for the first time in the UK, couldnt have gone better tbh, this was with hertz, upgraded car, almost new. Cant complain

No hidden/extra charges or anything?

Samaris

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

Am I the only eejet who can't book a car rental without finding all the costs up-front? Is there a reputable car rental company who won't try to swindle you? Is there some form of secret hand-shake which must be performed upon greeting the sales person? Should I maybe look in to horse rental instead?

Sounds like you had the car version of Ryanair!

I've not particularly rented vehicles before, but some years ago I worked with a company that facilitated bookings of vehicles. The only company that we worked with I can recall offhand was Avis, and I don't recall ever getting any complaints about them at least.

Disclaimer - It was a summer job, and I'm in no way affiliated with either that one anymore or Avis (or, if it comes to that, any other vehicle agency )

One More Toy

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

No hidden/extra charges or anything?

Nothing. The amount I was quoted was the amount I was charged. Only extra was filling it with diesel when done. Try hertz anyway, theres usually a code floating around too

The_Valeyard

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

What were they saying on the radio?

Some guy felt he got ripped off by the car rental and hidden charges. Think it was RTE One. Not Joe Duffy.......maybe John Murray.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

I rent cars from Malaga airport the whole time, I choose the desk with the shortest queue at that particular time. Never had any issues about price. Did you remember to smile & say hello as you approached the desk?

keysersoze0330

You're supposed to say 'tiger tiger' in a low voice to the receptionist at the car hire desk.

gramar

I got a car in Dublin a few weeks back with Thrifty (part of Hertz).
There is a rental charge for the privilege of renting at Dublin that I don't remember paying at other airports
around Europe.

The biggest gripe was the length of time it took to get the car.
It took an hour for 3 counter staff to give cars to the 8 or 9 in front of me.
I took about 3 minutes. Car was prebooked...I took the fuel option and the 0 excess insurance option.
I gave them my license and credit card and it couldn't be simpler.
With all the rest...mostly tourists they explained everything, car options, insurance cover, M50 toll etc etc
To each and every one of them. It seemed like most of them had never driven before and had had this last
minute idea to get a rental car.

SpaceTime

Hired a car in Italy.
Booked a very bland mid sized car.

They didn't have it so they forced me to take a brand new Alpha Romeo GT and insisted on giving me a free GPS to compensate!

The %%%%%s!

Also in Iceland they made me eat home made cakes while i was waiting

Antar Bolaeisk

I've never received any cakes or alpha-romeos, maybe I am just dealing with the wrong companies although to be fair, I normally avoid Hertz simply because they always seem to be much more expensive than the competition.

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Some guy felt he got ripped off by the car rental and hidden charges. Think it was RTE One. Not Joe Duffy.......maybe John Murray.

Maybe we're in the minority though I did hear about a lot of people complaining on the radio around Christmas time last year.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy wrote: »

I rent cars from Malaga airport the whole time, I choose the desk with the shortest queue at that particular time. Never had any issues about price. Did you remember to smile & say hello as you approached the desk?

I always smile and say hello

gramar wrote: »

I got a car in Dublin a few weeks back with Thrifty (part of Hertz).
There is a rental charge for the privilege of renting at Dublin that I don't remember paying at other airports
around Europe.

I think most places have an airport tax, if I remember correctly it's about E30 in Dublin.

gramar

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

I think most places have an airport tax, if I remember correctly it's about E30 in Dublin.

I know from renting in Stansted fairly often that the price of the car when booked is what you pay. Nothing extra for being an airport.

Dublin is the only place where I've rented that it has been charged.

uck51js9zml2yt

Have rented cars at home and abroad.
The worst was in Faro . I booked a Renault Megane and the made me take a Mercedes C class.
My protests went unnoticed

Normally buy excess insurance cover from blue insurance at a fraction of the hire companies cost without issue.

gramar

Brixton Square Silk wrote: »

Have rented cars at home and abroad.
The worst was in Faro . I booked a Renault Megane and the made me take a Mercedes C class.
My protests went unnoticed

Normally buy excess insurance cover from blue insurance at a fraction of the hire companies cost without issue.

The daily 0 excess cost is about 20 quid, worth it to avoid paying up to 1200 or thereabouts for any damage that you might not even have caused but I need to look at a company like blue for the next time. A four day rental means with VAT means about 100 euro more.

Ruu

Hired four times in the USA, booked online and prepaid. No added on charges, they did ask if I wanted additional cover but I always declined. Only complaint is that I like a compact car but sometimes get something bigger than I like. Got offered a Ford Mustang last time for same price.

zuutroy

Rented lots of times but by far the worst was Budget in Vancouver. The guy tried the hard sell on the crazy insurance and went so far as to outright lie and tell me I was leaving the office without any insurance whatsoever if I didn't take it.
They also then charged $12 a day because we were leaving BC and going into Alberta for 2 of the days, but they charged us for the entire 8 day rental.
The remote central locking broke while we had the car and I ended up snapping the key when I was brushing past the door. When we returned the car the guy said that it was no problem and they accepted liability because the central locking broke. They went ahead and charged my card for $350 anyway. I did a chargeback, got a threatening letter or two, and then never heard from them again.
Pricks.

Aongus Von Bismarck

Getting increasingly so. When I fly back to Ireland I always rent a car. This car is always a BMW 5-Series. Three of the last 6 times when I've got to the airport I've been offered a Volvo S60 instead. They try to tell me it's a similar class of car. It is in my hat!

If I wanted to give the impression I'm the principal of the local vocational school then I'd consider renting a Volvo S60. It annoys the hell out of me. I've asked them to put a note on my account asking that I get the car I ask for in future, or I'll be taking my business to another hire firm.

markpb

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

Getting increasingly so. When I fly back to Ireland I always rent a car. This car is always a BMW 5-Series. Three of the last 6 times when I've got to the airport I've been offered a Volvo S60 instead. They try to tell me it's a similar class of car. It is in my hat!

If I wanted to give the impression I'm the principal of the local vocational school then I'd consider renting a Volvo S60. It annoys the hell out of me. I've asked them to put a note on my account asking that I get the car I ask for in future, or I'll be taking my business to another hire firm.

I haven't seen an AvB post in a while bit it was worth the wait!

Testament1

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

Getting increasingly so. When I fly back to Ireland I always rent a car. This car is always a BMW 5-Series. Three of the last 6 times when I've got to the airport I've been offered a Volvo S60 instead. They try to tell me it's a similar class of car. It is in my hat!

If I wanted to give the impression I'm the principal of the local vocational school then I'd consider renting a Volvo S60. It annoys the hell out of me. I've asked them to put a note on my account asking that I get the car I ask for in future, or I'll be taking my business to another hire firm.

Surely it's an S Class Mercedes you should be going for? Given that the 5 series are massively overrated. And a fully specced S60 or S80 are excellent luxury cars if you can muster the strength to get over your brand snobbery.

M5

There is an airport charge everywhere, handy that it's a surcharge for renting where most people actually rent!

As for insurance, if you drive regularly it's a waste of money. It would only take a few weeks rentals to have the excess insurance exceed the excess. Also try to pick companies with lower excess.

The Dogs Bollix

Wanted to rent a car a few weeks ago

They wanted every document under the sun of me if paying by debit card

- payslip
- household bill
- bank statement

- I am on a government internship scheme, so I'm technically unemployed. No payslip.
- I have no household bill in my name as they in my housemate's names.
- I do have bank statements and other proof of address.

Now don't go attacking me, the unemployed renting cars... I wouldn't do it if I couldn't afford it and it was only a weekend car rental. I'm good at managing money, I don't go drinking it every weekend of the year, in fact I don't drink at all. I try and save whatever I can and I have very cheap rent and bills. And this was the first time in ages I was going for a car rental.

But they ignore all the documents if you have a credit card. And of course I can't get a credit card because I don't have the required income. Catch 22.

Dord

The Dogs Bollix wrote: »

Wanted to rent a car a few weeks ago

They wanted every document under the sun of me if paying by debit card

- payslip
- household bill
- bank statement

- I am on a government internship scheme, so I'm technically unemployed. No payslip.
- I have no household bill in my name as they in my housemate's names.
- I do have bank statements and other proof of address.

Now don't go attacking me, the unemployed renting cars... I wouldn't do it if I couldn't afford it and it was only a weekend car rental. I'm good at managing money, I don't go drinking it every weekend of the year, in fact I don't drink at all. I try and save whatever I can and I have very cheap rent and bills. And this was the first time in ages I was going for a car rental.

But they ignore all the documents if you have a credit card. And of course I can't get a credit card because I don't have the required income. Catch 22.

Are you sure you weren't buying a car? :pac:

Menas

I reckon I have rented fifty cars in various countries over the years and have only had hassle once.
Do your homework, read the terms and conditions and check the car before and after drop off. You will be grand.
But do remember that if a rental deal seems too good to be true than it probably had a catch.

Dollar Car Rental in the US is very good, and has reasonable insurance. Hertz is good too, but pricier.

I've never been gouged like the OP, car rentals have always been a fairly painless process.

my teapot is orange

Used Enterprise twice in the UK, went fine both times. I presume you would get an identical service from the same company in Ireland.

Antar Bolaeisk

Article on the Irish Times regarding car rental which does reference the hidden charges that aren't readily available until after you confirm the booking or reach the desk for collection. It does mention though that there's to be better transparency on charges with the bigger rental companies in future, at least within Europe.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/pricewatch-q-a-all-you-need-to-know-about-hiring-a-car-abroad-1.2301951

cbyrd

I remember missing a flight because of avis...muckers.... They had to repay over E1200..took 6 months and many phone calls...
Spoiled a good holiday...