fooking car hire companies

I can't remember if I said this before but Hertz accused me of taking the spare tyre onto a plane to Ireland. We had to get a solicitor involved to get the money back. This was after their fella checked the car out and said everything was alright.

Edited by corkery - 18 Aug 2018 at 11:57pm

Who refunded you about the diesel car? Carhireexcess.com or the rental car company?

At least you got your money back.  How long did it take?

The worst part about that €300 charge for the dent on the bonnet is they won't even fix it and will probably leave it there to try and sting the next person who rents the car.

A brand new chapter here, put the kettle on.

Hired a car in Faro, they gave me the forms and on the “map” of the car, there was one “x”.
According to them that meant there was only one bit of damage/dent/scratch on it.
The car was only 6 months old, 10k on the clock.
So I went out to the car and found 12 more scratches/marks etc.
I went back into them, and without even checking they said ok and did a new form/contract with 13 “x”s on it.
The car was parked reversed very close to a wall, it was only when I moved it out a few feet I saw marks on the rear bumper.
I just knew there was going to be an issue when I returned it.
I took about 30 photo’s of the car.

I returned it 10 days later after filling up the tank at the petrol station right outside the airport.
I drove it straight to the Goldcar car park, the guy gets into the car, turns the key and says the tank is not full. I said it was, i filled it up 5 minutes ago, I then said give me the keys then and I’ll bring it back to the garage to fill it again (knowing I’d get about 10c into it), I said I was in no rush.
He turned the key again and said “ ahh it is ok, it is full, the needle didn’t go all the way up the first time”.
Chancer.
I then gave him the contract to sign and he saw the original first page only had the one “x” on it, he walks around to the back of the car and says there is new damage.
I turned to the amended 2nd page of the contract , the one with 13 “x”s, and I showed him the photo with the bumper damage already on it.
He just gave me a look and said “ok everything is good”, he signed the contract and wrote “full” on it beside the mileage.

So everything was grand until 3 days later I get an email to say I was being charged a €59 penalty fee for not returning the tank full.
I emailed them a copy of the contract with “full” written on it, and initialled by the guy who took the car back.
I got an email back, referring to their fuel penalty fee policy.
Then I emailed again, saying I was fully aware of the policy, but they need to look at the photo/contract.
Again a bland reply....so I took to Twitter.
I tweeted Goldcar and Faro Airport.....brief description and the contract photo with “full” written on it.
Then I tweeted Goldcar and Portugl tourism the same message/photo
Then I teeeted Goldcar and Algarve tourism the same message/photo
Then I tweeted Goldcar and Portuguese Govt same message/photo
Then I tweeted Goldcar and Portuguese Tourism minister message/photo
Then I tweeted Goldcar and Portuguese National TV message/photo
Then I tweeted Goldcar and Portuguese National Radio same message/photo
I was firing these out every couple of minutes, then guess what happened.....I got a tweet from “Goldcar Cares” saying there may have been a mistake, they are sorry.
If I could open a new complaint file they would get it refunded.

Money went back into my account yesterday.

GB 1HughJarse wrote: A brand new chapter here, put the kettle on. Hired a car in Faro, they gave me the forms and on the “map” of the car, there was one “x”. According to them that meant there was only one bit of damage/dent/scratch on it. The car was only 6 months old, 10k on the clock. So I went out to the car and found 12 more scratches/marks etc. I went back into them, and without even checking they said ok and did a new form/contract with 13 “x”s on it. The car was parked reversed very close to a wall, it was only when I moved it out a few feet I saw marks on the rear bumper. I just knew there was going to be an issue when I returned it. I took about 30 photo’s of the car. I returned it 10 days later after filling up the tank at the petrol station right outside the airport. I drove it straight to the Goldcar car park, the guy gets into the car, turns the key and says the tank is not full. I said it was, i filled it up 5 minutes ago, I then said give me the keys then and I’ll bring it back to the garage to fill it again (knowing I’d get about 10c into it), I said I was in no rush. He turned the key again and said “ ahh it is ok, it is full, the needle didn’t go all the way up the first time”. Chancer. I then gave him the contract to sign and he saw the original first page only had the one “x” on it, he walks around to the back of the car and says there is new damage. I turned to the amended 2nd page of the contract , the one with 13 “x”s, and I showed him the photo with the bumper damage already on it. He just gave me a look and said “ok everything is good”, he signed the contract and wrote “full” on it beside the mileage. So everything was grand until 3 days later I get an email to say I was being charged a €59 penalty fee for not returning the tank full. I emailed them a copy of the contract with “full” written on it, and initialled by the guy who took the car back. I got an email back, referring to their fuel penalty fee policy. Then I emailed again, saying I was fully aware of the policy, but they need to look at the photo/contract. Again a bland reply....so I took to Twitter. I tweeted Goldcar and Faro Airport.....brief description and the contract photo with “full” written on it. Then I tweeted Goldcar and Portugl tourism the same message/photo Then I teeeted Goldcar and Algarve tourism the same message/photo Then I tweeted Goldcar and Portuguese Govt same message/photo Then I tweeted Goldcar and Portuguese Tourism minister message/photo Then I tweeted Goldcar and Portuguese National TV message/photo Then I tweeted Goldcar and Portuguese National Radio same message/photo I was firing these out every couple of minutes, then guess what happened.....I got a tweet from “Goldcar Cares” saying there may have been a mistake, they are sorry. If I could open a new complaint file they would get it refunded. Money went back into my account yesterday.

I've been renting since 2005. Got badly stung once but once is enough to put the sh*ts up you.  ITs all down to the individual you are dealing with. Sometimes the employee is lazy and couldn't be arsed checking the car thoroughly. Other times they are out to get you.  I think I remember BBC Panorama or someone like that doing an investigation into car rental companies years back.