AA Zone
Hire car horror storiesHired an unsafe car abroad or charged unreasonable extras?
Original Post
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Posted At 26/05/2009 AAChris  |
A recent AA Eurotest survey has highlighted a minefield of hidden charges, complex insurances and unhelpful service when hiring a car on the Med.
Not one of the 60 car hire outlets in 12 Mediterranean resorts was rated very good for customer service by expert inspectors. Only eight were good and 37 were poor or very poor. The inspectors were twice over-charged on their credit cards and a lack of vehicle condition checks by hirers meant that 23 car rentals left holidaymakers with no defence against an unjustified claim for damage. Hire a 4x4 vehicle and there is a more than 70% chance of being handed keys to a death-trap - five of the seven 4x4 vehicles inspected had serious mechanical defects: Malta – a small off-roader that couldn't do hill starts because the handbrake didn't work, dripped oil, and had bald or damaged tyres Turkey – another small off-roader with damaged suspension, oil leaking out of the engine, and a loose back seat without safety belts Spain – a large 4x4 with a bald and half-inflated tyre, driver's side wiper falling off, low on coolant, mirror attached precariously and a driver's seatbelt that didn't roll back automatically Now BBC Radio 4's You & Yours have picked up the story and want to hear from victims of the mediterranean car hire cowboys. If you've got a story to tell share it here or email Luke Bosdet in the AA Public Affairs team (luke.bosdet@theaa.com) |
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AAChris
Posts: 41
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Subject: Hire car horror stories
Posted At: 26/05/2009 12:11:05
A recent AA Eurotest survey has highlighted a minefield of hidden charges, complex insurances and unhelpful service when hiring a car on the Med.
Not one of the 60 car hire outlets in 12 Mediterranean resorts was rated very good for customer service by expert inspectors. Only eight were good and 37 were poor or very poor. The inspectors were twice over-charged on their credit cards and a lack of vehicle condition checks by hirers meant that 23 car rentals left holidaymakers with no defence against an unjustified claim for damage. Hire a 4x4 vehicle and there is a more than 70% chance of being handed keys to a death-trap - five of the seven 4x4 vehicles inspected had serious mechanical defects: Malta – a small off-roader that couldn't do hill starts because the handbrake didn't work, dripped oil, and had bald or damaged tyres Turkey – another small off-roader with damaged suspension, oil leaking out of the engine, and a loose back seat without safety belts Spain – a large 4x4 with a bald and half-inflated tyre, driver's side wiper falling off, low on coolant, mirror attached precariously and a driver's seatbelt that didn't roll back automatically Now BBC Radio 4's You & Yours have picked up the story and want to hear from victims of the mediterranean car hire cowboys. If you've got a story to tell share it here or email Luke Bosdet in the AA Public Affairs team (luke.bosdet@theaa.com) |
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lucyloo
Posts: 2
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Subject: Re: Hire car horror stories
Posted At: 08/07/2009 16:51:21
In fairness I've not had a hire car that's been dangerous and we travel regularly. What I do find is a complete rip-off is the extortionate add-on costs that car hire companies apply. Most (certainly in Spain) now have moved to hiring the car with a full tank of fuel for any hire period over 3 days, rather than enough juice to get you to the garage where you put in the amount you want and then bring it back as collected - only paying for what you use. Now we face an additional cost in most cases of around 60 Euros - we're lucky if we use 10! Anyone know how to cyphon diesel out of modern Focus??
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