car hire uk

M

msmiss

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Hi
im going to rent a car for the 1st time in august, im planning on renting with b****t as they appear to be cheapest.
But i've been told that when i actually go to collect the car, xtra's like excess and other insurance things can be added to my quote. Do i need to take out this xtra insurance and i believe the excess is £10 GBP a day.
I really don't know anything about this so all info would be a great help.
Thanks in advance
 
Msmiss,
Yes be careful with Budget car hire. I am having email exchanges with them at the moment about extras that I was charged on a recent rental.

For example I had booked a Focus size car. When I got there they offered me a different car. On my receipt I was charged 7 euro extra per day for an upgrade. At no time did they say it was an upgrade and that I would have to pay more for it.

They charged me 25 euro of an airport surcharge, even though my pre-booked reservation said it was included in the price.

They asked me to bring back the car with a full fuel tank. I did so. But when I looked at the receipt it indicated to bring it back empty. They have since refunded the fuel deposit of 97.50.

Plus there is a further overcharging which they have not yet explained.

They are very slow to reply to complaints. I am waiting 8 days for a reply to my last email. So far they are saying that I signed the rental agreement and that means I agreed to the price and their terms & conditiions!!

So be careful... if you do go with them, make sure you check your receipt thouroughly before signing anything.
 
Why don`t you go to the ryanair website and click on the cheap car hire link.
this will put you on to hertz where you book online.This will be a lot cheaper than approaching a car hire co. desk at the airport. I recently booked a car this way and it costs 65£ for 3 days..I don`t go for any extras..just the bare minimum insurance etc
I got upgraded to a ford focus.One has a full tank reading starting off and have to fill the tank up on returning....I filled up on returning but no way did I use that much fuel...in future I`ll fill up 50 miles before returning.
 
hertz are ok. compare the .co.uk price against the ryanair hertz charges though as i found before that the ryanair charge was more expensive!

only main extra that hertz try to sell you is the £14 a day excess elimination. which means if there is a scratch on the car on returning it, you dont have to pay the excess of £500 or so for them to claim (if you paid the £14 extra).

i think they require the credit card holder to be the main driver also
 
For peace of mind, I always get the extra insurance; Once when I returned the car, I even had to sign the insurance for a small chip on the windscreen that could hardly be seen, this would have caused me excess payment.
Note that the credit card that you book with must be the card that you present, they will not let you hire without a card. I found Budget UK, OK the last time I used them. Previously with Europecar I had 2nd charge on my credit card the month after I paid the main bill (contract Price), which I disputed and sent the contract to the credit card company and they did not pay.
 
mufc77 said:
hertz are ok. compare the .co.uk price against the ryanair hertz charges though as i found before that the ryanair charge was more expensive!
Click to expand...

Would second that, I have just finished searching for a car for 3 days next month.
The ryanair hertz charges €130 for a ford focus 1600.
The hertz website charges £81.75 (approx €97) if you tick you are a Uk resident
But If you tick you are an Irish resident the price for the same car is a whooping £134.37. (€156.83)
Something very wrong here, same car same rental company same dates and yet a price difference of over €59
 
An annual excess insurance policy will cost you less than €60 - just over 4 days of the usual Hertz/Avis/whatever rate for super CDW (or whatever else they call it). It's also well worthwhile photographing all sides of the car, including wheels/tyres, windows, roof and underneath. Give it a good examination before you drive away, especially the lights/fittings.

I've never had to pay for excess damage, though I did once have to show photographs.
 
As pointed out, it is not the normal damage that you are insuring against, it is the ridiculous unfair claims they can make. It is well know now, that new cars with their environmentally friendly water based paints are much more prone to scratching and marking, and all cars will deteriorate eventually, you may not bring it back in showroom condition.
 
I would highly recommend Ebookers.ie or ebookers.co.uk for car rental. I used them twice in Oct & Dec 08 for UK airport car rental. They are brokers so you will likely end up with Avis or Hertz as I did. They also quote you for the excess insurance which I would recommend getting. Compare the .ie and .co.uk prices as with sterling changes one or the other may be cheaper.
 
leex said:
I would highly recommend Ebookers.ie or ebookers.co.uk for car rental. I used them twice in Oct & Dec 08 for UK airport car rental. They are brokers so you will likely end up with Avis or Hertz as I did. They also quote you for the excess insurance which I would recommend getting. Compare the .ie and .co.uk prices as with sterling changes one or the other may be cheaper.
Click to expand...

Had a look at the Ebookers site. Both .com and .ie The difference is massive. €156 on .ie for the same car on .com for £84 (€99)

I was just about to book on the .com website when I noticed on the terms and conditions that it says you must be a Uk resident to book otherwise you have to call a number.
Can I ask you Leex, if booked on the .com site yourself, and if so are you a Irish resident and did it effect your booking.
 
Hi

I have also had extra charges with budget which I am trying to claim back but stupid me I signed the agreement!

Be careful they will add extras on, you will just see random numbers and then accepted next to them.These numbers is the figure they will charge you. There is no explanation from the advisor or on the agreement what this is, they inform you you are just signing for the car. I assumed the figures on the agreement was the cost of the car hire minus the 3rd parties commisSion. It did not even state what currency it is in, although I know now it was in USD.

Beware that you are also signing for them to take payment from your card without needing you to sign anything further!

Apparently after a few phone calls I found out we paid for emergency sickness insurance and personal accident insurance which we were covered on our travel insurance for. The letters you may see on your agreement for this are ESI and PAI (again making it clear exactly what you are signing up for - NOT!)

I booked this car through a third party and bought their gold package with a full tank of petrol, extra insurance, damage waiver, additional drivers etc and am disgusted that after your holiday they take money from your card for extras that you were not even told about! Surely this cannot be right and is a form of misselling?

I have also been given the complaints email address and will certainly be pursuing my refund. PLEASE PLEASE beware. I do certainly not reccommend them at all. Also if you are flying to Sanford be prepared for the 2-3 hours queue for your car.
 
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