Rental Car Lesson

[bmcgonig]

Major car rental companies in Ireland accept Canadian, but not US, credit card coverage. My observations are based on 31 years of experience, probably 30 or so car rentals, and on what they told me. This was the first time I have ever been refused using a Canadian credit card. I don’t know the rationale. I wonder if that is because they don’t want to be on the hook for US medical costs in the event of an injury?

I use a United Master Card. No problems at all as long as you have the letter from CC. But I don't know about other cards.

 

[marko]

OP are you in the CRC's "preferred" program? Wondering if this would have any impact.

Yes I am. My frustration is/was not in their sticking to the script (which I "get" but don't like) but more in not being able to talk to anyone in authority. I got jerked around to 7 or 8 different departments all of whom couldn't do anything except tell me I needed to talk to another department.

Yesterday I was told that all supervisors were tied up but promised a call-back...still waiting. Just poor customer service IMO.

All moot now. Budget lost a $4K rental and I'm on to Hertz now.

 

[LakeRat1]

I had just the reverse happen, I pre-paid a van rental for 5 days..... Unfortunately when I booked the van I did not know flight times. Upon picking up the van, I noticed I had to have the van back by 12PM on the 5th day. There was no way that would happen, I could make it back by 2PM..... I was told it would be another $55 for being "2 hours late". When I got back to my house with the van, I called back to the rental company, explained my situation and was told if I would keep the van 1 more day, they would charge me $14. This is what I did ..... Its good to check twice ----- Note: I had rented a van while our kids came to visit for the holidays, so there was no issue with keeping the van another day

 

[retiringby50]

My friends and I were traveling from SFO to Las Vegas, and she rented the car for pick up at a certain time, but our flight was delayed by several hours (maybe 6 hours?). When she arrived, they said that she was too late because they only hold the rate for X hours after the reservation time, so they had to pay the current rate.

From that experience, I'm starting to put a later pick up time on my reservation just in case.

 

[pb4uski]

I would think the RCC would simply charge OP for the first day the car is not used and let him pick it up the 2nd day. ....

+1 At the least they should have agreed to meet the terms of the original contract and let marko pick it up the next day or whenever he arrived... letting marko's rental car sit in their lot for a couple days seems to be a reasonable accomodation in the circumstances given that the airlines were all waiving change fees, etc.

If the rental car company wasn't willing to at least do that then I would cancel and take my business elsewhere and then write a nastygram to the CEO naming names of the local personnel involved... and probably include a copy of my contract with the new vendor so s/he can see the sale that was lost.

 

[pb4uski]

My friends and I were traveling from SFO to Las Vegas, and she rented the car for pick up at a certain time, but our flight was delayed by several hours (maybe 6 hours?). When she arrived, they said that she was too late because they only hold the rate for X hours after the reservation time, so they had to pay the current rate.

From that experience, I'm starting to put a later pick up time on my reservation just in case.

That is unconscionable... never had that happen to me. I would go elsewhere even if I had to pay more.

I did have a situation one time where I arrived at the counter and found out that my car reservation was for a day later and they wanted to charge me a lot more for that first day... luckily I had to return to the airport the next day to pick up DD so I walked 20 feet down the hall and did a one day rental and then returned it the next day and picked up the original rental.

 

[marko]

+1 At the least they should have agreed to meet the terms of the original contract and let marko pick it up the next day or whenever he arrived... letting marko's rental car sit in their lot for a couple days seems to be a reasonable accomodation in the circumstances given that the airlines were all waiving change fees, etc.

If the rental car company wasn't willing to at least do that then I would cancel and take my business elsewhere and then write a nastygram to the CEO naming names of the local personnel involved... and probably include a copy of my contract with the new vendor so s/he can see the sale that was lost.

OP here.
I would have been more than willing to agree to what you suggest here. I'd have paid a premium for them to hold the car a few days. The main problem was that no one I spoke to had any authority to do anything but cancel my reservation and re-book me at the higher rate. I spoke to 7 or 8 departments and just kept getting bounced around.

"No supervisors are available right now...here's your case number and a supervisor will call you back"....well, it's been 5 days and still no call.
Now, I'm notorious for not letting it go and being willing to sit on hold for hours if necessary; this time I just kept going round and round with the same departments none of whom had their own direct phone number.

Just pi$$-poor customer service.

In the meantime, I was able to get a 3 month rental for $60 more than my August rate with Budget and that's where I went. So Hertz got my $4K rental and Budget lost out.

 

[pb4uski]

Please write the CEO of Budget and tell him your story and name names.

 

[Bamaman]

Several months ago I booked a rental car in Dublin through the company Sixt. It was a great deal. I booked it through Expedia for TD, which has a direct link to my credit card, which, amongst other things, guarantees car rental insurance. When I arrived in Dublin, Sixt would not accept my credit card’s insurance unless I get my credit card company to email them to confirm coverage. Otherwise I would have to pay several hundred Euros for their insurance. I called TD in Toronto but nobody was available as it was the middle of the night there. So I ended up renting a car from Avis instead. It was a bit more expensive, but they accepted my TD Insurance, because they have more experience. I posted a bad review of Sixt on Trip Advisor and I will not use them in the future. I also communicated with TD and got a specific letter outlining the car rental insurance coverage associated with my credit card.

Sixt is not even a car rental company. They are a consolidator--wholesale ourchaser of rentals at wholesale. I hate to see you had such a problem.

If you check with your personal insurance company, they often cover you in Europe outside of Italy and Northern Ireland. Even if you used credit card coverage, it would be secondary to your home policy.

Rental car optional coverage is a big profit department for them. It is also secondary coverage to your home primary policy. And what is so bad is rental companies are self insured and don't even carry any insurance except liability coverage.

 

[marko]

Please write the CEO of Budget and tell him your story and name names.

Well that's the thing.
I'd write the CEO if I cared enough. But they ticked me off enough that I'd rather let them stew in their ignorance. Further, considering the experience, I'd likely get the same BS from the CEO as well.

"Naming names" would be hard as almost everyone I spoke to 1) didn't speak very clearly 2) didn't speak very good English and I couldn't hear their name 3) were nice and trying to be helpful but just had no authority.

So, at this point I'm really not interesting in taking time from my day to help them. Screw 'em!

 

[Meadbh]

Sixt is not even a car rental company. They are a consolidator--wholesale ourchaser of rentals at wholesale. I hate to see you had such a problem.

If you check with your personal insurance company, they often cover you in Europe outside of Italy and Northern Ireland. Even if you used credit card coverage, it would be secondary to your home policy.

Rental car optional coverage is a big profit department for them. It is also secondary coverage to your home primary policy. And what is so bad is rental companies are self insured and don't even carry any insurance except liability coverage.

My personal auto insurance company is ICBC, which does not cover me in other countries. My credit card does cover me anywhere. I have now obtained a blanket letter to that effect, which I will print and bring with me every time I travel to a destination where I intend to rent a car. One more thing for the pre-trip checklist, along with Roaming Package and Pack Toothbrush!

 

[ivinsfan]

That is unconscionable... never had that happen to me. I would go elsewhere even if I had to pay more.

I did have a situation one time where I arrived at the counter and found out that my car reservation was for a day later and they wanted to charge me a lot more for that first day... luckily I had to return to the airport the next day to pick up DD so I walked 20 feet down the hall and did a one day rental and then returned it the next day and picked up the original rental.

The great majority of rentals are just hold, no pre-pay and no penalty if you don't show up and rent the car. How long should the rental company wait before canceling your reservation? I think 6 hours is reasonable enough under those conditions.

I notice some companies are offer discounts if you pre-pay when you make the reservation, I wonder what happens in those cases.

 

[pb4uski]

Yes, but in this case the OP called to let them know that he wouldn't be arriving on time and he wanted to go through with the contract, and they insisted on changing his reservation anyway to a different price. That is unconscionable!

 

[ivinsfan]

Yes, but in this case the OP called to let them know that he wouldn't be arriving on time and he wanted to go through with the contract, and they insisted on changing his reservation anyway to a different price. That is unconscionable!

That's a different kettle of fish, you were originally talking about the late arrival into SFO.

As to long term rental the OP talked about it could go either way IMO...car rentals rules are really hinky but I think most companies follow the same rule.

 

[Texas Proud]

The great majority of rentals are just hold, no pre-pay and no penalty if you don't show up and rent the car. How long should the rental company wait before canceling your reservation? I think 6 hours is reasonable enough under those conditions.

I notice some companies are offer discounts if you pre-pay when you make the reservation, I wonder what happens in those cases.

I do not think so... this was a long time ago, but they knew what flight I was coming in on... it was late, even after closing time... but they kept someone there knowing we were showing up... there were a couple of us...

It is not hard to check flights and keep a reservation open at an airport!!!

 

[ivinsfan]

In the good old days of customer service, you'd be right..But in todays world run by computers and such not so much...I consider myself lucky if I get a decent car without waiting when I show up on time. Like my DH says a car rental "reservation" is just a serving suggestion!

 

[bmcgonig]

Sixt is not even a car rental company. They are a consolidator--wholesale ourchaser of rentals at wholesale. I hate to see you had such a problem.

If you check with your personal insurance company, they often cover you in Europe outside of Italy and Northern Ireland. Even if you used credit card coverage, it would be secondary to your home policy.

Rental car optional coverage is a big profit department for them. It is also secondary coverage to your home primary policy. And what is so bad is rental companies are self insured and don't even carry any insurance except liability coverage.

I don't think they're a consolidator Bama. They have offices throughout Ireland with cars on the lots. At the airport they have booths and car lots just like the rest of them.

Also my CC insurance is primary when I travel abroad.

 

[Meadbh]

I don't think they're a consolidator Bama. They have offices throughout Ireland with cars on the lots. At the airport they have booths and car lots just like the rest of them.

Also my CC insurance is primary when I travel abroad.

I’ve seen Sixt offices in Mexico too.

 

[kaneohe]

Well that's the thing.
I'd write the CEO if I cared enough. But they ticked me off enough that I'd rather let them stew in their ignorance. Further, considering the experience, I'd likely get the same BS from the CEO as well.

"Naming names" would be hard as almost everyone I spoke to 1) didn't speak very clearly 2) didn't speak very good English and I couldn't hear their name 3) were nice and trying to be helpful but just had no authority.

So, at this point I'm really not interesting in taking time from my day to help them. Screw 'em!

If you let them stew in their ignorance , they won't even know they screwed up. Seems better if you rubbed their nose in it and let them know. If you get the same BS from CEO ,then you have learned something too. Naming names perhaps might not be so relevant if it is a process problem that company has. It would be good for the world if you got them to do a process improvement since the next victims might be one of us.

 

[RobbieB]

The last time I rented I went with Hertz. Always used Budget before and when planning a trip the cost seemed really high. So I looked up Hertz and it was much less.

Go figure. Gotta keep em honest -

 

[Texas Proud]

If you let them stew in their ignorance , they won't even know they screwed up. Seems better if you rubbed their nose in it and let them know. If you get the same BS from CEO ,then you have learned something too. Naming names perhaps might not be so relevant if it is a process problem that company has. It would be good for the world if you got them to do a process improvement since the next victims might be one of us.

+1.... I just did not want to write it

 

[mpeirce]

I’ve seen Sixt offices in Mexico too.

Here too. I’ve rented from them a bunch of times in south Florida. I like them because they rent European sedans at a good price.

 

[bmcgonig]

The last time I rented I went with Hertz. Always used Budget before and when planning a trip the cost seemed really high. So I looked up Hertz and it was much less.

Go figure. Gotta keep em honest -

Go to kayak.com and they seem to dig up the best rate from them all.

 

[PoorOldCountryBoy]

This may not be news to some here but it was to me; thought I'd pass it along.

Back in August I reserved a three month car rental starting this week. Being six months out, I got an excellent price.

Because of the snowstorm here in New England my flight has been delayed by a day. I called the rental car company (won't name names; but one of the majors) and was told that regardless of reason, if I don't show up on the date specified, I lose that price/reservation and now must pay the current rate which for three months is $600 more.

The extra $200/month won't break me, but I found it hard to believe that showing up a day late would completely erase my reservation, especially if I called them and told them so. I just wanted to modify the reservation by one day.

Yes, I went up the chain of command and also called the local rental location directly. Nada.

So, I don't know if this is standard for all rental outfits or if there was some fine print I missed but thought I'd pass it on. Next time, I'll plan for pick-up a day or two after my planned arrival or better yet, make two reservations on different dates!

Congrats on the solution.

I have found huge differences in car rental over the years, especially if renting from an airport location. I routinely rent away from airports and save 60%. I have Phoenix rental for 350 that would have cost 700+ at PHX. Orlando is the same way. It pays to shop around!

 

[marko]

If you let them stew in their ignorance , they won't even know they screwed up. Seems better if you rubbed their nose in it and let them know. If you get the same BS from CEO ,then you have learned something too. Naming names perhaps might not be so relevant if it is a process problem that company has. It would be good for the world if you got them to do a process improvement since the next victims might be one of us.

+1.... I just did not want to write it

Ok, ok...I'm a sucker for peer pressure!! I'll let you know what transpires.