Type ‘car rental nightmares’ into Google and you’ll be inundated with stories from people who have been charged for insurance they didn’t want, or damage they didn’t cause and vow never to use a certain company or companies again. One person was even forced to pay for an upgrade because the company didn’t have the car that they had pre-booked!
You really don't want to end up like these guys
But there are ways to help reduce the risk of becoming another frustrated blogger eager to tell the world about your misfortune at the hands of an incompetent or uncaring hire firm.
First of all, book well in advance. Prices work on a supply and demand basis. This is also important if you are specifying an automatic, say, rather than a manual gearbox.
Another thing which may sound obvious but which most people fail to do is read the rental agreement carefully to see what is covered and what isn’t. Check what is included in the price – taxes, location fees, mandatory insurance, breakdown cover, mileage. Anything missing from that list is going to be added to the cost when you arrive to pick the vehicle up. I’ve heard of people who had to pay extra for collision damage waiver and for an extra driver.
Make sure you're reading it all properly
And if the rental agreement is printed in small, slanted type so that it’s hard to read, then they’re probably trying to hide something nasty from you.
One thing it’s hard to check for is bored and surly incompetent staff at the desk. Or companies which rent out more cars than they have, or don’t have all the right vehicles at the appropriate pick-up point. If you turn up to collect your hire car and there is a long line of people standing there waiting, there’s probably something wrong.
If you see these sort of faces outside your car rental lot, be afraid...
When you have managed to pick the keys up, spend some time checking the car over carefully. I know of one person who drove away, only to notice a crack on the windscreen as they went down the road. It had not been visible at first with the sun at a different angle. They went back and the rental company claimed it had happened after they drove off and tried to charge them damage liability.
Another person didn’t spot the fact that their hire car had one of those ‘get-you-home’ narrow profile tyres fitted on one wheel – the ones that you’re not meant to drive over 50mph on. They didn’t spot it until they stopped for fuel after having driven 400 miles at motorway speeds.
Yeah, this is a really bad thing to happen - those wheels are rubbish
Less worrying but more annoying faults are things like sound systems which don’t operate properly or are so complicated to use that you can’t be bothered to waste the time reading the manual (if there is one) to find out how to tune it.
Trying to get the best deal isn’t always the best policy, which is why sites like this are so useful, and no, I’m not being paid to say that. Check prices but also compare details of the rental agreement. And trawl the websites for stories. People with bad experiences will have named the companies that you should avoid (and it’s amazing how many of them seem to be in the USA!).
If it goes wrong, people will shout about it!
Another slightly unrelated, but useful tip if you’re going abroad and using your credit card to pay for your car hire, is to make sure that you’ve informed your credit card company, or bank if you’re using a debit card, so that they don’t suddenly put a block on your account because of unusual usage.
Oh, and if you show up late to collect your pre-booked car, don’t be surprised if it has been rented out to someone else, so make sure you have the rental firm’s ‘phone number so you can ring ahead and warn them.
Don't be late!
