just scratched hire car whilst in Italy on hols. Rental company charged me €2k What a bunch of cunts!
That's a scam. Request proof that the scratch has been repaired and when they can't, lodge a claim for the money back off your credit card. Andy
Didn't you have insurance with an excess of £750 or something? That should be the most you'd pay even if you drove it off a cliff.
Probably too late for you now, but you can take out excess insurance cover in the UK for holiday car hire which covers you against shit like this. I had a Mustang windscreen crack in Colorado 3 years ago and it cost me £400 to replace. Since then I take out cover every time now - cost me £18 for a week in Tenerife (coming up) but they will refund not only your excess, but costs of tyres/lost keys/mis-fuelling. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire#insurancetrick
If it were my scam and I thought I was going to lose my £2k payday, I'd have it repaired after being asked for proof. Did you take pictures? I would be contacting my credit card company with them, if you did, maybe with a written estimate from a garage in the UK that has viewed them.
They are complete bandits. For the second time in two years (last year in Spain and this year in Italy) having paid for complete insurance in the UK, the car hire company refused to accept that we had taken it out and insisted we pay for their insurance before they released the car to us.
Had the same thing in Rome, they wanted to take a £2k deposit from the credit card. Told them there wasn't that much on it and brassed it out. We returned the car with a scratch (picked up from a car storage place in Positano) and they never charged us. Got away with it.
Had the same thing in Rome, they wanted to take a £2k deposit from the credit card. Told them there wasn't that much on it and brassed it out. We returned the car with a scratch (picked up from a car storage place in Positano) and they never charged us. Got away with it.
Its something i tell everyone that goes out to my place in Spain-never take out insurance with anyone but the hire company. It might seem a few quid more, but as i found out after I smashed the front fog lights and damaged the bumper (bloody high kerbs!) on the hire car, the rep said "we'll you have our insurance-no problem". No paperwork, no charges on my credit card. Arent the rip off merchants those that sell this "cheap" insurance, knowing most hire companies won't accept it, and that you will still have to leave a massive deposit, and then face a lengthy procesure getting the money back? I'm more concerned with the rip off fuel policies-full to empty/full to full options. Charging €25 to check you have returned it full? As always, check the small print and conditions of hire. We're going over to Valence in November and have hired a Mercedes Vito bus for the eight of us for the week for €300 fully insured, no deposit, full tank on pick up and to return with a full tank-and from an international hire firm too. Do your homework before you go out, know what you have to pay extra for, and have no surprises
Excess insurance can cost you a tenner a day at the car hire desk, or two quid if you buy it in the UK. The Car Hire Company may take any costs off your credit card, but you claim that back from the Excess insurer. Read Martin Lewis's reports if in any doubt. The scam is the uncrupulous car hirers working a fiddle to subsidise their low "come and get me" hire quotes. If you're going to Spain/Canaries, use Auto-Reisen - no petrol/excess fiddles and they get repeat business as a result. You can find car hire reviews easily
