Buchbinder and Thrifty’s Car Rental Terror!!
Dec 29th, 2016, 05:31 AM
#21
The more I see one time rant about car rentals the more my sympathy goes to these rental companies.>>
WoinP - I think that there are two things at play here - firstly people expect first class service for second class prices. The car rental business is very competitive so the pressure to reduce the headline price is high, but in order to make money they have to sell you insurance you don't need, take large deposits which aren't returned due to phantom damage to the car, etc etc.
The other problem is that very often charges come through months after the rental has finished so that recollections have faded, documents have been mislaid and people get frustrated.
oh yes, [shades of Monty Python] the third thing is that no-one ever starts a thread saying how wonderful their car hire company was.
So to redress the balance a little I can say that although I was worried about the car rental co I'd booked in Catania, [so far!] I have nothing but praise for them. The off-airport location [which had really worried me] turned out to be a real advantage as there was no need to negotiate the tangle of roads leading to the airport, either going or coming, there was no attempt to sell us any extra insurance, the car was clean, the marks on it already indicated on the paperwork, and on return, they happily signed it off as being ok. but it was "only" 4 months ago so there's plenty of time for something to go wrong!
WoinP - I think that there are two things at play here - firstly people expect first class service for second class prices. The car rental business is very competitive so the pressure to reduce the headline price is high, but in order to make money they have to sell you insurance you don't need, take large deposits which aren't returned due to phantom damage to the car, etc etc.
The other problem is that very often charges come through months after the rental has finished so that recollections have faded, documents have been mislaid and people get frustrated.
oh yes, [shades of Monty Python] the third thing is that no-one ever starts a thread saying how wonderful their car hire company was.
So to redress the balance a little I can say that although I was worried about the car rental co I'd booked in Catania, [so far!] I have nothing but praise for them. The off-airport location [which had really worried me] turned out to be a real advantage as there was no need to negotiate the tangle of roads leading to the airport, either going or coming, there was no attempt to sell us any extra insurance, the car was clean, the marks on it already indicated on the paperwork, and on return, they happily signed it off as being ok. but it was "only" 4 months ago so there's plenty of time for something to go wrong!
Dec 29th, 2016, 06:13 AM
#22
Join Date: Oct 2013
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So far, I haven't had any problem with a car rental company. I never take additional insurance, I choose a high deductible, I don't rent navigators or other add-ons, I'm not very thorough with the damage checking, and I've never been ripped off.
This summer in Dublin, the Sixt agent did another pre-rental check after I had finished, and made note of a few dents I hadn't seen.
A few years ago in Edinburgh, I didn't refuel the car, because a huge traffic jam separated me from the filling station. The sympathetic agent gave me a generous discount on the refueling charge.
And an agent in the US recently recently overlooked the fact that I had returned the car a few hours late.
This summer in Dublin, the Sixt agent did another pre-rental check after I had finished, and made note of a few dents I hadn't seen.
A few years ago in Edinburgh, I didn't refuel the car, because a huge traffic jam separated me from the filling station. The sympathetic agent gave me a generous discount on the refueling charge.
And an agent in the US recently recently overlooked the fact that I had returned the car a few hours late.
