Could you have contacted Hotwire right there at the rental office and told them of the need to refund your bid price if they (Hotwire) could not arrange on the spot to get you the car at the bid price?

Europcar seems to be particularly scam-riddled. I was almost a victim of the bogus damage scam at a Europcar rental office in Rome a couple years ago. The only thing that saved me was that I had taken time-stamped digital photos of the damage before I left the lot – which proved that it was there before I took possession of the car.

Then, three months ago at a Europcar office in Germany, I was given a downgrade in car class, but no refund on the price difference. They insisted at the time that the VW was the same class as the Mercedes that I’d selected when I made the reservation, and I had no way to dispute them at the scene. When I got home I went online and confirmed that it was three categories lower, with a significant price difference. I have tried everything with Europcar to get resolution, to no avail. I have now disputed that amount on my credit card, but I have no idea if the dispute will be ruled in my favor. Not all of them are – even when your case seems ironclad. (I disputed a charge from a jeweler once who gave me a significantly less valuable item than the one I ordered and paid hundreds of dollars for – and my dispute was denied!)

Now, after reading of this scam attempt by yet another Europcar office, I have permanently written them off my list. They will no longer get my business, or any opportunities to scam me.

The sad fact is that we travelers are often left over a barrel. When you are standing in a car rental agency, in a foreign city, dropped off by a shuttle, luggage in hand, and a hotel reservation waiting for you…and you’ve already paid for the vehicle…what choice do you have but to cave in to the extortion? If you walk away, you will probably NOT get your money back – hey, you declined to pick up the car, there’s no proof as to WHY you left, so you are out of luck.

The only options we have are to 1) keep reading these types of forums and learn which companies are disreputable, and what their common tricks are, and 2) be prepared with printouts of everything you can find to back up your claim to fair pricing. And when even that fails, call on Chris!

I’ve found that the best place to understand the rules of the rental is the company website or Expedia. In some cases the company website is doing a poor job and referring to the location for the terms and conditions of the rental, but Expedia is really doing an excellent job in disclosing the full details. Get a quote and check the terms and conditions of the rental. In many cases you will see that one kind of insurance or another *is* mandatory. The only companies with no mandatory insurance whatsoever in Mexico are Avis, Budget and Hertz.

Europcar is one of the companies that is doing a poor job on their website. They refer to the specific location for the full terms and contitions. Checking on Expedia you can see that they do have a mandatory insurance in Mexico and this is stated in the terms of the rental. The exact words: “IF LDW IS DECLINED THE CUSTOMER MUST PURCHASE THE THIRD
PART LIABILITY COVERAGE AND WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
THE FULL VALUE OF THE VEHICLE RENTED”.

Of course, when buying through an opaque site like Hotwire you don’t know the company beforehand. I think Hotwire should do a better job when selling car rentals in Mexico and include their terms and conditions before selling you the rental. Just like their sister company Expedia does.

Justin