Here’s a problem travelers are running into more frequently: Months after a trip, they get a bill from their rental company charging them for an unknown traffic violation, plus a handling fee. Often, there’s little recourse.
CAR RENTAL
When you return your rental car, your liability for the vehicle ends, right? Wrong. Jessica Siegel brought her sedan back to Avis in London recently. A few weeks later, she got a bill for triple the amount she’d expected. What happened? She’d dropped off the car after hours, and during the night, someone broke a [...]
Like most travelers, Bette Waterstreet doesn’t expect much when she rents a car. A clean, running vehicle that’s in the same car class she ordered will do just fine. But that’s not what she got when she rented from Thrifty in Ontario, Calif., recently.
Pretend, for a minute, that car rental companies are high school students. The average class grade on a recet test is 73 percent, which is a C- and, truth be told, just a point away from a D.
When Steven Price returned his rental minivan to Fox Rent A Car in San Jose, Calif., recently, an agent claimed he “put a scratch on the bumper” and the company eventually demanded he pay $520.
“I’m a long-time agent with Alamo,” the email began. “I’d rather remain anonymous, if you don’t mind.” He had seen a recent complaint on this site about a company location changing its car classifications to save money, and had some disturbing news: Alamo was overhauling its categories company-wide. Apparently, less is more.
Sarah Steffen thought she was making a routine call to Dollar to add a child seat to her confirmed car rental. But the company had some bad news for her: it didn’t have a seat for her — or a car.
Recent news that Hertz would begin photographing its rentals got me wondering: What about the “ding” scams that have made the car rental industry millions of dollars over the last few years?
After a double-billing error on his car rental bill, Priceline promises Larry Lundeen a prompt refund. It never comes, despite the online travel agency’s insistence to the contrary. What can you do when your credit card records don’t match up with those of your travel company?
Matthew Darrah is a senior vice president at Enterprise, where he oversees North American operations for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car. I asked him about the summer’s skyrocketing car rental prices and what travelers should do about some of the new fees they’ve seen on their rental bills.
Haven’t smokers suffered enough already? You can’t help but wonder when you talk with someone like Efrin Knight, a French professor from Miami who enjoys an occasional cigar.
Jason Arakelian prepays for his Paris car rental through AutoEurope. So why did his car rental company suck another $368 from his account after he got home from his honeymoon? Does he really have to pay for his car twice? And why isn’t his credit card company siding with him in this dispute?
Terry Boyle rented a car from Budget in Edinburgh, and when he got home, he found an unpleasant surprise from his car rental company: a $271 repair bill.
P.J. Zornosa is a longtime Alamo Rent a Car customer. He knows what to ask for when he’s renting a car, and knows what to expect. Or at least, he thought he did.
But it is right, according to the car rental industry, which is doing everything in its power to prevent the passage of a new law in Wisconsin that would raise car rental fees from $2 to $18 per rental to fund mass transit projects, and giving the Badger State the highest car rental taxes in the nation.
No industry piles on the fees and surcharges like the car rental industry. Yes, they have their reasons. And yes, they have competition from airlines, which haven’t met an ancillary fee they don’t like. But sometimes it’s useful to watch the rubber hits the road, so to speak.
Refueling fees are a contentious issue for car rental companies, drivers, and government regulators. Last summer, Hertz changed its refueling policy after being pressured by customers and government officials, but other companies have imposed increasingly strict terms when it comes to gas charges.
Look out for cancellation penalties. Beware of energy surcharges. And watch for facilities fees. No, not on your airline ticket. Not on your hotel folio. You may find these new extras on your next car rental bill.
Just when you thought they couldn’t possibly add any more fees to rentals, here comes another: A freshman state senator in Florida is trying to slap a $2 tax on cars to support Tri-Rail, South Florida’s commuter train.
