crap car hire experiences

[mk2zetec]

I thought i would share the experience to prevent others receiving the same.

car hired a few days before (last minute decision) through carhire3000.com - cost circa £200 . There was no indication that the car was collected off site from tenerife airport. The voucher, which arrived after the booking and payment, stated meet and greet at the airport by someone from Orlando car hire.

We arrived at the airport with no one to meet and greet. I phoned the office and was told to look for a white minibus. At an airport. easy. there were hundreds. About half an hour later i found the orlando man 'avin a fag' and 45 minutes later, having waited for others who i assume couldnt find the meet and greet man as he was outside 'avin another fag', was 'whisked away' 15 mins to an underground car park.

This is when the problems really started.
1. I was told i had to pay for a full tank of fuel in advance at 55 euro and was to bring the car back empty. nothing would be refunded for unused fuel. what a con! the fuel capacity on a 2006 corolla is 50 litres (toyota spec) At .75 euro per litre (local fuel price) the cost of fuel was say 40 euro. The usual of take it full and bring it back full didnt apply.
2. we were then shown a a battered toyota corolla 2006 (60k miles)- not a single panel was unscathed (including the roof)and the rear seatbelts were defective, only working when the operator lifted the rear seat and banged the catch mechanism. Would you trust your kids in that?
3.The 'inspection' of the car - the employee failed to identify numerous massive areas of damage presumably in the hope that we would loose our 175 euro excess which we would then have to go through the rigmarole of reclaiming from car hire 3000. When i pointed out what she had missed she just smirked and said youve paid the collision waiver so what does it matter.

at that point we declined to hire it and took a taxi.

I compalined to carhire3000 and its taken 3 weeks to get a response. They take no responsibility for the crap service and have taken a 3 day deposit as cancellation but have magnanimously offered to refund the balance. They cant see any fault in their booking procedure or the crap car.

Watch out - dont get stung in the same way. Sharp practices in the car hire industry are rife and this is another to add to the long list of dodgy car hire operators.

[va1o]

Had a very similar experience with Auto Air in Portugal, again booked through a broker. Damaged/ poor quality car, rude staff operating out of the back of a transit van and taking ridiculous deposits and extra charges not originally mentioned. Think the trick is to always book directly with the big companies and avoid the brokers etc.

[bigandclever]

Unfortunately your post will have zero value once the mods get in from being on the lash and activate the 'no naming and shaming' policy.

[mk2zetec]

well it might save at least the two of you from these f'ing cowboys.

[theironduke]

mk2zetec said:

well it might save at least the two of you from these f'ing cowboys.

3

[War Pig]

Chevrolet Kalos.

[Andehh]

Worth knowing, cheers for the heads up!

[HellDiver]

Had similar in Spain. An hour of fking about to get a beaten to ste 1.2 8v Clio with no wheeltrims from a tosser in the back of a Renault Trafic.

Then again, I got a miserable diesel Fiesta with 55k on the clock from a tosser in a portacabin outside Glasgow airport too...got to love work booked cars.

[mk2zetec]

so theres 6 that have been 'saved'

[MrV]

War Pig said:

Chevrolet Kalos.

That luxury compared to the Matiz we got palmed off with awhile ago.

Long story cut short,the better halfs car needed a new gearbox and as she also needed a car for a few days so a quick tour of the local car hire firms showed one that did the new shape Ford Ka (Infact all their hire cars shown on the website where Fords),as she quite fancied one(to replace the shagged car) it looked like the rental would turn into a longer than normal test drive.

We get there in the morning to pick it up having paid for it over the phone to be told that they had none in but not to worry they would upgrade us FOC to a 4 door ,now thinking she was going to get a Fiesta we go trotting out only to be greeted by a Matiz

Back I go to the office to ask where the Fords where to be told that the pictures of cars they use are for illustration use only,bloody cheeky as there was a hire place next door that was cheaper but we chose not to use as it only offered Chevy cars

[legturbo]

I have used them when i went to Ireland for a week, and apart from the fuel, which was a joke! the rest was ok. They didnt have the size of vehicle we asked for, so we got a free upgrade to a focus c-max which was actually in really good condition and drove pretty well.

As we had to use the fuel up, we had to change our plans a bit and do more lengthy journeys and day trips to get our money's worth. Its the first time i wasnt appreciating the mpg as a full tank in a diesel goes a long way
I agree it should be pick it up full, return it full like most other rental places i've used..