Why do hire car companies never have the vehicle you book?
Discussion
So the latest hire car we've picked up today. When we booked a month ago, because we were having the car for 2 weeks, doing lots of miles, much of those miles on twisty Scottish and Welsh roads, we specifically phoned the hire company (Thrifty) and asked to hire one of their BMW 320D Estate's in manual. The reason being is that they are nice to drive, RWD, and are one of the only cars left that seem to have a proper old fashioned manual handbrake.
What we actually left with was a VW Sharan people carrier with electric handbrake (which was the only decent sized manual car they had but in the same price bracket as the BMW) which feels and handles like a large, heavy bowl of blancmange on wheels. Possibly the least enjoyable vehicle I've ever driven and has put a massive dampener on 2 weeks of A road driving.
Okay so in the small print it normally says 'or similar' but we rent a lot of hire cars through work and I'm getting pretty fed up of booking a vehicle only to turn up at the hire car desk and get told they don't have that car, but we've given you something better, or an upgrade (which, since I like driving and cars is invariably an upgrade to a vehicle I'd not want to drive in a million years).
Out of the last 10 vehicles I've hired, only 3 have been what I've actually wanted or been lead to believe I've hired (as implied by the picture and most prominent description on the website) - that's pretty poor service in my book.
Other sorry examples include:
What we thought we'd booked: New VW T5 Transporter, what we actually got: Scruffy looking Transit.
What we thought we'd booked: Volvo V90 Estate manual, what we actually got: Vauxhall Zafira automatic people carrier.
What we thought we'd booked: Fiat 500 petrol, what we actually got: Citroen Xzara Picasso diesel.
What we thought we'd booked: Skoda Octavia Estate, what we actually got: Vauxhall Insignia Saloon.
What we thought we'd booked: Ford Mustang V6, what we actually got: Chrysler Sebring Convertible.
Oh and there was the time we'd booked a Ford Fiesta, only for the hire desk (Europcar) to offer us an upgrade to a Fiat Bravo for just an extra £15. When we said no, we're happy with the Fiesta, they gave us the keys to the Bravo anyway as they didn't have any Fiesta's. They were just trying it on for the extra £15, hoping we'd say yes !!!
Okay so we could have rejected the VW, or the hire full stop, but what's the alternative? Once we're at the hire car desk, we invariably need to be somewhere else shortly afterwards so there's limited options to just cancel the whole thing and go somewhere else, particularly if we've already pre-paid for the vehicle. So the hire companies have us over a barrel it feels - if they don't have the vehicle you've booked, what can you do about it? Sweet FA! The choice is to either take what they have got, or not get to where you need to be at the time you need to be there.
It's now royally starting to p*** me off as the reason we choose a specific vehicle, large or small, cheap or expensive, is that it's invariably the best vehicle for the purpose we have in mind for it. To then be given something else can be a massive inconvenience. Are there any large hire car firms out there where you can reliably get the vehicle you think you've booked or are they all a complete shower of s*** in this department?
What we actually left with was a VW Sharan people carrier with electric handbrake (which was the only decent sized manual car they had but in the same price bracket as the BMW) which feels and handles like a large, heavy bowl of blancmange on wheels. Possibly the least enjoyable vehicle I've ever driven and has put a massive dampener on 2 weeks of A road driving.
Okay so in the small print it normally says 'or similar' but we rent a lot of hire cars through work and I'm getting pretty fed up of booking a vehicle only to turn up at the hire car desk and get told they don't have that car, but we've given you something better, or an upgrade (which, since I like driving and cars is invariably an upgrade to a vehicle I'd not want to drive in a million years).
Out of the last 10 vehicles I've hired, only 3 have been what I've actually wanted or been lead to believe I've hired (as implied by the picture and most prominent description on the website) - that's pretty poor service in my book.
Other sorry examples include:
What we thought we'd booked: New VW T5 Transporter, what we actually got: Scruffy looking Transit.
What we thought we'd booked: Volvo V90 Estate manual, what we actually got: Vauxhall Zafira automatic people carrier.
What we thought we'd booked: Fiat 500 petrol, what we actually got: Citroen Xzara Picasso diesel.
What we thought we'd booked: Skoda Octavia Estate, what we actually got: Vauxhall Insignia Saloon.
What we thought we'd booked: Ford Mustang V6, what we actually got: Chrysler Sebring Convertible.
Oh and there was the time we'd booked a Ford Fiesta, only for the hire desk (Europcar) to offer us an upgrade to a Fiat Bravo for just an extra £15. When we said no, we're happy with the Fiesta, they gave us the keys to the Bravo anyway as they didn't have any Fiesta's. They were just trying it on for the extra £15, hoping we'd say yes !!!
Okay so we could have rejected the VW, or the hire full stop, but what's the alternative? Once we're at the hire car desk, we invariably need to be somewhere else shortly afterwards so there's limited options to just cancel the whole thing and go somewhere else, particularly if we've already pre-paid for the vehicle. So the hire companies have us over a barrel it feels - if they don't have the vehicle you've booked, what can you do about it? Sweet FA! The choice is to either take what they have got, or not get to where you need to be at the time you need to be there.
It's now royally starting to p*** me off as the reason we choose a specific vehicle, large or small, cheap or expensive, is that it's invariably the best vehicle for the purpose we have in mind for it. To then be given something else can be a massive inconvenience. Are there any large hire car firms out there where you can reliably get the vehicle you think you've booked or are they all a complete shower of s*** in this department?
Hired a cheapie car online for pickup at Cork airport a few years ago. On collection, I was asked if I'd like to upgrade for the special price of €50 to a car a couple of rungs up the class ladder.
I politely declined the offer, and was then told that my chosen cheapie wasn't available. As a substitute I was offered - you guessed it - that very same 'upgrade' model
I politely declined the offer, and was then told that my chosen cheapie wasn't available. As a substitute I was offered - you guessed it - that very same 'upgrade' model
Appreciate that hire car fleets move pretty quick and what you think you've booked may not always be available, but if the company is posting a picture of a 320D Estate Manual on their website (all be it with the words 'or similar' in the small print), then you'd expect that there should be a greater than 50% chance you might get what you think you've booked. From my history it would seem to be a 30% chance of getting what I'm expecting at best which is pretty poor. Plus in my book, a VW Sharan, (although it may be in the same price band) is in no way similar to a 320D!
TooMany2cvs said:
Andy20vt said:
Plus in my book, a VW Sharan, (although it may be in the same price band) is in no way similar to a 320D!
You're right. A 7-seater sprogbus is probably a higher-priced band than a mid-size saloon, so the Sharan would be an upgrade.I'd have actually really enjoyed driving the 320D for the 2 weeks we'd have had it, in the Sharan all I've got to look forward to is the wobbly handling, underpowered engine and hopelessly numb steering - oh and that bl**dy awful button where the handbrake should be. Really, it's an absolute crock of sh**e! Can't even have fun abusing the thing as it's got a £1,250 excess to worry about.
Sure, its clear that you may not always get the car you'd expect from the photo, but as the headline photo hints that it could very likely be a 320D (or whatever other car you're lead to believe) then I'd expect say a 70% success rate at least? My hit rate so far has been a poor 30% and I've yet to be pleasantly surprised with the supposed upgrade. In my knowledge of good customer service I'd expect the 'we don't have the car you probably think you've ordered' to be the exception, not the norm!
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 28th May 21:51
davamer23 said:
I can't get my head around a 320d being the pinnacle of motoring.
It's not but if I'd wanted that then I'd have booked an F Type, 911 or similar for £300-400 per day. Sadly over 2 weeks hire and 2000 + miles that didn't stack up financially. The 320D is just a nice car to drive (RWD, manual, good engine, proper handbrake, well balanced) which is why I'd hoped I'd booked it - in fact it's the sole reason I booked with Thrifty in the first place, because I've had a 320 from them before and they seemed to have plenty of these for a reasonable cost, whereas other hire companies mostly appeared to have the usual bland Insignia's etc. Sadly this wasn't the case and as a result I've now got to drive 2,000 miles down some of the countries finest A roads in a car resembling a glorified Postman Pat's van, that handles like a hippo running round on a bouncy castle and whose steering is less communicative than the North Korean minister for public affairs!I just had to go to France for a week, and booked to collect a car at the airport from Budget/Avis (same company apparently) and my booking said BMW X1 - Small SUV Class... And of course "Or similar".
Well surprise surprise I got the "or similar" which turned out to be a brand new (49kms on the clock) Nissan Qashqai.
I was a little disappointed but after having it for a week I can honestly say I would absolutely buy one. I could not fault it one bit.
It had every toy known to man... Radar cruise control, lane departure, Leather, Nav, Bluetooth, emergency radar braking, speed limiter, automatic parking where it turns the wheel all by itself after looking for a gap, full length glass roof, auto everything such as lights, wipers, folding mirrors, you could change the settings for the steering and suspension... I kept finding new stuff every day.
The engine was brilliant, couldn't tell it was diesel, extremely comfortable, drove brilliant and stupidly economical.
I now realise why they sell so many Qashqai's now.
Well surprise surprise I got the "or similar" which turned out to be a brand new (49kms on the clock) Nissan Qashqai.
I was a little disappointed but after having it for a week I can honestly say I would absolutely buy one. I could not fault it one bit.
It had every toy known to man... Radar cruise control, lane departure, Leather, Nav, Bluetooth, emergency radar braking, speed limiter, automatic parking where it turns the wheel all by itself after looking for a gap, full length glass roof, auto everything such as lights, wipers, folding mirrors, you could change the settings for the steering and suspension... I kept finding new stuff every day.
The engine was brilliant, couldn't tell it was diesel, extremely comfortable, drove brilliant and stupidly economical.
I now realise why they sell so many Qashqai's now.
Well in my view its like going to a restaurant where everything on the menu has a label (or similar) next to it. I order the steak, only what arrives at the table when I'm hungry is lamb, with the excuse "sorry but we've had a run on steak tonight so we only have lamb available, but it is a more expensive dish".
Yes lamb is still meat, and its still food - it will fill you up in a purely functional sense but it's missed the point purely why I ordered the steak in the first place. Maybe I just don't like lamb? Well it wouldn't be acceptable would it?
Why can't these hire car companies at least more than 50% of the time have the vehicle you're expecting? The reason I ordered the BMW is that it was the perfect tool for the job (i.e. nice to drive, reasonably quick, fairly compact, looks nice, room for all our work kit, ideal). The Sharan is only one of those things and despite being technically an upgrade in the hire companies eyes, in our eyes it's a massive downgrade. But that's all they had so we could have kicked up a fuss all we liked but it would still have been either take it, or not get to where we needed to be.
Yes lamb is still meat, and its still food - it will fill you up in a purely functional sense but it's missed the point purely why I ordered the steak in the first place. Maybe I just don't like lamb? Well it wouldn't be acceptable would it?
Why can't these hire car companies at least more than 50% of the time have the vehicle you're expecting? The reason I ordered the BMW is that it was the perfect tool for the job (i.e. nice to drive, reasonably quick, fairly compact, looks nice, room for all our work kit, ideal). The Sharan is only one of those things and despite being technically an upgrade in the hire companies eyes, in our eyes it's a massive downgrade. But that's all they had so we could have kicked up a fuss all we liked but it would still have been either take it, or not get to where we needed to be.
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