Hire car £90 surcharge so unfair
Discussion
I'm not a novice at hiring cars, I always take plenty of before and after photos, including of the full tank etc etc.
This was something new. Booked via a UK broker and picked up from their "agent" in Austria, usual airport desk.
I always book to choose the cheapest smallest car available, because most places don't have the smallest car and so you get a "free" upgrade. But I'm always fine with the smallest manual car anyway.
No such discussion at the desk on this occasion, was very quick, "you're having a Suzuki Swace" (never heard of it but was ok, small estate car) and I thought that was the end of it.
Returned full of fuel etc. after 4 days as booked.
I routinely check my credit card statement, low and behold, deduction of £90 a week after the hire finished. mmm.
Thought it was the usual fraudulent claim for fuel tank empty. Nope, on chasing the broker, it was for "upgrade to an automatic".
I asked for a copy of the car hire documents, it does say "upsold automatic" but it's clearly not my signature. The desk never said anything at the time.
I've disputed the charge with the broker and my credit card company.
Broker says "we weren't there at the time, don't know what was said at the desk (nothing), you signed for it (I didn't). Broker refuses to even send me an email address for their "agent".
Credit card company says "you signed for it" and the charge stands (I didn't, I provided samples of my signature etc.).
Credit card company seems to be refusing to consider that if I had wanted an automatic, and been upsold one, i would have signed and paid for it at the start of the car hire. Instead a charge is put on my card a week later, no email from the agent etc. saying what it's for.
Grrrrrr.
Normally I just trot straight off to the small claims court for this sort of thing, but I'm just surprised that the broker and credit card company are arguing the toss with me.
Any ideas what else I can do to make someone see sense and get my money back? Cheers,
This was something new. Booked via a UK broker and picked up from their "agent" in Austria, usual airport desk.
I always book to choose the cheapest smallest car available, because most places don't have the smallest car and so you get a "free" upgrade. But I'm always fine with the smallest manual car anyway.
No such discussion at the desk on this occasion, was very quick, "you're having a Suzuki Swace" (never heard of it but was ok, small estate car) and I thought that was the end of it.
Returned full of fuel etc. after 4 days as booked.
I routinely check my credit card statement, low and behold, deduction of £90 a week after the hire finished. mmm.
Thought it was the usual fraudulent claim for fuel tank empty. Nope, on chasing the broker, it was for "upgrade to an automatic".
I asked for a copy of the car hire documents, it does say "upsold automatic" but it's clearly not my signature. The desk never said anything at the time.
I've disputed the charge with the broker and my credit card company.
Broker says "we weren't there at the time, don't know what was said at the desk (nothing), you signed for it (I didn't). Broker refuses to even send me an email address for their "agent".
Credit card company says "you signed for it" and the charge stands (I didn't, I provided samples of my signature etc.).
Credit card company seems to be refusing to consider that if I had wanted an automatic, and been upsold one, i would have signed and paid for it at the start of the car hire. Instead a charge is put on my card a week later, no email from the agent etc. saying what it's for.
Grrrrrr.
Normally I just trot straight off to the small claims court for this sort of thing, but I'm just surprised that the broker and credit card company are arguing the toss with me.
Any ideas what else I can do to make someone see sense and get my money back? Cheers,
Largechris said:
I always book to choose the cheapest smallest car available, because most places don't have the smallest car and so you get a "free" upgrade.
Sounds like on this occasion it hasn't worked & you haven't got your usual 'free upgrade'Largechris said:
Normally I just trot straight off to the small claims court for this sort of thing, but I'm just surprised that the broker and credit card company are arguing the toss with me.
If they won't play & you've exhausted their complaints procedures then looks like you're off the court again.OP here's a quick guide to the CC escalation process - you may know all this already.
https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how...
https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how...
Yup. Start the complaints procedure with the CC company and say you'll take it to the Financial Ombudsman if necessary. It will cost them way more than £90 to handle the complaint. The CC company is likely to be a subscription/funded member of the FO scheme, and any complaints should raise their levy next year,
Largechris said:
I'm not a novice at hiring cars, I always take plenty of before and after photos, including of the full tank etc etc.
This was something new. Booked via a UK broker and picked up from their "agent" in Austria, usual airport desk.
I always book to choose the cheapest smallest car available, because most places don't have the smallest car and so you get a "free" upgrade. But I'm always fine with the smallest manual car anyway.
No such discussion at the desk on this occasion, was very quick, "you're having a Suzuki Swace" (never heard of it but was ok, small estate car) and I thought that was the end of it.
Returned full of fuel etc. after 4 days as booked.
I routinely check my credit card statement, low and behold, deduction of £90 a week after the hire finished. mmm.
Thought it was the usual fraudulent claim for fuel tank empty. Nope, on chasing the broker, it was for "upgrade to an automatic".
I asked for a copy of the car hire documents, it does say "upsold automatic" but it's clearly not my signature. The desk never said anything at the time.
I've disputed the charge with the broker and my credit card company.
Broker says "we weren't there at the time, don't know what was said at the desk (nothing), you signed for it (I didn't). Broker refuses to even send me an email address for their "agent".
Credit card company says "you signed for it" and the charge stands (I didn't, I provided samples of my signature etc.).
Credit card company seems to be refusing to consider that if I had wanted an automatic, and been upsold one, i would have signed and paid for it at the start of the car hire. Instead a charge is put on my card a week later, no email from the agent etc. saying what it's for.
Grrrrrr.
Normally I just trot straight off to the small claims court for this sort of thing, but I'm just surprised that the broker and credit card company are arguing the toss with me.
Any ideas what else I can do to make someone see sense and get my money back? Cheers,
Sounds like they have an upsell bonus on things like Automatics etc and have fraudulently signed your documentsThis was something new. Booked via a UK broker and picked up from their "agent" in Austria, usual airport desk.
I always book to choose the cheapest smallest car available, because most places don't have the smallest car and so you get a "free" upgrade. But I'm always fine with the smallest manual car anyway.
No such discussion at the desk on this occasion, was very quick, "you're having a Suzuki Swace" (never heard of it but was ok, small estate car) and I thought that was the end of it.
Returned full of fuel etc. after 4 days as booked.
I routinely check my credit card statement, low and behold, deduction of £90 a week after the hire finished. mmm.
Thought it was the usual fraudulent claim for fuel tank empty. Nope, on chasing the broker, it was for "upgrade to an automatic".
I asked for a copy of the car hire documents, it does say "upsold automatic" but it's clearly not my signature. The desk never said anything at the time.
I've disputed the charge with the broker and my credit card company.
Broker says "we weren't there at the time, don't know what was said at the desk (nothing), you signed for it (I didn't). Broker refuses to even send me an email address for their "agent".
Credit card company says "you signed for it" and the charge stands (I didn't, I provided samples of my signature etc.).
Credit card company seems to be refusing to consider that if I had wanted an automatic, and been upsold one, i would have signed and paid for it at the start of the car hire. Instead a charge is put on my card a week later, no email from the agent etc. saying what it's for.
Grrrrrr.
Normally I just trot straight off to the small claims court for this sort of thing, but I'm just surprised that the broker and credit card company are arguing the toss with me.
Any ideas what else I can do to make someone see sense and get my money back? Cheers,
Do you have a copy of your original hire agreement (I would imagine you sign one at the desk)?
Otherwise, yes, go to small claims, nothing to lose
Good luck , I'd be fuming too!
CarCrazyDad said:
Sounds like they have an upsell bonus on things like Automatics etc and have fraudulently signed your documents
Do you have a copy of your original hire agreement (I would imagine you sign one at the desk)?
Otherwise, yes, go to small claims, nothing to lose
Good luck , I'd be fuming too!
Agree. Keep on going for the hire company, as they sold you the fake upgrade.Do you have a copy of your original hire agreement (I would imagine you sign one at the desk)?
Otherwise, yes, go to small claims, nothing to lose
Good luck , I'd be fuming too!
The card Co was worth a try, but at the end of the day THEY weren’t an actual party to the scam.
Tommo87 said:
The card Co was worth a try, but at the end of the day THEY weren’t an actual party to the scam.
They facilitated the scam by providing credit card services to the car hire company. If the Card Co didn’t want to be on the hook, it should have been more careful who it does business with.Anyway if the cost of the hire was more than £100 the law says they are liable, irrespective of any other argument.
CoolHands said:
Why would an auto be an upgrade anyway? Who says it is better? Tell them you want a partial refund as its worse
Autos tend to be larger cars.When I was working there were some colleagues who would claim they could only drive an automatic (dodgy knee was the usual excuse) when hiring a car as it avoided getting the smallest cars that the company policy meant you would otherwise get.
The big yin said:
If you have any photos of the car and registration number etc then you should be able to get the charge taken out as it would be obvious it is manual.
I think there was no doubt it was an auto. The OP just didn't specify one and wasn't told about an extra charge for having one. KungFuPanda said:
People keep banging on about a small claim but I’ll bet that the U.K. broker will (quite rightly) say the car hire contract was formed between the OP and the Austrian car hire company in Austria. So is the OP going to issue proceedings in Austria?
That is a question, yes, but my booking was via the UK broker. KungFuPanda said:
People keep banging on about a small claim but I’ll bet that the U.K. broker will (quite rightly) say the car hire contract was formed between the OP and the Austrian car hire company in Austria. So is the OP going to issue proceedings in Austria?
No. The booking was with the Agent.The subsequent "contract" for up sold Automatic is not a true contract because you (OP) didn't sign it.
I don't think it was answered, did OP have a copy of original hire agreement? This should show it without any sort of up selling.
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