Car hire. Yet another alternative fob off!

[dean0717]

Having booked carhire abroad numerous times why is it i am always offered the 'or similiar' vehicle and never the one you click on and book?!! I appreciate they only have limited stock of each model but every time i turn up im given a much worse alternative ie last time i booked the category that offered a BMW 1 series and was fobbed off with a Chevrolet Cruze! Is this always the norm?

[MiniMan64]

Yup, its car rental, what do expect? Can you imagine how high their (and your) costs would be if they had to keep a specific car waiting for you?

[Fruitcake]

I am told that they draw you in with a limited number of attractive cars (or ones you're used to seeing/driving at home) then offer you the alternative, which they have a lot more of, on the basis that it's the same size.

Dunno if it's true or just bad luck on your part.

[northandy]

Last time I was in Geneva instead of the vw golf I booked a tt roadster was waiting for me. That made the drive into France much nicer.

[Truckosaurus]

I once hired an SUV from Boston Airport and they offered a Kia Sportage which is a small SUV in this country let alone by American standards, got them to swap it for a very discounted Chrysler barge.

[calibrax]

Have the same issue every time. Most of the car hiring I do is in the US. The good news is that with a non-regional English accent, it's usually very easy to sweet talk the lady behind the desk and get a decent upgrade

[littleandy0410]

When we went to Dubai in Oct 2009, I booked a Mazda6 or similar.

Ended up with this:





As said before, I'd guess that a Corolla wouldn't be a first choice, especially as I've never seen that model in the UK. I was quite disappointed though - especially as there were loads of Mazda6s in the car park of the hotel where I collected it!

[stuart-b]

See my thread. Ordered a new Golf, got a poxy 3-4 year old Megane POS! Upgraded to a new Hybrid.

[Papa Hotel]

calibrax said:

Have the same issue every time. Most of the car hiring I do is in the US. The good news is that with a non-regional English accent, it's usually very easy to sweet talk the lady behind the desk and get a decent upgrade

What does sir suggest we commoners do? Really, you think your RP helps? Cos that just sounds pretentious.

[GKP]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

If the (flat) cap fits...

[Lucas North]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

No, Americans just have a hard time understanding people with 'an accent'. I have a non-regional accent, and it was bad enough trying to get the woman in Subway understand that I was saying the word lettuce. Present them with a geordie or scouse accent and they can't understand a word of it.

So I should imagine it's easier to sweet talk if they can understand the words from y0 mouth.