Going away for the weekend withies us and kids on 15th June. Want to hire a bigger car, anybody know any cheap hire places or recommend anybody??? Cheers
I read the money pages of the papers a lot, and hire car companies have loads of scams and angles. from what I can see it seems best to pay in cash, so they can't raid your credit/debit card later for 'problems' that have magically appeared.
I read the money pages of the papers a lot, and hire car companies have loads of scams and angles. from what I can see it seems best to pay in cash, so they can't raid your credit/debit card later for 'problems' that have magically appeared.
Good luck trying to find a car hire firm that takes cash! No credit card - no car seems to be standard. From their point of view they do like people to bring the cars back and a credit card pre-authorisation goes a long way towards achieving that.
The last one is very good for the USA but I've never used them for the UK.
Vroom Vroom Vroom was very competitive for UK hire last time I tried them but things change.
In the main, try to get a deal which includes no excess in the event of damage. (or buy seperate insurance elsewhere maybe). If you are happy taking a lower hire rate in exchange for taking the risk of paying the excess in the event of damage (which I do a lot) make sure you check out the car very, very carefully indeed when you collect it. On the outside search for every single little dent and scratch (don't forget to look at alloy wheels and the roof in particular). On the inside look particularly for damage to seats (especially fag burns). Get everything that's not perfect, however small, recorded on the documentation. Oh, do check the spare - if it's missing or flat - reject the car. When you return it, if the staff haven't got time/can't be bothered to check it in properly and sign it off as undamaged, make sure you take good quality, dated and timed photos of every wing, front and back and the interior. In addition they will try to charge you a lot of money for a deep clean if you smoke in the vehicle.
It may be useful to the CL community to report back on how you got on.
Go to Dartford Motors, ask for Brad or Pam, tell them their ex colleague Charlton fan sent you, they take cash but require a card for security, used to work there for 5 years, local, friendly and no scams.
We have used car hire quite a bit over the years and have been subjected to 3 attempted scams, including one by Hertz in Turkey and another following a no fault car accident and being supplied with a 'free car' by an insurance nominated car hire company in London ( Enterprise). They said we had broken the bumper, I had photos to prove otherwise. But it's still a lot of hassle getting it all sorted, so we now find it easiest to have a little needed 'spare' credit card so that we can report the card as 'missing' the moment the undamaged, full of petrol car, is returned. Cafc has given you the low down on what to do and s/he's spot on with the advice.
Sheesh CAFC, make you wonder if it's all worth it, and it looks as if all those stories of hire company scams are true too. I realise some people abuse the car, and the companies need to deal with that, but it seems that in going after the bad customers the hire companies have found a good way to scam and squeeze the ordinary person. Like the idea of the one off credit card to head off the companies that would drain your account and rack up all the extras.
A single use credit card might not help you. The car hire company will swipe the card and get pre-authorisation for the rental charge (if not pre-paid by voucher if using an on-line site) AND the total for the excess amount together with any other charges like petrol or child seat. This amount - or at least the actual amount due - will not actually be taken from the card until the rental is over but will reduce the available credit balance on the card. The card company will therefore be able to see when the pre-authorisation was made and would be highly suspicious of any later claims that the card had been lost/stolen, particularly if the card had little previous use. A quick cross check with the hire company on details of your driver's licence and, well you get the picture - you're buggered - the card company will pursue you for the money, your credit rating will have gone straight down the toilet and you might even get a visit from your friendly neighbourhood plod.
have used Brentons of Blackheath a few times and never had any problems, always got a nice motor at a very reasonable price, used to collect and drop off from their depot in Greenwich
Comments
Frickin fat fingers and I phone.
From their point of view they do like people to bring the cars back and a credit card pre-authorisation goes a long way towards achieving that.
I've used these on-line firms:
vroomvroomvroom.co.uk/
auto-europe.co.uk/
and carhireagency.com/index.php
The last one is very good for the USA but I've never used them for the UK.
Vroom Vroom Vroom was very competitive for UK hire last time I tried them but things change.
In the main, try to get a deal which includes no excess in the event of damage. (or buy seperate insurance elsewhere maybe).
If you are happy taking a lower hire rate in exchange for taking the risk of paying the excess in the event of damage (which I do a lot) make sure you check out the car very, very carefully indeed when you collect it.
On the outside search for every single little dent and scratch (don't forget to look at alloy wheels and the roof in particular).
On the inside look particularly for damage to seats (especially fag burns).
Get everything that's not perfect, however small, recorded on the documentation.
Oh, do check the spare - if it's missing or flat - reject the car.
When you return it, if the staff haven't got time/can't be bothered to check it in properly and sign it off as undamaged, make sure you take good quality, dated and timed photos of every wing, front and back and the interior.
In addition they will try to charge you a lot of money for a deep clean if you smoke in the vehicle.
It may be useful to the CL community to report back on how you got on.
www.dartfordmotors.com
Like the idea of the one off credit card to head off the companies that would drain your account and rack up all the extras.
They are my recent find.
Read small print always though.
Thanks for all comments