ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Anyone with good or bad car rental experiences?
My daughter has had two appalling experiences with Avis when on business in Scotland, mostly related to credit card overcharging. My guess is that they do it knowing that many credit cards go straight to company accounts and no one checks the details.
After these bad experiences, the last time she went to Glasgow she decided to get them to inspect the car in her presence and to then go through the charges line by line. I am not going to list all the issues here, but just one example tells you what kind of a company Avis must be. She was being charged an extra £50 or £60 for allegedly returning the car to a different depot from which it had been collected, which wasn't true as she was returning it to the same place. The Avis rep said that this was a default setting on the system!
Anyone with similar experiences? When I was in Norway some years ago I was chatting to someone with a hire car from 'Rent a Wreck'! I think they only operate in the US and Scandinavia, but they were thoroughly recommended.
And who hires out cars with B&O sound systems?
Graham
I have regularly used Avis for years - particularly in the UK, and occasionally Hertz.
Most were company rentals, and so maybe I was slack and did not check line by line ... but I usually have a good idea of what should be on there. I admit rental returns to airport when most people have cut things too fine is possibly an opportunity for people to work the margins.
My two most recent major rentals were for personal use: the 2009 Las Vegas to San Francisco, and the 2012 BeoWorld Hannover-Denmark-Hannover return. Those I checked with a fine tooth comb and had no issues - both were Avis.
BeoNut since '75
Last car I rented was for the 2012 Beoworld trip from Copenhagen to Struer. I decided to use Hertz and for a Golf size car. I have no problems with the service and the way Hertz charged me, but more with the car.
The car I got was a Toyota Auris Hybrid. Being a hybrid that was originally not designed to accommodate a large battery pack, the downside was that a big part of the luggage compartment was taken up by that same battery pack. I would pick up fellow Beoworld member Bayerische at the airport in Copenhagen, but our luggage was unable to fit in the trunk! Not what I would expect from a Golf size car.
Vähintään yhdeksänkymmentä prosenttia suomalainen!
I've always used Sixt in Germany. The car isn't always what you expect to get, but thankfully usually an upgrade. Sometimes I've changed the car in the middle of the trip, sometimes changed the drop-off location / date at short notice, and they've never had a problem with that. The cars have been practically new (I don't think I've ever seen more than 10000 km on the clock) but that might be a German thing with their strong domestic industry...
The only problem was when we were planning to pick up two more guys with luggage en route, so I reserved "E-class MB wagon or similar". The "similar" was actually a BMW 325Ci. So that changed the plans a bit
I've never had to deal with any damage so I don't know how they work when that happens.
--mika
I had trouble with Avis in Germany. I booked a car weeks in advance and pre-payed online. I showed up at the office in Berlin to collect the car as I was leaving as planned. I introduced myself at the counter, and they responded with:
'Oh, we've been trying to contact you this morning.. we're out of cars...'
Of course I was alarmed, my first trip to Germany and a desire to drive fast on the Autobahns I had booked a BMW 6 cylinder. I asked them if they had any cars at all, so the lady took me down to the garage. There they had the following cars: a Fiat Panda, a Skoda wagon, a Citroen Picasso and a Porsche 911 Carrera 4 convertible. So immediately I said 'I'll take the Porsche seeing you don't have my car' She told me that the group I had booked was below all except the Panda, so she could offer me the Skoda (diesel) wagon.
After much talking, we decided that she would hold the Skoda for me while I went to other companies to see if I could get the car I wanted. I asked her to price the Porsche for me while I was gone. I went to other rental agencies, but it was going to cost me almost double to get what I wanted so I was stuck with Avis.
I returned and asked how she got on. She told me that it was only an extra 50 euro per day for the Porsche, so I told her I'd take it. I was renting for four days, driving from Berlin to Stuttgart and leaving the car there to fly out. She said she had to call for authorisation as Porsche leased the cars to Avis and they had to ring head office every time they rented one.
As you can imagine, I was getting pretty excited by now. The lady was on the phone (in German) for quite some time, so I was thinking the worst. Finally she gets off the phone, and says
'I have good news and bad news'
'What's the good news?' I ask
'You can rent the Porsche'
'Great! The bad news?'
She told me about her phone conversation. It seems the Porsche rental only allows 200kms per day, and each excess km costs 1 euro. She explained that she was on the phone negotiating some extra free kms for me. They offered me 1000kms free, but each km over 1000 would cost me 1 euro. I didn't have a mobile or a laptop, so I asked her how many kms she thought I would do. I showed her where I was going, and she told me it would be far more than 1000kms. Her advice was to take the Skoda :(
So I took the car, it was fine. Skodas are speed limited at 195km/h. I know this because I had my foot flat the whole time I was on the Autobahns. BMWs and Audis were flying past me, even a train went past me!
I had a great time driving through Germany, and the Skoda was fine for the journey (just not fast enough). I got to realise my dream of visiting the Mercedes-Benz and Porsche museums, unfortunately not in a Porsche.
I drove the car to Stuttgart Airport to drop it off, thinking it would have been nice to have had a Porsche to drive. I grabbed my belongings, and locked the car. Just as I was about to walk away, I thought 'I wonder how many kms I did?'. I went back to the car, inserted the key, and turned it on to light up the display. When i had left Avis in Berlin I know I had set the trip meter to zero. So, what did the trip meter show?
985 kms
x:________________________
I have used Sixt and Europcar in DK and Germany frequently, never had any problems, if you rent in DK go for Tax free rentals, if you live abroad. I checked the normal DK rent price for a Golf size car, 15 days some DKR 6,000.00. Tax free I got it for 1,700.00. I dont know how this is possible, but that was the price with Europcar on my last trip to DK. (June this year).
With Sixt Hamburg I have several times between 2000 and 2010 gotten an upgrade as frequent user, I normally ordered Golf size cars and often got a BMW or Mercedes. Sixt also gave me special rent prices for new cars they were testing, sometimes with an extra low fee or for the same price as the car size I ordered.
Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.
Befpre I did use Avis with no probs, nowdays I use Hertz as I know that I can allways get a Volvo from there. Also used Hertz in US, did get a Mustang, and did pay only for T-bird.
blah-blah and photographs as needed
@Jonathan
I feel for you bro' !
Hope to see you at the Avant launch next week.
@Soren
Great tip ! Thanks !! Gives me a good enough reason for going back to Denmark and Struer
Søren Mexico:I have used Sixt and Europcar in DK and Germany frequently, never had any problems, if you rent in DK go for Tax free rentals, if you live abroad. I checked the normal DK rent price for a Golf size car, 15 days some DKR 6,000.00. Tax free I got it for 1,700.00. I dont know how this is possible, but that was the price with Europcar on my last trip to DK. (June this year).
elephant: @Jonathan I feel for you bro' ! Hope to see you at the Avant launch next week.
I'll see you there!
I like Thrifty.
When is the Avant launch?
In the UK I use Enterprise and have done for many years.
we tend to forget there is more to design than designing.
Aussie Michael: I like Thrifty. When is the Avant launch?
Wednesday (tomorrow) night
As it happens, just got the call. I'll be there.
Aussie Michael: As it happens, just got the call. I'll be there.
Looked for you - but given the particularly dark setting I had great difficulty in recognising anyone !!
I also did not see Jonathan !
I got trapped by a widower who decided to tell me her life story.. I didn't think the launch was particularly good, not enough product and no goody bag!!
Jonathan: I got trapped by a widower who decided to tell me her life story.. I didn't think the launch was particularly good, not enough product and no goody bag!!
I would have to agree