WHY CAR RENTAL DRIVES ME CRAZY... BUT, I'LL KEEP LETTING THEM DO IT TO ME...
So, I started booking my bits for the begining of my June trip. Airline tickets (Delta), Hotel in Edinburgh (Elder York Guest House), RoyalScot/Stena Lines Rail&Sail from Edinburgh, through to Dublin Connelly Station, a night at Jurys Inn Custom House and a next-morning pick up of the AutoEurope rental car at 2 Haddington Road, through Kemwell, via Michele's link. Printed out all the vouchers, reservation confirmations, etc..
I was feeling pretty good, but THEN.... Called 1-800-MCASSIST this morning, just to verify the CHASE MC Rep's ASSURRANCE that THEIR Platinum Plus MC covered Ireland and the MC rep said it AIN"T so. She told me that ONLY MC WORLD Cards and certain Business cards were STILL valid in Ireland. NO other MC's are, NOR HAVE BEEN, since September of 2006.
So I called CHASE and they closed my Platinum Plus account and transferred me to open up a World Card account. After an HOUR AND A HALF, and SIX account reps later, the CHASE Rep said he didn't know HOW to give me an unsolicited World Card! The BEST he could suggest was that he would fill out an app for a Platinum Account and add a note to it that what I REALLY wanted was a World Card. I said a few unkind things, declined the offer and then hung up.
I always USED to use an MBNA Platinum for Irish Car Hire, but Bank of America (BoA)either merged with, or bought them out and issued me a BoA Platinum MC, which I had never activated (because CHASE said that 'they had my back'). I looked up MC WORLD CARDS on the internet and found an offer from BoA for their "ELITE REWARDS" World Card, with NO Annual Fee. Interestingly enough, I also found a CHASE offer for their Continental Airlines WORLD Card, but it carries an $85 annual fee... AND, they had pretty well TICKED me off!
I called the BoA 800 number and applied over the phone. A HALF hour later, I hung up, approved, with assurrances that the new card will arrive within ten business days. They DO charge 3% OVER the 1% MC fee on foreign transaction services, but...
Next, I called Kemwell and canceled my reservation, since the billing is now on a deactivated account. Also, for MasterRental to apply, ALL transactions for therental MUST be done using the COVERING card. Kemwell was quite sympatetic and courteous. I'm sure I will re-use them once I have my new World Card in hand.
IS ALL THIS AGGRAVATION WORTH IT -- JUST TO SAVE THE $75-100 COST OF CDW?
ABSO-FLIPPING-LUTELY!
If you buy the CDW, the 'EXCESS' (deductible/inital exclusion amount) is between 500 and 1000 EURO -- UNLESS you ALSO buy the 'SUPER-CDW' / EXCESS COVER. That costs an ADDITIONAL 8-10 EURO PER DAY. My 13 rental would thus cost me an EXTRA 104-130 Euro, bringing my total insurance cost to nearly 230 EURO! Even THEN, I would STILL be 'on the hook' for the first 100 Euro of ANY claim...
Since Kemwell's charge for the 13 day rental (Toyota Corolla 4DR, Manual trans with AC) was $268.57, an EXTRA insurance cost of nearly that same amount seems a bit much.
IT REALLY IS all about the money, BECAUSE....
For most people, their travel budget is finite. Most of us only have a limited amount that we can spend on travel, because other, pesky things/obligations like food, clothing and shelter HAVE to ALSO be covered for the REST of the year. I wish that it 'tweren't so, but barring a BIG Lottery win, or an un-expected inheritence -- it IS.
$200-250 represents between 5-10% of what I can afford to spend on my trip. Given my 'normal' rate of expenditure, it MORE IMPORTANTLY represents nearly TWO EXTRA DAYS that I/we can afford to stay in Ireland (2 nights B&B, 2X the car rental daily rate and a few bucks left over for meals). THAT'S why I CRAB about it.
What REALLY annoys me, since I DO need to budget and plan for the cost of travel, is how DIFFICULT these providers make it, to do so.
MASTERCARD NEEDS to make it easier to understand WHAT they provide -- CLEARLY and UNEQUIVICALLY -- AND they AND the Card Issuers need to TRAIN and INFORM their personnel.
The Irish Rental Car Companies and/or the Irish GOVERNMENT NEED to make an easily understandable, clearly defined STANDARD. If a rental car costs $250, fine. If, INSTEAD, it costs $500, I'm STILL going to rent it, but PROBABLY not as long OR as often. It's simple economics. I'll pay what I NEED to, but I don't want to be TRICKED into spending double, because I was misled, misinformed or misdirected.
A case in point:
SOME rental companies WON'T accept MasterRental. SOME do. That's a BUSINESS decision and I'm fine with that. I choose, for the reasons stated previously to only use a company that DOES accept MasterRental.
At one time or another, I've used MOST of the rental car companies that accept MasterRental, with varying results and experiences. I shop nearly all of them, each trip, for the best value/bargain. What I found THIS year was a disturbing trend to quote INACCURATE prices. I say this because nearly every agency quotes a 'teaser' price that turns out to be "Exclusive of Local Fees", which are THEN listed in the 'FINE PRINT' -- Things like LOCATION FEE (usually $45) and ROAD TAX (at $2.50 per day). SOME companies ALSO charge a 'HANDLING FEE' (about $45) for ACCEPTING MasterRental! Again, those are BUSINESS decisions, but why are they HIDDEN????
If I ask for a 13 day rental WITHOUT CDW and receive a quote for $268.57, DON'T ADD AN ATTERISK THAT 'ADDS ON' ANOTHER $75! BE HONEST AND QUOTE ME $301.07 -- BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT REALLY IS.
Ireland NEEDS to enact a "TRUTH IN ADVERTISING' statute relative to Car Hire to stop this tactic of 'PREYING UPON' often jet-lagged, tired, excited and generally distracted tourists. What's permitted NOW, is just plain bad, SHORT-SIGHTED business.
Does anyone remember the "COME BACK TO JAMAICA" ads -- or why they HAD to run them?
Bob
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Bob
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I most certainly understand your frustrations. Regarding Kemwel, did you ask them to hold your reservation? I had to do that when there was fraudulent charges on the Credit Card I had used. When I shut down the card, I called AutoEurope, their sister company, to advise that he credit card had changed. Instead of cancelling the reservation completely, which would have cost me the low rate, they placed it on hold until I received the new card.
I completely agree that there needs to be a standardization of the auto rental AND their up front costs. I almost had my second tour ruined because the company I used charged almost triple what they had quoted me once I arrived at the rental counter.
Now that you have vented, take a deep breath and relax.
When I was standing at the rental desk in Dublin in May 06, the couple in front of me was working on getting their car. It was late in the day and cars were running low. They finally pulled away from the desk with a bill that was 3 times the original quote. At every single window at every single agency, battles were raging over what people were being asked to pay. It seems to be getting worse as time goes by.
On this last trip, I dropped my car off, it was inspected, I paid any remaining amount (I had managed to run the tank down to E) and headed into the airport. After checking my bags, going through security and having waited in the departure lounge for at least 30 minutes, I got a page. I called to find out that The Avis desk wanted me to call them.
I grabbed my paperwork and read every inch to find no mention of a local number. I picked up the courtesy phone and asked them for the number for Avis. The number they gave me turned out to be a fax number, 1 Euro down. I called them back and they swore that was the right number so I tried again. 2 Euro down. I called back again and asked if there was any way they could find another number. They finally found the number for the desk in the airport.
At this point, I've gotten first call to board. We're at talking Ryan Air, so you want to get on as soon as you can. I called the Avis desk and they said that there had been damage to the tire and the alloy wheel and that I would have to pay for it. I asked how they had missed that on inspection and suggested that a scam was underway. The young lady seemed insulted that I could suggest such a thing, but she stated that pictures had been taken and that I should come to the lot to work this out. Sure, with my flight about to board, go back through security, take the bus out to the lot, haggle for a while and make my way back. That wouldn't happen. Since we are talking tires, not covered by MC.
I informed her that I would dispute the bill through MC and that it would be a very long time before they saw any payment. My guess is that they figured the individual would not have the power to dispute the charges and pay the bill whereas MC would fight it.
About two weeks later I got a letter from Avis saying that a mechanic had replaced the tire AND alloy wheel before a photo was taken so I would not be billed. Sure, they just happened to have a factory alloy wheel hanging around the shop to fix that.
My belief is that the Irish car rental system is incredibly corrupt and the more confusing they can make it, the more they can get away with. It's tiring, very tiring to deal with and I too am very disappointed with the system.
Bob, it's a little thing, but you can insure the CDW Excess at insurance4carhire.com for about $100 a year. And if I'm not mistaken there is no deductible.
I have to agree with so many of your points. It astounds me that Ireland of all places is no longer covered by MasterRental. And all those fine print additional costs add up fast. Same thing with booking an airline ticket. The price jumps tremendously when you get to the fees and taxes part.
Sorry for the Rant, but I started writing it while I was on one of the interminable holds related to my long, sad saga. Even then, I almost opted not to post it. I just logged back in, intending to delete it, when I noticed the number of Views and responses. I guess(?) I hit a nerve....
So I'll 'leave her stand', until/unless Michele choses to delete it...
Rest assured, I will STILL continue to plan my regular trips, undeterred. Like I said, I will pay whatever I HAVE to. It's just that I RESENT being TRICKED into paying MORE. Pilosophically, the EXCESS costs associated with the insurance only constitutes a SMALL portion of the total trip cost. For the average, 'once in a lifetime' visitor, it's probaqbly not worth getting cranky about. But for those of us who go back, again and again, having to 'waste' two days worth of costs is UNACCEPTABLE.
I'm really just ANNOYED, honest! It's not like my blood pressure is about to erupt, or anything THAT drastic. It BOTHERS me that something that SHOULD be so simple, basic and straight-forward can be twisted into something so aggravatingly convoluted and difficult.
Notice, that I'm NOT complaining about the RATE --I understand that business operates for the express purpose of making a profit. I EXPECT them to profit from my business. My objection isn't with their price -- it's with the HONESTY of the price. NONE of the quotes I got from ANY company included the 'LOCAL FEES' in the price. They were all listed separately -- in the 'fine print', "TERMS AND CONDITIONS". They ALL listed Road Tax AND ALL pick up points in Dublin (that I checked) required a 'PREMIUM PICK UP LOCATION FEE' of $45 US!
So, if EVERYBODY has to pay the Road Tax, and ALL locations in DUBLIN are 'PREMIUM', IT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE QUOTE. I will pay more for a more desirable vehicle. I would pay a bit more for better service -- real, or imagined. I don't even mind (TOO MUCH) about having to buy an occassional tire (ONE, so far) caused by bad roads, rather than bad driving, since so many tourists really DO run into curbs and rocks, A LOT.
But, HERE'S the bottom line:
How many visitors come to Ireland each year? What percentage of THOSE, rent cars?
So WHY does it have to be so hard?
Bob
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Bob
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My question to the young man at the rental counter was this "For what, exactly, does the road tax pay?" Upon seeing his blank look, I explained that having driven extensively through out Ireland it didn't appear to be that the Road Tax paid for road improvemnents of much account. When one considers how much must be garnered yearly in the collected Road Taxes, wouldn't the expectation be that Ireland's roadways would be top notch?
Rest asured that the frustration is shared by everyone who travels over. As you indicated, there are many of us who travel over on a more frequent basis, who are much more largely effected by the hidden costs. How then do we propose to attempt to fix the issue?
I totally understand your frustration I am in the process of figuring out where to rent from for our upcoming August vacation.
This will be our first trip, we do not have the World MC, we dont know if/when well be going to Ireland again so no point in getting a new credit card (I think) and we need the CDW.We might even need the Super CDW.Oh, did I mention we need an automatic, too?
So, with spreadsheet in hand Shannon also requires a location surcharge of $45 (in the fine print); there seems to be a Vehicle License Fee of approximately $2.50 USD per day (fine print, too).This is sooooo frustrating.Its a lot harder than planning the itinerary, deciding on B&Bs andgetting the flight.
Dude, we are also looking at insurance4carhire.com ($100 is less than the Super CDW rates we were quoted).
BIT: You'll get no argument from me on the roads -- though they ARE much improved from my first trip, back in 1999!
xyz99: This will be my NINTH trip, and I SWEAR the car rental 'thing' gets HARDER every time! Bear in mind that SOME rental companies will NOT accept Third-Party Insurance. With insurance4carhire, you are responsible for paying the rental car company for all damages and the 'insurance' reimburses YOU, upon receipt.
Interestingly, the reason that Visa and Amex (and now, MOST MasterCards) 'dropped' Ireland was due to excessive 'Loss of Use' claims -- the theory being that there was no rush to get the car fixed if they could collect full reimbursement of rental income for every day that the car went unrepaired! Hardly a motivation for a rapid repair...
MC and Diner's Club only 'hung in' because they required the rental company to document that ALL other vehicles were rented, BEFORE they would accept ANY claim for 'Loss of Use'.
Since no rental company is REQUIRED to accept MasterRental, by either contract or law, it is CLEARLY a business decision to do so. They MUST feel that it would be bad business (read costly in terms of LOST customers) to refuse to accept MasterRental coverage. So, if they feel the need to offset that revenue loss (profit on the CDW 'PRODUCT'), I can understand their need to add it back in. But, they need to be HONEST about it and include it -- UP FRONT -- instead of HIDING it in the fine print.
Incredibly enough, I got ONE quote that added a 'hidden-in-the-fine-print', 'HANDLING FEE' of $45 for the "EXTRA PROCESSING" needed to "HANDLE" my not buying THEIR CDW!!!! THEIR rate (even COUNTING the "HANDLING FEE") was actually slightly LESS than another quote that I received, but due to my perceived duplicity of their tactic, I refuse rent from them.
For me, INTEGRITY is WORTH paying a premium for...
A Hop-On / Hop Off Tour Guide once told me: "If you come to Ireland once, you will want to come back, again. Come a second time, and you will return, again. And, if you come to Ireland four times, you'll never want to leave."
That works for ME.... I hope you discover it is true for you, as well.
Pleasant journeys.
Bob
-- Edited by Itallian Chauffeur at 21:40, 2007-04-23
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Bob
Help Us to Help You. The more you tell us about your plans (dates, interests, budget), the better we can tailor our advice to suit!
It's not like my blood pressure is about to erupt, or anything THAT drastic. It BOTHERS me that something that SHOULD be so simple, basic and straight-forward can be twisted into something so aggravatingly convoluted and difficult. 
