Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Post Info TOPIC: Warning: Car Rental Rip-offs!! Some Require €2,000 - €15,000 Deposit to Decline CDW


Moderator

Status: Offline
Posts: 2167
Date:
RE: Warning: Car Rental Rip-offs!! Some Require €2,000 - €15,000 Deposit to Decline CDW


Geno -- That was the quote from Enterprise for a Belfast to Dublin rental.  I suppose other companies might price differently.

Christy -- As I had misstated YOUR route (since you wish to return at SNN), I attempted another Test Booking with Enterprise (BFS to SNN) and the Enterprise website now says, "No Vehicles Available".  I take that to mean that they do not allow one-way rentals to SNN.

Looking at Budget (The .com site, NOT the .ie -- so 'Waiving' CDW is an option), I found a compact manual (Renault Clio class), 16 - 22 June, for a quote of: $349.33 which INCLUDED a 'Drop off' fee of $156.72 -- which is almost EQUAL to the Rental cost.  Still, it's an improvement over the Enterprise rate . . . confuse  confuse

Hope this helps.



__________________

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!



Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 642
Date:

Thanks, Bob... That's an option, certainly. My friend, Kim, will be traveling with me. While I've been to NI several times, she's never been. I want to show her the Antrim coast :)



__________________

May the light be your guide and the darkness be your comfort!

www.greendragonartist.com



Moderator

Status: Offline
Posts: 2167
Date:

In the past couple of years, a number of US issued credit card companies have 'jumped onto the Ireland Bandwagon' -- Chase, Citibank, and even, AMEX (Although many rental companies still won't ACCEPT their coverage) have added coverage for car rentals in Ireland with not only MasterCards, but also with VISA Cards.  To ME, that's a GOOD thing!  biggrin  biggrin

It looks like another BIG change has recently occurred that ISN'T so pleasant.  furious  furious  Citi Bank has apparently decided to stop ALL of their CC provided benefits.  That's bad news for anyone who may have made a booking for a future car rental in Ireland (or anywhere, for that matter).  According to a 'Pop Up' on their account "Log In" page:

"Effective September 22, 2019, Worldwide Car Rental Insurance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection, Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance, Trip Delay Protection, Baggage Delay Protection, Lost Baggage Protection, Medical Evacuation, Citi® Price Rewind, 90 Day Return Protection, and Missed Event Ticket Protection will be discontinued and will no longer be provided for purchases made on or after that date. Coverage for purchases made before that date will continue to be available, and you may continue to file for benefits in accordance with the current benefit terms. Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service and Travel & Emergency Assistance will be discontinued and will not be available on or after September 22, 2019."

The only exception to the above that I have been made aware of is the COSTCO branded Citi card.

 



__________________

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!

Roy


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 858
Date:

Ill have to check with my Costco Citi card to see if thats still covered and let everyone know.



__________________
Roy


Host

Status: Offline
Posts: 10692
Date:

The only sure thing about car rentals in Ireland is they continually change.


__________________

"Ireland Expert"  Michele Erdvig

Click links for Michele's Book or Custom Ireland Itinerary

Visit Michele's Irish Shop for unique Irish gifts and beautiful photos of Ireland.



Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 642
Date:

So this is new. I just got my rental through Conn's. They sent me a Rental Briefing - which contained the following, which looks like a way for them to profit off the Dynamic Currency Conversion crap. 


Please note - You can have a choice of currency to pay for your rental charges;
whether to charge your card in USD or Euros. This decision HAS TO BE MADE
at the time of pick-up. That decision will be FINAL and cannot be changed when
you turn in the car. Please double-check your choice by looking at the sentence
immediately ABOVE the place where you sign: If you elected to have the
rental charged in Euros it would read: I confirm .. and have chosen to
pay my rental charges in local currency. If you elected to have the rental
charged in the currency of your credit card it would read: I confirm ..
and have chosen to pay my rental charges in my home currency. If you
choose home currency the rental charges will be converted by Monex
Financial Services Ltd from the currency of the country of rental to the
currency in which your card is issued. Monex will use the commercial daily
rate of exchange for the day we bill the charges to your account and will
charge an administration fee of up to 2.75% of the transaction. Make sure
you advise the Hertz CSR at the counter that you wish to elect this option.



__________________

May the light be your guide and the darkness be your comfort!

www.greendragonartist.com



Host

Status: Offline
Posts: 10692
Date:

Thanks for the update, Christy. Wouldn't it be nice to have complete transparency with car rentals? Instead they make money with hidden charges you have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out. In the process they tick off a lot of people.



__________________

"Ireland Expert"  Michele Erdvig

Click links for Michele's Book or Custom Ireland Itinerary

Visit Michele's Irish Shop for unique Irish gifts and beautiful photos of Ireland.



Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 298
Date:

Another example of when in doubt it's always a good idea to charge in euros.

__________________


Moderator

Status: Offline
Posts: 2167
Date:

I would say that the 'Rip Off' is via Hertz and that Conn has offered a somewhat veiled warning of it.  I guess that contractually, he can't out-and-out SAY that DCC is bad -- since Hertz is the one who profits from it .

Still, his 'warning' should probably be a bit clearer with its wording.

In that case, I'll say it for him -- "DCC is BAD -- VERY bad.  Always charge purchases in the currency of the country where the purchase takes place.  You will get the best exchange rate via your Credit Card in almost all cases.  Being charged a poor exchange rate is bad enough -- there is NO need to also pay a 3-4% 'Handling Fee' for the privilege of being Ripped Off!"   



__________________

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!

Roy


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 858
Date:

As I am on my 4th rebooking Ive decided just to put everything on hold. The two bookings I had money tied up in were flights and car rental. I requested a refund on the car rental, and the policy clearly states full refund. However, I received a response that they were going to charge me a 50 administrative fee as long as I was okay with that since my booking had been rolled over from previous delays. I responded that I was not okay with that and reminded them of their policy and suggested that they were being somewhat dishonest in wanting to charge me to cancel.

__________________
Roy


Host

Status: Offline
Posts: 10692
Date:

Roy, Let us know what happens. You can always dispute it on your CC.

__________________

"Ireland Expert"  Michele Erdvig

Click links for Michele's Book or Custom Ireland Itinerary

Visit Michele's Irish Shop for unique Irish gifts and beautiful photos of Ireland.



Moderator

Status: Offline
Posts: 2167
Date:

Wow!

Whilst I sympathize with the Car Hire people due to existing conditions, "Fully Refundable" MEANS in full!  I would definitely dispute the charge and if necessary, file a complaint with the Government -- at:  Car rental - CCPC Consumers  

Granted, the Car Hire Commission isn't particularly consumer friendly, but bad press IS bad press!



__________________

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!

Roy


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 858
Date:

Hope you enjoy their response:

Where we offered to roll over a booking for clients we guaranteed 1. that there would be a car for them ( as its forecast there may be a shortage of available vehicles in 2021/2022) and 2. there would be no annual price increase over the original booking cost.

We also offered 2 nd driver free which is a saving of 10 -12 per day.

In total, quite a saving for those who rolled over/rescheduled.

Many clients took up this offer and rolled over their bookings to fixed dates or open dates till end 2021/22

If they were to subsequently cancel, we would at that stage, have had staff involved in two sets of booking administration, a situation which has never happened before for obvious reasons.

We have costs involved in handling these subsequent bookings and this, in a climate where we have not had a rental car business or income from same since March 2021.

Where we explained that to clients who had to cancel after rolling over our position, everyone, with the exception of yourself, has graciously accepted the charge as a contribution towards the costs and over heads, a token charge in comparison to the actual cost of the administration involved.

This only arose where we had the 2nd booking subsequently cancelled and not in any case where the original booking was cancelled outright.

While they would have benefitted financially by rolling over, (it was a very good offer), they accepted there was additional work in further handling their reservation, and were very understanding of our situation.

Its clear you do not see things this way and thats fine. In your case I will refund you the full amount.

I have to say that I am unhappy at your contention and charge that we are, in any way, being dishonest.

You will not find evidence of any situation where we have ever been dishonest with any client over the years we have been in business.

We pride ourselves on customer service and satisfaction and we have a particularly good reputation in this area.

I have been called many things in my time, but have never been called dishonest and I dont believe its justified.

I will put forward the papers for your refund tomorrow .

Currently refunds are taking in the region of 14 - 18 days to work through the system.





__________________
Roy


Moderator

Status: Offline
Posts: 2167
Date:

"While they would have benefitted financially by rolling over, (it was a very good offer), they accepted there was additional work in further handling their reservation, and were very understanding of our situation.


Its clear you do not see things this way and that's fine. In your case I will refund you the full amount."

I read that as: "Since you complained, we'll honor our original agreement."

Truth is, I've heard it said that only about 10% of customers typically complain about errors or poor service.  I'll admit, that was some year's ago, but I think the principal still applies.  Sounds like they are only bluffing -- and hoping that the average consumer won't bother to fight the claim.  Meanwhile, they've had use of your funds for HOW long??

Again -- the current situation isn't their fault -- but, it isn't the customers, either.



__________________

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!

Roy


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 858
Date:

My wife Rita got a good laugh from the intended Irish guilt trip imbedded throughout the email!

__________________
Roy


Host

Status: Offline
Posts: 10692
Date:

What company had so many weeks of work changing your reservation? Or did they just change the date and push a computer button in less than a minute?

__________________

"Ireland Expert"  Michele Erdvig

Click links for Michele's Book or Custom Ireland Itinerary

Visit Michele's Irish Shop for unique Irish gifts and beautiful photos of Ireland.



Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 298
Date:

The old days getting a car with Dan Dooley were easy and everything was presented in clear detail. I miss renting from them, as I had nothing but great experience with this group when they were privately owned. Now it's such a challenge to get to the bottom of what the policy and charges are.

__________________
Roy


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 858
Date:

I decided this trip to try My Irish Cousin because of their positive reviews.



__________________
Roy


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 642
Date:

It looks like Irish car rental is INSANELY expensive right now! Anyone have any tips/tricks? I've got the added challenge of landing in Belfast and flying out of Shannon. 19 day rentals are looking like $3000! At least I finally have a credit card that will cover Ireland CDW - but that doesn't help much, since the base cost is so high. (8/19-9/7)

The best I've found are Autoeurope at $1929.

Conn's is clocking in at $3000, as is Europcar and Expedia.

 

And yes, this is for manual.



-- Edited by Green Dragon on Wednesday 15th of June 2022 03:08:06 PM

__________________

May the light be your guide and the darkness be your comfort!

www.greendragonartist.com



Host

Status: Offline
Posts: 10692
Date:

It is crazy this year. Evidently during Covid the car companies sold off their fleets. As you know getting new cars is more expensive and difficult. Some companies are already totally booked (especially in high season) and you are going in August! 

I have heard of some who are renting camper vans which they claim are lower priced than cars. Some people are renting from dealerships but I have heard many are already booked up. Someone on Facebook was saying they are renting from Shelbourne Motors in Newry for a lot less: https://www.shelbournemotors.com/rental/cars/

Wish I had some good news for you but shop around. 



__________________

"Ireland Expert"  Michele Erdvig

Click links for Michele's Book or Custom Ireland Itinerary

Visit Michele's Irish Shop for unique Irish gifts and beautiful photos of Ireland.



Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 9
Date:

We went through Expedia and got a reservation with Easirent. I can only drive the automatic, so it took a little longer to find one, but we did. We did get the insurance and i have the car 10-21Sep2022. Cost was $922 +$132 for Collision with a total of $1087.35. The only problem is that it may be an electric car, a nice looking one, but electric. Already contacted by B&B's on where it could be charged if that is what i do end up with.

__________________


Moderator

Status: Offline
Posts: 2167
Date:

Interesting!  It appears that EVs ARE the future, I guess.

You might find this handy:  Map of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in Ireland | PlugShare

I'm sure the car hire people will also provide some guidance, as well.

Please let us know how it all turns out!



__________________

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!



Newbie

Status: Offline
Posts: 1
Date:

Hi Michele, Thank you for all your efforts to keep us the Public/Tourist/ informed on this intriguing topic. 

I would like to ask you have you had any clients inquiring about CarJet?. I have just booked my CarHire from them ((which I believe is the Budget Desk at the Airport).

I go a quote of 270.25 for 14 days. I opted for Platinum Excess waver, which added to 83 onto my quote, I paid a deposit of 113.94 balance  they say to pay on arrival 247.94..final quote 361.88.

My question is why do I have to give my C.C & pin with 2.000 hold! when I have taken out full insurance. Where do I stand if I did not pay the 83 & took their CWD offer. Thanks for your reply. 



__________________


Moderator

Status: Offline
Posts: 2167
Date:

Welcome to Michele"s Forum!

I haven't heard of CarJet, but they must be affiliated with Avis/Budget Ireland if they are utilizing the Budget Desk.  If I understand your question correctly, you plan to use a North American issued Credit Card to "Waive" the offered insurance coverage for their rental car.

If so, the $83 is a fee to cover any potential paperwork required in the event of an accident.   Credit cards that cover Ireland Car rentals (Not all do!) require that you decline ALL offered insurances.  In other words, CC coverage can't be used just to cover the "Excess" -- which is the Deductible applied to the Basic Collision Damage and Theft coverage.  You should contact your CC provider (MasterCard, or Visa) to verify coverage nd to clarify their specific requirements.

Your price seems unusually LOW for a 14 day rental -- even without any offered insurances.  I have a reservation from 15 -30 July for a Manual transmission SUV, waiving ALL insurances that's costing me right around 600 Euro (about $650).  An Automatic (which are generally scarcer, and more expensive) would have added over $200 to the cost.

Hope this helps!



__________________

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!

«First  <  115 16 17 | Page of 17  sorted by
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.

Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us


Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse
Powered by ActiveBoard