Englishmum

I know a lot of you lucky lads and lasses out there are going home for Christmas and some of you may very well be renting cars when you arrive at the airport.

Just a couple of 'heads up' warnings:

Be very careful to check with your car rental company what they're going to be charging you for adding an extra driver. We have just had a couple of run-ins with Hertz.

Hertz is now charging (in the UK) 8 pounds + VAT per day for each additional driver. A few weeks ago I flew to the UK and spent a few days there before driving down to LHR to meet my husband at the Hertz depot; we were driving to a wedding in SW Wales and he wanted to share the driving. We had a Ford Mondeo at the rate of 13 pounds + VAT per day. He did the paperwork and as we drove off I asked him how much they had charged him for being added for the weekend. He replied that it hadn't occurred to him to ask them. He only drove it from Friday pm until Sunday pm when we returned the car as we didn't need it whilst staying on in central London. A couple of days later a charge of over 50 pounds had been charged to his Amex card by Hertz. He sent off a couple of angry e-mails to Hertz and got the charge deleted.

We had to unexpectedly return to the UK due to the imminent death of my M-i-L. We spent a few days in East London (needed to be near the M11 motorway) and husband worked at the company's office in Canary Wharf. I needed to drive the car for three days so took the DLR to London City airport in Docklands, saw the Hertz rep and arranged to be an additional driver. I gave her the dates but their system was down and I would be added later. I was clearly told the charge was 8 pounds plus VAT per day. As it happened I returned a day earlier to the UK and this time when my husband returned the car at LHR he went in to get a receipt as he wanted to double check the additional driver fee (normally he just goes straight on the shuttle bus to the terminal and gets the receipt mailed to him). To his astonishment they were going to charge it for the whole amount of the rental period - when I wasn't even in the UK! (He spent 2.5 weeks in England). It did take him quite some time to argue it out with a supervisor and in the end he paid for 8 pounds + Vat for x 3 days (although I only used it for 2 days but he didn't have my flight info on him and couldn't prove what the rep had told me at LCA).

He was told that additional driver fees are now chargeable with Hertz for the entire rental period....so beware! I don't know how many other rental companies are trying it on (can imagine that Avis, Budget and National might) ...I've had good experiences in the past with Enterprise but my husband has the Hertz Gold #1 card so likes to go straight to a car when picking up rather than wait in line to do the paperwork.

The other warning is about going through a speed camera in a Hertz car in the UK....(again don't know about the policies on other rental companies):

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=581501

I did like one suggestion though; if Hertz can't/won't provide a copy of the violation, then it's a good idea to get your credit card company to charge it back to them as there is no proof that you committed the offence.

cabritpop

I've always found renting cars in the UK to be a rip off, I don't think the time of year really matters that much.

AdobePinon

Yeah, and all that searching for rock chips with a magnifying glass when you return the car. You ever seen what the rental staff here do with the car as you walk off?

Jerseygirl

That really annoys my husband...the little diagram with all the little scratches and dents on it. Here you just hand over the keys and that's it.

cabritpop

I scratched one in the UK once along a brick wall trying to get down a bloody zig-zag shaped small alley. I went to Halfords and did a nice repair job myself. They spotted it but the car had been damaged in the same spot prior so they let me off. I had damage waiver anyway so it wouldn't have mattered. Serves them right for giving me a Rover Metro.

Bob

that's because you've paid the damage waiver, which if you don't, they'll do the same thing..

Sally

Yeah I had to do the diagram when Ihad a rental recently.

Jerseygirl

Do you mean CDW? If so...we don't 'cos we're covered by our own car insurance and also with the credit card.

Don't know about anything else 'cos I've never rented a car in the US...my husband always sorts that out.

I do know that he was muttering expletives when we rented a car last year in the UK...when he had to stand in the rain inspecting the rental car for scratches and dents.

Bob

I don't know, but the damage waiver is separate cost to the insurance, they do that over here too...you pay that, then you don't have to pay x amount for damages for dinks and stuff....they might roll it into the list of costs over here, but if you don't pay it, you'll know about it

cindyabs

I think the additional driver cost here is 20 bucks a day or so, and the surcharge for being under 25 is the same.

Bob

and that's if you can find a rental that'll let you rent a car if under 25....though it's different if there being added as an additional driver...don't get the difference there though *l*

Tarkak9

x2. I don't trust 'em at all. If I am to rent one I usually go with enterprise or their counterpart. I once rented from another rental company and they tried to charge me for a cracked windshield when, my paperwork showed it to be fine; they insinuated that I lied about it and it was cracked when I returned it. This all was "brought to my attention" 2 mo after I rented the car. I said to them, if I am to pay for a replacement windshield, I will arrange to have someone to replace it if you either take the car over to them or allow them to turn up and replace it on the spot. Utterly confused them.

I figured many things... Some employee was trying to cover their a@@ 2. being so far away, one won't challenge them as its too much of a bother. 3. They basically were going down the list of persons to find someone who would be "willing" to pay for it (if at all it needed replacing). 4. They figured that after all that time, the likelihood I would still have the rental agreement is nill so its their records vs mine.

Before I drive off, I really go over the car and take photos too. When I return the car, I make sure they sign off the car and get the person's name on the sheet saying its acceptable to them; its a closed file, no after the fact bs.

Besides, you don't think the rental companies don't have insurance on their fleet?!?! have them put in the claim on thier policy!

JAJ

Most rental companies self-insure their fleets. Insurance doesn't make sense on a fleet of thousands, it normally works out cheaper just to pay for any repairs directly.

Englishmum

True. The Post Office in the UK has the biggest fleet of all company vehicles in Britain. None of them are insured - the premiums would cost far too much.