noelrosie

Correct ... but the scam was that the booking was for two named drivers and it was the driver named second on the booking form that had a credit card. The booking therefore 'had to be reprocessed' with the previously named second driver as the main driver, and of course, by this point it was more expensive

MikeJ

To be fair that's probably not a scam either. Presumably the original online booking contract was in the name of the primary driver (additional driver is usually an add on and has no contract liability), in which case a new contract had to be drawn up and you were unable to negotiate as good a deal face-to-face as you did online. I'm afraid that's Tom Jones


There are plenty of good and fair car rental companies who are being tarred with the same brush as a few cowboys and sharp practices. (did I mention Goldcar?)

noelrosie

Wasn't me who was caught out, it was some friends. We are always very careful, having rented cars at Alicante airport several times a year since 2000... Just wanted to make sure that the OP was just as careful

noelrosie

You DID mention Goldcar, but we have found all the big names (Record, Centauro, Auriga, Sixt) to be much of a muchness in this respect. Have heard dreadful stories about Dickmans (poor quality cars being one) ... but cannot comment on Hertz, Avis, Europecar or the independents. Guess you get what you pay for!

johnnyone

I rarely use Alicante airport but did a few years ago and the wait for the car (Firefly) was around 1hr. Friends hired (Record) from the airport recently and waited 1.5 hrs! Do not know if this is the norm, perhaps others can advise. If that is the case it may be worth hiring from a non-budget Company eg Hertz

noelrosie

I'll second that ... one hour is normal in peak season, especially since they introduced this 'credit card block' if you do not take the top up insurance, as this provokes many arguments at the desk!

rspltd

We hired from Sixt and had to reject the first car offered as there were so many dings and dents they couldn't all be recorded on the form. The rep seemed to think there wouldn't be a problem on return! This of course meant a long walk to the car park and then back to the terminal and then rejoin the queue. When we returned the car I took photos and the precaution of having their rep sign that it was undamaged. Six months later! I received a letter from Sixt head office saying the car was damaged and they were going to take €1500 from my credit card. Fortunately they accepted my evidence and admitted that they had no idea how the damage had been caused and I was the last recorded driver. Also the staff at the airport claimed not to understand English very well and replied in broken English until I responded in Spanish and then their English improved!