Not to long ago we all knew that we have to watch out when we compared prices on flights to avoid paying 1 € for the flight and 200 € for the taxes and other surcharges. Thanks to massive critics the airlines have changed this somewhat and now we can normally compare the actual cost of flights.
Today I found out that the car rental companies have adopted this practice instead.
First a short background, I needed a car for the day down in Amsterdam and checked a few different sites to see if I could get a reasonable deal. I finally went with Rentalcars.com since they had the best deal on a reasonable car and since the rental was with Hertz with I used many times and usually been quite pleased with.
I prepaid the booking for 48 € and was quite happy since it clearly stated that "Local taxes" was included, no strange surcharges to worry about I thought and was happy to get away with the ridiculously expensive location charge of 55€.
When I picked up the car the lady at Hertz informed me that I had fooled myself and that I indeed had to pay the additional 55€, irritated by the fact that my rental had more than doubled in price already I asked her that there wouldn't be any other additional charges if I returned the car ful since the preliminary surcharges included refueling and came to a total of 160 €.
After a days driving around the Netherlands I returned the car this evening only to find out that there was an additional 21% tax on the location charge plus some other bullshit surcharge of 2 € (still don't know what that one is for). So my 48 € car rental ended up being a 117 € car rental, and I who thought that the fuel was the only extra cost of the rental...
I have registered a complaint with both Rentalcars.com and Hertz for misleading information and will update this if any of them replies and want their companies not be like some airlines have been in the past.
____
Fick svar från Hertz efter ett tag, men har än idag inte fått nått svar från Rentalcars.com (2014-02-18)
Today I found out that the car rental companies have adopted this practice instead.
First a short background, I needed a car for the day down in Amsterdam and checked a few different sites to see if I could get a reasonable deal. I finally went with Rentalcars.com since they had the best deal on a reasonable car and since the rental was with Hertz with I used many times and usually been quite pleased with.
I prepaid the booking for 48 € and was quite happy since it clearly stated that "Local taxes" was included, no strange surcharges to worry about I thought and was happy to get away with the ridiculously expensive location charge of 55€.
When I picked up the car the lady at Hertz informed me that I had fooled myself and that I indeed had to pay the additional 55€, irritated by the fact that my rental had more than doubled in price already I asked her that there wouldn't be any other additional charges if I returned the car ful since the preliminary surcharges included refueling and came to a total of 160 €.
After a days driving around the Netherlands I returned the car this evening only to find out that there was an additional 21% tax on the location charge plus some other bullshit surcharge of 2 € (still don't know what that one is for). So my 48 € car rental ended up being a 117 € car rental, and I who thought that the fuel was the only extra cost of the rental...
I have registered a complaint with both Rentalcars.com and Hertz for misleading information and will update this if any of them replies and want their companies not be like some airlines have been in the past.
____
Fick svar från Hertz efter ett tag, men har än idag inte fått nått svar från Rentalcars.com (2014-02-18)
Hej Tack för ditt mejl, du har bokat din hyrbil via Traveljigsaw och ska då kontakta deras kundtjänst med alla ärenden som rör din hyra. De ansvarar för att bistå sin kund med alla ärenden före under och efter din hyra och kontaktar i sin tur den biluthyrare i det aktuella landet som levererat bilen till dig. Med vänliga hälsningar Beatrice Customer Relations Sweden Hertz First Rent A Car | International Franchisee Box 14, Skogsgatan 5, 933 21 Arvidsjaur, Sweden Phone: +46 (0)960- 473 30 | Fax: +46 (0)960- 108 01 Email: customerrelations@hertz.se | www.hertz.se | www.hertz.se/omhertz
