Car Hire

Anyone here work for a car hire company with a station in Bristol? Yes I'm being cheeky and looking for a favour before the weekend.

Listen....DO NOT USE EUROPCAR!! They are a bunch of con artists. They WILL try to rip you off...saying you have damaged the vehicle etc.
Whoever you use make sure you go round the car with their rep and agree to any existing chip or scratch no matter how small it is and get it noted on the paperwork. Then...when you hand it back take photos all round,inside and out to show you haven't damaged it...even places like underneath the wing mirrors where you wouldn't normally think of looking. Also keep an eye on your credit card as they have a habit of accusing you of damage then trying to take money from your card.
Be warned!

Clint said:

Listen....DO NOT USE EUROPCAR!! They are a bunch of con artists. They WILL try to rip you off...saying you have damaged the vehicle etc.
Whoever you use make sure you go round the car with their rep and agree to any existing chip or scratch no matter how small it is and get it noted on the paperwork. Then...when you hand it back take photos all round,inside and out to show you haven't damaged it...even places like underneath the wing mirrors where you wouldn't normally think of looking. Also keep an eye on your credit card as they have a habit of accusing you of damage then trying to take money from your card.
Be warned!

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Not a fan then I take it? I used them once before in Germany and they were grand, but I have heard similar things as you've mentioned. Only thing I really dislike about car hire places is the sodding deposit.

I'd never ever hire a car again ..from anyone! I'd walk first.

I’ve used them several times as well on the continent without issue including not being charged for damage someone else did.

prog99 said:

I’ve used them several times as well on the continent without issue including not being charged for damage someone else did.

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I do think sometimes it just depends who you get.

I used to hire cars alot so bought annual zero excess insurance from insurance4carhire. Never had to use it but worth the £40 per year incase anything ever happened. Beats paying over £10/day to add it to your rental

I agree with @Clint !

I once hired a car from Sixt at the CDG Airport in Paris a month in advance. When I arrived to pick it up they informed me that they only had a much higher priced one available! I complained about the increased cost of hire (and the increased cost of fuel) but I was told that I wouldn't be charged for the upgrade because the problem was for Sixt to resolve and not me!

I very reluctantly took the car, but I also photographed the three or four "dings" and scratches that were on view before I even sat in it.

When I dropped the car off in Toulouse the very first thing that was mentioned were the "dings" and scratches so I showed them the photographs. The man in charge tried to make out that I could have faked the time and date, until I pointed out that the surrounding area in the photographs was the Sixt Parking Lot at Paris CDG!

Having accepted the "dings" and scratches he then presented me with an Invoice for the upgraded vehicle. Again, I had to drag out the original Confirmation letter from Sixt and explain that what I had ordered wasn't available, which was why I was driving the car I had brought in.

It took well over 30 minutes of arguing, but I finally got an Invoice that tallied with the Confirmation letter that I had originally downloaded and printed.

A month later (by this time I was back in the UK) I discovered that my Invoice didn't tally with the amount taken from my Credit Card. The guy in Toulouse had taken an extra £20 (about half-way between the two car prices), but by this time I was sick to death of the whole outfit and decided not to pursue the matter any further.

The "Good News" is that I have avoided the company like the plague; and the £20 that they stole from my Credit Card in 2004 has cost Sixt well over £5,000 in lost sales!

When I had my bother with EUROPCAR I googled them...they are a catalogue of horrors...loads of unhappy customers and last year they put aside 3.6 million £ to reimburse customers they'd ripped off!

Last week I hired a one way van and drove it all the way across France for £1. Everything worked a treat, although I was expecting a scam or some hidden catch, nothing bad happened. This might or might not be any use to you, but worth telling anyway. Sure I had to pay fuel and tolls, and I opted for a CDW at a reasonable rate. Works for cars and vans.

There is an agency called "Driiveme" who specialise in hooking up bookings for drivers to return a one way hire back to the point of origin. Otherwise the hire firm needs to pay a driver, and the fuel, and in France the tolls, and the driver would then need to get home again, with more expense and time.

You can't be so picky on the dates or the exact pickup and delivery, and of course it works when you want a one way trip, but when all those planets are lined up, it's magical.

Well worth noting and checking out. Yes, I know this is not directly homebrew related, but nor was the question, and it certainly fits the ethos of the "homebrew concept" - super value, efficient, lateral thinking, etc. https://www.driiveme.co.uk/

Just checking now I get multiple offers from Bristol to London, Manchester, etc. You get a day to complete the journey, with a mileage allowance that does not give you that much room for diversions en route, but good enough for a quick detour.

Richard Lander said:

Last week I hired a one way van and drove it all the way across France for £1. Everything worked a treat, although I was expecting a scam or some hidden catch, nothing bad happened. This might or might not be any use to you, but worth telling anyway. Sure I had to pay fuel and tolls, and I opted for a CDW at a reasonable rate. Works for cars and vans.

There is an agency called "Driiveme" who specialise in hooking up bookings for drivers to return a one way hire back to the point of origin. Otherwise the hire firm needs to pay a driver, and the fuel, and in France the tolls, and the driver would then need to get home again, with more expense and time.

You can't be so picky on the dates or the exact pickup and delivery, and of course it works when you want a one way trip, but when all those planets are lined up, it's magical.

Well worth noting and checking out. Yes, I know this is not directly homebrew related, but nor was the question, and it certainly fits the ethos of the "homebrew concept" - super value, efficient, lateral thinking, etc. https://www.driiveme.co.uk/

Just checking now I get multiple offers from Bristol to London, Manchester, etc. You get a day to complete the journey, with a mileage allowance that does not give you that much room for diversions en route, but good enough for a quick detour.

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Thanks, I will definitely still take a look. I'm driving from Bristol to Cornwall for a golf weekend for my brothers 30th as a treat. I will most likely go with Enterprise. cheapest all round and they reviewed well for customer service in Which? recently. May hunt online for a discount or voucher just to make it worthwhile.

Richard Lander said:

Yes, I know this is not directly homebrew related, but nor was the question, and it certainly fits the ethos of the "homebrew concept" - super value, efficient, lateral thinking, etc. https://www.driiveme.co.uk/

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This is the snug a place where you can discuss all non brewing related topics (and brewing ones should you want to) :thumba:

Chippy_Tea said:

This is the snug a place where you can discuss all non brewing related topics

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Except sexual deviancy, religion, hardcore drug usage, snowflakes and Brexit. Bah... I feel excluded.

Except sexual deviancy, religion, hardcore drug usage, snowflakes and Brexit. Bah... I feel excluded.

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You can discuss anything that doesn't break the rules below. (we made our own rule for Brexit)



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