30 Mar
Car Hire USA – Don’t pay for extra’s
Hi All,
As requested by Susan?Heath from Surrey, this week my blog relates to the guys and girls who work on the car rental desks.
These guys don’t really get the acknowledgement they deserve, the majority offer a first class service? and are a credit to their orginisations however?as with a lot of service jobs in the U.S.?the rental desk operators make up a large part of their pay by selling the additional add on’s on behalf of the supplier.
Personally I don’t mind being offered additional services, but I do not want to be hoodwinked, hard sold or offered services I already have.
Remember your rental agreement is a legally binding contract with the supplier, always read it and fully understand it before signing. After speaking to our customer care team I have bullet pointed the most common add on’s our customers complain about.
- Advanced Roadside assistance – Customers have been lead to believe that their rentals do not include Roadside Assistance however standard roadside assistance is included in all our rentals.
- Personal Accident Insurance (PAI)?- This insurance generally covers injury to you, it is more or likely similar to your own travel insurance.
- Personal Effects Insurance (PEI) – Insures against items stolen from the vehicle again generally covered by your own travel insurance.
- Trip Saver – Trip Saver is option often offered that pre-pays your vehicle for any toll booths you may go through. Handy if you plan to use a lot of toll roads but a waste of money if not.
Ways to avoid these charges
The majority of these charges could have been avoided, the most obvious one, is that the suppliers tighten up the processes for offering these additional services. However there are thing you can do to avoid unwanted extras.
- Always read your rental agreement fully.? Click here?for my blog about rental agreements.?
- Be aware of what you are signing for.
- Look out for where the rental desk operator has circled, as this will show any extras.
- Ask for confirmation from the agent that there are no additional charges to be made.
- Re-Read your rental agreement! Click here?for my blog about rental agreements.?
Summary
As I mention above the majority of desk operators offer a good honest service. So please do not think that as soon as you get to the rental desk you will be harassed and forced to sign for every?extra under the sun, you wont, but from experience the worst part of working in our customer care department is having to tell a customer there is “nothing we can do because you signed?for it locally”.? Regardless of the amount of pressure we put on suppliers, if you’ve signed the rental agreement locally then you have agreed to the service.
Have you had any experience with this subject?
Is there anything you’d like me to blog about?
Regards,
?
Gavin
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Posted by john cooke on 30.03.09 at 10:53 am
We booked 5 weeks car hire in Florida with Budget thro USrentacar.co.
uk.Returning the car at the end of 5 weeks we were charged for a weeks rent.
It seems Florida Law only allows a max 4 weeks rent. We sorted it in
the end with a Budget Manager but it was hassle. How can we avoid this
problem with booking over 4 weeks next time we visit Florida ?
Posted by admin on 30.03.09 at 10:53 am
Hi John,
Thanks for your post. I don’t think its Florida law, as both Alamo and Dollar both operate a maximum rental period of 56 days. Budgets maximum rental period is 28 days, however we have an agreement in place where we can book practically book an unlimited amount of days on one voucher, upon arrival the Budget operators should get you to sign multiple rental agreements, thus allowing you to continue on your holiday without having to return.
Next time you want to do it drop me an email at gavinb@usrentacar.co.uk with your booking reference number and remind me of this post and I’ll make sure everything runs smoothly.
Posted by sue findlay on 30.03.09 at 10:53 am
Hi I am travelling from Chicago to Boston in a Budget rental car. Is it cheaper for me to pay for toll booths in advance? Many thanks.
Posted by admin on 30.03.09 at 10:53 am
Hi Sue,
Unfortunately here comes a slightly unhelpful answer I’m afraid.
As the toll booth extra is levied by Budget and not offered by usrentacar, I don’t actually know what the additional cost would be locally, therefore I can’t really comment on which option would work out cheaper.
The only advise I can think of is perhaps, using google or something similar to work out how many toll booths you will go through, this will give you a rough idea of the total cost of the toll booths and then when your at the desk try to negotiate on the trip saver extra.
Sorry I can’t be more helpful however perhaps one of our readers might be able to shed some additional light?
Regards,
Gavin