Guess the cost time.

[renault12ts]

My daughter has hired a car for the next 22 days. An Astra. On my advice she bought independent excess cover for £37.50...which covers her for car hire for 1 year. This means, for those who don't know, that the hire car company excess of £1000 will be taken care of if need be.

Enterprise, of course, wanted her to buy it from them...so guess the premium they wanted.

 

[Piff]

£497?

 

[JattAmg]

The same price as a C63 amg ?

 

[neilrr]

15 quid per day?

 

[bob6600]

£10 a day

 

[renault12ts]

£497?

Almost spot on.

This is scandalous. Apparently even the smallest scratch outside the accepted parameters would incur the excess.

 

[Piff]

Almost spot on.

This is scandalous. Apparently even the smallest scratch outside the accepted parameters would incur the excess.

Just a wild guess

 

[AMGeed]

My niece hired an Astra from Enterprise during the summer for 2 weeks.
The quote was very reasonable, much cheaper than anywhere else, until she turned up to collect it.
Similar price to above for compulsory damage and absolutely scandalous profiteering. I would never , ever recommend Enterprise to hire a car. At least **** Turpin was honest about his profession.
Every car hire company should be forced to state the final price for each model so the customer isn't cheated and knows what to expect.

 

[Chrishazle]

Not had to hire a car in this country, only abroad. Found an outfit on t'internet that do decent prices and no excess - they don't actually hire the cars, when you book they tell you who will actually supply the car so you know which desk to go to when you arrive.

Had the Opel equivalent of an Astra on a ski trip, damaged the NS wing mirror cover by sliding off the edge of the road and clipping the marker pole for the snow ploughs. Car hire co hit my credit card for about £400, people I'd booked the hire through refunded it within a couple of weeks.

Just wish I could remember the name of the outfit I booked through (it was about 10 years ago, but AFAIK they're still going). I think it's something like Holidayautos.

 

[wivenhoe]

My niece hired an Astra from Enterprise during the summer for 2 weeks.
The quote was very reasonable, much cheaper than anywhere else, until she turned up to collect it.
Similar price to above for compulsory damage and absolutely scandalous profiteering. I would never , ever recommend Enterprise to hire a car. At least **** Turpin was honest about his profession.
Every car hire company should be forced to state the final price for each model so the customer isn't cheated and knows what to expect.

Somebody ran into me and notified their insurers. They called me and offered me a 'free' Kia. My insurers said I was entitled to the same type of car as mine - a new CLS. They arranged one from Enterprise. Excellent service. However, I was going to be away on business and my insurers said I would have to pay the hire from when my car was available until the hire car was returned - 2 days. I asked Enterprise how much - £500. Their weekly rate was £ 1,000 ! I got a cab to and from the airport instead and in fairness to ESure they offered to pay the taxi fare one way.

 

[AMGeed]

Somebody ran into me and notified their insurers. They called me and offered me a 'free' Kia. My insurers said I was entitled to the same type of car as mine - a new CLS. They arranged one from Enterprise. Excellent service. However, I was going to be away on business and my insurers said I would have to pay the hire from when my car was available until the hire car was returned - 2 days. I asked Enterprise how much - £500. Their weekly rate was £ 1,000 ! I got a cab to and from the airport instead and in fairness to ESure they offered to pay the taxi fare one way.

Proof of the pudding...... Enterprise are crooks.

 

[Dryce]

Bit unfair on Enterprise.

I've used various hire car companies and over 10 years and Enterprise have been pretty much the same as them all. At various times they have been more aggressive on pricing - particularly with automatics than their sibling brands or competiting brands..

What we have found is that all the companies try it on with the extra fees to a lesser or greater extent depending on the individual at the rental location. The extra damage waiver has been a fear based upsell for years - with the cost going up and the level of 'cover' dropping.

 

[GP801]

Not had to hire a car in this country, only abroad. Found an outfit on t'internet that do decent prices and no excess - they don't actually hire the cars, when you book they tell you who will actually supply the car so you know which desk to go to when you arrive.

Had the Opel equivalent of an Astra on a ski trip, damaged the NS wing mirror cover by sliding off the edge of the road and clipping the marker pole for the snow ploughs. Car hire co hit my credit card for about £400, people I'd booked the hire through refunded it within a couple of weeks.

Just wish I could remember the name of the outfit I booked through (it was about 10 years ago, but AFAIK they're still going). I think it's something like Holidayautos.

Possibly Economy Carhire (now known as Zestcarhire) They have zero excess or refundable excess on all their deals worldwide and are usually very well priced. Most recent example Ford Fiesta in Malta for 6 days for £36 all in. Used them many times without problems

 

[camerafodder]

I'm so pleased you edited your post renault as I spent quite a while looking for SAn Astra!

 

[Dryce]

Proof of the pudding...... Enterprise are crooks.

I despair when I see these sorts of threads.

Have you ever looked at the full spectrum of car rental pricing?

All the rental companies operate like hotels - there is the equivalent of a 'rack rate' which is ridiculous. And then there are various corporate rates which are significantly lower. And in between it's down to luck on the day, negotiation, and their yield management setup.

So you turn up looking for a small automatic from one of the branded rental companies - and lo and behold you are whacked for say £130 for a small hatchback. Meanwhile the guy in the queue behind you is on a booked corporate deal and gets the C Class sitting next to it for £28.

Now add in modern yield management systems and find that day to day / hour to hour even car rental rates fluctuate.

Then there are the voucher and agency rentals. Somebody in the queue ahead of you is getting a similar £130 hatchback for £16/day for 2 weeks. But the small print on their voucher may well have restrictions they never noticed - such as a 2 hour pickup window - if their plane is late and the miss the window and their voucher is invalid - so they're faced with fighting for a refund (with the agency not the car rental company) on the voucher and the cost of the 'new' hire - which of course is going to start at £130 but as they want the car for longer the rental desk may be merciful and do a deal at £30/day.

 

[AMGeed]

I can only speak as I find. My niece was quoted £xxx over the telephone to hire an Astra for 2 weeks. She lives in the Middle East and didn't have a CC.

She arrives to pick up the car, only to be confronted with massive extra charges not mentioned over the previous phone call when booking and not enough cash to cover it.

Cue a call to me to pay the extra and give the thieves that run the company the benefit of my opinion of them.
Stop defending the indefensible!

These companies should be forced, by law, to print or quote over the phone the exact cost to hire on the day, or be shut down.
To bend you over for more cash on arrival stinks and I wouldn't entertain any hire firm that behaved this way.

If I ran a business that quoted a certain amount to a customer and they turned up to be told , no you can't have it at that price unless you pay extra for this, I'd quickly become bust. I hope that happens to Enterprise.



Edit..........meant to quote Dryce prior to replying. You don't run a hire company like Enterprise by any chance do you?

 

[Dryce]

I can only speak as I find. My niece was quoted £xxx over the telephone to hire an Astra for 2 weeks. She lives in the Middle East and didn't have a CC.

Booking a car wihout a CC has been problematic for .... at least a decade and a half.

This isn't specific to one company.

Cue a call to me to pay the extra and give the thieves that run the company the benefit of my opinion of them.
Stop defending the indefensible!

So we can imagine how that conversation went from *the start*.

But again a problem - the compamnies work on the basis that the driver's CC is on their records - not that of a third party.

These companies should be forced, by law, to print or quote over the phone the exact cost to hire on the day, or be shut down.

Indeed.

I will repeat the business is based on at-the-counter upsell.

The level of transparency can vary a lot from company to company - even deal to deal.

 

[whitenemesis]

I.....................

If I ran a business that quoted a certain amount to a customer and they turned up to be told , no you can't have it at that price unless you pay extra for this, I'd quickly become bust. I hope that happens to Enterprise.

I very much doubt it will. I find them very good, especially their drop-off and collection service.

 

[renault12ts]

Enterprise will accept debit card, as will Europcar.

 

[Dryce]

Enterprise will accept debit card, as will Europcar.

But my recollection is that you can't generally use these for foreign hires - the card must be local.

I have to say that I wouldn't recommend that anybody who travels and books flights, hire cars, and hotels doesn't have at least one CC. (I feel naked without at least one completely spare to be used as 'get me home' backup).