Warning, before you hire a car - Page 3

Janetmez wrote on Sun Jul 23, 2023 8:00pm:

Renting a car from Alicante is a complete nightmare.After 20 years of Renting  has

Become worse and I have an argument about insurance etc every time

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Complete rip off

swcoulthurst wrote on Mon Jul 24, 2023 3:19pm:

I have always found wheelsinspain.com to be very good. No additional charges. Pick up from the airport.

SheilaOD wrote on Sun Sep 27, 2020 1:05pm:

I rented a car through Ryanair website prior to travelling on 16th Sept.  Paid upfront for full insurance. At Alicante airport, took shuttle to the office off site, WIBER CAR RENTAL.  Went through the hire documentation, and the staff member wanted me to take out further excess insuranc...

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...e.   I had done this on another occasion, however having already paid with Ryanair, I declined.  After a few minutes of "trying to find you the best car...." I was given key to a Fiat Trivo ? Found the car, parked nearby.  Also then received my contract details and 27 photos of current damage.  Some patently obvious, some only the slightest of scratches.  I checked as best I could, and went off to Villamartin.  The last thing i spoke to staff about was coming back 9 days later.  As flight was at 1015, we wanted to drop off as near to 7am as poss.  He assured me that was fine, as they opened at 7. 

9 days later, we arrived, using the Satnav on our phone, to find the gates shut, with reduced opening hours due to Covid 19....having made our way 1/4 mile further along to Out of Hours drop off, we checked car back.  No problems, so I thought

Hand on heart, I treated the car with great care, driving it just over 150km in total, parking it insight of our apartment and keeping empty spaces on either side when parking elsewhere.

On arrival back at East Mids, I received email thanking me for my business, and stating (in Spanish) that there was a fresh scratch on pax front door....also, a charge for out of hours drop off.  Total, incl tax, €220.  I telephoned their main office when I got home;  absolutely no come back.  He wasn't at all bothered that I disputed the scratch, and told me to provide photographic evidence that it was there all the time.  He also said that I must be mistaken about their hours of operation, as the 9am opening time was not new. And then he directed me to Ryanair to claim back the cost of the damage (but not the out of hours charge).

Livid.  They obviously are NOT repairing the damage they claim for, otherwise I would not have had 27 photos of previous damage.  

Oh, by the way, my own small Peugeot was also damaged in the Short Stay 3 car park at East Mids; the bays are smaller than they were before lockdown.  No note.  No CCTV etc.  

Should have stayed at home 😪

Mac59 wrote on Tue Jul 25, 2023 12:31pm:

Hi

I hire a car regularly at the airport and spend about 4 minutes videoing the whole thing, especially under the front,if it has more than 5/6 marks or scratches on it I’ll ask for another,

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I was charged once for damage but it wasn’t there when I picked the car up in fairness.

But unfortunately this is happening with most rental companies over the years.

We should set up a complaints page and send it to someone official in Spain!

Jimmy Mack wrote on Thu Jul 27, 2023 10:46am:

I posted a few years ago stating that when hiring a car from Alicante or any other airport  for that matter you should spend wherever time it takes to video and take pictures of a car you are going to hire. Drive the car a short distance within the confines of the airport into a open area wh...

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...ere you can get a clear view of the car, it is more difficult at night but achievable. Check the vehicle thoroughly especially under both front and back bumpers especially the front bumper. The car hire companies make it difficult for you to fully view the vehicle in situ, hence move it where you can have a proper check. If you find the the finest of scratches or damage, refuse to take delivery of the vehicle, until they update their check list there and then on the vehicle. You could save yourself the grief that others have had. It can be difficult if you have children or it’s late at night but trust me it is worth it.

Regards 

  Jim