Many car rental companies from all over the world are using all kind of tricks to extra charge their clients and make more money.
Now that the summer season is here, it seems more clients are complaining about being extra charged.
As you know our company has a No Hidden Extras Policy, which means we are telling you about all the costs involved with your car hire.
However many car hire suppliers tend to take advantage of your negligence or hurry and extra charge you for services or damage you didnt know about.
So in order to increase awareness, we put together a list with the Top tricks the car rental companies are using to extra charge you.
Extra insurance
Many car rental companies are including extra insurance in your rental package without telling you about. People are attracted by the small prices, yet they dont read the rental agreements which can be a big mistake.
Sometimes this mistake can double your car rental cost or even triple.
Therefore you need to make sure you read all the details in your contract before signing.
Fuel charge
Many times, people complained to us that they were extra charged for fuel. Usually when you rent a car be sure to ask the rental agents about their fuel policy. Very often the companies are renting the cars with the tank full and if you dont return it the same way, you will be extra charged.
There are also cases when the car hire deposit includes the cost for a tank of fuel which will be lost if the car is not returned with the same quantity of fuel.
Sealed agreements
We recently read about some companies who are asking the clients to sign their rental agreements electronically and handle their copies in sealed envelopes. Usually these envelopes contain big surprises, which are discovered when is too late.
Again our advise is to read carefully everything (even on a laptop screen) before you sign. Do not sign your agreement before reading its T&C because once you signed it is very hard to receive your money back.
Free upgrade
The free upgrade is another trick used by the rental companies to extra charge you. Basically they advertise that you can upgrade your vehicle for free, upgrade which is available only in certain locations or conditions.
Some of you will sign the rental agreement without enquiring about the upgrade and may find lately a huge extra charge on your credit/debit cards.
Please bare in mind that many of the advertised offers come with terms and conditions which most of the time you are not aware of.
Late pick-up
Many of us are flying using low cost airlines which usually have either very late or very early arrivals. Most of the rental companies are not open 24/7 which means they will extra charge you for late/early pick-up. Before you book your car check the car rental opening hours. If you will need to pick up your car hire outside their opening hours, please make sure you discuss with the rental agent about it before booking. Who knows they may even offer it for free, but usually this service is charged and you cant do anything about it after you signed your agreement.