Beware.

Drivalia Car Rental - www.drivalia.com
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BJF123's review of Drivalia Car Rental - www.drivalia.com

“Beware.”

★☆☆☆☆

written by BJF123 on 26/09/2015

Just returned from Spain. I hired a car at Drivalia Alicante prior to going. Unfortunately our plane was 1 1/2 hours late and so I had to pay out of hours charge 34.99 euros (No problem with this)I was then asked to check the car in a dimly lit area at about 1.30 in the morning and sign the relevant paper work. There was a list of scratches on the hire agreement some I could see in the light others I couldn't. It was a nice car but the next day I could see that the interior and boot had not been valeted. I did not take up the offer of extra insurance as I had my own cover which I take out every year in the UK. When I returned the vehicle 3 weeks later, it was examined in my presence by the Drivalia Manager. He closely looked at the damage that was listed, did not pay particular attention to the front of the vehicle (certainly did not bend down to look at the bumper) did not even look at the top of the vehicle. He then went to the rear of the vehicle where he immediately bent down to the bumper and pointed out to me a small scratch to the paint work about 3cm long, and told me this was new damage and I would have to pay. I pointed out that it was obviously old damage as you could in my opinion, easily tell. He was adamant that it was new damage and I would have to pay 190 euros (yes 190 euros)He informed me that the company that valeted the cars also checked them for damage and the company that cleaned the cars also checked them. These, he said were independent of DrivaliaI. They were in fact 50 meters from the Drivalia office in the same compound!I of course was over a barrel, he had my Credit Card details and said the money would come from that. We were also, by this time worrying about our flight. So I had to pay. To me this is another scam by Spanish car hire companies to extract money from hirers. I would be interested if anyone has hired the same car that I had and had the same damage pointed out to them and been made to pay. The car was a silver Opel Meriva. My advice if you are hiring a car from Drivalia (in fact all car hire companies) is check the car thoroughly inside and out including spare tyre. Make a note of every scratch and photograph everything you are not happy with. Have it noted on the agreement and signed by Drivalia.

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Bjf123's Response to BJF123's Review

Written on: 29/09/2015

Sorry I forgot to mention the Registration Number of the Opel Meriva it was 9080HVZ

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Drivalia_Car_Rental's Response to BJF123's Review

Written on: 07/10/2015

Thank you for your review and of course for renting a car from us.

We understand that you are unhappy if you were charged for damages, sadly everyone who is charged for damages tends to feel upset by this but I am sure you can understand that when a customer booked a low cost deal and chooses to assume the risk then we do have to charge for any damages as this is a direct cost that we either have ot pay for repairs or reduce from the resale value and every scratch really does make a difference.

The fact is that we do keep extremely accurate records of damages and they are checked at various stages including as you say by the valeters. You will see that from all of the reviews we have left for us most of the few negative ones are from people who have been charged for damages but there are also countless positive reviews from people who return their cars with no damages and are not charged.

We do understand that it is frustrating when something happens especially if you are unaware of it happening but as a company we have strong integrity and values which we have built the business on and our reputation backs this up. We certainly donot charge for existing damages in any cases.

All the best
The Drivalia Team

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Bjf123's reply to Drivalia_Car_Rental's Comment

Written on: 08/10/2015

I am afraid I do not accept your response.
I was unhappy that I was charged for damage which was obviously old damage.
I was upset and angry not because I had to pay the extortionate amount for a 3 cm scratch (I have insurance for this ) but because I could see that the damage was old and I was being taken for a fool, and there was nothing I could do about it.
May I just add that for your future customers (and I won't be one of them) who happen to arrive when it is dark that you provide a well lit area where the car can be examined properly by the hirer and photographed if necessary

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Drivalia_Car_Rental's reply to Bjf123's Comment

Written on: 11/10/2015

We are sorry that you still feel unhappy with our reply. As you have said however our car park is equipped with well-lit areas where vehicle inspections are easy even at night. If you choose not to take our cover then you are always very welcome (and advised) to inspect the car prior to leaving to check the list of pre-existing damages against the car itself and we go out of our way to ensure that we make this possible.

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Bjf123's reply to Drivalia_Car_Rental's Comment

Written on: 11/10/2015

You have misread my reply. The area where I had to inspect my car was not well lit, that was my point.my advice was to make it well lit. for future customers so that they will not be caught out as I was.
My final correspondence on the matter

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