BEWARE ECONOMY CAR HIRE FAIR FUEL POLICY

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tecman's review of Zest Car Rental - www.zestcarrental.com

“BEWARE ECONOMY CAR HIRE FAIR FUEL POLICY”

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written by tecman on 02/08/2013

On their website, Economy Car Hire claim to operate a 'Fair Fuel Policy' which they describe as follows:Clients must pay for a full tank of fuel on collection of the vehicle. A refund will only be provided if vehicles are returned with a full tank of fuel. If the vehicle is not returned with a full tank of fuel, a refuelling charge of 12.60 EUR + VAT will be applied, in addition to the cost of the missing fuel, payable locally.

However, in practice, where there are problems, Economy Car Hire disassociate from this, claiming that it is the hire companies themselves who set the fuel policy.

I used Economy Car Hire to rent a car from Bordeaux Airport 15-29 June 2013. It was hired because the supplier ALAMO was stated to operate a 'fair fuel policy'. However at Bordeaux, ALAMO's business is handled by EUROPCAR who have one of the lowest satisfaction ratings at REVIEWCENTRE. The car was returned with a full tank but nevertheless EUROPCAR have charged me £70.76 for a full tank of fuel.

Economy Car Hire were notified immediately (4 July) I became aware of the charge but a month later, after four or five e-mails and two telephone calls I am no closer to getting my money refunded.

The moral is...if you use Economy Car Hire, then make sure that your final supplier can be trusted and avoid ALAMO/EUROPCAR at Bordeaux like the plague.

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Economy Car Hire's Response to tecman's Review

Written on: 02/08/2013

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback regarding your recent rental.

We are sorry to hear of your disappointment regarding the refuelling charge applied to you following your rental.

As a car hire broker based in the UK, we work with a number of suppliers at each destination. Whilst we have negotiated specific rates to include one free additional driver, built in excess insurance and unlimited mileage, each company we work with operates their own rental conditions which includes the fuel policy and opening hours amongst other details. When viewing a quotation on our website, customers are able to compare the rental conditions of each vehicle but clicking the ‘View Rental Conditions’ link underneath each vehicle in the quote results.

I understand you have contacted our Customer Relations department regarding this who in turn have contacted the supplier in question to identify the reason for the charge. As a broker, we are required to do this as it is the supplier who has applied the additional charge, rather than ourselves. Despite a number of emails from ourselves, we are as yet to receive a response from the supplier. As it is the midst of the high season regrettably it can take some time to receive a response. Please rest assured however that we are continuing to investigate your complaint and we will fully respond as soon as we have received a response from the supplier.

In the mean time we thank you for your patience and our Customer Relations team will be in touch in due course.

Kind regards,
Economy Car Hire

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Tecman's reply to Economy Car Hire's Comment

Written on: 19/08/2013

Here we are 17 days on and despite three e-mail prompts,still no reply from Economy Car Hire, despite the assurance above. It would appear that not only do Economy Car Hire tolerate 'unfair' fuel policies at the front line, their Customer Relations policies leave a lot to be desired.

It seems to me that they are one of those companies who are great when everything works ok BUT have no effective infra structure for dealing with problems. MORAL....don't accept a booking from Economy with either ALAMO or EUROPCAR !!!!

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Simonb2013's Response to tecman's Review

Written on: 27/09/2013

tecman, Same issue here with responses - they don't give a damn about the consumer once they've got the money!

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Tecman's reply to Simonb2013's Comment

Written on: 11/10/2013

I pursued my complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority as I felt that it was wrong that ECH should advertise a 'FAIR FUEL POLICY ' yet not enforce it upon their end suppliers. The ASA replied:

Whilst I fully sympathise with the exceptionally poor customer service you appear to have received, there is little action we can take – Economy Car Hire do operate a Fair Fuel policy, and although they have clearly let you down, the problem does not lie with the ad itself.

You may, however, wish to speak to Trading Standards, as this practice may be covered by legislation.

However, I have found a better way of dealing with this and disputed the charge through my credit card provider. Within days I had the disputed sum back in my account, leaving the rougue end-supplier EUROPCAR with the problem of recovering the disputed amount from me. Needless to say, they haven't bothered.

I RECOMMEND THIS COURSE OF ACTION WHEN IN DISPUTE WITH ECH OR ITS SUPPLIERS, NOTHING ELSE SEEMS TO WORK

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