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“Routes Car and Van Hire Toronto- Avoid Avoid Avoid”

written by ScotInCanada on 17/07/2013

I was supplied with a lower standard of car than I paid for.

The cars models are different in Canada so when I was given a Kia Forte on my arrival at the airport after 18 hours travelling, I didn't question it. I had ordered a "Toyota Camry or similar". I needed a larger type of car because we were having a family holiday touring about Canada with four adults and all their luggage. We found ourselves inconvenienced for two weeks, having to carry items in the passenger compartment. Exactly what I had paid extra to avoid. This made me check the car model.

It turns out that the Kia Forte in Canada is about equivalent to the Ford Focus or Toyota Corolla, much smaller than the Camry, whose equivalent model in the Kia range is the Optima.

I had been touring away from Toronto so was only able to raise the issue with Routes to when I returned the car on Friday 12th July. The desk staff said they were unable to deal with the issue and would need to refer it to their manager. Then I was told that Vicky, the manager, who had been in an adjacent room until that very minute, was suddenly unable to be found. Of course I had a plane to catch and could not wait to see if the manager reappeared. I was given a phone number and told to call back later.

My first opportunity to call was Monday 15th, when the Routes office opened after the weekend. I called and left a messages asking Routes to call back.

Wednesday 17th now and Routes have not been in touch.

Frankly I do not believe a car hire company would make an innocent mistake regarding the grade of car they hire to people. If they did they would not be in business for very long. And if it was an innocent mistake by a reputable company I am sure they would have been on the phone by now to make amends.

I ordered the car online from Scotland through Atlaschoice and I have lodged a formal complaint with them- they say they will deal with it in 28 days, so let's see what happens. I'll add a review to let people know.

In the meantime tell all your friends, if you are going to Canada don't go any where near Routes Car and Van Hire. AVOID, AVOID, AVOID.