I hired a car from Europecar Preston today. Initially booked online for 2 days, my booking confirmation stated as follows:
When I queried this further, I was told that all the company-owned branches (ie city or airport) will take a $500 security deposit if you pay by debit card (which was clearly outlined in the terms and conditions I received after making my booking and I was happy to pay), but because they were a franchise, they operated differently and required either a normal credit card, or compulsory insurance to be taken out.
I would have simply walked out and gone elsewhere where it not for the fact that I was running late for a meeting and the nearest car hire from what recalled, was a fair distance away.
Having destroyed my credit cards a few months ago and switching everything to debit cards, I had no idea at the time that doing so would make things difficult like this down the track.
I ended up reducing my car hire from 2 to 1 day because of this, and will find somewhere else tomorrow to hire from.
My question is even though I signed the rental agreement confirming the excess reduction option, do I have any cause to complain to their head office and ask for this to be refunded? Effectively, I felt I was held to ransom by these guys to buy a service I did not want nor need.
I thought the point of opening a franchise was so that procedures and processes are standardized across all store, not for each store to individually set its own rules?
Direct Debit cards are an accepted payment type (not for prestige vehicles). A security bond will be required when using a debit card.
When I got to the branch in the morning and presented my Mastercard Debit Card for payment, I was told that i would have to purchase the compulsory insurance waiver because I was using a debit card and not a credit card. Cost of this was $24 a day extra (on top of the $67 a day fee for the Yaris).
When I queried this further, I was told that all the company-owned branches (ie city or airport) will take a $500 security deposit if you pay by debit card (which was clearly outlined in the terms and conditions I received after making my booking and I was happy to pay), but because they were a franchise, they operated differently and required either a normal credit card, or compulsory insurance to be taken out.
I would have simply walked out and gone elsewhere where it not for the fact that I was running late for a meeting and the nearest car hire from what recalled, was a fair distance away.
Having destroyed my credit cards a few months ago and switching everything to debit cards, I had no idea at the time that doing so would make things difficult like this down the track.
I ended up reducing my car hire from 2 to 1 day because of this, and will find somewhere else tomorrow to hire from.
My question is even though I signed the rental agreement confirming the excess reduction option, do I have any cause to complain to their head office and ask for this to be refunded? Effectively, I felt I was held to ransom by these guys to buy a service I did not want nor need.
I thought the point of opening a franchise was so that procedures and processes are standardized across all store, not for each store to individually set its own rules?
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