ECONORENT CAR HIRE ****FUEL RIP OFF BEWARE*******

Hi All

I have just returned from Spain and had arranged car hire with Arguscarhire and was booked with ECONORENT from Alicante Airport.  On arrival at the office at the booked time it was all in darkness and we had to wait 25 mins before they arrived with a Hyundai Getz vehicle.  I went into the office to complete the paperwork and was charged 60 euros for a tank of fuel !!! They then gave me a ticket that I had to pay to get out of the car park and then locked up the office and took off before I had even got in the car.  When I started the car the fuel gauge didn't even touch the full marker!! When I put fuel in the car I put in 30 euros worth of fuel which was just over 28 litres of fuel and low and behold the fuel gauge went to the exact same place just below the full marker.  The car didn't have a tank that could take anywhere near 60 euros worth of fuel and this is just an absolute rip off and I feel people need to be made aware of this issue.   Please BE AWARE if you get allocated ECONORENT that they just rip you off for fuel big time!!!!  I have asked Arguscarhire to address this issue on my behalf and I will report on their progress in relation to a refund on the overcharged fuel

Hi All

The below is the reply I received from ECONORENT which in my opinion is pathetic !!!

We have been in contact with Traffic Econorent and they have responded to us regarding your query. They have informed us that the reason that they did not meet you at 21.00hr was that AENA Flight information had given them a landing prevision time of 21.15hr and this is why there was nobody in the office.

In relation to the fuel as I have already informed you on an email on the 28th of December 2009  car rental agents do charge premium rates on fuel and this is the reponse that we have received from them. They say that the fuel mark in that car is not working properly and didn't touch the full mark. They have provided us with a breakdown of the fuel charge on rental.

Tank Capacity of Hyundai Getz is 45L

Price of petrol was 1.1265€/L

Their premium charge  is 1.16€/L

Thus a full tank Hyundai Getz = 1.1265 * 45* 116 = €58.8033 which is rounded up to €60.

Unfortunately, we must respectfully decline a refund on the issue.

Hi Jackie,

I have just pm'ed you

Mark

since the recession set in all car hire firms seem to be at this!...and the web site know this !!!

They make a large fuel charge which bears no relation to the capacity of the tank nor the normal cost of fuel

The small print even sometimes refers to a 'filling up charge'

Everyone gets annoyed about this and the first time it happened to me I argued and then decided to go to the other firms nearby but found that their one off prices were much higher even allowing for the ' overcharge on fuel'!!...had to go back to my original booking ' cap in hand' !!!

And now when you book 'full insurance' on the internet it never seems to be ...always an extra 

All part of the increase in price of car hire imposed on you when you arrive but from my experience it is still cheaper to hire in Spain than say in France!

Now, when I arrive I have to say to myself .........cool down it's always much more than the internet booking...waste of time having a row.....girsl on the desk are just doing their job!!...lets get the car and go

But the good days will come back!!!.  

Hi all

We always book car hire on do you spain dot com (wont let me put a link on here). The prices are competitive and include full insurance (with the exception of tyres, windscreen and the like for which there is usually a charge of 3e per day). Although you do not know who the hire company is until you've booked I then email and ask that the booking be made with Auriga Crown.

Although the booking confirmation says that for bookings of 4 days or more the car is provided with a full tank of fuel and is returned empty we have always asked that we return it full and so far this has never been a problem. Sorry no guarantees given with this information..............

Trev & Lin

CDA   Penthouse 15.

By the way had a great night in The Clover, new years eve. Good to meet you GeorgeH.