Inter Rent Car Hire Murcia., Stay Away Warning

When the turbo blew up on my car yesterday I had to rent at short notice so went to the brokers car rentals and found the right car and price, for a collection at Murcia Airport, from InterRent who are connected to Europcar, what a mistake that was

First problem, before I got to the car, charges, I am an experienced renter and should have checked the terms so their policy, full to empty but a €27 service fee for the convenience of them doing this, as explained to me and based on the capacity of the car, a cost per litre of €1.62 where the street price is nearer €1.26, nice little profit there, no credit for return with full tank

Next insurance, I rent a lot so have a policy but if you don't take the policy they block €1250 on your credit card and make you 100% responsible, for the value of the car if it is stolen. When I asked what about their own insurance and the fact that lots of people have had keys, they just shrugged and said this is the policy, take it or leave it

When I eventually saw the car I was appalled, lots of damage to the front doors and bumpers and internally dirty and stinking of cigarettes so I wasn't accepting the car, back off to the desk

Back at the desk response from manager, tough luck, we have no other cars to offer and his quote, for InterRent cars we only do a basic clean, there is no non-smoking policy in cars and all of the InterRent cars are in the same damaged condition, in fact while I was there 2 more customers came to complain about car condition

Called the rental company who contacted the company and I witnessed the call, again they repeated that for InterRent they only do a basic clean, smoking in cars is permitted, no alternate vehicle and tough they will allow  cancellation

When the manager put the phone down he shrugged and proceeded to complain about me to another worker, in Spanish not knowing that i understood what he was saying about me, not nice and also tried to tell me that all rental companies allowed smoking in cars, not true

So fortunately the rental agency switched me to Firefly, a Hertz Group company, still have a fuel policy but if you return full they refund but they make a €20 admin fee. Only take a €200 deposit fee, fully insured for theft,  the car was cheaper and better, a no smoking clean undamaged car and you could hear that their service seemed very good

So after 2 hours at the airport, 38 minutes on the phone I got a decent car, I am sure that a young family arriving form the UK just wouldn't have the fight, then another 40 minutes while I waited too cancel the contract because the manager

So apart from ranting and posting on here and posting on more forums what happens next, I have formally complained to the agency, InterRent and their parent Europcar, also I ran out of time but will be going back to complete a Spanish OMIC complaints form

I also plan when at the airport to take some photos of their fleet and publish them because there is a a lot  of damaged cars in their bays

Now I am certain that some people will have good experiences with this company, perhaps he was having bad day, but if you want to be sworn at in Spanish, overcharged fuel, uninsured for theft and get a damaged car and inhale the remnants of smoke, because the car wasn't cleaned go to InterRent Murcia, a Europa Group Company who made me laugh where I saw their mission statement on their website

  We are transparent : no sneaky prices, the price you see is the price you pay !

• We are friendly : we’ll always be happy to see you !

• We are generous : you‘ll always get a great price from us.

• We are incredibly easy to use: hiring a car has never been so simpler !

I am sorry that you had a bad experience with interrent cars at MJV. I have used this company but in England and found I received what I had contracted for. I understood that smoking was banned in their hire cars and if you did smoke in the car then an extra cleaning fee would apply. Yes the cars are not brand new but then you are not paying for a new car. As interrent are owned by Europecar and (in England) use the same desks you can be lucky and get an upgrade to new, better car at reasonable or even free rates. I will take on board your comments and when I next hire a car I will double check the T's and C's from them.

Last year I hired a vehicle from easyoption.com and found them very easy to use. Their advert :-

• NO FUEL CHARGE
• NO ADDITIONAL DRIVER CHARGE
• NO AIRPORT OR HOME COLLECTION CHARGE
• NO EXTRA INSURANCE CHARGE
• 1ST CHILD SEAT FREE OF CHARGE
• HIRE CAR MADE EASY!

was as stated and they were very pleasant. They are not NEW cars but in good condition and the prices are fixed at outset. They allow FREE a driver for every seat, so if you hire a 9 seater then you are allowed 9 drivers free! The main drawback I found was they only hire by the week. i.e. the price is the same for 1 day or 7 days. Also they have summer and winter rates which are clearly set out on their site.

All in all we have to be very carefull when hiring and also check everything when you collect the car. I know of people who have been charged for a puncture/replacement tyre when they didn't even open the boot!  Also many other horror stories so beware when you hire a car anywhere in the world.

As I said I am used to renting and tried to guve a balanced view but I have been looking at the impartical review sites like Trust Pilot and The Review Centre and it is shocking just how many bad reviews this company, a faur number specifically for MJV location

I needed a car for 3-4 weeks so availability with good suppliers like Easy Option was a problem same for La Manga Rentals and even Goldcar

As I explained my biggest concern was that unless you take their insurance that the car is notr insured for theft while you have it and the keys have of course been in many hands

I have done an accurate price now for the fuel, without the €27 admin charge, the overcharge is €31 based on me filling up the car, €58 with the fee and actually half the actualy rental cost

I have registered my complaint with Interrent and not even received an aknowledgement

Inspectahomespain

thanks for the heads up about Inter Rent.

We always use Hertz for all our car rental requirements - then we get a thumping great Corportate discount and have always found them very professional no matter what Country we have been in.

We will certainly steer people away from IR.

Ros

I never realised that at MJV Hertz is actually FireFly now

What is 41 euro and 4 euro for? Anyone know? It’s not quoted in the price, is that legal?.

Fuel policy

Pre-Purchase (partial refund)

Your car will be provided with a full tank of fuel for which you will need to leave a deposit at the rental desk. Upon return of the car you will be refunded for the unused fuel and charged an admin fee of EUR 41.00. The admin fee is non-refundable regardless of the amount of fuel upon return.

Fuel charges are payable at the rental desk unless otherwise stated in the top section of rate details.

Fees

Airport fee: Includes 21% tax.

Miscellaneous fee: 4 EUR Includes 21% tax.; Mandatory charge.

I got mugged off with these robbers last summer, they lent me there phone to cancel my insurance so i could take out there insurance, never paid me back for the petrol i left in the tank, and other add on fees.NEVER AGAIN

Clearly at midnight at the airport it is a gun to your head situation. Credit Card help themselves or no car. What happens if you go back to ‘’YOUR’’ credit card company and ask to cancel or amendment. It was all in Spanish, sign here or no car, sleep in airport, 2 kids and a baby.

Avoid Inter Rent in UK as well. Got the same "your policy won't cover you. Take out ours or we'll charge you and then you have to take it up with your insurance company". That was at Birmingham airport and they took out £50 as an "admin fee" which they never explained. They said it was for providing my address but never, ever explained why.

Funnily enough, though, all the paperwork in UK was in English. Wonder why they'd have it in Spanish in Spain?

I am surprised to read this, I have used interrent on numerous occasions without any problems. Both from Alicante and San Javier airports. The cars have always been new and clean.

I never go for full/empty as it is a compete rip-off with all car rental companies. full/full is the way to go.

Having said that, I have found their service to be poor on occasion with respect to pick up and drop off. I had a long wait for my car on one occasion and on another I was charged a surcharge for picking up late on a Friday. To be fair it was in the contract.

I've never had a problem with using my own excess waiver insurance and on my last booking in December 2016, the excess amount blocked was €300. This was unblocked with no problems on return of the vehicle

Recently I have found Firefly to be better value so have booked them for April and June this year.

Hints for booking any car rental

• Book in advance, prices usually go up nearer the dates
• Use DoYouSpain. They offer free cancellations on most bookings should you find a cheaper rental
• Book full/full. The headline rate looks cheaper when you book full/empty but once you have paid for fuel admin charges and increase fuel charges and/or no refund for fuel in the tank it is not such a bargain
• Take out waiver protection insurance before you commence the hire. The company will block the excess amount on your card and unblock on return (except Dickmanns who debit the excess and can take up to 2 months to refund). The default insurance covers for everything, including theft. The excess insurance covers any excess you would have to pay.

Have used Firefly in Alicante a few times now, always found them to be great.

Last rental was in Feb €34 for a week, full to full, requested focus, got a free upgrade to a Zafira.

Didn't take their insurance as had my own policy, they did put a large block on my card and also charged for fuel, however this was refunded in no time at all, preceded by an email confirmation of zero charges while we were waiting to board our flight home!

Very happy with Firefly, plus their OOH starts at midnight where others start at 11pm

I suppose it can be down to luck. Tourists can be a soft and easy target for unscrupulous car hire companies. It happens all over the world. As far as Spain is concerned, tourism is one of it’s most important industries and car hire practices should be government regulated.

No hidden extras. What you see is what you pay. No gun to head tactics (our extra insurance) or else. Full car inspection at handover and return (no mystery shock credit card charges). Transparent fuel charges (pay for what you use) at same price as airport retail pumps.

Why does the Spanish minister of tourism turn a blind eye?. To some?.

I have used inter rent car hire car hire on many occasions at Alicante airport they have always supplied a good quality clean car ....so don't blame the strong arm tactics on the hire companies ,it is the various brokers that are at fault trying to sell you a extra insurance policy that adds up to more than the hire car .....just show them the excess independent insurance policy you have taken out they will still take a deposits of around £1,000 ,if you do have a bump they will keep the deposit but don't worry you can claim this back of the independent insurance company when you get back home but be warned if your house is Brocken into and they take your hire car with the keys you have left around you will  be expected to pay for a new replacement car enjoy Spain.

This industry is crying out for regulation and is being totally ignored by the authorities, for reasons only known to them.

The issues have already been posted. Clearly there are the good, the bad and the ugly, and it needs sorting.

Windtalker, just show them the excess independent insurance policy you have taken out.

You mean like:-

Newworld, I got mugged off with these robbers last summer, they lent me there phone to cancel my insurance so i could take out there insurance, never paid me back for the petrol i left in the tank, and other add on fees.NEVER AGAIN

 Windtalker, but be warned if your house is Brocken into and they take your hire car with the keys you have left around you will  be expected to pay for a new replacement car enjoy Spain.

Broken into. What are you suppose to do, take all your possessions to bed with you every night?. Sleep with all your keys under your pillar?.

This industry needs cleaning up, which would be good for the consumer and the good car hire companies who have nothing to loose. Only the cowboys would loose out.