TopCar
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Bad experience and very poor customer service
Hired a car with this company via Jet2.com when booking our holiday to Tenerife. When picking the car up at Tenerife South airport, we noticed that an area above the front bumper was scratched, damaged and pushed in, obviously as a result of a previous accident. We mentioned this immediately to the girl in the Top Car office onsite at the airport and we were simply told to take a photograph of the damage before setting off. There was no interest / concern shown or any intention of her asking a member of staff to look at the damage and note it on their records before we set off - the emphasis of proof was placed firmly on us. After about an hour of leaving the airport, it became apparent that the damage had affected the running of the fan in the engine and it was catching on it's plastic casing inside, causing a really loud noise whenever the engine got hot. The noise was so loud that it would cause pedestrians to stare as we drove around. On arrival back at the airport, we were greeted by a young man with a clipboard whose greeting was 'Hello guys, Oh, I can see you've had a bit of a bump there, if you come into the office we'll take some details'. When we explained we were not responsible for the damage, we were met with a look of disbelief and a 'really??' We were asked to go into the office to discuss this and to produce our photographs showing the date and time stamps on them. It was eventually 'agreed' that the damage was not our fault. We were told that we should have called the company from our hotel to report the noise of the fan and someone would have come and taken a look at the car. However, we didn't realise that was an option available to us and, even so, it would also have impacted on the short amount of time we were on the island. However, in fairness, the car should never have been allowed to leave their depot in the first place. The second thing to be aware of is that, despite purchasing additional Full Protection insurance at the time of booking, we were asked at the airport if we would like to pay an additional non-refundable sum of just under 40 euros to avoid having to leave a 500 euro deposit. We declined and allowed the deposit to be blocked out on our credit card. Except, unlike other hire companies, the amount wasn't blocked, it was actually debited and then refunded on return of the car. The difference in the exchange rate between debiting and crediting, together with credit card fee, meant we lost an additional £16. Whilst I understand from previous reviews that this may be covered in the company's terms and conditions, it is certainly not made clear and is not something I have ever experienced with other car hire companies in the past. Overall, a pretty miserable customer experience that ended up causing unnecessary upset, worry and distress as well as additional money lost in exchange rate fluctuations. As customers (one of which is a professional driver) who had done nothing wrong and complied with all terms and conditions, it was simply unfair to place the burden of proof on us regarding the pre-existing damage. We are returning to the island in January 2021 with friends and were hoping to use Top Car again if we had received great customer service on this trip. Sadly that wasn't the case and, based in this experience, I simply cannot recommend this company to anyone as a result. My advice would be to consider the other hire companies available at the airport.