Carrentals.co.uk
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!!!!!!DO NOT USE CARRENTALS.CO.UK, ENTERPRISE OR THEIR AGENTS LOCAUTO WHEN RENTING A CAR IN ITALY!!!!!!
I booked car hire via CARRENTALS.CO.UK in August for a trip to Italy in later September/early October. I got a great deal through them with ENTERPRISE for a VW or similar compact which included extended cover, excess cover, GPS, a one way fee and additional driver. I paid the deposit of £197.66 and was advised that I needed to pay the balance of £182.76 when I arrived at Venice airport. When I turned up to the ENTERPRISE desk I found that their local agent LOCAUTO were dealing with my booking and this is where it all went downhill. Despite presenting the desk clerk Anna with all the booking papers from CARRENTALS.CO.UK she told me that I didn't have the insurance that I thought I had and that if I wanted to drive the car away I would need to pay for their deluxe insurance cover at an additional cost of 359 euros! I was furious as I knew I had arranged this through CARRENTALS.CO.UK. I suggested she call CARRENTALS.CO.UK or I call them and she speak with them - she refused. She told me that the insurance I had booked with CARRENTALS.CO.UK meant I had excesses of 2,000 euros for an accident or 2,800 euros for theft, which I knew I had had covered but she presented it in such a manipulative and coercive manner that I felt compelled to taking this additional insurance from LOCAUTO even though I knew I already had this covered. I took the car and when I reached my destination I called to speak with CARRENTALS.CO.UK and they were little or no use, I then spent ten days of my holiday calling, emailing and tweeting CARRENTALS.CO.UK, ENTERPRISE and LOCAUTO and they all but ignored me. I even called and spoke with my credit card company while I was away to put a stop to the pre-authorisation that ENTERPRISE/LOCAUTO had made - incidentally they took two pre-authorisations on the same day, one of £500 and the other of £573 although the £500 did drop off half way through my holiday. When I returned the car to Naples airport I dropped the car off with ENTERPRISE'S agent LOCAUTO and their representative Federica couldn't understand why I had paid for double insurance and she suggested that if I were in dispute with ENTERPRISE/LOCAUTO that I shouldn't sign the return contract and instead her colleagues in Customer Services would be in touch to discuss payment when I had returned to the UK. This didn't end up being the case and ENTERPRISE/LOCAUTO have subsequently taken £492.97 from my account which my credit card company have said I can't do anything about. Whilst CARRENTALS.CO.UK, ENTERPRISE and LOCAUTO pretty much ignored my calls, emails and tweets while I was on holiday that all changed when I returned to the UK and CARRENTALS.CO.UK have emailed me a number of times and I've spoken to them on the phone but as they are merely a broker they do not seem able to help me with this issue and instead have said they do not get involved in disputes when it comes to 'optional extras' which their deluxe insurance was. I have also been informed by CARRENTALS.CO.UK that it is common practice across Europe - in particular in Italy - to upsell customers 'optional extras' even when they don't need them. They also said that the reason LocAuto refused to call me was likely due to the fact that if they had they would haven't been able to upsell me to their deluxe insurance. This whole experience has been a disgusting and disgraceful example of poor customer service and CARRENTALS.CO.UK, ENTERPRISE and LOCAUTO should be ashamed. If you are considering hiring a car in Europe I would strongly recommend that you pay for everything in advance and DO NOT use CARRENTALS.CO.UK (who are part of EASYTERRA B.V. in the Netherlands), ENTERPRISE or LOCAUTO as they will only ever try to rip you off with things that you DO NOT NEED and then ignore you.