Orlando Rent a Car
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Orlando Rent a Car - AVOID!! Fuel deposit SCAM!!!
Orlando Rent a Car Do NOT use this company! FUEL DEPOSIT RIP-OFF!!! I rented a car from the Orlando Rent a Car office which is located next to the Shamrock Irish Bar, Costa Teguise, Lanzarote 11th-15th January 2020. I booked via CarJet.com / DoYouSpain.com with whom I have no argument as I have used them several times over many years with no problem. The man who dealt with my car handover / collection at ORLANDO CAR HIRE was called Ivan Pedro Santana Garcia. The hire came with an €840 excess on the insurance or I could have paid an extra €65 to waive this excess. I chose not to waive the excess as I am covered with additional travel insurance from my bank for such events, as many people are without realising it! (This won’t suit everyone but it is my personal choice ... in 20 years of hiring cars I have never had a crash, damage, theft, etc., so if I paid to waive insurance every time I’d be at a significant loss overtime. So I choose to take the chance and accept the hit if I ever have a problem and then claim off my bank cover ... something I’ve never had to do.) So I let the hire company take a €840 deposit off my credit card like always do without hesitation. As usual, I also had to pay a separate fee on my card of €65 for the full tank of fuel which is normal procedure and I was happy to do it. My complaint falls here: Before taking the keys I SPECIFICALLY confirmed with Ivan that I would get a refund of the €65 for the full tank of fuel if I return it full. I asked the question as different companies have different policies. He said, YES I WOULD GET THE €65 REFUNDED if the car came back with a full tank of fuel or a refund part thereof; so €32.50 refunded for half a tank of fuel or no refund for an empty tank etc etc. HE WAS VERY SPECIFIC ABOUT THIS! So on return, I filled up the car with fuel to the brim as I always do. (I’ve found over the years it’s cheaper to do this than it is to let them take the money off my card because the €65 is actually more than a full tank of fuel costs doing it yourself). A different agent dealt with me on the return. After checking the car for damage and the fuel level he refunded the €840 deposit to my credit card but did not mention the €65 refund for the full tank of fuel. When I asked him about this he said it was the company policy NOT TO REFUND THE FUEL as I did not take out the insurance waiver excess!! I said to him that I specifically asked Ivan the question about this and WHY ON EATH WOULD I GO AND FILL THE CAR UP WITH FUEL BEFORE RETURNING IT IF I WASN’T GETTING THE FUEL MONEY REFUNDED??! He said there must have been a misunderstanding! Let me tell all readers this now: THERE WAS NO MISUNDERSTANDING; THERE WAS NO LANGUAGE BARRIER; My view is that THIS IS A WELL REHEARSED SCAM!!!!!! Of course the two page contract of small print says otherwise but I specifically asked the question and placed trust in the guy. Don’t make the mistake I made, DO NOT TRUST ORLANDO CAR HIRE!! You may well read every word of everything you sign; but I was on holiday and taking a break from small print! I’m sure there are other scams going so if you dodge this one, they may hit you with another. Probably best if you just use one of the many other companies in the area. There are some other big names here such as Avis whom I have used before without this problem. Fool me once Orlando.... but you will not get a second chance!