Car rental firms under fire

HIDDEN charges and withheld deposits are the two key areas slammed by a consumer group report into the car rental sector.

The group UFC-Que Choisir said that deposits and claims for damage were the source of most problems with car rentals.

The head of the group’s investigative branch, Maxime Chipoy said: “This deposit is the nub of the problem, because of the amount that it’s possible to withhold, €1,500 on average, the rental agencies flout the rights of their customers.

“Very often they don’t even send a quote and treat the customer as if this is a fait accompli. The latter has very few options for recourse.”

The group also found that extra charges could ramp up bills by an average of €30 (Avis), €37 (Hertz) and €54 (Europcar) – before customers then came across the cost of insurance.

UFC-Que Choisir criticised the groups for charging for an extra driver, a practice they described as dangerous as it pushed people towards driving for longer periods of time, while not making any difference to the cost to the company.

The group also followed up a complaint by the European Commission which last summer said that rental agencies were discriminating on the basis of nationality.

UFC-Que Choisir found that North Americans paid on average 13% less than Europeans to rent a car in Europe.

Photo: Alquiler de Coches