'I told my car hire company my flight was delayed – and they still gave my vehicle away'
Manfred Brachwitz writes
I used Holiday Autos to book a car with InterRent to be collected from Berlin Airport on December 12 at 10pm. Unfortunately, my easyJet flight from Manchester suffered a delay of just under two hours.
I phoned the rental company from Manchester Airport to alert them to the delay. As the pickup desk closed at 11.30pm, the InterRent agent told me she would send a fax to the airport to let them know about the flight delay and I could pick the car up the following morning.
I stayed the night at an airport hotel and phoned the rental desk at 7.45am to say I was coming over to pick up the car. The agent informed me that they only keep cars for an hour after the pickup time and that my rental had been cancelled.
She acknowledged that a fax had been received from InterRent’s call centre, but told me there was no car available and there would be no refund either.
On my return I complained to Holiday Autos, which replied saying I should have picked up the car on time. Surely the penalty for lateness in such circumstances shouldn’t be this draconian.
Gill Charlton replies
I covered a similar case last year when a customer arrived two hours late to collect a car in Sicily. At the time, Holiday Autos said that customers were only deemed to be “no-shows” and the car reassigned if they had not made contact with the supplier to alert them to the delay.
Mr Brachwitz did alert InterRent and did receive an assurance that the car would be held for him. There is nothing on his voucher, issued by Holiday Autos, saying that cars are only held for one hour. However, its terms do say that “rental companies reserve the right to refuse a car if you fail to arrive on time” – an unfair catch-all.
After reviewing his case, Holiday Autos gave me the excuse that Mr Brachwitz did not add his flight number to the booking. It said its policy on flight delays is to refund the customer only if the flight number is included in the booking and the customer doesn’t get the car.
I argued that Mr Brachwitz’s call to alert the rental company about the delay should override this requirement. Holiday Autos said that this was a verbal discussion and Mr Brachwitz himself has no written confirmation that the car would be held for him. Because of this lack of written proof, Holiday Autos says it was unable to hold the supplier accountable and had been billed for the rental.
However, as a gesture of goodwill, Holiday Autos has now agreed to refund the rental cost and also pay for Mr Brachwitz’s airport hotel.
It is clear that car rental agents are no longer honouring bookings if the customer is even an hour late to pick up the car. When booking a rental, make sure you enter a pickup time at least 30 minutes after your flight is scheduled to land and always add your flight details.
If you are delayed, it is important that you contact the supplier immediately and get written confirmation of the agreed changes. Holiday Autos says it also has a customer service team on call 24/7 if a customer is unclear about what they should do.
