Virgin Blue, Velocity and an Audi A6

[munitalP]

"er hello, Mr! here, velocity number 8888888888, I want to book a car for next Friday in Brisbane..."

"Yes no problems Mr! What are you after?"

"well, an Audi A6 would be nice if there's no A4 rag tops left..."

"OK Mr!, be back with you in a tick..."

60 seconds later...

"Good news Mr!, we can accommodate your needs for 25K points"

"Cool"

"OK, hold on, I just connect you to Europcar"

"Thanks, your service has been wonderful.."

3 minutes or so later...

"Mr!, you want an Audi A6?"

"Yep..."

"OK, just doing your booking... bla bla bla..."

"OK Mr!, you will need to pay $48.00 at BNE airport..."

"no probs, thanks!!"

Arrive at BNE Friday night... Europcar want a $5K deposit on the A6 or an additional $410 for insurances!!!

"this is a joke right, yeah I understand, Sir Richard's getting me back for the fuel bowser grapic right (Virgin Blue paying cash for their fuel?)? Wheres the cameras...?"

Nah, $5K deposit or no A6

I refused to pay the $5K deposit for three reasons

1. There was no disclosure from Europcar regarding the additional deposit
2. The agent at Europcar could not assure me the credit card would be reimbursed in a timley manor - he suggested anything within 2 weeks!
3. Principle

There was no disclosure on the additional charges. I have had an A3 for the weekend, OK it is brand new but it's still not an A6 - which I paid for.

I have burned 25K points for a car I didn't want. I would have been just as happy in a SAAB or a Beema from Thrifty for a couple of hundred bucks but Europcar couldn't even assure me I would be reimbursed for my points if I cancelled. I had to grin and bare it...

I am dissapointed wit Europcar, I am also dissapointed with Velocity for not ensuring their suppliers play fair.

Shame on both...

Mr!

[markis10]

Its actually a 5.5K authorisation (as opposed to a charge) and its standard for a number of their car categories but you should have been warned:

The damage liability for this rental is $5,500.00.

In addition to rental charges a security bond will be pre authorised from your credit card for the FXAR, LXAR and PTAR vehicle categories. The security bond will equal the Damage Liability.

[munitalP]

Its actually a 5.5K authorisation (as opposed to a charge) and its standard for a number of their car categories but you should have been warned:

The damage liability for this rental is $5,500.00.

In addition to rental charges a security bond will be pre authorised from your credit card for the FXAR, LXAR and PTAR vehicle categories. The security bond will equal the Damage Liability.

I specifically asked if it was a pre-auth as this is reimbursed instantly (basically) on the card. Europcar were insistant that they would be drawing the $5K ($5.5K) from the card.

My gripe is not the $$$ - I don't care too much about that, if I was going to make off with a car, it would not be an A6!

My concern was the non-disclosure

If a pinch came to a shove and there were no other vehicles available on Friday night, handy old AMEX would have been used and I would have been driving the A6, however, those who know me will confirm, I'm a stubborn bugger when it comes to things like this... and I wouldn't back down, hence the A3...


Also, unfairly, I have associated Virgin Blue with this post - sorry Sir Richard

Mr!

[anat0l]

My gripe is not the $$$ - I don't care too much about that, if I was going to make off with a car, it would not be an A6!

I think they could not tell that, so they had to draw on your card. Works a lot like a hotel room, except that even for fairly expensive hotels they normally only hold back one night (we're not talking about those luxury suites or bachelor pads or such!).

They never tell you about how much they hold back on the card, or whether they actually hold back the funds vs. just taking a swipe of your card details. I can vouch, however, that it can take at least a week for the money to come back to you; hardly ever does the money get released within days.

[oz_mark]

I specifically asked if it was a pre-auth as this is reimbursed instantly (basically) on the card. Europcar were insistant that they would be drawing the $5K ($5.5K) from the card.

My gripe is not the $$$ - I don't care too much about that, if I was going to make off with a car, it would not be an A6!

My concern was the non-disclosure

It could be that the Eurpocar agent doesn't know the difference between a charge and a pre-authorisation, Either way, there is $5.5K not available to use on your card.

[munitalP]

I have to laugh, the rental agreement arrived by email today, I believe our server may have held it up as the send date is from last week...

It is clear in their T&C so I have to take back the lack of disclosure... now where's that humble pie?



it says...

Rental Information
PICKUP
RETURN
05:00 PM 03-Apr-2009
05:00 PM 05-Apr-2009
Brisbane Airport
Brisbane Airport


Vehicle Information

Class : LXAR
Description : Audi A6
Pricing Information
BASE PRICE

Pricing

Day

25600 points

ADDITIONAL ITEMS

Pricing

STANDARD TAXES & FEES

Pricing

Vehicle License Fees

$12.10

Premium Location Fee

$28.63

Admin Fee

$0.39

ESTIMATED COST

$41.12

Travel Restrictions
This rental comes with 400 free kilometres. A charge of $0.25 will apply for every additional kilometres travelled and this is subject to relevant fees and taxes

Damage Liability
The damage liability for this rental is $5,500.00.

In addition to rental charges a security bond will be pre authorised from your credit card for the FXAR, LXAR and PTAR vehicle categories. The security bond will equal the Damage Liability.

Rental Conditions
A credit card surcharge will apply. The owner of the credit card used to make the rental booking must be present at time of vehicle collection.
You must hold a valid unrestricted licence (full licence) to drive this vehicle.

[JohnK]

Is that 25,600 Velocity points and $41 for 2 days car hire?

[Evan]

Thats where i use my platinum charge card, for all these silly things since i don't worry about the limits and when it comes back to me since i have no idea what the limit is (no pre-set spending limit).
Good for renting a GT3 when in Germany

I understand why they do it but 5.5k on some peoples card is a bit much.
I know some people who only keep low limits for different reasons.

[munitalP]

Is that 25,600 Velocity points and $41 for 2 days car hire?

As it turned out JK, 25600 and $148.00 I particually wanted to drive a new A6 for a weekend as my BMW is going before years up and what better way to test drive a new car?

Europcar + Velocity, its a crime.

I was happy to pay the 26K points for an A6, I ended up with an A3. I continued the rental from Sunday arvo1500 to Tuesday 0530 and Europcar charged me an additional $253.00

Europcar have for the second time in 12 months left me feeling a little worn out in the rear (work it out) and frankly, I will never use them again and would reccomend others; do not use Europcar

Mr!

[Evan]

Also not a Europecar fan, i try to use Avis and Hertz, Hertz because we have a good CDP. I have however use Europecar in Germany with no issues at all a number of time, but then again it was the the time our company prefered rental company there.