12/10/2013 00:00
TW
0

Dear Sir,
The letter from Mr Hackett in today’s edition of the Daily Bulletin about the charging problems with car rental companies at Palma airport only tells half of the story. Quite apart from their aggressive charging of extras, there is a major problem with the time taken to queue for your pre-ordered car. My wife and I flew from Bristol two days ago, a journey of close to two hours. We then had to wait in the queue for almost as long as that. Tempers were frayed, and it was a very poor arrival to your island. The staff seemed immune to the problem and said that if we would pay another 30 euros we could jump the queue. Some took up this offer that merely delayed others for even longer. A great way to profit from a totally inefficient service!
The authorities need to take a grip on this. We will think seriously about any return visit.
Geoff Matthews

Dear Sir,
Re David Hackett’s unfortunate car hire experience I don’t know which company he rented from but would bet it was not from an established company.
Numerous ‘dodgy’ car hire companies appear to be springing up all the time - may I suggest that anyone wishing to hire a car go to an established car hire company. We own a home here on the island and have decided against purchasing a car so we hire one each time we come and have never had any problems. The only time we had a bad experience was when we (only due to zero availability with our preferred car hire companies) hired a car via a ‘third party’ car hire company. We had to meet the company at the airport and found the car to be in bad condition, clutch not working properly and it was plainly obvious the agent was only interested in his commission and not safety. As we were only in Majorca for a few days just bit the bullet, but I would recommend anyone coming to the island not to look for the cheapest deal as this often turns out not to be the case (equate it with the low cost airlines and you get the picture.)
If people avoid these sharks, they will eventually either pack up and leave or perhaps change their selling tactics.
I would suggest that the Tourism Minister perhaps steps in but I am assuming they are only interested in prosecuting people for ‘illegal lets’ and are not interested in any aspect of the holiday industry.
Frances Demoulin
Puerto Andraitx