The regional government has launched a campaign that it hopes will put an end to abusive practices in the car-rental sector. An initiative by the consumer affairs department, the campaign was outlined today by Xisco Dalmau, the department's director.
Leaflets in four languages - Castellano, Catalan, English and German - inform tourists about the procedure for hiring a car and about consumer rights. The leaflets will be distributed at points of entry, i.e. airports and ports.
Dalmau explained that abuses include making clients pay for scratches that were already on cars or making them wait over two hours to be able to pick up vehicles. Otherwise, the most contentious issues which arise relate to price, fuel policy and insurance coverage. He said that there is to be "seal of excellence" for car-rental agencies which will incorporate a set of best practice. This is to be launched next month and will help tourists to know that the company they are dealing with respects consumer rights.
He pointed out that ten proceedings have been initiated so far this year because of abusive practices. These had resulted from more than 55 inspections that the consumer affairs department have conducted. The department has received some 500 complaints over the past two years and is anticipating increasing the number of inspections.
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We were fitted up by OK Rentals with a vehicle that had clutch problems .I believe they knew the clutch was going .They stated that we damaged it and we got landed with a bill of £1115 .We hardly used the car and my wife and daughter were put in danger because the car stopped on a bend on a very busy road. The car had obviously not been checked prior to be rented out because the vehicle had no fuel and the tyres were low..Even one of their drivers had problems with the gears when he put fuel in the car..We there with our family to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.THANK VERY MUCH OK RENTALS
Is it true that you can denounce them by phoning 112, and the Local Police will come out and sort the problem out?
I have never understood why people put themselves through this hassle more than once.Surely it must be easier to catch a cab to where you are staying and then rent a car locally, arranging to drop it off at the airport, or if staying somewhere some distance away, catch a cab into town or even Playa de Palma and pick up your pre-booked car there.
I rent at least 10 times a year at Mallorca airport. THis is a Mallorca problem as I never experience the wait time problem anywhere else.It is the absurd wait of one to two hours in the summer to pick up a pre paid car that is infuriating. The hire companies know the numbers who are collecting in advance but do not plan the manpower to handle the customers.Last month I was in the queue at 10.45 and when I reached the front of the queue 40 minutes later I was surcharged 40 euros because I had not collected my car before the 11pm night time rate!The control is with the owners of the airport. It is obvious that Record and Gold Car in particular are providing very poor customer experience as their queues are the longest. The airport owners should threaten to remove the airport access of these two hire companies if they cannot provide a reasonable service to customers. A 10 minute wait is reasonableMallorca Today can also do more. Take photographs of the queue and syndicate the photographs to the German and UK newspapers - that will helpm
I wish I could be more positive that something will be done about this. It is just more control, control, control, which this government thinks is the answer to everything. Just another 'quality mark' means nothing. The best companies are the most expensive and there are always hidden charges with the cheaper ones, who have the longest queues. Bad service from car rental companies is global. I continually get ripped off at Gatwick and Bournemouth. So much so that now I won't do it and take National Express and hire locally well away from airports!
I was caught twice by ' Terrys ' and 'Europe Car'. The wheels and tyres were not covered. An accident caused by a hit and run driver. Meant I had to pay for the damage to the wheels and tyres. The second Company ripped me off. I returned the car with a full tank of petrol. Later in the month , I was charged on my Credit Card £100. for a tank of petrol. NEVER AGAIN WILL I HIRE FROM ANY COMPANY IN MALLORCA .NOT ON ALL INCLUSIVE HOTEL PACKAGE DEALS EITHER.
Not a moment too soon! The process of hiring a pre-booked car, especially at the airport has, with most operators, a lengthy, frustrating, confusing and often abusive experience. A two hour wait is quite normal with some of the companies.
It's about time I speak from experience I used to work for these car rental company's and we were told to find as much damage to a car on return as possible as this would add to your monthly bonus even putting down fuel as being returned not full so as we could get a good bonus once the customer had handed back the car there is nothing they can do as we have the deposit so tough