Check the fuel charge!

[holidaymaker]

Have just come from a short break. We visit several times a year & mainly use Record as the prices are pretty good for a small car & you get the loyalty discount (about 10%) if you join their 'club'.

However they have started 'hiding' the costs. We had been quoted about 53.70 EUR for a 5 day trip. When we arrived we were offered the extra insurance at 4 eur which we agreed to & I knew we would need to pay for the fuel. As usual when you've just arrived I was in a hurry to get going to I just signed the credit card slip & looked later to see 118 EUR. The booking form showed the rental charge (net of VAT & discount), plus 'charges' plus VAT less the discount. So difficult to tell what the fuel charge was. It did state that the car Kia Picanto had a capacity of 35 lt. So I worked out that we had been charged about 1.28 per litre (wasn't sure if the insurance quote included VAT).

When we returned the car we checked the pump prices which I think were about 1.1 per litre depending on fuel type which seemed a bit of a cheek! We also needed to report that the handbrake didn't work! Anyway there was no-one at the drop-in place & we forgot to report it at the other desk. As I was concerned about the handbrake I emailed when we got back & thought I may as well query the fuel. First of all I got all the standard T&Cs about insurance & fuel policy including the fact that their fuel is always CHEAPER than the airport petrol station! So I queried it again, & they actually wrote back, apologised & refunded me 6 euros!

Ordinarily I wouldn't have bothered to complain but as I had to contact them anyway, I thought I may as well.

So next time you do pay for fuel ask them for a breakdown of the fuel costs & check your car capacity & current prices... if you have the time or inclination!

[kate1]

We stopped using Record last year as they stopped being so competitive on price (plus the queues at the Record desk were getting beyond a joke). Since then we have used Motos Formentor which is based in Pollensa and have had no problems. You simply return the car with the same amount of fuel it had on collection (at least, that was the arrangement last year).

[Smiddy]

I always refuse the extra "insurance" and never had a problem, seems to me just another ruse to get a few extra quid off us. These charges have only crept in over the last couple of years, they're all at it, airlines etc, just extra revenue raisers.