CHARGES FOR DEAD BATTERY & EXCESS REIMBURSEMENT

[Chaufeurse]

Hi All,

My apologies if most are aware of this but thought it might be worth adding.

Whilst I was in Florida at Cape Coral, over Christmas, the PT Convertible Cruiser we had refused to start one morning. We were both ill with an awful virus and had not moved from the villa the day before. I called the breakdown and they said they would attend but that there would be a $40 charge. The lady was very nice and I explained that I believed the car had problems as it occasionally flashed lights etc. She told me not to worry and to speak to Alamo when I returned the car. I asked if this was a new policy and she replied that yes it was and 'they' now assumed that anybody requiring a 'jump' had left the lights on, hmmmmm, I thought considering most of the cars in the US now have the 'auto' for the headlights. Xmas day (my 50th and our 2nd wedding anniversary, some celebration!) I was too ill to move off the sofa so we didn't head on out yet again. Sure enough on Boxing Day the PT was totally dead of all power. Alamo didn't mess about and brought me a VW Convertible (ding ling of a car too! Went like stink!) and took away the PT. Obviously I was not charged for the initial breakdown call out because they realised they had a problem with the car.

I just felt it was something worth bearing in mind along with my other recent discovery with regards to car hire. I travel to Fla around 3 times a year and like to hope that I keep reasonably up to date. So, imagine my surprise to discover than the 'big boys' like Alamo, Dollar etc do not include wheels, tyres, roof, underside and windscreen in their insurance cover. It is solely the responsibility of the hirer. I investigated it throughly and spoke to a lot of the car hire agencies in the UK who confirmed my discovery. Following this I took out 'excess reimbursement'with Atlas at a cost of £57 for the year. It covers a 31 day period but as I was going to be there for 54 days I did two separate rentals - one when I arrived on the 9th Nov and the other when I went to pick hubby up on the 8th Dec. I thought if I let it go now I know about and don't get cover you better believe something will happen! I am heading out again on the 11th April for another 7 weeks and will do the two bookings again to keep the excess reimbursement valid.

Anyway, sorry to rabbit on especially if all are aware of Alamo (and possibly the others) now charging for a 'jump' and the excess reimbursement.

[Robert5988]

I discovered that Alamo have just introduced a $5 a day optional charge for tyre/battery insurance.

I had a similar experience when the key would not come out of the ignition switch, this in turn created some problem with the alarm and my battery went flat.

I had to pay(sign for) $43 to Alamo to get it jump started. I took the car straight for exchange and eventually got the $43 refunded.


I won't pay the $5 a day insurance to Alamo(or indeed your £57 pa with Atlas) as to me it is just not cost effective and I spend a lot of time renting cars in the USA. That incident was the first time it had ever happened to me and even if it happened twice a year, at $43 a time, it would still pay me not to get insurance.

[Chaufeurse]

Hi Robert,

Thank you for responding. I can understand what you say but I would rather pay £57 a year for the amount of time I spend out there knowing that should the windscreen shatter or there be other 'non covered incidentals' I am not lumbered with the bill. For me the £57 gives me a bit more peace of mind especially as it will cover me in the region of 16 weeks or so this year - I can live with around £3.50 a week.

What else clinched it for me was reading an article with a forum from disgruntled people who had hired cars. One chap was presented with a bill when he took the car back for some damage. He dug his heels in the refused to budge until the rep checked out when the damage was logged on the puter. It transpired the damage had been done months before - what a cheek! As he said, he wondered just how many other people had coughed up for this damage.

I find it amusing that they wanted to charge you for what was obviously a problem with the car in that the ignition key would not come out! Classic. Good one that you kept on at them and you were reimbursed.

Cheerio,

Chris

[roger]

Alamo particularly will charge for the things you mention above, since they would prefer to sell you their Extended Roadside assistance Package. We detail this on the following pages on our site:

http://www.uscarhire.co.uk/supplier-comparison.aspx
http://www.uscarhire.co.uk/faq-inclusions.aspx

Dollar are more flexible, and although do not specifically cover those items, generally do not charge customers unless it is obviously the fault of the customer (such as locking keys in car, leaving lights on etc).

[roger]

The exclusions of battery, roof, underside etc has always been the case with all the rental companies. The reason is mainly due to the fact these are generally caused by drivers not keeping to the rules, or being careless.

e.g. battery is usually due to leaving lights on, underside of car damaged in off-roading (not permitted) and the roof from customers putting large heavy objects on the roof whilst loading the car etc.

As above, *usually* Dollar don't charge for the above whereas the other companies are a lot more strict.

If the car is in an accident and the underside / window / roof damaged as a result then of course these are always covered.