country restrictions different in contract than in general T&C
May 29, 2016, 5:08 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2016
Programs: Flying Blue
Posts: 1
country restrictions different in contract than in general T&C
Dear all, would appreciate your advice on the following.
I was looking for a rental car for a road trip through Europe. Route I had in mind was as follows: Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Netherlands. Turns out that most rental companies have a lot of restrictions on the countries that can be driven in, especially Eastern Europe so I had to investigate the car rental conditions for each and every rental company and found there were only 2 companies that were OK for this trip, Avis and a Huurmij.nl. Alternatively I could rent a country restricted car and swap it with a the car of a relative for the time being.
In the end I opted for Avis and booked and paid online after double checking the rental conditions once more. Upon collection of the vehicle at Amsterdam Airport I was asked to put my signature on the rental agreement and was handed over the keys along with a copy of the rental agreement and general terms and conditions.
2 days into my road trip I had a look at the documents again and to my surprise I see that my rental agreement says the vehicle can not be taken into Slovakia, contrary to what the general terms and conditions say (same version as the one I read online) that said driving in Slovakia was allowed.
At this point I am already in Czech Republic so I send them an email asking for clarification. I get a quick reply saying that they were sorry for the mistake in the general terms and conditions, but the car can NOT be taken into Slovakia.
My first reaction is relief to have discovered their mistake before entering Slovakia where I could have ended up in an accident, then discovering I am not insured. But second reaction is to get angry at the fact that they did not inform me of this change. I might have made other choices if I knew about this restriction. So I write an angry email response, saying that I feel there should be some sort of compensation. I never received any reply on this. I decided to change my route and went from Poland to Hungary via Czech Republic/Austria instead of Slovakia. In the end I missed out on visiting Bratislava and had to make some extra miles because of the detour, not a huge problem, but not my mistake either.
I feel an appropriate way of resolving this would be to have offered me a few days free rental or some financial compensation for the detour. Am I right in saying this or is it my mistake for not checking the rental agreement before signing? Love to hear your opinion and any potential further steps I can take against Avis in this case.
I was looking for a rental car for a road trip through Europe. Route I had in mind was as follows: Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Netherlands. Turns out that most rental companies have a lot of restrictions on the countries that can be driven in, especially Eastern Europe so I had to investigate the car rental conditions for each and every rental company and found there were only 2 companies that were OK for this trip, Avis and a Huurmij.nl. Alternatively I could rent a country restricted car and swap it with a the car of a relative for the time being.
In the end I opted for Avis and booked and paid online after double checking the rental conditions once more. Upon collection of the vehicle at Amsterdam Airport I was asked to put my signature on the rental agreement and was handed over the keys along with a copy of the rental agreement and general terms and conditions.
2 days into my road trip I had a look at the documents again and to my surprise I see that my rental agreement says the vehicle can not be taken into Slovakia, contrary to what the general terms and conditions say (same version as the one I read online) that said driving in Slovakia was allowed.
At this point I am already in Czech Republic so I send them an email asking for clarification. I get a quick reply saying that they were sorry for the mistake in the general terms and conditions, but the car can NOT be taken into Slovakia.
My first reaction is relief to have discovered their mistake before entering Slovakia where I could have ended up in an accident, then discovering I am not insured. But second reaction is to get angry at the fact that they did not inform me of this change. I might have made other choices if I knew about this restriction. So I write an angry email response, saying that I feel there should be some sort of compensation. I never received any reply on this. I decided to change my route and went from Poland to Hungary via Czech Republic/Austria instead of Slovakia. In the end I missed out on visiting Bratislava and had to make some extra miles because of the detour, not a huge problem, but not my mistake either.
I feel an appropriate way of resolving this would be to have offered me a few days free rental or some financial compensation for the detour. Am I right in saying this or is it my mistake for not checking the rental agreement before signing? Love to hear your opinion and any potential further steps I can take against Avis in this case.
