Munich Airport and Thrifty :0(
 

I decided to rent a car from Thrifty (mistake No1) as they were much cheaper than my normal rental car company Hertz.

I should have heeded my misgivings when the counter staff at the airport made a big thing about swiping my AMEX card for €1000 deposit.

It was late at night, as usual the Munich Airport Multi story car park was badly lit and there was my Thrifty rental car a very tired looking black Kia waiting for me, as usual I reversed the car out and checked the damage vs the damage report and found quite a bad dent on the passenger door, phone the kiosk and got the clerk to add this damage to the damage report, also got his name and recorded it.

On returning the car 2 days later, I waited at the return point for a receiver to check the car for damage and agree the final bill, he was very dismissive and told me to go to the rental kiosk. At the rental kiosk an equally dismissive clerk said he could not produce the final bill until he had the report from the receiver. After 45 mins waiting I just had to move on and catch my flight (mistake No2!).

Now remember that this was at the end of Feb that I rented this car.

Now fast forward to Early May, I get a large wad of paperwork from Thrifty and finally can see that they have refunded me €160, on looking closer I am told that the car was returned damaged and that they had taken €1000 deposit and replaced the windscreen, front wheel and repaired damage on the roof some €840!

Luckily I rented the car with AMEX Platinum so this is covered by them. So you can see that I don’t need to worry about the charge, however it always bugs me when someone has done something wrong and as you can see my motivation is purely to inform other travellers of this situation.

I can assure yourselves that I treated the car with respect and did not cause any damage on my rental, however it’s very hard to prove that you did not cause damage.

I am still yet to receive a bill for the original €1000 deposit and Holiday Autos who I originally made the booking with seems to have a totally inadequate customer support department that is straining to understand even what my complaint is.

Finally I am a constant traveller so I like to think that I am above most of the scams that are out there, however beware of all rentals at Munich Airport as the guys that receive the cars have very powerful microscopes and can cause a lot of problems alleging damage that probably was there before the start of the rental.

My advise now (and incidentally I have made it a rule in my Company) is only rent from Hertz or Avis, they now have their own receivers at Munich airport and seem to be more professional than the general receivers.

I travel with a digital camera, so whenever I pickup a rental car, I spend a few moments photographing the vehicle from all sides. I make sure that the rental car company and/or car pickup signs are in the background of the photos. I also take a few close-up photos of existing damage.

A few months ago, I was returning a van at HOU and the check-in person started to insist that I had damaged the vehicle. I pulled out my camera and started showing her the pictures I had taken when I picked the van up. This caused her to say "Well, I'll let you go this time".

Use Digital Cameras
 

Ratherbeonatrain,

Thanks, yes I think that would work for the larger type of damage however some of the smaller scratches just would not show up.

My old Kia was reported as :-

May we once again express our regret with the disputed damage, which has been described as a roof scratch, front rim scratch and chip in windscreen. (€840!!!!)

My warning is that some of the receivers point out very small defects, I have seen scratches due to seat belt buckles trapped in the door reported.

I don't know but I'm guessing that the receiver/check in staff may be on some sort of repair commission?

Hertz seem to have their own check in staff and act in a more professional way.

AMEX is also challenging the charge as they feel that they need to see actual invoices rather than estimates that Thrifty has forwarded.

I guess what has upset me more than this is the fact that they took their €1000 deposit and took 6 weeks to tell me!

Has anyone else had any other recent experiences with this location? I have a car reserved for September and have not used this location before. Is it easy to get to? Using my HH AMEX to reserve it. Any recommendations on insurance, etc...?

Thank You

Avoid car hire at Munich - AVIS/Hertz/Thrifty/Anyone
They will seize on any opportunity for extra charges.

And Thrifty's station is in the back of beyond - I had to fight for seats on the shuttle bus with people who were staying at the NH who were simply avoiding the chargeable NH bus!!