Prepaid unlimited mileage rate not unlimited
 

Hi guys,

I recently made a prepaid booking through prepaid.thrifty.co.uk for a rental in Karratha, Australia with unlimited mileage. I picked up the car on Monday morning, had a great day driving around, then dropped the car off in the afternoon. Then three days later a charge of $95.59 appears on my credit card, which Thrifty Karratha tells me is for excess kilometres.

Thrifty Karratha claims that they never give unlimited mileage on rentals, and they say there was a 100km limit documented on the rental agreement they gave me (which I was never asked to sign). I'll have to check this when I get home, but regardless I don't think they have any right to vary the conditions of a prepaid rental on pickup.

I fully intend to get my $95 back but it looks like I'm in for a fight - I'm guessing most people on this forum are in the US but has anyone seen this happen before?

Steve

I've heard of unlimited mileage having geographic restrictions but never that they tell you it's unlimited and then randomly throw a 100 km cap on there. If you have both your original confirmation and the rental agreements I'd just fight it with your credit card. Then it's up to Thrifty to prove their case.

The original booking states unlimited. The rental agreement does state 100km (I didn't notice this on the day). The problem I have is that I didn't agree to the rental agreement, so I don't think it can be binding.

If I have no luck with Thrifty I will go through Amex.

Probably the best idea, try to resolve it at the source. If that doesn't work then Amex should be the next step.

Question though, here in North America we have what's called the Better Business Bureau (BBB). They are a non-partisan organization that acts as a third-party to resolve consumer complaints with businesses or charities. Is there such an equivalent in Australia? Forgive me of my ignorance. I've used them on a couple of previous occasions with great results, and I often find even threatening to file a claim with them will generate the results you want out of a business. Having a complaint filed is like a big red 'X' on their record for all to see so they try to resolve issues in-house when they think the customer will press on.

I'm curious how you were able to get a car without signing a rental agreement. Even if you're a Blue Chip member (express service), you should still have to sign it.

Technically, if the rental company doesn't have a signed rental agreement on file for you, you could probably dispute the entire rental charges and not pay a single cent--though that wouldn't be terribly ethical.

Regardless, your original reservation should carry some significant weight if you complain to the national/international corporate HQ, since the reservation is your "agreement" with them, versus the rental agreement, which is the agreement you have with your renting location. Corporate HQ will usually side with their own agreement over a rogue location's agreement when the two conflict--you can claim that it's an error in their computer system that the correct kilometer cap was not transmitted with the reservation and therefore you should not have to pay.

Our equivalent in Western Australia would be the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection. I'm not sure whether it would be more appropriate to take it up with them or Amex. I'm going to give the Thrifty Prepaid people another couple of days to resolve it - I'm sure it's difficult operating over a 9 hour time difference.

I've got the Rental Agreement now. I remember reading it briefly when I picked up the vehicle - there is a section called Maximum Rental Rates that lists the prices for returning the vehicle late (additional hourly rate, then daily rates). I ignored this section because I intended to return the vehicle on time. But in this list it also says Prepaid Day 1 dys inc 100 km free 100KLMS ALL VEHS ALL INC GROSS RATES.

They asked if I was a Blue Chip member, I said yes but I don't have my card with me, they checked my license number, and that was all.

The Blue Chip website lists as a benefit "No signature require, just show your drivers license". The terms and conditions of Blue Chip look particularly nasty - they say I agree to pay any amount listed in the Rental Charges section of the rental agreement. I don't see how this can apply to a prepaid rental though - it just doesn't make sense.

Good luck.

If Thrifty doesn't voluntarily agree, do contest just the overcharge with AMEX.

Also, report this to your Department of Consumer and Employment Protection. Even if nothing comes of it, answering the complaint will cost Thrifty more likely than the $95.59.

Interesting. That's a benefit of Blue Chip unique to Australia, then. The U.S./Canada Blue Chip program still requires you to sign a rental agreement every time you rent.

It's not a legal thing, as National and Hertz both have programs where you sign a master rental agreement when you sign up for the program and don't have to sign when you pick up the car, but Thrifty has not progressed to that, yet. (I don't quite understand Hertz's program--they don't even verify any information: all you do is walk up, say your name, and they hand you your keys. Not terribly secure...I've been tempted to take a nice Lincoln off the lot before...I think it'd be easy to con them...)

I've now spoken to the manager at Thrifty Karratha, who referred the issue onto a member of Thrifty customer service in Sydney. The problem is being resolved by refunding the $95 to my credit card, and removing the reference to unlimited mileage from prepaid.thrifty.co.uk. :)

Both of these people have been great to deal with, it's just a shame about the way it was handled initially by the front-line staff at Karratha.