I recently filled out a reservation for car hire based on results I found on Travelsupermarket. The company concerend is called Autoreisen - my name address and credit card details were taken and I was told to look in my mailbox for the reservation details - when I opened my mail it said sorry we have no cars. I enquired - was the car I chose not available or were there no cars available at all. The answer - there hasn't been one. I'm very dissapointed in the service anyone else had similar problems with this company? And may I ask why they list cars on the dates I need one when they clearly don't have any????

Hi d.smudger

Can you let me know the search you carried out and if any reference No's where given at the time of you entering your details on the Auto Resien site for me to look in to this for you?

Peter

I had exactly the same situation earlier this week, only with holiday autos, and their pseudonym carhire4less. They were advertising several cars as being available between boxing day and new year's eve in Geneva, when it turned out most of their suppliers were closed for business for a Boxing Day pickup! So although I pounced on the prices almost immediately, they had nothing - and it took a good three days (in which I could potentially have missed out on a booking with another provider!) to let me know. They also took my card details.

Bad - very bad. I guess it is something a lot of carehire companies do at this time of year, to try and hook you in, then offer you more expensive models when it turns out the one you reserved isn''t available. Because they know you'll panic and take whatever you can get perhaps?

However, all's well that ends well, as I had a great service from AutoEurope. I booked an (admittedly more expensive) car with them and had proper confirmation complete with voucher within seconds. Then, I completed a 'Best price guarantee' form online, quoting the cheaper holidayautos price (as it was still being advertised!!), and they didn't just match it - they beat it by another £12! The chap I spoke to, Henrik, was also very very helpful and polite. However, note - fill out the form on the .com site, as they are more efficient and will deal with your enquiry that day. I sent a request form via the UK site too, and they dilly dallied about for ages, saying they had to forward it to their 'Beat Price' department or something, wheras the American form got me a phonecall and a better price that same day. Important when the lower competitor price may get pulled any second!

Best of luck with your complaint!

Hi,

i'm very sorry that it took so long for holiday autos to come back to you in this situation. Over Christmas availibility can be an issue in Switzerland and we are sorry we were unable to confirm your request.

holiday autos also offers a best price guarantee and our rates are always fully inclusive. Please check the T&C's of your booking with Auto-Europe as its appears you will have the following charges upon arrival:

Road Fee of approximately £4 per day. Eco Surcharge of approx £7 per rental
Mandatory Winterization Fee of approximately €10 per day, for rentals commencing November 1st through Apr 15th.

Thanks

holidayautos.co.uk

Thanks for replying holiday autos! You're obviously on the ball with your marketing if you've got employees responding to forum posts - I salute you as a fellow marketeer! And yes - you're right, they do charge extras - which is why I was reluctant to go with them initially, and thus held out for a cheaper holidayautos price (as I know you include the vignette pass, etc). However...I've been keeping my eye on the prices for a while, and I wondered why - when you apparently had no cars available up until last Sunday night - you suddenly published prices for several at great rates. Surely you'd have already known that 2 of your 3 car suppliers were closed in Geneva on Boxing Day? Having said that I don't want to be a moaning ***. I know mistakes can be made, it's a busy time of year, etc, etc. And I think on balance you do provide the most competitive service in the market - so there, I'm not slandering holiday autos as a company. It's just that on this occasion, I felt a bit let down - especially as the car I booked wasn't declared as 'on request' when I booked, therefore I thought it was all safely booked and sorted (not forgetting that I had to give you my card details...) Thankfully, in this case, autoeurope have factored the extras into the reduction, plus I am told that winter tyres are compulsory in Switzerland so hire cars come with them regardless (thus often people don't have to pay a fee). I'd rather have had the holidayautos car though, with my extra 15% Virgin One discount! Maybe next time... Advice I'd give everyone in this situation is always to ring your car hire company to check that the car you've 'booked' is actually booked! This way you can make sure you don't miss out on one with another provider if it all goes pear-shaped!

thank you for your reply/advertisment!

The company concerned was Autoreisen, it is not Christmas and I was in Lanzarote a week ago.

For anyone else interested as an aside a 4 or 5 seater Cab from Lanzarote Airport was £35 Euro, i.e 70 Eurp return. Cab reservation 'so called' specialist internet firms quoted me over 100 Euro and 200 euro for similar trips - beware - if you don't have small kids with you arriving late at night pick up a cab at the airport and pay normal not inflated prices!

d