Off-hours car rental fee

While on a Princess cruise from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, we stopped in Falmouth, England, on Sept. 25, ’05. I had confirmed reservations for a rental car from Europcar. However, since this was on a Sunday, I was informed that after I arrived at the agency, I was to call and someone would meet me and provide the keys to the car.

After the agent let us in, I was told that in addition to the £71.08 (near $126) for the car, there would be an additional charge of £40 ($71) because it was Sunday. I protested that this was not in the contract and nothing had been said about a Sunday charge. He said that he realized that I had not been informed about the extra charge and he would reduce it to £30 if I would pay it to him in cash.

While we were talking, several more people from the ship arrived and they also were told of the additional charge. Needless to say, we all were appalled.

I had previously driven all over that area of England and, after this, did not feel any compulsion to see it again, so I declined to rent the car. The agent said that I had a right to not rent the car, but the £40 would be charged to my credit card anyway. This made me furious, so I walked out after telling him to “Just try it.”

The other individuals from the ship felt that this was their only chance to see that area of England, so they grudgingly paid the extra fee.

In the end, no charges were made to my credit card.

E. ROMAYNE HERTWECK
Oceanside, CA

ITN sent a copy of the above letter to Europcar International (Marina House, Falmouth Yacht Marina, North Parade, TR11 6LA, Falmouth, Cornwall, U.K.) and received a call from Branch Manager Mark Tyler, who explained that there is indeed a Meet & Greet charge of £40 for “out of hours service.” He said the fact that Hert-weck was not aware of the charge was the fault of the travel agent or whoever reserved the car. The agent was able to offer to lower the fee to £30 because local taxes could be dropped if it were paid in cash. Tyler said that it was decided not to bill Hertweck’s credit card, even though a day’s rental could have been charged for holding the car, as well as the Meet & Greet fee. Tyler said that the other renters that day bartered the Meet & Greet fee down to £20 per couple.

Mr. Hertweck said that his wife has much experience making reservations and in this case booked the car online, herself. Documentation shows that there was no mention of an off-hours Meet & Greet charge. A recent test for an online reservation for a Europcar auto on a Sunday showed that this wording has been added to the website (https://res.europcar.com): “Return location is closed at this date/time. Please check return facilities when picking up your car. Please note additional charges may apply.”