The 7 Most Common Mistakes First Time Vehicle Renters Make
If you’re a seasoned car hirer you probably know exactly what you need to do when you get to the desk and throughout the rental. But if you’re a first time hirer, renting a vehicle can be daunting and entering the world of the unknown is a bit overwhelming. It’s easy to make a few errors so we’ve highlighted the top mistakes made by those renting for the first time to help you avoid them.
1. Not reading the terms and conditions
When booking a car hire, we can’t stress enough how important it is to check the rental terms and conditions. These will tell you all you need to know such as the mileage amount, the payment terms and the insurance conditions.
We would strongly suggest that you read these before you book your vehicle but if you don’t get chance to go through them before make sure that you look at them as soon as your voucher arrives in your email inbox. It is much easier to change your booking to a different package or an alternative supplier, if needed, straight after you have booked than the night before you’re due to pick up the vehicle!
We also offer free rebooking up to 48 hours prior to your pick up so you won’t incur any admin costs or lose your small ‘Pay today’ amount if you notice anything you’re not happy with or that you realise you aren’t eligible for.
2. Out of date documentation
You would be surprised by the number of calls we get from customers who are at the car hire desk and have realised their driving licence is out of date. There is little we can do in this situation as it is a condition of all rental companies that licences are valid and in date.
Make sure you check your driving licence and any other documentation you may need such as passports, ID cards or utility bills are valid and in date a couple of months before you hire. This gives you chance to order new ones with time to spare before your rental commences.
3. Not having the accepted payment method
We work with a great range of car hire companies, many of whom offer packages that allow customers to rent with debit cards. This has been brilliant in terms of making car hire more accessible to everyone but we do still have a large amount of firms on our panel who will only accept credit cards.
Make sure that if you are wanting a debit card hire you use the filter down the left hand side of the quote results page which looks like this:
This will ensure that the companies and packages that show in the results are happy to allow debit cards. The risk if you do not use the filter is that you may accidentally book with a company who will only take credit cards!
4. Not checking the vehicle before accepting it
This one may seem obvious but when you’ve just got off a flight, and particular a long-haul flight, all you want to do is get on the road and to your end destination. Some of the airport car parks can be dimly lit and if you’re collecting early in the morning or late at night it can be dark. We would strongly advise that you take videos of all angles of your vehicle and a video whilst walking round the car as well.
You should check the car carefully and highlight any damage that was not noted on your rental agreement to a member of staff. But if you do happen to miss something that you notice later you can look back to your photos and video as evidence that the damage or mark was already there when you picked up the car.
We very rarely have cases where car hire firms on Clarify Car Hire are unreasonable or charge for damage that you did not cause but by following this tip it gives you that peace of mind and back up just in case you need it.
5. Forgetting to add any optional extras
If you require any optional extras such as child seats or GPS devices, make sure you add them when you’re booking. This is important as rental offices will only have a limited amount and by adding them to your booking you’re getting in before other hirers who will turn up at the pick up location and ask for the extras. If you don’t add them to your booking there is a risk that you will arrive and they will all be sold out.
On Clarify Car Hire we have a great tool at the top of the results page which allows you to add your extras there and then so you can see who the cheapest supplier is with both the vehicle and extras added. Do use this if you need any optional add-ons!
6. Not paying for tolls
Toll roads are really common in some places, a prime example being Portugal. Many of the companies on Clarify Car Hire offer a toll transponder package which includes the cost of hiring the transponder device. By hiring this device it means when you use a toll road it is automatically charged to the transponder. As the owner of the vehicle and transponder, the car hire company will be charged for your use of toll roads and will subsequently charge the card which they took your preauthorisation or deposit from.
If you opt not to hire a transponder device (or similar in other countries!), be aware that if you do go through any tolls and don’t pay there and then the fee will be sent to the car hire company. They will then most likely send a request for the tolls to be paid as well as charging you an administration fee for having to sort this for you.
You can see how the costs can quickly add up which is why it is so worthwhile making sure you pay any tolls whilst at the barriers or hire an electronic toll device from your rental firm.
7. Forgetting to refuel the vehicle before return
This is a really easy one to forget but can be costly. The majority of rental companies now have fair fuel policies which mean that you have to return the vehicle with the same amount of fuel that was in it when you picked it up. This could be a full tank or any other amount!
If you do not return the vehicle in line with the fuel policy for your rental you will be charged per litre for the fuel needed to get to the same amount you picked up with. The price you will be charged for this fuel is often hirer than pump price due to the logistics of having to get the vehicle refuelled. In addition, you will be charged an refuelling fee (which is sort of like an admin fee).
As you can see it can be an expensive oversight to not check the fuel policy and that you have followed it when returning the vehicle.
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