Over the last 24 years, I’ve seen the car hire scene change from 3 to 181. With the demography of visitors changing this was inevitable as are the hidden hire car charges that people are falling foul of.
This is nothing new, years ago my brother had to threaten one car hire company with lawyers in order to get his money back. Whenever I travel to the UK the small car I book has been misplaced or shrunk to such levels that my carry-on luggage would not fit in and therefore wouldn’t I be happier with the next model up, at a small additional cost per day.
Here one of the old ruses was that whatever, car hire insurance the hiree took out while booking was inadequate for Madeira, and a further 100 euros would be billed for an up-grade.
Only recently, a French couple was charged an additional €2,000 for a parking dint at Pico do Areeiro, which they reported.
A Canadian travel writer, William Thomas has had similar bad experiences. His initial car was so scratched it was unreal, the brakes shuddered and the headlight on alarm had stopped working.
Mr. Thomas writes:
“Anyway, I persevered. That is until the car conked out. On the morning of Saturday, April 13 the car would not start. Four guys in the village of Jardim Do Mar did everything to get it going but no, the
car was dead. Without a phone, Fernandez, an American who lives in Jardim made six calls to the car hire company, both their Funchal and Lisbon offices and nobody could help me
On the second day, Sunday, April 14, the company finally sent a guy with a truck to the village who got the car started. It was not the car battery. It was the battery in the ‘fob/key’ that was dead. Why when this is one of the biggest global car hire companies around could they not provide spare batteries is beyond me!
After losing one day’s use of the car we wasted another day driving to and from the airport to pick up a rental car that was functioning. I had to cancel all my plans and spend my time sorting things out.
To add insult to injury, the car hire company has billed me for not filling up the tank on the broken-down car. A bit difficult as it wouldn’t start and they towed it away. I’ve written so many emails that my keyboard is refusing to work, and I am out of pocket having had to send registered letters to Madeira from Canada.
As yet, the situation remains unresolved as most of my correspondence has been ignored.”
Concluding, Mr. Thomas writes that it is such a shame that the Madeiran Tourism Board has worked so hard to promote Madeira only for car hire companies to cast a pall over that light, hard work and dedication.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
