ALMOST HALF of the complaints received by the European Consumer Centre (ECC) in Dublin about car rental last year related to people's credit cards being charged for alleged damage without their knowledge, after the car had been returned.
Other complaints related to hidden charges and confusing contract terms. The centre called for contracts in this area to be reviewed. It received 117 complaints against car rental companies last year. It intervened in 37 cases, 22 of which involved Irish-based car rental firms.
Charges for damages after rental cars were returned accounted for 45 per cent of complaints.
"Here, credit cards are charged for damages that the consumer did not cause. In many cases, consumers are not even notified that their credit card is debited and they are not given any chance to clarify the position," the report found.
The ECC said there was a lack of awareness on the consumer's side that the car should be carefully inspected when picking up and upon return.
And it said that the contract terms used by the car rental companies "could in certain cases be considered unfair", because they put much higher liability on the consumer than on the trader.
It said car rental companies should provide obligatory checklists to be filled out by the consumer before the car is hired, with clear information on possible consequences.
"Car rental companies should not be allowed to charge consumers' credit cards without providing an appropriate explanation of the charges," the report said.
Some 22 per cent of complaints related to payment arrangements and additional charges. Most of the problems related to extra charges concerning bookings made online or over the phone. "The essence of these complaints is that consumers are led to believe, during the booking process, that the price quoted on the website is final. However, when they arrive at the car rental desk, it appears that they have to pay more."
One Spanish holidaymaker booked a car online with the price quoted as "final" but when he arrived in Dublin he was told that he had to pay for a full tank of fuel.
He objected to this because he was not informed of the extra charge and he said it would be impossible to return the car with an empty tank. He cancelled the agreement but did not receive his money back for some time.
The centre urged car rental companies to review their policies in this area and questioned the legality of such practices, where consumers were not notified during the booking and where the amount charged for the fuel may be well above the market price.
The report found that the rising trend of complaints against car rental firms in Ireland "appears to be contrary to the general tendency showing a slight decrease in car rental complaints. Therefore, preliminary observations suggest that there is strong potential for improvements in Ireland."
ECC director Tina Leonard said it was apparent that most problems encountered were as a result of unclear, misleading or unfair contract terms. She said the ECC was calling for contracts to be reviewed in order to ensure conformity with the Consumer Protection Act 2007 and legislation on unfair terms in consumer contracts.
"Before they sign any car rental agreement, consumers need to understand its terms. They particularly need to be aware of the extent of their financial liability in the event of damage or accident," Ms Leonard said.
Three of the State's biggest car rental firms, Avis, Hertz and Budget, did not respond to the findings yesterday.
