Avis Hire Car incurred 'Winterisation Fee' surcharge

[Stillborn Crisps]

I hired a car in Austria a month or so ago through Avis and thought I'd paid for it all up front.

When I returned it they said I had to pay a 'Winterisation Fee' (£33) which the woman said was to cover changing/use of snow tyres (a legal requirement there). Obviously this change only happens twice a year to the car as winter comes and goes, yet I got the impression they charge it for every hire of the vehicle.

I wasn't told about it before taking the car, and don't remember anything about it when booking - is this a normal thing to pay in colder/snowy countries? I feel like I've been stung but didn't know better at the time.

On the Rental End Contract (received when handing the car back) it lists this charge under 'Optional Services' - I certainly wasn't given the option and was verbally told it was mandatory.

Anyone got advice on whether to pursue it and what to say if so???

[Sidewinder]

Did you book online or at a local office?

The T&Cs for booking a car through Avis in Austria (and other snowy countries) lists the following in the T&Cs.

WINTERISATION SERVICE CHARGE
€4.00 Per day maximum of 14 days charged from 01 November - 30th April - to all cars equipped with snow tyres.

A bit naughty to list it as an option on return, but if it was present in the small print at the time of booking...

It does seem to be per rental though and seems to be standard having checked several rental companies.

[Stillborn Crisps]

Hi Sidewinder,

Where did you find that listed? I've just searched back through the booking process and couldn't find it, and even using Google to search for any page with the word 'Winterisation' on Avis.co.uk (or .com) produced no results!
:-/

I must not have read the T&Cs that thoroughly if you've found it, but I still feel a mandatory surcharge such as this should not be 'tucked away' until the car is returned.

Maybe I'll just write saying I'm dismayed at them for not making it clearer, and will think twice about using them again, etc.... Hopefully a good customer relations person will send me vouchers or something.

[green_and_mean]

Avis Car Rental in Austria, Avis Car Hire in Austria, Budget Car Rent in Austria and Europe, Avis Vehicle Hire, Vehicle Rent, Avis Drive Holiday, Car Travel Vacation with Drive Travel

[Sidewinder]

I must admit that I found it by Googling Avis Winterisation Austria and came to the same site as Green & Mean has linked. I too have tried the booking process through the Avis site (up to registering my details anyway) and agree that it doesn't appear to be there by searching any of the available online T&Cs. Of course if you are not familiar with renting in snowy countries and the information is not apparent then you can't have agreed to the charge at the time of booking. I have looked at Hertz and their Winterisation information is available online (but you do have to look for it) and states that it is included in the rate quoted for the hire. Carjet, who I use regularly, are an agency and their 'What's Included' information states that rental between November and April will incur a daily charge for Winterisation.

It may be worth posting your disappointment with Avis HERE - negative comments seem to receive a fairy prompt response.

I would certainly pursue this - if it isn't listed in T&Cs it is possible that you have paid twice for it - once at the time of booking (Avis are usually bl**dy expensive so should include everything in the quote anyway!) and again at the time of return - it wouldn't be the first time that local agents haven't been trained properly!

Let us know what they say!

[Stillborn Crisps]

Bit late... but I've drafted up this letter. Does it sound too weak/strong? Comments please!

Dear Sir,

In February 2008 I made a booking with you for a hire-car in Austria. The booking was made via your online website.

On returning the car to your Vienna office I was charged a 'Winterization Fee' of €33.60.

I explained that I had paid fully in advance for the vehicle and that this fee was not mentioned anywhere in the booking process, but they insisted it was mandatory and that I pay.

I noted that in the Rental End Contract the fee is listed as being an 'optional service'. I was certainly not given the option by your staff of whether I wanted it or not, but I am now asserting that choice.

On returning to the UK I re-checked the booking process, and have searched thoroughly through the terms and conditions on the avis.co.uk website which I used to make the booking and can find no reference to a Winterization Fee. Therefore I could not have agreed to a condition of paying this surcharge when I made the booking.

Please refund me the €33.60 fee within the next 14 days, either as a cheque or credit to the credit card I used to pay the fee.

I have to say I am disappointed at the level of service I have received from Avis. As you probably know you are far from the cheapest car hire company, and I was expecting a premium service for the premium price I paid - hiding surcharges is the sort of thing I'd expect from Holiday Autos, but not yourselves. In the future I will certainly think twice about using Avis again.


Yours faithfully,

etc............

[patdavies]

Take out the bit about Holiday Autos, it is unnecessary to denigrate another supplier. Holiday Autos are only a consolidator anyway, they do not hire directly; Avis will not see the comparison as valid.

If you feel that you need to leave the sentence in, then change Holiday Autos to "a low-end, non-prestige market provider".

It is also be worth pointing out that their biggest competitor - Hertz - includes the fee in the total charge when booking.

[Stillborn Crisps]

Ok, will make that change... was just getting carried away I suppose.

I'll keep back the Hertz line for if they don't give the refund, I can then say I'll go to them in the future.

[Stillborn Crisps]

Just received a letter from Avis (not a reply to the above) saying they have had to pass on my details to the Austrian authorities for a traffic offence, and as stated in Avis's terms & conditions this involves a €12 Administration Fee which they have taken already from my credit card.

Can I claim this fee back from Avis? Surely such costs are covered as part of their general running costs, they must get hundreds of these every day.

There was a thread here recently about this, where the hire car company had also automatically paid the fine, denying the driver the right to claim not guilty/appeal - can't find it though - anyone remember it?

[patdavies]

Originally Posted by Stillborn Crisps

Can I claim this fee back from Avis? Surely such costs are covered as part of their general running costs, they must get hundreds of these every day.

You can claim it back if it is not in the agreement that you signed. I suspect that it will be.

Your only other option is to claim that it is disproportionate to their costs, like bank charges. However, be aware that this might be quite a battle as I would guess that by charging in Euro, this has been done by Avis Austria and you would have no redress against Avis UK

[Stillborn Crisps]

That's what I was thinking, it's disproportionate.

The letter came form their Austrian office, however I used avis.co.uk to book the car - so not sure where that leaves me?

[patdavies]

Originally Posted by Stillborn Crisps

That's what I was thinking, it's disproportionate.

The letter came form their Austrian office, however I used avis.co.uk to book the car - so not sure where that leaves me?

You hired it from Avis Austria,; your contract is with them. Avis UK is merely the booking agent.

You reed to query their actual costs (Austria). bear in mind however, that Austrian contract law is unlikely to mirror UK law.

For the sake of €12, I think that you are on to a loser here.

[Stillborn Crisps]

Grumble grumble.... well I've got a reply from Avis UK about the Winterisation Fee, but with no reference to my request for refund. Here it is, any thoughts on next steps?

Dear Mr Crisps,

I am sorry that you find the information provided at the reservation stage is misleading, or unsatisfactory. It is our intention to supply as much information as possible regarding the rental detail or the final charge.

Please be informed that all cars are equipped with winter tyres from 1st November to 15th April in Austria. The fee is EUR 4.00 + tax per day.

Our website can be used for worldwide reservations and since the costs of the counter-sell products vary within countries as well as locations, we are unable to display the cost of all the extras.

However, our colleages at the Reservations Department should have mentioned this at the time of making the booking. I would like to apologise that this was not the case on this occasion and would like to assure you that it has been highlighted to ensure the corrective action is taken to avoid a repeated incident.

Thank you for taking the time to bring this particular matter to my attention. I do hope we will soon have the opportunity to restore your confidence.

Yours blah blah blah....

It's obvious they haven't read my letter properly as they refer to 'colleagues in the Reservation Department' - who I never even dealt with as I booked it all online!

Also, while they say they can't display costs for all extras (why???!) they admit the information about the fee is missing from site - therefore should I continue with the argument that I didn't agree to it, and respond with a LBA?

[patdavies]

Originally Posted by Stillborn Crisps

It's obvious they haven't read my letter properly as they refer to 'colleagues in the Reservation Department' - who I never even dealt with as I booked it all online!

Also, while they say they can't display costs for all extras (why???!) they admit the information about the fee is missing from site - therefore should I continue with the argument that I didn't agree to it, and respond with a LBA?

I thought that the ability to display all the extras for a particular quote is what computers were supposed to be good at.

They have seemingly ignored your points. I would write back, point out that you booked on-line and didn't speak to any Reservations staff using phrase like "I would like to re-iterate..." " thus your reply fails to address my point...".

And ask, that if the information given on-line continues to be incomplete,

a) will they not in future be in breach of the new consumer regulations, and
b) why should anybody bother to book using their web-site.

Remind them that the need to "try harder".

[Stillborn Crisps]

Have knocked up this reply - I tried putting in a few other points as suggested, but felt it just clouded my main issue of getting a refund. I don't wanna give them the opportunity to ignore me again and go off on other tangents.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated:

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your letter dated 26 May 2008, however you have failed to address or even acknowledge my refund request.

I am writing to ask you one final time to refund me the Winterisation Fee surcharge of €33.60 which I did not agree to paying at the time of booking, but which you automatically took from my credit card.

Your acknowledgement of this fee's complete omission from the Online Booking Process and the associated Terms & Conditions highlights that I am not, nor was I ever, legally bound to pay it.

If you do not comply with my request fully within 14 days I shall begin a court claim against you for the full amount plus interest, plus my costs, without further notice.


Yours sincerely,
etc........

Comments????? Is the 'legally bound' too strong?

[Stillborn Crisps]

Bumping - any comments please???

Wanna get this sent off by end of today.