This happened around 11 years ago. I had little experience travelling by plane and even less renting cars. They charged me £80 for the fuel in the tank. Roughly half a tank. A Renault Clio. When the time of returning it came I naively returned it clearly above the level it had at the beginning of the rental. And then they told me the £80 acting as deposit for the fuel was not returnable and showed me where it was written on the contract in microscopic print They charged me 20 for not returning it at the time I booked which was the time of my flight taking off. I booked the returning for that time so I wouldn't be late .
Obviously I couldn't Wait for the time, so they charged me the £20. That's why they're so interested in having your flight number. This way they how much of in a rush you are and can steal from you even more at ease. Indecent behaviour
Also, They commented several times that what did I expect having paid so little for the rental of the car through a broker and not hiring any extras with them. I expected a company honouring the contract I had with them. If they think it's too cheap they have the option of rising their prices and not renting through brokers.
Anyway. I've come here just to let other abused customers know that in Spain, by law, any seller of any service including car renting companies, have the legal obligation of providing the official "Hoja de Reclamaciones " (claims form) when asked for it. Those are forms with 3 copies. One for the business another one you send to the OMIC (local consumer office) whose address and contact details can be found online. "OMIC" and the name of the town the business is at should do the trick. In this particular case the airport depends on the Alicante OMIC. And there's a third copy for your records.
Businesses have the legal obligation of providing the forms to any customer asking for them and if you ask and they refuse to provide them to you so you can send it to the OMIC, (Oficina Municipal de información al Consumidor in Spanish) you can call the Local Police and report the business not giving you the "Claims Form" ("Hoja de Reclamaciones" in Spanish) and they'll come, make the business give you the form and perhaps give them a fine for failing to produce it when first asked. When received, the OMIC proceeds to do an enquire about the official complains on its own motion if they find the complain to be legitimate and a potential abuse on the consumer.
Bottom line, when you ask for the Complain Form they'll try to convince you not to fill it but they won't refuse to give it to you if you insist. The OMIC depends on the town council and in places where tourism makes for an important part of the economy, dishonest businesses abusing tourist because they're vulnerable are usually not treated kindly and OMIC enquiries, although rarely end up in court, often prompt official inspections of health and safety departments, tax departments, work and pensions departments and the like. Very inconvenient for a business with many complains about charging customers for repairs that never happen or preexisting damages that have already been charged to other customers or the insurers where they've insured the excess, as seems to be the case of this and other unscrupulous car rental companies.
If you feel you've being taken advantage of because you're in a vulnerable situation (in a foreign country, often not fully mastering the language, with little time because you have a plane to catch, or on a tight spot because you need the car you've paid for to start your holidays) do not hesitate and ask for the "Hoja de Reclamaciones". Sometimes the attitude changes completely and all the problems they were giving you seem to vanish suddenly; when the person knows the consequences of a formal complain. And sometimes they give it to you when you insist, pretending they don't care and trying to make you feel stupid for complaining; but is not stupid. If you're right they'll have trouble even if you don't hear of it again and you'll be helping protect future potential victims. And if you're wrong and overreacting to legitimate practices you've misunderstood, professionals whose job is to protect consumers from abusive practices will decide there's no grounds for enquiries and you'll have caused no harm.
Sorry about the long text and any grammar mistakes I've might made. English is not my mother tongue. I've explained it to the best of my abilities so it can help people knowing little or nothing about this.
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