Booked A Hire Car In France, On Arrival Office Closed And No Hire Car Received?

[minnie76]

We arranged a hire car for 8:30pm on the saturday , however there was a flight delay so we rang the company and advised of the delay giving them the flight number and our estimated time of arrival. We were told that the offices closed at 9pm but they would let the office know for it to kept open.

We arrived at their office at 10pm no one present, no information left for us explaining what to do. We had to stay the night at the airport as there was no options to do anything else.

Phone calls were made to the same number as earlier which was an answerphone advising us no one available until 8am the following morning. Opening times for the office 7am.

At 7am on the sunday we went back to the office - no one present and a notice saying “closed technical issues. please contact your broker’. the people cleaning the area advised that there would be no one at the office that day.

We rang the brokers contact number and were advised that as we missed our arranged time the hire car had been cancelled however we said that there had been no one to have this conversation with and the office was advising we contact our broker.

The office number was again rang at 8, they said the booking had been cancelled because we should have turned up the night before. Which we did & no one available. When we rang the company to advise the plane was delayed they amended the booking to 10:30pm but on Sunday were telling us the booking had been cancelled??

As a consequence of the company not providing us with the paid for car we have lost a day of our holiday & had to book another hire car to enable us to get to our destination.

The company is refusing a refund stating we didn’t give a flight number, which is correct however we did ring and advise the company we would be delayed giving the flight number. Do i have any rights to receive the cost of the hire car & the £500 paid for the additional hire car?


The company have stated i was in the wrong by not providing a flight number and have offered half of the initial hire car (£100)
Any suggestions or advise much appreciated

[fiction-factory]

hi. I'm confused as to whether you gave the flight number when required as you seem to accept you didn't but also say you did.

[Tuvok]

"so we rang the company and advised of the delay GIVING them the flight number"

"The company is refusing a refund stating we DIDN'T GIVE a flight number, which is CORRECT however we did ring and advise the company we would be delayed GIVING the flight number."

You seem to contradict yourself and then contradict your contradiction!

[Neveracrossword]

I read it as the OP hadn't given a flight number when the booking was made, but did so when the flight was delayed.

[Maydup]

Its seems unfair and must have been really disappointing and stressful on holiday, but having been offered £100 i would probably accept it now.

[naomi24]

If you've paid you must have a copy of an agreement. What does that say?

[hc4361]

Who did you book the car from? Direct from the car hire company or did you use a travel agent or as part of a package?

[Prudie]

Was going to say the same as Naomi, if you booked through a broker you must have received documnts and T&Cs - and even if on time your pick-up was 30 minutes before the office closed I'm surprised there wasn't a clause about late arrivals as that was always going to be a possibility. Did you book through a proper broker with a 'proper' company? Personally, having hired cars abroad quite a lot I've always had to provide flight details as part of the booking.

[vulcan42]

" I read it as the OP hadn't given a flight number when the booking was made, but did so when the flight was delayed."
Yes that sounds like a logical explanation but having been told the booking number when the flight was delayed the car hire company had the information they required. Sounds to me like an inadequate excuse not to pay up.

[bednobs]

how come the second hire car was so much more expensive for a shorter time?
not sure about the legalities of a refund (your contract will have that covered) but you are on a hiding to nothing with the extra hire

[bednobs]

alo, look at your travel insurance - it probbaly covers delays

[davebro]

I don't think you will get much joy on your own. Seems like one of those cases that sudden'y gets resolved if you write to the money problems page of a national newspaper.

[minnie76]

initially i did not realise they needed my flight number. On contacting the office to advise that we would be delayed i gave them the flight number and they agreed to a later pick up.

i guess the more pricy car hire was because it was summer holidays and i needed it there and then.

It was through a broker and not a main stream car hire company

Lessons learnt - 1. always give flight number but i believe the office still would have been shut and for whatever the office was closed on the sunday so we probably would have been in the same situation
2. Use a reputable car hire and not the cheapest

thanks for all your responses

[hc4361]

You should be asking your broker to sort out the refund. If the broker booked it for you they should have made sure they had all the details including flight number.