I write to alert your readers to the extraordinary behaviour of the car hire firm Easirent’s Dublin airport branch. Having paid £48 for the three-day hire, I was talked into taking out extra insurance which would reduce the damage excess to zero – for which I paid £142.
The estate car I had booked was not available so we were upgraded to a seven-seater I was told was so new it was unlikely to have any damage on it. As soon as I returned the vehicle, the same agent immediately noted scuff marks to the wing mirror, but assured me that, as I had paid for the insurance, I would not be charged. Then came the bombshell – there was a €70, or £62, admin charge to process this supposedly “new damage”. I have complained to no avail, and have since found terrible reviews of this company.
GT, London
I have been writing about car hire firms for 15 years and thought I had seen every hidden charge in the book, but this admin fee is arguably the greediest yet.
The company says you would have been told about the admin fee when you bought its absurdly over-priced extra insurance (£142 for a three-day rental, really?) and signed the forms, and therefore it stands.
It claimed that the fee represents the costs of having repairs carried out, and that its competitors all do it, too. I asked for the evidence that your vehicle was repaired but none has been presented. Based on my conversation with the press person and what I have since read on review sites, I would not personally go anywhere near Easirent.
If you are thinking of hiring a car from this firm, I would strongly urge you to look at its T&Cs and its long list of extra fees and charges – and what previous customers say. If you have any sense you will take your business elsewhere.
I have a colleague who flies through Dublin frequently and says the mainstream companies are relatively good value, making it all the more pointless to use one of these off-airport supposedly low-cost providers.
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