I came across an interesting article online. Customer rented a car at San Diego Airport in the US. He travels a lot and has rented many cars but this situation was really shocking at this time. Why? Let me share his story:
He picked up his rental car at the aiport and the car hire agent at the rental desk advised him to upgrade his rental car for a bigger one. It was a Thanksgiving weekend upgrade. The customer said no to this offer because he didn’t want to end up paying more and he didn’t need a bigger vehicle. The car hire agent was quite shocked when he refused this offer but accepted it. He got a Nissan Versa which was completely fine for him.
The story hasn’t ended here, has it? He returned the rental car and finally got his credit card statement and was quite shocked. The unwanted upgrade fee £26 has been added to the car hire price. He immediately contacted the car hire firm’s customer service which seemed to be very helpful and they sent him the copy of the original contract. It showed that the customer accepted the upgrade because his initials was beside the upgrade box on the car hire contract.
It’s a very interesting story and what did the car hire firm’s spokeswoman say:
Our advice is always to carefully read through all the terms and conditions of the contractual agreement before signing.
What did the customer actually think about this weird scenario:
Imagine the following sequence of events: agent asks customer if they want an upgrade or extra insurance; customer declines; agent keys in the code for an upgrade anyway then prints out contract for customer to sign, circling places to initial; customer, in the mistaken belief that they have declined everything, initials without reading the details. Such a scenario promises the prospect of extra commission with no downside: even if customer spots the unwanted upgrade, the agent can explain it away as a mistake and correct it.
What’s the advice: Study every line of the car hire contract, it’s worth it.
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/travel/travel-tips/fine-print-of-hire-upgrades-1.1275315
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