How car rental scams are thriving around the world (4 photos)

In the last two or three years, in many countries, car rental has turned into an unpleasant lottery for the traveler, in which you never know whether they will give you a car, and if they do, how much money you will get.





Further from the author’s words: It all started in my story in 2021 at the Basel airport in Switzerland, where I booked a car, but they didn’t give it to me. The employee explained that they only require a credit card, and I have a debit card. It was the Budget company. Strictly speaking, the rental voucher actually said credit card, but that’s how they usually write it, and despite this fact, I’ve been renting cars in a variety of countries for twenty years. I explained to them that you have a standard blocking (authorization) amount in case of accidents or fines - what difference does it make, a debit card or a credit card? But no explanations helped, that’s all. It’s good that I only pre-paid 10% of the rental price and didn’t lose that much.

The second unpleasant episode happened at Abu Dhabi airport in the Emirates, where I had rented cars a couple of times in previous years and had no problems. But suddenly they didn’t give me a car and said that a debit card was not suitable, I needed a credit card.

And I must say that in the Emirates I was in the company of friends who had a credit card. Therefore, after renewing the lease agreement for another person, we still received the car. The rental company authorized 400 euros in case of accidents or fines on my friend's credit card. Everything seemed standard, I went through a similar procedure many times with a debit card. When we returned the car safe and sound, the blocked amount was returned back.



But then, HALF A MONTH later, when we had all long forgotten about the trip, the rental company suddenly charged a strange amount of $60 to his credit card. My friend didn’t even notice right away until a week later they charged another 92 dollars, and a week later another 117. Then he got worried and started calling and writing to the rental company, saying, what’s going on? They replied that they had received fines for speeding in the Emirates. We demanded that they send us copies of the fines, but they did not send anything and stopped responding to emails. I had to forcefully return the withdrawn money through the “churnback” procedure, which was long and tedious.

Around 2022, I again had an unpleasant situation with a car rental. It was in Brussels, where I flew to a conference and it was convenient for me to take a car to go from there to The Hague and then to Strasbourg. But suddenly they told me that the debit card was not suitable. Just a year earlier, in the same place, in Brussels, I had a great time renting a car with a debit card and no problems. But this time they told me that they could, of course, accommodate me and still give me the car, but instead of 500 euros of deposit they would block 2800 (two thousand eight hundred!). Where is the logic, what kind of chaos? Folks, I didn’t even have that much money on my card. Of course, I refused, being left without a car.





Here's another story for you, not exactly about car rental, but still indirectly connected with the car. Last summer I was in California on human rights work and in the city of San Diego, friends gave me a gift and paid me for two nights in an excellent 5 star hotel. Nice hotel, wonderful views of the bay and ocean in the distance. Everything was wonderful, delight, nothing foreshadowed trouble. After some time, probably two months later, when I had already returned to Israel, friends from San Diego wrote to me: “Sash, did you come to us with a car and park it near the hotel? “The credit card was charged for $200 for parking.” No, I say, there was no car, I traveled by public transport.

What happened? By default, the hotel charges each guest a certain amount for paid parking, even if you do not have a car. They simply use the credit card you used to pay for your stay. If you actually don’t have a car, then you must inform them IN ADVANCE, or only then ask them to return the money. Well, what kind of rudeness? The money was eventually returned, but an unpleasant aftertaste remained.

So, such “tricks” are impossible with a debit card, but only with a credit card. After the coronavirus, there are a lot of similar scams in the world; everyone cheats, from luxury hotels to car rental companies.