Pitfalls in The Car Rental Industry

The car rental industry is one that seems to be experiencing some difficulties of late, and some of the biggest names in the rental industry are getting a hard look, especially when it comes to their policies and procedures. Some of the issues have been raised by customer complaints while others have been raised due to internet rumors. One thing is for sure these issues are across the board and involve all the biggest names in the industry, making it difficult to distinguish which car rental agency is the right choice for your next rental.

In a recent article summarizing some of the issues in the industry, three of the biggest companies were named. These were Enterprise, Europcar, and Hertz Car Rental. And for starters one of the biggest issues that arose was the issue of car jacking. Apparently all three of these companies have a policy in place that states if you can't return the keys to the vehicle you rented then you are responsible to reimburse the company for the entire cost of the vehicle.

A little frightening when you think that you may have just been a victim of a crime in a foreign country and now you need to reimburse the company for the cost of the entire vehicle that was stolen from you. Unfortunately most of the companies don't really cover this issue in their rental agreements, however they are looking at it as if you have taken the vehicle or in some way created a situation by your own neglect of leaving the keys in the vehicle, by which the vehicle was taken.

Either way this is a very large issue if it occurs, so I guess you are supposed to take pictures with your video camera or camera phone to document the hijacking. If you don't it may seem like a scam and you will be liable. A little scary if you haven't picked up that extra insurance coverage.

Renting a vehicle is always a nice option to have available, but don't forget to ask them the hard questions in advance. You don't want to be stuck owning that car hire at the end of your trip, especially if someone else is driving around in it.