I have just got my credit card bill in and can see that malagacar.com took their payment from us in pounds rather than euros without asking us. The agreement we signed was in euros - so they have obvioiusly skimmed a few more euros from us by giving us a bad rate. The rate for other things on my credit card was 1.25 so they should have charged us £132 but charged us £140. I am not happy.
Ask them for a refund, Jean, and your credit card company can take up the matter for you. You have signed for Euros so they have no leg to stand on, ask your CC company for immediate credit back on the account and they will sort it out is my advice.
On the wider topic of car hire, so many threads regarding various car hire options, it's a minefield of unhappy punters. The good local family companies charge more but you get guaranteed service and only pay what is expected. We must see posts like this every day on CDS forums from unhappy punters yet I've never seen compliants regarding the local guys.
Thankfully this is only £8 but annoying anyway.
With all the hassle involved in complaining I don't need it, I just pay for a good company and relax. I'm afraid niggles, complaints etc. go with the territory when tying down brokers and the big companies on price.
Anyway I hope you get compensation, Joan, I'd want the £8 + costs of persuing this, would suggest £25 compensation as a sorry for their mistake.
Good luck
Stoofer
Edited: 6:04 am, November 16, 2012Stoofer, I would like to be the kind of person that pursued £8 for the sake of fairness but I am afraid that life is too short. I will send the company an email and ask them for a refund (without really expecting one ) but that and warning other people on here is about as far as I am prepared to go.
And stop calling me Joan. xx
Interestingly enough - they over charged us for insurance and when they refunded that back - the rate mysteriously went back to the 1.25.
Sorry, Jenny, I mean Jean lol, more of a typo but I'm terrible typing anyway ;-)
Well, I'm afraid that's what some companies rely on, 1000's of £8's make a good pull. Informing your credit card is less hassle than sending a email IMO but it's your call. Thing is, are such things symptomatic of bigger service failures, that's always my concern, thin end of the wedge stuff.
Anyway, a good heads up, for fairness sake if you do email them please let us know if they refund.
All the best
Stoofer
Jean: How was the money paid, if you entered a pin number to pay on a devise, it will then ask you to accept the transaction is correct. Therefore you have agreed to be charged in pounds.
Have many time been asked to enter pin number and find the amount is either wrong or in pounds etc., once you say "Yes" becomes your problem.
Even when I put my euro card in ATM's, comes up asking if I want to convert to pounds, I can imagine some people, will say yes, certainly often when paying for car hire, they ask if I want to pay in pounds, quote always in euro's.
The exchange rate is set by your card issuer NOT Malaga Car. They wont have gained 1 extra cent from this transaction. If the cost (in€) was 100€ they would receive 100€ even if this had cost you £100. It looks to me like an error on your or their part, true. But I dont think its been done maliciously or in greed. (the greed comes from your card issuer/bank via commission and exchange rate applied)
If the bill is in euros - it should be paid in euros. It was my husbands credit card and they didn't ask for the pin.
I would agree with MT - it is the same as if you ask for cash from a cashpoint, it will ask you whether you wish to be charged in pounds or euros, select the wrong one and you'll be out of pocket.
It does seem as if it's your cc company and not the car hire company that's at fault, but as you say, life IS too short to be tied down with all the hassle over £8 !! Not even the price of a packet of cigs and a bacon butty :)
CB
From her comments it looks like Jean's account was debited with no pin and no choice, she'd already contracted to pay in Euros but the company did otherwise. But I agree this may not be deliberate or even profitable.
Unfortunately there are lots of car hire companies that do take substantial extra profits by stealth, drip- feeding small amounts in the hope customers do nothing as personally negligible. It's very tiresome.
Stoofer
... see my post in May!
