Board logo

Cancellation and No refund.
ash_hammond - 27/10/16 at 07:43 AM

Hi guys.

At the start of the month a hired a van from the local independent van hire company for a 1 day rental at £115. I paid for the van in full at the time of booking. I was verbally or in written form never told of any TnC of the rental or sent a recipt of the transaction.

Two days before I was due to collect the van, the deal for what I was purchasing fell through. I called the van hire people to cancel and arrange a refund. I was first told that I would be called back (seigh). On my second call I was told we don't do refunds at short notice. As before I was never made aware of this when booking.

I'm more annoyed at the shabby customer service than the £115. Do they have the right to enforce his policy with out prior notice? I paid on a debit card so I cannot follow the credit card route.

My thoughts are a well worded recorded delivery letter stating the position and that I'm will to take this to thr small claims court.

What is my legal position here as the consumer?

liam.mccaffrey - 27/10/16 at 08:17 AM

I know that enterprise have a cancellation policy £25 I think, but then I was aware of that when I booked and also when I cancelled. Not much help I'm sorry but I wish you all the best in recovering you money.

ash_hammond - 27/10/16 at 08:30 AM

quote:
Originally posted by liam.mccaffrey
I know that enterprise have a cancellation policy £25 I think, but then I was aware of that when I booked and also when I cancelled. Not much help I'm sorry but I wish you all the best in recovering you money.


I would be totally alight with that, they are being upfront and honest. These guys are now trying "undocumented" policies.

pekwah1 - 27/10/16 at 09:10 AM

i guess the question will be how did you book?
If it was over the phone or in person and you were never told about the cancellation policy, then you'd have good grounds to argue.
Although will be worth checking paperwork if you signed anything.

If you booked online, is there anything on the website to that effect?

Again if they haven't been upfront about this, i think you have every right to argue it.

Just speak to the boss and give him a hard time and see what happens, after that can threaten trading standards i guess.

cliftyhanger - 27/10/16 at 09:27 AM

You need to get a copy of their T+C's.
If they state no refunds, or no refunds within 48hrs of booking date etc you are stuffed.
If they make a cancellation fee, that would seem fair (after all, itmay be they turned another booking away)

But the devil is in the detail here. And makes the point it is worth checking stuff like this before parting with any money. Just think how often we (I) tick the box saying I have read the T+C's on website, but have never read right through any.

CosKev3 - 27/10/16 at 09:27 AM

As above if it was over the phone booking you should have a case I would say,but if you booked in there office could there be a poster up with T&C's which you didn't notice?

ash_hammond - 27/10/16 at 11:05 AM

I booked the van over the phone. The initial phone call was to check price and availability. The price was right and the van was available so I booked it there and then over the phone. I have not signed any paper work, they have not even sent me an invoice or the credit card machine recipe.

benchmark51 - 27/10/16 at 11:32 AM

I knew someone that had a grievance with a trader who wouldn't play fair. He put the details on a placard on his car and parked outside their premises. Took a few hours, but they backed down and paid him what he was owed.

PAUL FISHER - 27/10/16 at 04:37 PM

Most debit cards are covered now the same way as credit cards, so that could be your best option.

jacko - 27/10/16 at 04:59 PM

Watch the outcome on Judge Rinder
Sorry i will get my coat
jacko

owelly - 27/10/16 at 08:27 PM

I hired a MPV at the weekend from Enterprise. The car they tried to give me wasn't what I'd booked on the t'web. (Zafira), it was what they considered to be an equivalent (Ford C-max). I challenged the rep to fit 7 adults in it and find space for three cases. The C-max is a 6+1 seater with no luggage space at all. Their only suggestion was an upgrade to a Connect Tourneo at an extra £50. It wasn't much bigger than the C-max but at least it had 7 proper seats. They also wanted a refundable £200 security deposit that wasn't mentioned in any of the correspondence (it's there sir, buried in the small print).
I Tweeted Enterprise about my grievance and they replied immediately. This was followed by a phone call from the local office manager from the place I'd hired the car. They refunded the extra I'd paid for the 'upgrade'. Which was a bonus as I hadn't actually paid any extra as it was going to come out of the £200 deposit which is now back in my bank......
In short, make a stink on Twitter and things happen.

[Edited on 27/10/16 by owelly]

coyoteboy - 27/10/16 at 08:53 PM

Their policy is worth the paper it is written on (and given to you)

coyoteboy - 27/10/16 at 08:53 PM

Their policy is worth the paper it is written on (and given to you)

gregs - 28/10/16 at 07:17 AM

quote:
Originally posted by ash_hammond
I booked the van over the phone. The initial phone call was to check price and availability. The price was right and the van was available so I booked it there and then over the phone. I have not signed any paper work, they have not even sent me an invoice or the credit card machine recipe.


There's your answer then..... you have no contract with them, you have a contract with your C/C company and they have one with the hire company. Get your C/C company to deal with it - explain what has happened and it should get sorted.

Greg

joneh - 28/10/16 at 02:23 PM

quote:
Originally posted by gregs
quote:
Originally posted by ash_hammond
I booked the van over the phone. The initial phone call was to check price and availability. The price was right and the van was available so I booked it there and then over the phone. I have not signed any paper work, they have not even sent me an invoice or the credit card machine recipe.


There's your answer then..... you have no contract with them, you have a contract with your C/C company and they have one with the hire company. Get your C/C company to deal with it - explain what has happened and it should get sorted.

Greg


The OP mentioned he used Debit card, not credit.

ash_hammond - 28/10/16 at 02:34 PM

quote:
Originally posted by joneh
quote:
Originally posted by gregs
quote:
Originally posted by ash_hammond
I booked the van over the phone. The initial phone call was to check price and availability. The price was right and the van was available so I booked it there and then over the phone. I have not signed any paper work, they have not even sent me an invoice or the credit card machine recipe.


There's your answer then..... you have no contract with them, you have a contract with your C/C company and they have one with the hire company. Get your C/C company to deal with it - explain what has happened and it should get sorted.

Greg


The OP mentioned he used Debit card, not credit.


I paid for it on by debit card and from what I understand section 75 of the credit card goes not apply. Instead you need to do something called charge back. I'm going to phone the bank and see where I stand on this. The next step is I'm going to send a letter request a refund stating no TnC were agreed and or signed quoting some legislation I have found. If they do refund the money at this point, I will take the matter further via the bank or the small claims court as a point of principal.

Toprivetguns - 28/10/16 at 04:41 PM

Remember this scene from days of Thunder?

https://youtu.be/0YGn3ZyyejE

[Edited on 28/10/16 by Toprivetguns]

gregs - 28/10/16 at 09:21 PM

quote:
Originally posted by joneh
quote:
Originally posted by gregs
quote:
Originally posted by ash_hammond
I booked the van over the phone. The initial phone call was to check price and availability. The price was right and the van was available so I booked it there and then over the phone. I have not signed any paper work, they have not even sent me an invoice or the credit card machine recipe.


There's your answer then..... you have no contract with them, you have a contract with your C/C company and they have one with the hire company. Get your C/C company to deal with it - explain what has happened and it should get sorted.

Greg


The OP mentioned he used Debit card, not credit.


apols - my bad - best of luck getting it sorted.

nero1701 - 1/4/19 at 11:14 AM

Was there ever a resolution?

ash_hammond - 1/4/19 at 02:41 PM

I chalked it up to experience and moved on.

Why?

nero1701 - 1/4/19 at 03:44 PM

Remembered reading it at the time, then when I was searching for luggage for a kit car and it popped up .

Chris