My wife and I fly at least twice a year to Orlando, Florida. We always book a rental car and never have any problems.
But in April, when we went to pick it up at Dollar Car Rental, the agent refused to let us take the vehicle unless we paid an excess waiver of $738 (£581) for six weeks.
Even though I told him we have our own independent coverage and showed him the policy number, he wouldn’t accept it. Tired after two flights and 18 hours of travel, I felt I had no choice but to pay. She was furious. Afterwards I complained but to no avail. Can you help?
JA, East Lothian
What can you do if a car rental agent insists on charging you for additional insurance? Sally Hamilton explains
Sally Hamilton responds: Your story about the car rental counter problem made me groan. The hard sell to exhausted travelers is a menace that should stop but, unfortunately, is likely to continue as long as tourists rent cars.
For years, many travelers have been intimidated into believing they had to pay at the counter for something called a “collision damage super waiver.”
While car rental contracts come with a certain level of insurance, this additional policy is designed to cover the parts they do not include, primarily the excess collected on any claim, which typically ranges between £1,000 and £2,000.
It may also cover exclusions, such as the cost of a blown tire or windshield damage.
But it is not mandatory to remove it. Customers can decide to bear any financial impact themselves, if necessary, in terms of paying the excess or, as you did, purchasing a stand-alone policy, which is much cheaper.
For example, his iCarhireinsurance annual comprehensive policy cost him £133, four times cheaper than the Dollar policy which only covered the period of his trip.
If there is an incident where repair bills arise, the driver simply pays the rental company the agreed excess and then claims the costs from their policy.
Whether they self-insure or purchase a stand-alone plan, drivers will continue to have the excess value protected on their credit card by the rental company during the rental period, and will retain some or all of it if an attributable incident arises.
He was within his rights to reject the rental company’s high-pressure sales tactics, but he felt like he had no way out because the agent wouldn’t let him take the car. You and her wife are over 70 years old and you say that she suffers a lot from arthritis, so after the long flight you were both tired and she was in severe pain, so she wanted to reach her destination quickly.
He filed a complaint with Dollar upon his return from Orlando, but it went nowhere. She was hiding behind the fact that you had signed up for the additional coverage.
So I took charge and asked Dollar to investigate what had gone wrong and refund the money. Within two days, the rental company made a complete exchange and refunded the entire $738.
Dollar apologized directly to you “for any misunderstanding.” A spokesperson for Hertz, which owns Dollar, tells me: ‘Customer satisfaction is our top priority and we are sorry for this customer’s experience. While employees are trained to provide information about our value-added services, our vehicle protection plans are optional.
“We have apologized, issued a refund and will reinforce our policies with staff to ensure clear communication with customers.”
My daughter bought me a Dyson Airwrap hair dryer last November and it never worked. I have contacted Dyson on numerous occasions with no resolution to the issue. I’m very frustrated. She has promised to send a return label but it never arrives. Can you please help?
M.M., Glasgow
Sally Hamilton responds: He was delighted to receive such a generous gift from his daughter, but was deeply disappointed that the £479.99 hairdryer never worked properly.
You only used it three times, as it turned off after a couple of minutes, and each time you had to wait about 15 minutes for it to restart. They forced you to use your old hair dryer again. The Dyson Airwrap was clearly defective.
Under the Consumer Rights Act, purchases must be “of satisfactory quality, as described or fit for purpose” and if they are not, the buyer can request a refund, replacement or repair depending on the time that has elapsed. since it was purchased.
If a problem arises within 30 days of purchase, buyers can request a full refund. You didn’t realize the hair dryer had a problem until later because you didn’t open the gift (bought in November) until Christmas and didn’t start using it until a couple of weeks later.
The law allows customers six months to return defective products unless the retailer can prove that the item was not defective when purchased. An opportunity to repair or replace the product is allowed, but if that doesn’t work, the customer can request their money back.
You went out of your way to show Dyson that the hair dryer wasn’t working, even showing an agent via video call in March that it kept turning off and couldn’t be restarted. She told him she would arrange for him to be picked up, but no one came.
After contacting Dyson two more times before the end of March and assuring him a courier would pick him up, no one turned up.
In April, she called again and was promised a return label via email so she could send the hair dryer. He was given a 25 piece discount voucher to apologize, but the tag never arrived and more empty promises followed.
Anyone buying a hairdryer costing around £500 should expect a fully functioning device and first-class customer service.
I asked Dyson to fix things. I am pleased to say that this time his response was impeccable and within days he received a full refund. A spokesperson apologized and said: “We have been in contact with MM and have resolved the issue.”
SCAM WATCH
Households should be wary of scam emails claiming recipients have won a Bosch drilling kit, warns Action Fraud.
Fraudsters posing as the Screwfix hardware store write that recipients can claim the drilling kit for free.
But the links in the emails lead to a survey on a dodgy website that asks you to fill out your personal and financial information.
Action Fraud has received 616 scam reports in just two weeks.
Do not click on links in the email. Instead, forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk.
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