The holiday car hire firm ‘stealing £1,000s from Brits with bullying tactics' as horrified tourists ‘assaulted' by staff

The Sun

a day ago

CUT-PRICE car rentals might be hard to resist but some bargain bucket deals are allegedly taking tourists for a ride.
Angry British holidaymakers reeled in by prices as low as £7 accuse Croatian-based Carwiz of bullying sales tactics, fabricating damage, verbal abuse and even assault.
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Online reviews of the firm's franchises seen by The Sun allege staff have forged documents, up-sold unnecessary insurance, and taken unauthorised payments from credit cards.
Meanwhile 36-year-old Londoner Simone Baron caught a Carwiz rep on camera as he appeared to manhandle her from the counter, before telling her sister Nicole: 'F*** off.'
Simone, who works for a tech firm, told The Sun: 'I know there are reputable companies out there, but clearly I went for one that isn't.
'The stress I felt in that Carwiz office and for days afterwards was off the scale.
'I won't be renting a car from them or anyone else ever again.'
Carwiz operates in 450 locations worldwide, with franchises across Europe, Asia and as far away as Miami.
The firm's latest franchise opened last month at London Heathrow, and the company claims to offer a "premium service, affordability, and a little bit of magic".
But customers we spoke to branded Carwiz's franchises a racket.
Simone claimed she was stunned when Nicole found a £7.68 deal on travel site Booking.com with a hire firm operating a Carwiz franchise in Bucharest.
The sisters jetted to the Romanian capital for a four-day spa break in late May with Nicole's daughters, aged two and three.
Avoid being ripped off by car hire companies with these four top tips
Simone said: 'A guy wearing the purple Carwiz top picked us up at the airport and took us to their office nearby.
'For the next two hours he tried to sell me damage waiver insurance at a cost of €200 (£173). I didn't need it as I was already covered, but he wouldn't take no for an answer.
'We'd been up since 2am, the kids were tired and hungry, and I was on the verge of just walking away and getting a taxi when he finally gave in and let us take our car.
'But before we drove to our hotel, I spent 15 minutes taking videos of all the existing damage.
"I was obsessed with documenting every scratch and blemish I could find. I covered everything.'
'Joke'
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Simone explained they drove for just 15 minutes a day from their accommodation to a luxury thermal spa complex on the outskirts of Bucharest.
Their car was parked in the hotel's gated compound at night.
'I felt smug when we dropped it back because I knew I was returning it in the exact same condition,' Simone added.
'The guy started pointing out blemishes, but I had video proof for them all.
'Then he went straight to the front left bumper and said he'd found a scratch underneath the car.
'I burst out laughing because I honestly thought it was a joke, but then he said it was going to cost €400 (£350) to repair, and we'd have to sign some paperwork if we wanted our deposit back.
'He wouldn't give us the damage report to read, so I refused to sign and told him I wasn't responsible.
'When I reached over the counter to take my credit card back, he barged me out of the way and grabbed my arms.
'Nicole told him it was disgusting that he'd put his hands on me, but he just snapped back, 'F*** off'.
"I was so angry, it was unlike anything I've ever encountered in all my years travelling.
'Even the kids were upset. For days afterwards, my two-year-old niece kept asking, 'What happened to you, Aunty? What did the naughty man do?'
'As far as I'm concerned, it was assault."
Simone's deposit was returned in the following days, but on Friday June 6 the rental firm - trading as Premium Drax - took a payment of £359.71 from her Tesco credit card.
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The cash was eventually refunded after she complained to Tesco Bank.
'I didn't admit to the damage and certainly didn't authorise the payment,' she said.
'I did get my money back, but I'll never know if it was taken from the rental firm or covered by my bank.
'I can't stand to think of this company profiting. They'll just keep doing it.'
'Scamming operation'
Byron Hayes, 46, who works in finance, claimed he had a similar experience at a Carwiz franchise in Warsaw, Poland, after booking through Ryanair's website.
The office was unmanned when he dropped off the car - and he said he woke the next morning to a €626.87 (£541) repair bill sent by email.
'It was for a tiny dent on the bonnet,' said Byron, from Dublin.
'I know for certain it wasn't there when I returned the car.
'They sent me a photo of the damage, but it didn't include the registration of the car, so there was no way I could validate that it was even the vehicle I'd rented.
'After several back and forth emails they eventually sent me a picture of the car with the registration I had rented - but it had no damage on it.
'They said this was a picture taken before we'd rented the car and that they had already sent us pictures showing the damage.
'I told them I wasn't happy with what they were providing and again asked for the correct documents. Then they went quiet on me and unblocked the deposit they'd taken on my credit card.
I rent cars several times a year and I'm not the kind of person to duck out of responsibility. I have no problem with paying for damage I've caused, and have done so in the past. In this case I was completely blameless
Byron Hayes
'I assumed the matter was closed, but three weeks later on the final 30-business day time limit for a merchant to charge your card, at five minutes to midnight, I had an email saying my card had been charged €626.87, plus a €10 (£8.64) currency exchange fee."
Byron was able to recover the lost cash by claiming on insurance.
He is now collecting customers' experiences of Carwiz to submit a joint complaint to the European Consumer Commission.
He added: 'I rent cars several times a year and I'm not the kind of person to duck out of responsibility. I have no problem with paying for damage I've caused, and have done so in the past.
'In this case I was completely blameless. I thought perhaps it was just an issue with this one office and I'd been unlucky, but when I looked at the reviews for Carwiz it seemed to be happening all over Europe.
"'They should be investigated."
'We didn't even use the car'
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Council enforcement officer Tim Hunt, 51, and fiance Rachel Sim, 44, from Barry, South Wales, also picked up a rental from an office operating Carwiz's Bucharest franchise on April 14 this year.
They ended up leaving the white Mercedes in their hotel car park for the entirety of their four-day trip - but were still charged over £1,100 for marks on the paintwork Tim says were already there.
'Taxis were so cheap in Romania, we didn't even use the car!' Tim said.
When Rachel challenged the rep, he twice barked at her to "Get the the f*** out" of the office, which she recorded on camera.
Tim alleged Rachel was also kicked in the shin.
His card was charged £1,109 on April 22 after his return to the UK, and he was forced to claim on damage waiver insurance to recover the cash.
'It's almost like admitting you've done something wrong,' Tim said. 'And they're still getting the money. I was fuming!'
He left angry reviews of Carwiz on LinkedIn and was subsequently messaged by the company's CEO, Krešimir Dobrilović, who threatened to sue him.
Tim said: 'I told him to crack on. In the meantime, I've been in touch with Booking.com to request they stop using Carwiz.'
Tripadvisor reviews reveal other holidaymakers claiming to have almost identical experiences at Carwiz franchises in numerous locations, including Athens, Sicily, and Gdansk.
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It's the same story on Trustpilot, where Carwiz has racked up almost 200 1-star reviews. Tourists complain of being stung in Croatia, Katowice and Crete.
A recent survey by consumer advice experts Which revealed a shocking 42 per cent of car renters have been hit by bogus damage claims.
They said the issue is 'well known' in the industry and advised taking full damage waiver insurance, inspecting the car inside and out and taking photos.
Any damage report should also be photographed, they say.
They also suggest demanding evidence of the damage and how repairs are calculated before escalating your complaint.
The European Car Rental Conciliation Service can help resolve cross-border disputes.
However, only participating companies are bound by the scheme and they tend to be bigger players such as Avis, Enterprise and Hertz.
IT'S easy for rip-off car hire merchants to try to ruin your holiday.
They can charge you a fortune to repair scratches and bumps, extortionate re-fuelling costs and ridiculous fees for insurance with their bullying tactics.
But there are four easy ways to avoid being duped and your dream getaway becoming a holiday from hell.
The Sun's Travel Editor Lisa Minot, reporting from Camp du Domaine, in Southern France, shares her top tips that will save you a fortune.
Reputable hire companies
If the price seems too good to be true, it is too good to be true.
When you look at these rip-off merchants that we're seeing increasingly, people have used them because the price was so cheap.
Look for reliable, established brands. Go for one of the big brands; it may cost you a little bit more, but in the long run it will work out much better.
Insurance rip-off
Next, look at exactly what you get included in the price.
I never take the excess car insurance from the car hire provider. I always book my own. I've got an annual policy. It's much cheaper.
You can buy excess car hire polices in the UK; they are effectively like travel insurance but they protect your car.
Should you have an accident, it protects the no claims bonus, and they are very good value.
They are accepted by every reputable car hire company; if they try to convince you that you can't use it and you have to buy theirs, that is wrong.
There are some very high pressure selling techniques around at the moment, trying to up-sell you various different things. You have to be strong.
You don't need to take a policy out, you've taken an excess care hire policy out in the UK.
You could also get yourself an annual, or even a two-week excess waiver policy from a specific company in the UK, too.
Document dents
The one thing you must do when they hand over the keys to the car is make sure that you take as much video and photographic evidence as possible before you leave.
Very often they will give you a form where you're meant to mark little crosses where you see dents, scratches and other problems.
But do take photos and videos yourself; it's much more important because it's timestamped and means you have incontrovertible evidence to counter any claims, should they come about.
It's really important, if you do see any damage on the car when you pick it up, to make sure you have alerted the hire company.
You could say to them: "Look, I've noted this damage. Here's my photo of it. I'm going to be returning it with the same damage on the car, because this was here before I hired the car.'
Fill up yourself
The fuelling policy that your car hire comes with is really important, too. Make sure you choose to refuel yourself and a 'full to full' option.
Don't leave it up to the car company to refuel your car at the end of your trip, because that means they are deciding what the price is.
It gives you the opportunity to find a cheaper petrol station. Make sure you fill the car up - if you're having to drive five or 10 miles to get back to the care hire company, that's acceptable.
We're seeing exactly the same with electric cars now. It's really important that you're in control of where you are recharging because the prices can vary drastically.
Book smart
Another top tip is make sure you book your hire car with a credit card, because it will give you much more protection than a debit card.
But also it means the company will take your deposit, which they hold, from your credit card rather than out your spending money.
A spokesperson for Carwiz told The Sun: "At CARWIZ, we categorically distance ourselves from any suggestion that unethical or
aggressive practices are in any way part of our business model.
"These are isolated incidents that in no way reflect the values, standards, or expectations that we support as a global brand.
"We sincerely regret that the potentially injured client did not contact us immediately after the unfortunate event, in order to immediately determine all the circumstances, because it is our goal to prevent all such and possible future unpleasant situations.
"Our franchise partner in Bucharest is operating another rental brand alongside CARWIZ from the same physical location. In several cases, vehicles and services appear to have been issued under a different brand identity, while still being processed within a CARWIZ-branded environment, including signage, uniforms, and physical premises.
We fully understand how, from the customer's point of view, this leads to the perception that the service is being provided directly by CARWIZ. When staff in CARWIZ uniforms hand over a vehicle from a CARWIZ-branded office, the distinction between brands is understandably blurred, even if the booking, payment, and contract technically fall under a separate company or brand entity.
"We are currently conducting a formal internal review and will take the necessary measures to eliminate all forms of dual-branding at CARWIZ locations in the future.
"At CARWIZ International, we continuously monitor, audit, and improve our global network to uphold the standards our brand represents. We are committed to ensuring that every customer feels respected, safe, and well-served."