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Car/van hire warning


Chancer

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I hired a Fougon today from intermarche and they used my credit card for the caution, I was a bit concerned as when I typed in my number it showed a debit of €1038, they assured me that it was just an authorisation and they would only debit the rental when I returned it, unless there was any damage.

They used the card a second time at the end and gave me the slip showing "montant estimé €1038.60" and "montant debité €41.83, all OK so far............

I just checked my nationwide account which shows a balance of around £600 or so which is correct but an available balance of -£350 or so, if I didnt have an overdraft facility (which has never been used before now) then I probably would not have been able to refuel it for the return.

And as for the paperasse! 19 pages were either printed or photocopied to make up their and my dossiers, I now have copies of my passport, driving license and utility bills in my dossier. I had to sign and write 8 times "lu et approuvé" together with initialling all of the other pages of contarct terms, I also had to sign the carte bancaire printout both times after having keyed in my PIN and there were another couple of signatures needed on return.

Its a pity the gratte papiers dont take the same car with the vehicles, when I started to drive there was a brake warning bing bong, I thought initially it was the handbake not disengaged or the switch broken but it was the fluid reservoir, not that they would believe me though even when I showed them "dont worry it always does that, it may stop after a few miles", I ended up taking some fluid from the rayon and walking through la caisse like a shoplifter against a background of them insisting that I should either pay for it or wait for a "bon de la caisse".

 

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They only allow a cheque as a deposit from a company, refusal or not of of the van was my decision; under the circumstances was not an option and is not really the issue here.

I am still showing a balance of £675with an available balance of -£350 after returning the van undamaged, that is the issue, hence the title.

I was rather hoping that someone who knew the debit card authorisation and clearing system could advise whether this is an oddity of the system before I go back to inter, in any case I will not know for sure until either the money is debited which usually takes several days or the available balance is returned to positive , in the meantime I am unable to buy food, fuel, materials etc.

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Its known as pre-authorisation.

The car hire company puts through a special transaction which reserves part of your credit limit in case you do a runner or damage the vehicle.

After a set period the charge automatically expires, and never actually shows on your account. The period is usually 14 days.

The nuisance is that during this period, if you have reached your limit,your card will probably be refused. In addition if you do exceed your agreed ceiling then you are likely to be charged a one-off fee. In the UK it used to be £25, but I think some companies have recently reduced the amount.

 

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Thanks BJSLIV.

I just spoke to the disputes team and we came to the same conclusion, the second visa receipt does in fact show "clôture pre autorisation" as well as the final debit of €42 although no reversal has been shown on the system, the lady advised me that if it hasnt been confirmed it will "drop off " in about 3 days, heres hoping.

I must learn to start using my credit card for situations like this and when I bought my Speedferry ticket, if I had used that then I would not have had my living funds blocked, this would be the message of warning that I want to warn others of.

Every cloud has a silver lining though, when I tried to make a claim dispute on Visa debit chargeback the call centre insisted that I couldnt and refused to put me through to the disputes team, this time I got through and was advised that there is no problem at all with making the claim, they are doing many others for Speedferries customers.

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