Although the internet has made it easy to rent cars, you have to be very careful when dealing with other people online. A lot of unsuspecting people have been scammed of their hard-earned money due to the activities of fraudulent car rental companies.
One of the easiest ways to avoid scams is by reading reviews. You will get to hear from people who have been scammed by a car rental company and you will know to avoid such companies. Hence, you should always read reviews about any car rental company such as RentalCars that you want to use by first reading about them on Suomiarvostelut to see the experience of other people who have used their services in Finland. Here are some common scams to watch out for:
Overdue rental fee
A lot of people don’t read the fine print that comes with renting cars well. In most cases, car rental companies slam unsuspecting people with hefty fees under the guise of failure to return the car at the expected time, when the expected time was never mentioned in the first place. As such, you should ask when you are meant to return the car before you drive it off. If the hours granted and the fee asked are okay with you, then you can finalize the deal of renting the car.
Insurance fee scam
Fraudulent insurance companies u ethically force their customers into buying pricey insurance, items for the rented car, when the victims are already covered by their credit cards in the first place. It is important to do your research and not swallow everything the car rental company tells you hook, line and sinker if you don’t want to pay heavy insurance fees upfront.
GPS scam
Some cars don’t have a working GPS but fraudulent car rental companies will keep quiet about this and not let the customers know. Except you are prepared to use your mobile data to check your routes, you can request for the rental company to give you a car with a working GPS and check if they do.
The cleaning fees scam
Another money-making venture for rental companies is to slam their customers with a heavy cleaning fee. As such, they end up poorer than they were as the cleaning fee asked for is huge. To be on the safe side, ensure you take pictures of the car before you used it and after you used it to prove that you didn’t use it roughly. Also, clean every form of dirt before you return the car if it gets dirty in your care.
Damage scam
Before you drive the car away, ensure you carefully inspect every part of the car for damage of any form. Don’t overlook any damage, no matter how slight it is as it could be used to extort money from you when you return the car. Call the attention of the company’s representative to anything you notice to be amiss. Use your smartphone to do a video walk around the vehicle, in case the company wants to act funny.
Cheap rate scam
Even though you should look for the best rates possible, you shouldn’t trust any company that offers cheaper rates until you have confirmed that their rates are transparent. Some rental companies offer cheap rates but have huge hidden costs which are not revealed to the car user until the car is returned. Don’t fall into the scam of such countries.