Rental car ripoffs: Hidden camera investigation (Marketplace)

have you ever wanted it in camera before we're strapping on these cameras okay shirt this shirt these glasses very stylish this one's my favorite a hidden camera even inside this cup and going into this rental company by Canada's biggest airport economy rent-a-car hey folks at marketplace we hear from many of you about rental car companies but about this particular location we're getting especially concerning complaints from viewers like Ryan Jones this business must not be allowed to continue their practice of misleading overcharging and flat-out bullying their customers into paying them more than they deserve misleading practices that's serious time to book some cars and find out go and yeah like many of our viewers we booked from this economy rent-a-car location through Expedia and we're going to kick it up from the airport and we're about to reveal how not to get ripped off by any car rental company it's telling us we have unlimited mileage that's right says it here here and even here click on the mileage tab and this pops up drive unlimited distance with this car at no extra cost right next do we want to add collision damage plan no I have insurance so we're good we've got auto insurance so we decline theirs thank you okay xxx advertised price tag with taxes and fees 136 dollars it's one of the cheapest we find we're good to go get to cup and we get these viewers to book more so I'm going to be rescue vehicle from economy through Expedia for a total of three pickups all on the same day with economy rent-a-car again and I'm really nervous about this because it was not a good experience last time it's time fed up with their rental car ripoffs these two Ryan's are ready to fight back how are you feeling a little nervous why are you nervous because I don't like being treated clearly and I think it's gonna happen again if it does it's all going to be on camera and don't be nervous Jeremy's right here to help you I got you you got me I got you all right let's go team one Ryan and marketplace producer Jeremy so I can see myself pretty clearly if that looks good same team to Ryan and producer Katelyn ready to go see you guys in a bit [Music] Bryan sills is drawn in by the promise of a great deal with unlimited kilometers I rented it for brother's bachelor party we were going down to Washington don't ask don't ask why we're going there for a bachelor party one of the reasons why you booked with economy was for the unlimited kilometers did you get them I did not get them in numerous sections online it said unlimited kilometers so when I went in to rent it that's when he pointed out to me you will only get 200 corners a day what did you think about that I thought it was incredibly deceptive and Ryan Jones took a real hit when it came to extra fees when I got there the quote was completely off they had an additional fee required for insurance which added something like $80 around that to the rental price $80 more that's a big jump there's got to be rules around price hikes turns out there are the Competition Bureau clamps down on car rental companies for false and misleading advertising starting in 2016 avis and budget 2017 Hertz 2018 Enterprise the big companies pay big fines for charging extra fees not included in their advertised prices but what about the smaller players such as economy rent-a-car what's happening inside this location [Music] wait what we booked unlimited seems like this rep doesn't have an answer for us wow that's not on the minute kilometers that's called 200 kilometres a day money grab meet the National Director of the Auto Protection Agency Georgina we show them what's happening at this economy rent-a-car well if you came from Mars and we're renting the car to travel you would have unlimited Columbus that's what I understood back on hidden camera our team pushes back but the rep says it's not their fault why doesn't it see mileage under the mileage is actually you have to give them we're gonna toss the video these are your rules and regulations and restrictions so do what so who's to blame here economy are Expedia if you don't find it on the Expedia website on what you book then there is a problem and Expedia is involved as well as a rental company it's not just this economy it's an issue for some other small rental companies too when we contact Expedia they thanked us for alerting them and say they will review how they display mileage so no unlimited kilometers for any of us up next we're talking insurance which insurance do you wanna be a couple college are doing basically pool coverage it's an upsell they've asked you a question that suggests one of two outcomes when there's really a third and the third option is I have coverage that's right you might already be covered many premium travel cards come with damage protection if you don't have a critical coverage to be $42 whoa 1195 sounds a lot better than $42 but its daily and adds up quickly I have credit card insurance why am i paying the company 1195 a day for more insurance that's that's the question that they need to answer Insurance Bureau of Canada z-- Pete Carey George's says what's happening inside this economy location raises a lot of questions yes what does that cover so you damage anybody else well reputed hit any pedestrians so we cover them so if you want to use your personal choice there will be a surcharge of level 95% coverage each time a different explanation what do you make of that it's very confusing you don't know what in fact they're offering you maduro head-scratcher Pete tells us rental car companies must insure their own fleets and get this they can't actually sell liability coverage so with his own auto insurance well Ryan sills get a better deal so I supposed to charge you for the basic 42 I'll make attorney for you you know what the other Ryan was charged $12 why does this Ryan get charged even more he pushes back my own person sure you think I'll be useful during new cars but Ryan's pink slip isn't good enough and this manager takes it one step further he taps I have my own auto insurance yeah no I mean what do you need I need the action points if you don't have that with you it's a liquidation who even carries their policy around oh that's just it I'm an insurance and I don't carry my insurance policy with me I'd be very shocked and surprised that at the last minute this is what you're being told as a consumer it's concerning just as concerning that extra $12 fee keeps sneaking up on us and on hidden camera we happen to catch it happening again a real hit for not bringing something unclear and buried in the terms of economy's website but now that we know we're determined to beat this hidden fee now it's our turn to pick up a car we've heard from the two Ryan's we know what to expect and we know that we don't need insurance so we're gonna push back let's see what happens a reservation and you're saying my insurance doesn't have it I may not go I'm not too sure yeah that was me at the counter knowing that I had the endorsement I dispute that my policy would apply in this case here so I would just challenge that and say no an endorsement 27 ensures your auto policy slides over to any car you drive including rentals our consumers being mislead here could be a training issue I don't know if it is someone who is unaware of the situation and perhaps you know or is that the regular business practice is this how this organization and treats every customer this economy location tells us they don't sell liability insurance and that staff misspoke why are we being made to feel like we have to get this extra coverage if they get your consent no matter how as long as you finally say yes under the pressure we turn the thumbscrews tight enough I speak fast enough I confuse you enough I make you feel like you're going to be stranded by the roadside with four flat tires and no one's going to ever help you then you might buy your coverage at that point it kind of works even if we don't need it even if you don't need it be sure say our experts by calling your insurance company before you pick up that rental we pick up all three cars just wait till you see them car expert Marc Winton inspects all of them front of the car is you know a place where this commonly a lot damaging and this one you can see here there is a lot of damage on the front plate of this car awful lot does it pass his test yeah big scuff mark on the bumper all the way down to the bottom this is substantial damage I'm surprised they actually rented a car really with damage on it like that if you got a car like this would you take it no absolutely not so we should have left this on the line oh yes mark does a full circle check outside and inside and the other thing of course start the cop and driving let's do it it says maintenance due soon is that a problem if you see maintenance due soon you know that's just anxiety provoking stuff mm-hmm they should not be running a car like this customers shouldn't have to deal with this economy says most of its vehicles are new and that light doesn't reset because at this location they do their own oil changes what are you looking for I'm looking for the ownership and insurance the car better have it just in case I need it good thing we checked it has a plate permit with a sticker that's expired so this ownership has a problem and there's no insurance slip whatsoever so that's a big issue he's right police tell us both the company and the driver if pulled over could get fined the two other cars we find another expired ownership and all are missing insurance papers economy tells us sometimes customers remove stuff and they will replace them and there was this oh and we have something here seems to be a petrified piece of fruit I'll just take that out mark shares tips for anyone who rents cars take pictures of the mileage gas you should report absolutely anything you find record and report all damages and scratches what you're doing now is probably a much more thorough inspection than what most consumers would do you know what really only takes 5-10 minutes we're on the outside of it and it's your choice want to spend five or ten minutes sir thousand dollars [Music] we rigged the cars can we take them for a drive [Music] brian takes a short trip on toll road 407 a few minutes shouldn't cost too much right we're in for a big shock this is your marketplace the team is back together today's the big day Car Rental returned a is it going to be smooth or will we be hit with sticker shock hi returning the card these are our taxes apiece so there's a charge for it sorry I'm sorry do you get a lot of complaints about this we anxiously wait at home base for our teams to return with their bills so what's your total here so it should have been no more than 150 dollars 12 yeah so it's way more than I expected I feel they're very sneaky there they trick you into renting at one place and then when you're actually charged it's a completely different price you took the car back we did how'd it go so a $130 quoted rental turned into 230 that's a big jump the additional driver fee of $40 we expected some others were listed too but what are these fees for we have an energy recovery fee for total of $8 an MTF CP of seven and seven dollars and eighty cents a VL 8 CR fee which was $24 that was a big one so here the vehicle licensing fee is $6 a day but other big companies are charging $2 so the other big companies are doing a money grab they are as well right and these guys are beyond the money rub George tells us that most of these fees just go right back to rental companies remember those few minutes Ryan spent on the toll road just the administer rental company what would you say to the company be more front be more upfront with everything extra charges for mileage and insurance drive up the final price for all three cars so our team of testers found they were paying 30 even 70% more for these cars versus what they were quoted online so that's consistent with what the Competition Bureau found in its investigations and that resulted in multi-million dollar fine the companies so I would hope that the bureau watches yourself and realize that they have to dust off their old investigation and maybe get to work again the Competition Bureau tells us hidden costs are a real problem and they encourage anyone who feels misled to file a complaint this couple says consumers need greater protection can't wait for a trip at least we won't have to be renting a car when we go away Joann wind and J su Canon our marketplace fans their email triggers our investigation how are you feeling when you first booked with this company we were feeling like we got the best price and I was pretty excited about that but that excitement quickly fades when we returned the vehicle he said oh there's a problem with your vehicle and then he brought us outside and showed us the damage that he was trying to pin on us which was there when we originally rented do you think that there's any chance that you may have caused the damage while driving absolutely 100% not at all I think the worst part he said we have to pay what was a thousand dollars it was a thousand dollars and it was like for held hostage at that point what did you think when he said that that we're getting scammed yeah we're getting scammed here there's no doubt about it both Ryan's share similar stories they say the first time they rented from this location they were charged for damages they didn't cause economy insists the cars were returned damaged and denies overcharging any of them do consumers need more protection when it comes to renting vehicles someone needs to help consumers like us we're honest people we just want to rent a car go with our families on the trip and not go through this type of headache don't worry yeah and they're not alone over 1300 Google reviews for this particular location almost all negative this economy location says some of the bad reviews are fake but we verify these ones how can you have so many complaints about the same company and they go back years Joanne J Ryan Jones Brian sills all rented from this economy all say ripped off now they're looking for some accountability some answers rental car ripoffs on your marketplace we want answers from this economy rent-a-car location misleading claims misleading fees all caught on our hidden-camera investigation we've been asking for weeks for an on-camera interview but they declined so we're going to ask in person let's go in Aarthi hi there I'm mocked up from CBC's marketplace we're really hoping to talk to you about the story we're doing as you know we've reached out to you a few times Aarthi sued the owner agrees to speak with us in her office we get to come in and I understand that but we have given your customers an opportunity to tell their story on camera we want to give you that same opportunity but I told you that I was not comfortable are you saying I've sent you several notes and one is thank you yesterday as well exclaiming on an every point that you guys had faced we understand that but the complaints that we are hearing from your customers they say they feel like they're being ripped off are you gonna take any responsibility for being up front with the prices the are up front that's where the policies are out there customers that have reached out to you haven't read the policy it's not just your customers that we're hearing this from we have it on hidden camera its standard industry fee some companies charge something we do charge other companies do charge these extra fees and this locations are some of the highest are you willing to make any changes based on the information that we've given you on you're not gonna change any C's are online on that note we post online - next time you need a rental check out our tips on cbc.ca slash marketplace you

Channel: CBC News

Views: 4,445,027

Rating: 4.7092237 out of 5

Keywords: Car rental, rental car, Economy Rent-a-Car, consumer, vehicle, Mark Whinton, car insurance, Competition Bureau, hidden camera, travel, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Pearson International Airport, CBC, CBC News, CBC Marketplace

Id: xctScalMkYs

Length: 21min 3sec (1263 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 31 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/vtstang66]

I just got back from a week-long car rental experience (Budget, at O'Hare). The lady at the counter told us that there's a flat daily/weekly toll charge that activates once you go through the first toll. We thought that was pretty ridiculous so we didn't go through any but they still charged it. 11.11% "concession recovery fee," $8/day "cust fac charge," some other little fees, $59.95 for the toll scam, and 21% tax took a $289 subtotal up to $536. I didn't fight it personally because I wasn't paying enough attention at the time and it was a business trip. I did pass my concerns up the chain along with the receipt.

I just spent a little time researching this, it seems that the facility fees, concession fees, and some others are standard costs of doing business that the companies regularly pass over to customers rather than just building them into their model. Seems like that's more of a thing these days than it used to be. /getoffmylawn