Active Rent-A-Car: The history of how been scammed by a car rental company in Croatia

This is the history of how I was been fooled by Active Rent-A-Car while I was in Croatia.

I rented a car with Active Rent-A-Car through Auto Europe car rental services, from 5th till 16th of june of this year.

I took the car, an Opel Astra SW in the office of Active Rent-A-Car that is outside the Dubrovnik Airport. I signed the contract, the pick-up form where it shown the damages of the car and the attendant took a copy of my debit card as a charge for the insurance's franchise.

While I was travelling around Croatia, I turned in a narrow street and I scratched the left part of the front bumper. I took the pick-up form that I signed in the Active Rent-A-Car office to ensure that there was already a damage in that part of the bumper, thinking of how would Active Rent-A-Car considered that scratch.

Down here, a copy of the pick-up form, in the left part it shows x2 damages while picking-up, and x3 damages while returning:

At the return, once again in the Active Rent-A-Car's office outside the Dubrovnik airport, the attendant told me that I have to pay the whole price of the insurance's franchise, independently of the car's damages or the damage of any of the car's components, even if one component was already damaged. So that, if you make any damages to a rearview that was already damaged you have to pay for the whole damage, and that's the whole amount of the franchise: 650€. That's the way Active Rent-A-Car works.

Down here some photos that I took when I returned the car:

Considering that, and knowing that the flight will took off in two hours, I couldn't argue with the attendant. I tried to call to Auto Europe's customer service without succes.

At the return to Spain I checked that I had no debit card charge, but at the 14th of july, a month later, I get a charge of 658,36€ from Active Rent-A-Car (to be accurate 638,60€ plus 3% of charge for buying in a foreign country), so close to the limit of the insurance franchise.

Down here a detail of the debit card charge:

I called once again to Auto Europe, trying to claim but they told me they are sorry, but that is the way they work. Assuming the problem I told them to obtain the invoice of the car's repair, to make sure the amount is correct.

On 26th agoust, one month latter, Auto Europe sends me the invoice given by Active Rent-A-Car dated 22th agoust: they make you pay for a repair that you don't really know if it is made, with a value much higher than the real for the damage, with an invoice dated one month latter than the paid made, considering that the bumper was already damaged when took the car.

Down here the detail of the invoice (with notations in spanish thanks to the webadmin of

Croacia):

My experience cannot be worse, but not all of this is bad.

The Croatia tourism office offers me sending the reclamation direct to Croatia and the webadmin of Croacia helps me translating the invoice. An EU citizen cannot reclaim through the European Consumer Center because Croatia is not part of the EU, not till 2013.

Internet searching returns that we are not the firsts, nor the lasts, but thanks to the forum of

Croacia and its webadmin we have been aimed to the propper way of managing our problem.

Here you have our history so that when you look for a car rental company in Croatia you'll surely know that Active Rent-A-Car is not the one you want unless you want to end your trip like us.

Regards.

PD: I will update this post or post new ones if there are news about all of this.