The Consumer watchdogs in Spain and the UK have joined forces to call for an end to car hire companies ripping people off with the fuel charges.  The British Consumers Association and Spain’s organisation of Consumers and Users published their findings in the magazine Which? recently.

Their target are the car hire companies that operate a full-empty policy which forces customers to pay for a full tank of petrol on arrival but does not give an option of refund if you return the car with the fuel unused.  In many cases consumers have little chance of being able to use a full tank of petrol on their 1 or 2 week holiday.  It was estimated that somebody hiring a Fiat 500 would need to drive approximately 885 km to empty the tank, the equivalent of Alicante airport to Torrevieja and back 12 times!!!!

They say that many tourists are getting a raw deal with car hire in Spain, because the current car fuel policies mean that holiday makers are being hit with additional non-refundable charges for fuel which are not always made clear at the time of booking.  Almost three quarters of those surveyed said that they were forced to buy the fuel at a higher price than was being charged in local garages, while 60% said that the full-empty option was the only one available to them.  Overall a fifth of all car hire companies work with the full-empty scheme.

Spain is the second most popular car hire destination after the UK, and the Which? report acknowledges that a number of companies do operate the full-full policy, where the client has to return the car with a full tank as standard, therefore only paying for the fuel that is used.

The car hire companies are being called upon to be upfront about all extra charges, such as fuel and insurances, so that people are not forced to pay more money before they drive away from the airport and that they can actually compare deals before making a booking.  They  should be given the option of full-full or full-empty upon booking.  It has been suggested that consumers are only charged for the fuel that is used and that this is inline with local prices but to include an administration charge for the refuelling .

Moral of this story is to research the car hire company you use to find out all hidden costs !