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One of the famous Osborne bulls alongside a Spanish highway.
Photo by Gerry Dawes©2010 / gerrydawes@aol.com.
Warning: Driving in Spain. Be very careful driving in Spain. There hidden cameras everywhere connected to radar. When you go over the speed limit, they catch your license plate on camera. On my trip with Michael Chiarello, we got hit with two 100 Euros fines, one as we were leaving the Basque Country and another around Albacete on our way to Madrid. Each of the fines was 100 Euros, but that is not all of it, Hertz charges 30 Euros to your credit card as a fee for the fine!!! But that is not all, there is also a 5.40 Euro VAT tax on the fee, so each fine was 100 Euros + 30 Euros + 5.40 Euros = 135.40 Euros or about $180 (with the exchange fees)! So the Spanish government fines you, then Hertz fines you. Oh, yeh, and there was the 40 Euro parking for parking on a Saturday afternoon in a spot where the hotel concierge said it was okay. And another 35.40 Euro Hertz fine for that on top of the parking fine. The total fines cost more that the rental car!! Can anyone else smell RIP-OFF?
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I've had a dreadful time in Europe with Hertz. In October I returned a Hertz car at the train station in Chambery as per the agreement. The Hertz return location is not marked logically. In fact, because it was Sunday, a local man parked in the ONE bay designated. There was a mail slot on the wall of the bay--not marked but the ONLY mail slot, so I dropped in the keys, caught the train. When I arrived in Paris I called Hertz to alert them to the keys in slot--they said "Thanks" the next day I got a frantic call on cell"Where are the keys?" Turns out that slot was not THEIR slot, but a neighboring business. Until that owner came to work and returned the keys to Hertz I was charged extra day charges--insane!
ReplyDeleteNow I am headed to Spain--will not book with Hertz!