Holiday Autos tries to slip out of a refund for our no-show car

Photograph: Islandstock/Alamy

I booked a rental car at Alicante Airport through Holiday Autos and arranged to collect it at midnight on 13 July. I paid the £120.45 in advance and received a booking voucher and confirmation that I was to collect it from the supplier, Rhodium.

When we arrived at the rental desk, Rhodium first said it couldn’t locate the booking, and then that it had been cancelled by Holiday Autos. Holiday Autos then claimed that Rhodium did not have the car in stock and advised us to use a different hire company and then make a claim for compensation.

We ended up paying £303.67 for a car from Firefly. The Holiday Autos call handler said that a complaint would be raised. It was not.

I made a complaint using its online process on 23 July. It took until 2 September to receive a response which suggested that I did not attend the correct desk to collect the car and therefore was not entitled to a refund.

Thankfully, I had saved the queue slip I received at the desk.

I feel this was an incredibly underhand tactic taken in the hope I would not be able to provide evidence to the contrary. I have not heard anything since.

BK, Altrincham, Greater Manchester

This breathtaking indifference got worse before Holiday Autos stirred itself to do the decent thing.

First the apology: “We would like to offer an apology for the distressing start to her trip to Spain.”

Then the excuse: “The car rental brands we work with are responsible for managing their own fleets and updating what is available to customers. We have been in touch with Rhodium to ensure this situation doesn’t happen again.”

Then the promise: “We have looked into the case and issued the full refund for both the initial booking with Rhodium, plus the difference in price for her second car from Firefly.”

Finally, the self-justification: “We continually monitor customer feedback via our Customer Centre of Excellence and appropriate action is taken if any car hire brands do not meet the standards required.”

Instead of a letter offering the apology and the refund, you then received a request for paperwork you’d already submitted so that an investigation could begin – three months after your complaint.

Only after further nudges from the Observer did it finally stump up the money. As for Rhodium, it laid the blame squarely on Holiday Autos which it said linked the booking reference to an invalid voucher number then cancelled the reservation.

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