Niza car hire not repaying deposits

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Jane
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Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Jane » Tue Dec 17, 2013 9:19 pm

We returned our car to Niza by the airport on 29th Nov 2013 and they said that the PIN machine wasn't working so they could not repay our €380 deposit. We have booked with them regularly for 10 years and this had never happened before. They asked us to send our bank details by email and they would arrange a bank transfer. I sent the details as soon as we got back to England and it is now nearly 3 weeks and they have not repaid us. I have emailed 4 times and have received one reply saying it would be sent but coincidently (?) their UK agent Malaga Car Hire are not answering their phone, you can only get a voicemail, so I think something is amiss. Malaga Car Hire said (via email) that the contract is with Niza and they could not help. My credit card company said that as I had no explicit paperwork stating that the €380 was to be repaid and by when, I have no proof that the money is due back, so they could not chase it for me. I have now been on the internet and found a site called The Review Centre and 2 dutch people have stated that the same thing has happened to them during November on different dates (one on 22nd Nov and one on 23rd Nov). I find it hard to believe that the PIN machine was still broken by 29th Nov (when we took our car back) so I can only conclude that something does not look right. I will contact my credit card company again but can anyone advise me on other courses of action? For example in the UK I would go to Trading Standards but I have no idea who would investigate this in Spain. Can anyone help as no doubt others have been affected in the same way and are not receiving their deposits back either and I cannot see how it is acceptable for a company to trade in this way.

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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Beachcomber » Tue Dec 17, 2013 9:49 pm

Please do not cross post. I have deleted the other two identical topics. It just causes confusion when replies are spread across the other topics.
Let's go Brandon!

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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby carrowcrin » Tue Dec 17, 2013 11:27 pm

This whole car hire thing is a bit of a minefield i at the moment am in a dispute with "marbesol"
I do not believe it is necessary to have pin for deposit refund, a few weeks ago i had car from malagacar and whei returned they said they had my details and about a week later credit came back to credit card compant,
Anyway i had a quick loot at Niza terms and conditions below and from what this says it should be back in 15 days which means Friday so i expect you ok.

14. DEPOSIT
Upon signing the present Contract, NizaCars may ask the Client for a deposit of 300€ - 900€ so as to guarantee that the general and special conditions of the Contract are complied with. If the Contract duration is extended, such deposit shall be proportionally increased according to the number of days of the extension.
Such amount shall be returned after the end of the Contract and after checking the vehicle condition and compliance with the general and special conditions of the Contract. In order to do so, it may be necessary to keep such deposit for up to 15 days after the vehicle return
the original copy of conditions is a very important document in these suituations.

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Jane
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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Jane » Tue Dec 17, 2013 11:44 pm

Thanks but you are more optimistic than I am! 15 days have already passed as we returned the car on 19th Nov. What makes me suspicious is that I have located these 2 other Dutch people who returned cars on different days and they too were told the same story (PIN machine broken), although the machine must be working to collect deposits? Funny it's broken for making repayments? These 2 people can't get any joy from Niza either and in 10 years of renting we have never experienced anything like this. I am going to apply for a Section 75 form from my credit card company (found this via the internet) and hope they will take up my case. My advice to anyone renting a car is be wary of Niza if you want your deposit back.

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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby carrowcrin » Wed Dec 18, 2013 10:03 am

The 15 days usually refer to work days which will be this Friday from the info you have posted, i came back from Spain on Dec 6 which was a holiday as was the fallowing Monday i think.
On the basis of that the 15 days the date would be Dec 23 approx. I am wondering if the other people you refer to have waited more than the said 15 days, as i said earlier it is not necessary to have CHIP and PIN for refund and me suspects they will likely pay on around the last day and you will probably lose a few € on exchange transaction.
My advise to you is to ndo nothing until the 15 days have elapsed as their contract states this the allowed time.
The key document here whether dealing with the hire company or the credit card company is the original contract document you signed as this tells what both parties are obliged to do, also be careful with dealing with the credit card company as they will always put the owness on you to prove your case. I expect Niza will refund and if not the credit card company will sort it out...

hope this helps

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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Nimrod » Wed Dec 18, 2013 10:23 am

When all's said and done who needs this type of agg.
There's enough of it while you're there let alone them have one more swing at you as you leave.
Best advice I think,would be to avoid Niza altogether.

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Mowser
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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Mowser » Wed Dec 18, 2013 11:04 am

Get in touch with the defensor del pueblo.
Dave

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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Beachcomber » Wed Dec 18, 2013 11:16 am

The Defensor del Pueblo only deals with public authorities and administration. I think the first step in this case is the completion of an 'hoja de reclamación' then a visit to OMIC.
Let's go Brandon!

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Jane
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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Jane » Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:38 pm

Thanks to all who have replied and particularly the info re. OMIC which I didn't know about. I have seen the information at Niza about the complaints book, good to know what action I will need to take next. I will give Niza a few more days to repay me and if it doesn't happen I will ask them for the claim form. We will be out again in Feb so if I haven't resolved things I will go to their offices (assuming they are still there?). I will also have another go at working through my credit card company to get a resolution. Whatever happens to my case this cannot be good business sense for Niza and although we have used them for 10 years we won't ever want this type of problem again so we'll be looking for an alternative.

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Jane
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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Jane » Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:06 pm

A further update to this sorry saga. I have now located 3 other people who returned cars during November, all still waiting for their deposits to come back. One returned their car on 23rd Nov and one on 25th Nov, both dates are in excess of the Niza contract terms - so I doubt very much it's a case of Niza waiting until the last minute to repay. I am now going back to my card company with this new information.

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Jane
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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Jane » Sun Dec 22, 2013 9:40 am

Beachcomber, not sure if I should contact omic as my credit card company are now investigating. Do you think I should try and do a hoja or wait? Definite problems at Niza though as I have made contact with someone else and when she phoned they hung up on her. No deposits being returned.

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Mowser
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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Mowser » Sun Dec 22, 2013 10:12 am

Does anyone here know if there is a Spanish body equivalent to the BVRLA ( British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association)? I had a problem with Hertz earlier this year. I contacted the BVRLA and the matter was resolved within a week.
Dave

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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby katy » Sun Dec 22, 2013 4:12 pm

Is it now the norm in Spain for hirers to take substantial deposits? I have never come across it in any country. Certainly had credit card details taken but never had any charges before taking the car back :? Sounds to me as if they have cash flow problems!

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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Unicorn » Sun Dec 22, 2013 4:40 pm

you may try the airport administration as I am sue they do not want one of the companies using them as a base getting a bad reputation.

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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby costakid » Sun Dec 22, 2013 5:03 pm

i think niza are off airport near roundabout so airport have no jurisdiction

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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby rafiki » Sun Dec 22, 2013 5:05 pm

katy wrote:Is it now the norm in Spain for hirers to take substantial deposits? I have never come across it in any country. Certainly had credit card details taken but never had any charges before taking the car back :? Sounds to me as if they have cash flow problems!
During the five years we were shuttling back and forth I seem to remember Crown/Auriga Crown would debit my card but credit it immediately upon return. This was because I would not take their exorbitant 'extra' insurance but used an Insurance4Carhire annual policy to cover the things their basic policy did not. If I had taken out theirs there would have been no deposit.
Brian.

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marios
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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby marios » Mon Dec 23, 2013 4:33 pm

Yes I use the same policy rafiki, better safe than sorry.

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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Mike.M » Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:40 pm

I had a similar situation with a hire car company and used my Barclaycard Credit Card. I phoned them up and said that the amount had fraudulently been taken from my card and I was in dispute with the company.

Credit Card companies don't pay the retailer for some time and Barclaycard put a 'stop' on paying the supplier. This also meant that I didn't get charged the amount on my credit card bill.

I eventually handed on my correspondence with the Car Company, to Barclaycard as proof and that was the last I heard of it.

Could be worth contacting your credit card co. again.

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Jane
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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby Jane » Tue Dec 24, 2013 3:48 pm

A further update - my credit card have asked me for all relevant paperwork so hopefully they will take up my case. I too have an annual policy with Insurance4CarHire but Niza insist on a large deposit even so. They have always refunded it on return of the car before, never had any problems previously. I have now located several other people through various websites who are all waiting for their deposits to be returned - I am sure now that we will not get them back from Niza as it's gone on too long and Niza do not reply. They give the same story to everyone (the machine has broken so we cannot pay you today) and they are still taking big deposits off customers, no doubt several have been caught this past week renting cars for Xmas They appear to trading fraudulently. I am trying to find out which form from OMIC to send in as the sooner they are stopped the better, I am not sure how much influence the credit card companies actually have on stopping them trading like this. I will keep trying to get refunded but this all seems to point to a company with financial problems who are defrauding customers.

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Re: Niza car hire not repaying deposits

Postby carrowcrin » Fri Jan 03, 2014 5:25 am

Because i am dealing with a situation of a similar nature i have an interest in this, i suppose if you got your depositback you would have posted same.
By the way be careful that you have everything very factual when dealing with credit card company as if there is anything that does'nt fit right they will not be to bothered, at least in my case it seemed the person dealing with wanted it off her desk.
I am also interest in how you get on with the official complaints, i also tried this but last time i was in Spain i was moving around alot so the day i arrived in Malaga the office was closed as their hours are 09.30 - 13.30 and the day i was returning Dec 6 was a public holiday so i may have a go when i am over in a couple of weeks.
I have the address of their office as it is not the address on their website, it seems they have moved in the recent past.
If i can be of help, will do....


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