Second Tier car rental companies vs Tier 1 car rental companies

In recent years I have rented a number of cars in various countries from major car rental companies such as Thifty, Fox, Enterprise and Sixt; and also from second tier car rental companies such as Green Motion. The biggest difference is in the way the car rental companies deal with the customers and also how they make money. The major car rental companies are more professional and their customer service team appear to have greater attention to detail and offer newer cars while the second tier car rental companies do not have such a large fleet and many are a bit older or have higher mileage. The biggest difference is actually in how they make money. I find that the major car companies do not try to scam you out of paying for damages that does not exist or damage that was already there when the car was picked up.

I had the unpleasant experience of dealing with Green Motion at Heathrow which had a sneaky strategy to milk more money from the insurance or the renter claiming there is damage to the car. Upon checking with other friends who also rented cars from the same company, they too experienced the same thing. The officer who received the cars upon return would inspect the car and try to find scratches or dents on the car body and claim the insurance or claim the access for the damage. The car I rented had no new dents nor scratches but the rental car officer claims a new scratch was on the body work and wanted to charge 400 Pounds for the repair which was ridiculous since I could take any polishing compound and rub it out with a cloth! It was clear that they had the intention of making extra money from the insurance claim or the access. they may offer the lowest rental rate for the cars but they had plans to earn more from this tactic.

Be warned when renting cars from second tier car rental companies. Take a video and photos of the entire car (covering every corner for scratches or dents or any markings) and make sure that the damages on the car prior you collecting the car is recorded so you do not fall into their trap. it is time consuming but in the end it will save you a lot of problems and save you arguing with the officer.