With the scarcity of rental cars at full throttle, cars are limited and costs are high, especially when heading to summer and others must escape through car trips and weekend getaways.
I had such a thing on my mind this Memorial Day weekend, so about a month ago I started buying groceries to rent a car at Philadelphia International Airport.
Cars could be obtained from maximum companies, but daily rates, taxes and fees put the total cost of a budget car between $400 and $500 for a five-day rental. It was a bit expensive for me, especially since it was a situation where I just needed the car to get where I was going (then she would sit for a few days until I was returned to the airport).
So I think this might be the best time to visit Turo, an online page and an app that allows you to rent cars to other people. After all, person-to-person programs work well at many other stages of life: car sharing, food delivery, vacation rental, etc. , so why not take a look at renting a car to one of my fellow citizens?
This turned out to be a mistake.
Initial value savings with Turo
It started well. I looked at it and the costs were less expensive, less than $300 for the same period, I was pleasantly surprised and booked it immediately. The host (the user I rented the car to) temporarily responded to ask me for information about my flight, and everything seemed very professional and organized. In fact, it garnered five stars on more than 1,200 trips. I felt pretty good, after saving a few hundred dollars.
The first cancellation
But a week and a part later, I got a message from the host saying that the car I was trying to rent had crashed and that I had to cancel the reservation, I still had 3 weeks before my trip, so there was no panic. Turó’s representative even apologized and showed up to help me find alternatives. I ended up locating a replacement car on another host for a little less than the original price. The new host came over to verify that he would meet me at the airport and leave the car. It also earned a smart rating: 4. 9 stars. No harm, no mistake, I thought.
Cancellation
Everything was silent for weeks. Then, a day before my trip, I contacted my new host to reconfigure the time of the car, at that time I informed myself that I no longer had the car – a previous visitor had never returned it – and encouraged me to cancel the reservation. and call the helpline.
I asked him to cancel because he was the one who canceled, and that’s when I knew we were betting this kind of special game on which the host doesn’t need to be penalized for giving up the deal, so they inspire you to do it for them.
“The easiest way to get a refund is for the host to cancel for their part,” a visitor service representative told me by chat. “But most of the time, they don’t have to because they will make them succeed in their metrics and have to pay a cancellation fee. “
Oh, yes, the old metric test. Turo acknowledges this flaw, as you can see, but they haven’t solved it and, of course, the cat’s representative couldn’t, I had to call the visitor line. By the time you read this, I may still be waiting . . .
Loss of in Turó
Simply put: Turo is a smart idea, but there’s a duty enough to make it a reliable choice for time travelers.
Unlike a cancelled Uber, where you may waste only five minutes of your time, a canceled car rental causes primary damage in one direction, and the option for this to occur up to the time of delivery injects a primary unknown into the equation.
As a traveler, this doesn’t give you a literally warm and confusing feeling, wondering if the car you rented will be there when you land, wondering if a day or two earlier you’ll receive a cancellation message.
And, as I’ve experienced, even if you find a replacement rental from another host, who can say it may not be cancelled as well?Rebook with another host and hope for the best?
When, however, I was handed over to a visitor service agent, this was their solution: to make sure many other people enjoyed turo intelligently and inspire me to re-e-book with another host. Is this game playing this game?
At some point, stress is not valued.
For now, with classic car rental companies
So when you’re looking to hire Turo and several hosts cancel your reservation, adding the day before your flight, what do you do?
Maybe one day, Turo, or an app, will solve the unknowns and install some kind of backup plan for last-minute cancellations. But until then, the service does not value risk, because consumers (i. e. you and I) the maximum vulnerable ones that finish drying out.
In the end, I have to pay the extra dough and make a non-refundable last minute reservation with a classic car rental company.
Me more, but at least I can count on the car when it lands.
I am an editor and author, a nomad ling and columnist, writing profiles, reports and offices from afar. My Irreverent Memories, Swim Bike Bonk: Confessions
I am an editor and author, a nomad and ling columnist, who write profiles, reports and offices from afar. My irreverent memoirs, Swim Bike Bonk: Confessions of a Reluctant Triathlete, were published in 2019 through Lyons Press. and I have written stories for major tourist publications around the world.