 Poster: A snowHead
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They are the same company ...or at least are fronted by Buchbinder. I have always had positive experience over many rentals abd always recommend them Another snowhead, davidthornton, has had one bad experience and he warns people away from them ...but i was wondering overall what people's experience has been.
I know people will pitch in with recommendations for other firms and consolidators but I would like to keep this one on topic if possible please
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Have used them at Salzburg and Innsbruck. Absolutely fine.
Off topic (because you said not to) - For what its worth, have started using Sixt (mainly at Munich). Costs more but the customer service is tops and no queues and the upgrades are magnificent.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Pruman, at Munich 2 weeks ago the sixt queue ...and all the big companies..was out the door. There were only 2 people in front of me at Buchbinder.
Damn...I've gone off topic myself....as you were!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Only used them once but all was fine.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Megadrive at Innsbruck were great this summer.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I have used them twice at Munich. After the first time I swore I would never use them again. The second time was by mistake. I had gone through an internet broker and after I had booked, I found out it was this lot. Since then I have paid th extra and used Avis or similar. What's wrong with them? Slow. Slow to the point of "I will pay extra to avoid this in future". Winter tyres -
"Sorry you will have to pay extra for these"
"I already have"
"It doesn't show here that you have. You will have to pay extra"
"Here is a print out of my booking - Winter tyres included"
"You will have to wait whilst I make a phone call"
......and so on
Maybe I was unlucky. Twice. But I won't use them again
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I have used them at Munich and Innsbruck. Always fine, decent price, reasonable service compared to others. Only problem was getting snow chains, both times they were unavailable. All cars need to come with winter tyres as per the law, so these were included as standard.
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Used several times in Germany and Austria. No issues at all. Ditto Enterprise/Alamo/Inter-rent/Hertz/Sixt/Europcar. In fact I have hired cars all over the world from god knows how many hire companies and never had the slightest bother. Maybe I'm just lucky.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Used them in Salzburg Jan '14 through a broker. They tried to charge me an out of hours fee even though I picked up/ dropped off car at agreed times. Seemingly they are only open til 12:30 pm on Saturdays. The broker managed to get the charges refunded.
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@nevergreenterrace, interesting. They have always been open in the afternoon at salzburg when I pick up a car
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I used Them in Munich last Easter. OK service but the extras cost a touch more than the (normally brilliant UK) broker listed. The car was terrible though. It might be just me but I always feel a bit fleeced by car rental firms and in that regard they were no worse than any other firm I've used.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I posted on this thread a couple of days ago with my (negative) views. Purely coincidentally a friend has just phoned me up to let off steam about his car hire from Munich Airport when he flew out to visit his son a couple of weeks ago. Yes, it was Buchbinders.
He didn't take out the CDW insurance and so they blocked out the excess amount on his credit card (perfectly normal) but he later realised that rather than block that amount, they had actually taken it. On returning the car to them he queried this and was told it would be refunded. It hasn't been. From about two weeks ago. He has queried this with his credit card supplier.
He has now had another deduction made by Buchbinders and on querying this he has been told that it is because of a scratch to the passenger door. He is adamant that there was no such scratch and has challenged this as well.
But even if there had been a scratch, he has asked them how they can take the insurance excess from his credit card and then in addition take the repair cost. One or the other (if a valid claim for damage) but not both. he hasn't had an answer to that.
It reinforces my prejudiced view
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Have used them multiple time (at least 5 or 6) and have always had a good experience
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You know it makes sense.
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Booked a car through Holidayautos for a week from Munich, with Buchbinder as the end provider. No issues at all. Admittedly, it helped that I read the information I was sent, so turned up with the right documents and had notified them in advance that I'd be taking the car into Austria. (I notified Holidayautos and they notified Buchbinder.)
Total cost for a week ~£130, for an Opel Astra 3 dr with 2 drivers. We actually got a ford focus estate, which was pretty handy for skis and board.
The person ahead of me in the queue didn't appear to have brought any of the correct documents with him and was being stung for all sorts of extras.
When I asked to confirm that the car had winter tyres, the nice girl serving me looked at me a bit pityingly and said that all of their cars have winter tyres.
Driving in Austria you should have a hi-vis waistcoat for each person in the car (as well as a red warning triangle), compared with Germany where you only need one for the driver. The Buchbinders cars are therefore supplied with a single hi-vis plus the warning triangle, but the staff were offering to sell extra hi-vis waistcoasts for €5 each. We declined as I'd brought a hi-vis with me, then were amused when the glove box was full of the things 
The deposit was refunded in full within 5 days. (I'd got excess insurance, so they'd secured the €800 against my credit card.)
Only real gripe I had was that I asked the girl serving us where the nearest fuel station was, and she said it would be obvious when we returned the car - it wasn't obvious to us, and we ended up having to ask for directions.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@sugarmoma666, it's not that obvious at Munich but there are signs to the one near the airport
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Poster: A snowHead
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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| @sugarmoma666, it's not that obvious at Munich but there are signs to the one near the airport |
We might have been a bit focused on following the signs for car hire return and not noticed the signs for the petrol station. The way the Buchbinder girl said it, I expected us to see the petrol station. Another time I'll have all these things programmed into the satnav.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It took me 3 month to get the £800 deposit back from mega drive at Salzburg airport.
They did not answer emails or phone calls, well no the ones on the letter heading.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I booked with Auto Europe at Munich last summer, pick up from "MUNICH AIRPORT DESK IN TERMINAL GLOBAL DRIVE/BUCHBINDER DESK". I knew I recognised the name. No problems when dropping the car off.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I am confused by this getting the deposit back business. Yes they put a hold on the amount but i have never seen any money actually taken from my card.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| I am confused by this getting the deposit back business. Yes they put a hold on the amount but i have never seen any money actually taken from my card. |
It never appeared as a transaction, but I could tell from my available credit that they were holding the deposit for 3 or 4 days.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@sugarmoma666, yes, that is how it works - a hold on the amount which reduces the amount of credit available to you but I suppose I never notice when the hold comes off as my credit limit is about 4 times what I ever put on the card in a month
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FAQ
