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Buchbinder Car Rental - On Request

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Back in June I booked a car for the pre-Christmas and Christmas weeks from Buchbinder at Munich Airport. Got a really good deal on a BMW X3. I wanted a 4WD as the Arlberg roads were pretty snowy last year and the X3 I had then felt totally rock-solid, so no worries with fitting chains in the dark. Anyway, the X3 on Buchbinder showed up as "On Request" and I assumed that they'd confirm it within a few days. Nope. They've still not confirmed and when I emailed them about it they said they'd get back to me at some un-specified date in the future. Now I'm a bit worried that they won't have it and I'll either have my booking cancelled at the last minute or be offered something inferior when I turn up at the desk.

Anyone else had an "On request" car before? Seems odd to me that they can offer a car 6 months in advance but won't confirm it.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
In my experience you never get an exact model as a rental car, they are all graded and you receive a car from the grade you have booked. In some instances I have been given a car of a higher grade.

If you have booked and paid for a 4WD you will get a 4WD. If what they offer you on the day is not what you want, then you can change if they have something else available.
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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?
A quick Google came up with this:

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.buchbinder.de
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
@Tom Doc, wow - never occurred to me to check trustpilot. Never seen reviews that bad for anything before, I guess I'll book elsewhere and do without the 4WD.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Have used Buchbinder a couple of times at Salzburg - problem free.

Have had cars 'On request' a number of times with Auto Europe - always confirmed within a few days and also problem free.
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
I booked with Auto Europe 2 weeks ago, for our Nov trip to Geneva, and had an "on request" response (even though it was only a VW Polo or similar).

Availability was then confirmed within an hour.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Personally I would not use Buchbinder, stick with one of the better known car hire companies, they dont have a good reputation around here. It is all very well getting a "cheap" deal (which often turn out to be not so cheap, for instance a number of the cheaper car hire companies at Munich airport charge extra for taking the car to "foreign" countries ie Austria) but if you have specific requirements then you are better off booking direct rather than using Auto Europe etc (though they do offer good prices the hire companies often do not give as good a service as they do to direct customers). If I need a car for a proper holiday (as opposed for a weekend or whatever) I use Sixt, not the cheapest at all but better cars and better service. Make sure you get your own excess insurance (costs about £ 50 for a year) rather than paying either the car companies exorbitant costs or Auto Europe slightly less exorbitant costs
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Have used Buchbinder at Munich, Salzburg and Innsbruck many times without a hitch. Quite the opposite actually as I've had some nice upgrades, presumably due to lack of the class of car I ordered but hey ho. They nearly always come up cheapest on Autoeurope so naturally tend to gravitate that way. At least at Munich they are on airport. I'm surprised they appear to have a bad rep.

The one to avoid at all costs if flying to Italy is Firefly. Never ever again.
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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.
I have used Buchbinder at Munich and will never use them again. Paid in advance for Winter Tyres. They wanted paying again. Paid in advance for second driver. They wanted paying again. Queues of well over an hour.
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Still can't make up my mind on this. I checked Trustpilot Germany for other car rental firms and most of the big ones had terrible scores too. Europcar had the same score, Sixt did slightly better but still only one star. I think people only leave reviews when things go wrong.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
If using Sixt just make sure you know/are happy with the insurance included as they have benn know to only include 3rd party, with extra cost for the normally provided comprehensive, see this thread

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=138061&highlight=

A reason why on initial view they are cheaper.
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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.
JohnHSmith wrote:
I have used Buchbinder at Munich and will never use them again. Paid in advance for Winter Tyres. They wanted paying again.


I'm guessing it was in the winter? In which case why pay extra for something that is regulation Puzzled Their cars would have winters already on them. I have never had to ask or pay extra for winter tyres at Munich, Salzburg or Innsbruck.

The only little thing they add that I don't think is necessary is the cross border fee.

Anyway, in my experience Buchbinder are just fine. Last year rented a stonking new Renault Traffic mini bus for about one third the price of Avis.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
JohnHSmith wrote:
I have used Buchbinder at Munich and will never use them again. Paid in advance for Winter Tyres. They wanted paying again. Paid in advance for second driver. They wanted paying again. Queues of well over an hour.


But if you showed them your rental agreement to highlight you had both ordered WT and second driver, and paid for them, wheres the issue?
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
JohnHSmith wrote:
I have used Buchbinder at Munich and will never use them again. Paid in advance for Winter Tyres. They wanted paying again. Paid in advance for second driver. They wanted paying again. Queues of well over an hour.


But if you showed them your rental agreement to highlight you had both ordered WT and second driver, and paid for them, wheres the issue?
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
The problem with online reviews is that people only bother if they have a complaint.

I have used many car hire firms in many countries, including Buchbinder many times. The only time I've been caught out with extra costs is in the UK with Interrent, where I had failed to read the small print about a mileage limit.

Moral of the story is read everything, then read it again.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Pruman wrote:
JohnHSmith wrote:
I have used Buchbinder at Munich and will never use them again. Paid in advance for Winter Tyres. They wanted paying again.


I'm guessing it was in the winter? In which case why pay extra for something that is regulation Puzzled Their cars would have winters already on them. I have never had to ask or pay extra for winter tyres at Munich, Salzburg or Innsbruck.

The only little thing they add that I don't think is necessary is the cross border fee.

Anyway, in my experience Buchbinder are just fine. Last year rented a stonking new Renault Traffic mini bus for about one third the price of Avis.


The issue is that although we did have those, they said it didn't tally with their records. I totally agree with "why pay extra for Winter tyres" but they backed down on one occasion and on the other wouldn't give us the car until we paid and sorted it out after return to UK. On both occasions they were incredibly (deliberately???) slow.
I decided that I would never use them again as they held up our group which included young children. I have since been through Munich several times using - in my case - Avis and found them preferable.
I have made my decision never to use them again.
I totally agree that everyone should form their own opinions based on their own experiences. But in this case the thread seemed to be about asking others what their experience was of Buchbinder. I can only give my experiences of them (on two occasions) and in my case it is entirely negative
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
An update in case this question comes round again. Buchbinder were so slow to confirm my booking that I actually made another booking with another rental company just in case. I contacted them via Facebook and got a much better response that way. Once the booking was confirmed I cancelled my other booking but I was still expecting hassle when I picked the car up. In the event everything was very quick and easy, no queues at the desk and the car was better than I had expected - got a 3.0L diesel M-Sport X3 when I was expecting a bottom of the range 2L one. Great fun for a fast autobahn blast down to the Arlberg, not sure I'd want to live with the fuel bills all year round.

In summary - I'd use Buchbinder again.
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