 Poster: A snowHead
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What a nightmare!
On Friday I booked some car hire from Friedrichshafen Airport through Atlas Choice, my first choice of Holiday Autos were cheaper (with discount code), but could only offer bookings with out of hours charges (€50) and indeterminate winter tyre fees.
I arrived at Atlas Choice through the Moneysupermarket comparison site, I chose a car described as 'Large Family' with a picture of a Mondeo, when I clicked through to Atlas Choice it was described as 'intermediate' and had the code IDMR, we wanted a roomy car for all the baggage, so I booked 'on request from supplier'.
Later, confirmation & voucher arrives in inbox with car code CDMR (smaller, compact class) from Budget on it.
Thinking it's a simple mistake, I e-mail them, no response. So I phone them and given some flannel about car classes being different with different suppliers. I explain that's why there are the industry standard codes, so please send a voucher with code IDMR as I booked, they say that will cost extra as Budget's IDMR is an SDMR with them ?!? What?!? It's an industry standard across the board internationally?!?
I've come to the conclusion I've been baited and switched! I could have booked the compact car cheaper direct with Budget!
Now awaiting response from senior personnel, as Saturday operators didn't have authority to act, but seemed to have a stock response to this 'discrepancy' which makes me think it happens quite a bit.
Anyone else had similar experience with this outfit?
How did it turn out?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Seems to me you aren't getting what you paid for so you have every right to cancel - do you have any proof the booking was for IDMR car?
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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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hyweljenkins, seems I'm not alone! 
skimom, yes, got a screenshot of the booking page with IDMR and Intermediate in the description, they didn't seem to dispute that but were insisting that the Budget's CDMR was in fact an Intermediate car?!?
Do I trust them to action the refund?
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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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Why not see if you can get them to commit to a particular model? If indeed they plan to give you something that everyone else would class as intermediate then you don't have a problem do you?
Someone elsewhere has said that they have always been 'upgraded' whenever they get Budget vs Alamo - so maybe that's why?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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skimom, Atlaschoice are brokers/agents like Holiday Autos, they're not supplying the car, Budget Germany are. But it seems that Atlaschoice are trying to sell Budget's Compact (CDMR) car as an Intermediate (IDMR). No-one guarantees a particular make or model, only the class of car as defined by the internationally recognised industry standard ACRISS codes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACRISS
Every model of car is assigned by an independent body to one of these classes, so their claim that the Compact is actually an Intermediate is nonsense, it will be a smaller, inferior model.
If Budget are supplying me a smaller CDMR, Atlaschoice shouldn't be selling it as a larger IDMR, no matter what.
Will let you know how it pans out, thanks for your concern.
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Interesting thread, don't think I'll ever be hiring from Atlaschoice.
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UPDATE:
Atlaschoice have finally relented and have 'modified' my booking to an Intermediate car, yes, the category they had led me to believe I was booking in the first place.
Still awaiting the modified voucher though. I have been promised it, once they get written confirmation of the change from Budget.
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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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UPDATE:
Success! Atlaschoice have sent me the 'modified' voucher today.
It has taken numerous e-mails and phone-calls with strenuous discussion about ACRISS codes with various members of staff to get this result, but anyway a nice, apologetic lady with a South African accent called yesterday to announce the news, the first communication I have had of their initiation since the start of the saga.
Now, if I was being charitable, I would say someone cocked up the booking pages and they were then reluctant to honour the booking. I put this to a member of staff, her nervous laugh seemed to indicate something more was afoot.
The story I suspect is that they have set up the booking process deliberately to obfuscate, the way it starts off as a Mondeo 'large family' car on the moneysupermarket.com results page, then transmutes into Intermediate IDMR with a picture of a Golf Plus on the Atlaschoice booking pages, loses the IDMR tag on the booking confirmation page once paid, then the voucher arrives with a Golf Plus mentioned but wth the smaller CDMR code, which is what the supplier will be adhering to.
All very subtly, you end up with a car one class smaller than you were led to believe you would be getting and of course they get to pocket the difference.
If you then realise you've been baited and switched, care to remonstrate and have collected screenshots of the booking pages as evidence, any written communication will be ignored, phone communication will be met with an already prepared defensive response which gives the impression that it's not an honest mistake and you're not the only customer who has raised the issue. They will attempt to delay, pass you around, pass the buck to the supplier, anything to make you give up pursuing it further. Only with utmost persistence will you get a satisfactory response.
Needless to say, after this experience, I will not be using them again.
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luigi this is very common on a lot of sites, and happened to us in Italy too, but so long ago, i can't remember the company we booked through . We booked a medium car , astra or similar, but actually received a Daewoo Matiz, which hardly made it up the mountain passes we were travelling on.
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