SEVIS/International Car/Aluguer de Viaturas Lda

[Lesley Jean]

I am writing this to ask that you be very, very careful if you have any dealings with this car hire company.

This is an update on the problems my daughter has had to sort out since hiring a car last year (June/July) as I said in the Car hire thread, viewtopic.php?t=15356&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30, the company who actually hired the cars to my daughter, Sevis (or they are known as International car or Alguer de Viaturas Lda) put 1,000 Euros onto her credit card while she was in Portugal on holiday with her friends, on her return to the UK she found this on her credit card statement.
It has taken her until Sunday 15th to eventually get her money back, if it hadn't been for the help of a representative of ours in Lisbon I don't think they would have paid it at all.
They are a very dodgy company and I urge anyone NOT to use them, they told us twice the money had been transfered to her account, even sending a copy of the transfer to us, this was a FAKE, we had the bank check on this transfer and they confirmed it was nothing to do with them and the transfer had not been requested. Eventually after a lot of work on our friends side and after the threat of the police for fraud, they did complete a proper, legal transfer which we received this weekend.

I just don't want anyone else to have to have this problem, it has been a very real worry to my youngest who now has to get the credit card company to clear her credit rating as she does not need a black mark when she is just starting out in her chosen career and her working life.

Steen has been helpful in as much as he has agreed to me putting a comment on his website about this, also in the end he was prepared to pay the money to my daughter after we had sent him proof that Sevis had not honored the re-payment. I do not blame him, but I must say that as the contract was originally with YOR and the paperwork was the normal YOR contract that they should have paid the money straight away to my daughter and then claimed the money back themselves from Sevis.

So in conclusion, be warned if you hire a car through them, believe me my daughter is not the only person this has happened to, others have not been so lucky in getting their money back -

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1 ... garve.html

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews197692.html

Thanks for listening to me.

[EMM]

I asked our car hire rep waht they and others at Faro thought of this company and others like it and their alledged behaviour.
Basically avoid dealing with them if you can.

They may be one of the cheapest ( which is why other car hire AGENTS used them ) but they have a reputation for using other available means of getting additional revenue.

For those who do not take out insurance they " FIND??" expensive damage on the cars return, ( they already have your credit card details so you are S***** ).
If you have insurance then you still end up paying the excess.

The more established car hire companies are not happy with this behaviour as they are finding it difficult to compete with these companies lead in prices.

The suggestions are 1) Do not use an agent try and book with the actual car hire company.

2) ALways take out insurance, you may not avoid damage charges but at least its limited to the agreed excess.

3) If it looks too good to be true it usually is.

[JonRich]

Looks like economycarhire.com have been using SEVIS LDA as their local agents at Faro Airport, but they have now changed the name of SEVIS LDA on their website to INTERNATIONAL CAR. To what extreme will they go to hide SEVIS LDA/ INTERNATIONAL CAR!! credit card scam

Real disappointment.

[Lesley Jean]

Looks like economycarhire.com have been using SEVIS LDA as their local agents at Faro Airport, but they have now changed the name of SEVIS LDA on their website to INTERNATIONAL CAR. To what extreme will they go to hide SEVIS LDA/ INTERNATIONAL CAR!! credit card scam

Real disappointment.

I am sorry to hear this, would have thought they would not touch this company with a barge pole!!!

[Michael Crane]

I am a very long-standing customer of Economycar and I have emailed them regarding this comment. I will post their reply if and when I get one. I must say, though, that I have been very pleased with Economycar's service so far. In fact I used them during my trip to Spain last week.

[Mike,Chislehurst]

Lesley, like Michael I have also emailed ECH regarding this and will post a response if received. Certainly wouldn't advise any of our guests to use Sevis

[Michael Crane]

Mmm, looks as if the credit card scam has been done with others:LOOK HERE.

[Mike,Chislehurst]

That is frightening! Have you passed this onto ECH as well Michael, if not, I will.

[Michael Crane]

That is frightening! Have you passed this onto ECH as well Michael, if not, I will.

I have just spoken to them on the phone and they said they will respond later. I will report back as soon as I hear anything.

[ROTCIV]

thanks for the advice, i always use europcar and never had any problems with them, and also prefer to pay insurance than leave a deposit.

[TomUK]

How does one tell whether one is dealing with a bonafide company and not an agent? Don't agents have a name that suggests that they are an independant company?

Apart from Auto Jardim in my early visits to the Algarve I have used cheaper local companies in resort, which have their boards outside local shops offering 'Pay for 3 days - Drive for 5 days' deals. Last two times I've used a company called fittingly, LocalCar, based I think in Olhos d'Agua.

I have never had any problems credit card wise with surprise charges.

Have I been playing with fire and riding my luck?

[Michael Crane]

Here is my reply from Economy Car Hire:

Dear Michael Crane,

Forums are mainly dominated by negative feedback and rarely provide the full circumstances. None of the rentals mentioned in the forum posts were made through Economy Car Hire. We have a very good reputation for customer service and our customer service department will always investigate any queries following a rental. We continuously monitor the service level provided by all of our suppliers. Sevis changed their name and this is why it has been changed on the Economy Car Hire website. We provide a choice of supplier at our locations so if you would like to book with an alternative supplier, there is the opportunity to do so.

Kind regards,

Online Marketing
Economy Car Hire Ltd

I have to say, I have always been pleased with them, and they have always been quick to sort out any problems I've had - of which there have been very few. I shall continue to use them in the future. Everyone else must make up their own minds.

[Lesley Jean]

I agree with you Economy Car did not give us a problem and I have hired through them before, it is the company 'Sevis' or International Car as they are now called, who were the ones to take the money from my daughters card while she was on holiday, and it was only through the help of a Portuguese friend that we got our money back in the end, after this company had tried to fob us off by saying they had paid us the money and even produced a false (confirmed by the bank!) payment transfer to so call 'prove' they had paid us.

I will leave it up to you guys, but I wouldn't touch Sevis/International Car with a barge pole.

I have no issue with Economy car, just watch who you end up hiring with, please...

[Michael Crane]

...I have no issue with Economy car, just watch who you end up hiring with, please...

On their web site you can see the actual firm they use so avoiding SEVIS won't be a problem.

[charlie]

I have also been using economycarhire for many years, usually choosing the Travelrent or Air Auto option. At Easter I chose the Servis option purely because they were the cheapest. Other than their representative being 15 minutes late (not what you want when you have travelled with hand luggage for quickness) I had no problems at all. I guess I was lucky. I have just made another booking through economycarhire but after reading all the comments have decided to play safe and go back to Travelrent, not worth the risk for a few pounds!