SINGAPORE: A woman who rented a car shared her frustration on social media after being hit with a S$50 car rental late charge fee for returning the car nine minutes past the agreed time. She claimed: “GetGo unfairly charged me $50 late charge.”
Explaining the situation, she added, “Last month, I booked the car for 9:30-11pm. Towards the end (before 11pm), I realise I needed more time, therefore I tried to extend the booking. However the app disabled the booking extension “save” button.”
She also mentioned that she had checked GetGo’s website: “According to GetGo website, as long as there are no booking or servicing after the booking, you will be able to extend the booking. Anyway, I tried to return the car as soon as I could, but I was still 9 minutes late. They charged me $50 late fee. I even double checked that there are no booking after mine by testing the app to book right after my slot. I shouldn’t be charged for their app’s bug.”
Regarding her efforts to resolve the issue, she said, “I tried messaging them multiple times to request for refund, each time rejected. I don’t understand how is it fair to charge customer for their own bug.”
SpareConclusion1353 shared in the comments: “Booking extension is subject to vehicle availability. If the extension is unsuccessful, it means that there’s already another booking after yours or vehicle will be out for service maintenance. cannot manage time dont kaobei $50 fly la hor. Either learn to book extra 30 mins or take grab next time :)”
The Redditor who posted answered reasoning, “There are no booking or servicing after my slot, I tested booking right after my slot to confirm that. Since the vehicle is available, according to GetGo I should be able to book it right?”
Redditor etyn100 simply said: “Their terms their conditions.”
tsgaylord_069 chimed in saying, “extension is not an entitlement, and you are required to return the car at the original time to not be charged.”
MagicianMoo added: “Very unfortunate OP. As many echo, it’s not really a bug as its by design. Moving forward have to be more mindful in the timing. Perhaps you could have video record the action of booking and used it to appeal. Worse case, you pay the 50. ”
While the majority of the Redditors were pretty much united that she should have been on time and she could have dodged the S$50 car rental late charge fee, one of the Redditor named livinglifeingrieve shared he had the same experience sharing: “Hah. I got that same bug. You scrolled the timer right?”
Instructing her the right way to do it, he added: “The right way is to drag the timetable instead.”
The woman with the concern answered: “I dragged the timetable, and i did it before the time is up. But the button is still disabled.” and added, “Oh wait, I think you are right. I look back at my screenshot, I likely used the timer scroll instead of dragging. KNS Thanks for confirming it’s a bug, glad you found the workaround and not kena fees like me.”
Dangmycockles shared a more advantageous approach saying, “Try explaining based on the app issue cannot extend and see if they can waive.”
GetGo End Booking Guidelines
According to GetGo’s guidelines, these are the things you should take note of before your booking ends:
- Allow for extra time when returning the car.
- Each booking includes a 15-minute grace period for returning the car to the specified parking spot and completing the post-booking vehicle condition report. If you exceed this time frame, you may be subject to a late return fee.
- If the fuel level falls below 1/4 tank, you can refuel it for the next GetGo user and receive a $6 promo code!
- Please return the car to its original parking spot.
So, is the late fee debate highlighting a need for clearer rental policies or a need for app improvements?