I recently made an online booking for a rental car + insurance with easirent.com. Once arrived at Manchester Airport, I waited for my parents flying in from another airport and rang up the company for pick up. I had to call 4 times before we finally got picked up more than 1 hour later. At the easirent office, an advisor set up a contract for us and made us sign on a signpad. There was no printed contract or cost summary. Having payed everything online when I booked the car, I was not expecting hidden costs. The advisor briefly outlined that there was a deposit to pay for fuel and in case we had an accident but that everything would be reimbursed once I returned the car. Having booked cars online before, I thought this was a normal procedure because a deposit is usually withhold at car collection. Only when I checked my email the day after, I found that I had been charged 487£! When I returned the car (4 days later), the manager gave vague explanations such as ‘I showed up 3 hours later than my plane landed which is why the first booking was cancelled and a new contract had to be set up’. After long discussion, I was told that the only thing I could do was to contact the head office the next day. While talking to other customers outside the easirent office, I realised that providing customers with dubious information to make them sign intransparent car rental agreements seems to be common practice. The customers said they were charged 300£ extra because easirent would not accept their credit card although apparently these cards were usually working just perfectly well. Our charges included, for instance, a 180£ fee because the lead driver and the credit card holder were not the same person. I specifically asked whether there would be extra charges for this matter twice (over the phone and in person) before signing anything and I was reassured that there were no extra costs. I was charged 100£ for upgrades that I had never asked for and honestly still don’t know what those upgrades entailed. I was charged 92£ for some extra insurance I had not asked for. The advisor told us about a 95£ fuel deposit which would be reimbursed if the car is returned full. We’re still waiting to receive the money.