Ten Things That You Should Know Before You Rent a Van

Typically when it comes to renting a van, everyone starts and ends with price. While looking for value for money is fine, so is using a reputable company with a good track record. This article is going to explain 10 basic things to keep in mind when dealing with a van rental company, it may well save you some money and hassle.

1. Price of Your Van Rental: Right, this typically is most peoples starting point. Look at the comparative prices of companies. Check also on excess mileage charges and insurance excesses. look at the breakdown assist policy and the deposit required.
2. Check The Van Rental Company: There are a huge amount of resources out there for people to check on companies. There are numerous forums and even now within Google search engine you can view discussions and update on the company. This is a great resource to see of people have had problems with the company you are thinking of using.
3. Tell The Rental Company What you are moving: The people who work in a truck or van hire firm will be much more familiar with vehicle sizes and capacities than you are, it always pays to tell the company the load that you are moving and if the selected vehicle will be suitable. Quite often you will find there is a better match for your load. For example, the rental company I work for always ask customers what they are moving. They do this for two reasons, first to make sure that the van the customers is getting is right for the job and secondly that it is legally fit for purpose. By this I mean if someone needs to move 4 tonnes of gravel from Dublin to Cork, they are not going to do it in a Ford Transit van.
4. Ask about Credit / Debit cards. Talk to anyone who working in a van hire depot and they will tell you this is the most awkward aspect of the rental business. You have someone who walks in that you have never seen before and you are handing over what can be up to €40,000 euro worth of new van. All goes well until the customer pulls out one of those new pre-paid credit cards and then flips out when it is not accepted. The reason for this is simple, these cards are essentially vouchers and have no ownership criteria attached to them. Worse still, they can typically signal you are a person with a poor credit history who is unable to hold a proper credit card. A rental company will usually do a check on your card for a preset amount and bill you for your rental when you return the vehicle.
5. Check the vehicle properly before you leave. Prior to taking your van, spend some time looking over it. Make sure that lights, mirrors, windows etc are working. Check the spare wheel and tool kit. Examine the van for panel damage and make sure these are noted on the agreement, check also the fuel policy.
6. Make sure you can drive the van properly. If you are uncomfortable with the size of a hire van, tell the rental agent about this. It may not feel like the most manly thing that you have ever done, but if you are not used to driving big units you should be cautious about taking one out on the open road.
7. IF you damage a rental van, tell the representative. This seldom happens. Usually you find people looking with wonder at the side of the vehicle swearing blind that it was not them, this usually comes to an end when you make a bet with them that the gate to their house is lime green. Simply put, rental companies seldom make mistakes when picking up on damage. It can often happen to vehicles when you are not in them. For example, how many times have you come back to your own car and found a new dent or scratch down the side.
8. Stick to the Fuel Policy. If you are to bring the vehicle back full, then return the vehicle full of fuel, if you are to return it empty then bring it back as low as possible.
9. Ask for a refund receipt. When you return the rental van, ask for a receipt showing the return of your deposit, you run a higher risk of problems with those companies that allow unattended drop offs.
10. van rental customer ask for a discount. Repeat customers typically take less time to process than first time customers, if you use rental vans quite a lot try to pre negotiate a rolling rate each time you use a vehicle.