Visiting Santorini? A Warning Regarding Spiridakos Car Rentals

[ucfknight07]

My wife and I recently returned from an amazing cruise through the Mediterranean. For our visit to Santorini, we decided that we wanted to rent a car to have the most flexibility to tour the island at our own pace, see what we wanted, and not have to rely on public transportation/taxis.

 

I spent quite a bit of time researching car rental companies in Santorini, and originally chose Tony's. Then I discovered Spiridakos - they offered a smart car cabrio. I liked the thought of touring Santorini in a convertible and was sold. I researched Spiridakos, and read mostly positive reports of them.

 

We arrived at 8 AM - one of the first off our ship. When we went to pick up our car, I was told that it was not available, as the previous renter had decided to extend their rental. When I indicated that I had a reservation for this car I received the response, "Yes, but what do you want me to do? We do not have the car as the person requested to extend their reservation." Well, that's great and all... But if the car is reserved for someone, you need to advise the person that they unfortunately cannot extend the rental as the car is needed for another reservation. Offer them another car - something. So instead of honoring our reservation, they chose to ignore it and extend a rental for another client.

 

I've never experienced such service from any rental company. And let's not forget the fact that Santorini needs tourism to survive. On top of it all, what amazed me the most was the response I got - "What do you want me to do?" Really? I would like for you to have honored the reservation you confirmed with me!

 

So - be forewarned. Skip on Spiridakos. Another thing worth noting - two other people on our ship walked in to Tony's without a reservation and were able to rent for the day. Both reported positive experiences with Tony's.

[Fblack]

Sorry about your troubles. I have heard of the same thing happening in Europe with hotel rooms. A guest holds over and a full hotel has no extra rooms. However, a reputable hotel or car rental agency should be contacting a competitor to help their customer. Obviously Spiridakos does not care much about their reputation. Maybe a few cancellations by other customers will send them a message. Thanks for posting his name.

[ucfknight07]

Sorry about your troubles. I have heard of the same thing happening in Europe with hotel rooms. A guest holds over and a full hotel has no extra rooms. However, a reputable hotel or car rental agency should be contacting a competitor to help their customer. Obviously Spiridakos does not care much about their reputation. Maybe a few cancellations by other customers will send them a message. Thanks for posting his name.

 

No worries for me - I just hope to save others the frustration of having the same experience. I should also mention that after we had the issue with Spiridakos and stormed out, we headed across the street to a place called Auto4U. I happened to notice they had a smart car cabrio parked out front, and being that's what I had planned to have for the day, I was looking for that when we walked out of Spiridakos' office. Before I really thought about the name of the place and if I had read about them, I was talking with the guy at Auto4U. Once it hit me, my initial thought questioned the trustworthiness of the place (naturally I'm a little on edge renting a car in a foreign country.) I went with it, put my reservations aside, and they held up their end of the deal. When I mentioned what happened with Spiridakos, he shook his head and it seemed like he had heard of the same problem before.

 

So if you ARE looking to rent a car in Santorini, it may be worth checking out Auto4U. I haven't read anything about them before, but my personal experience with them was positive.