pricing and payment options with IdeaMerge
Please click here for an explanation of our excellent pricing and payment options.
reservation and booking
In accord with the automobile rental industry standard,
reservations may be made for a vendor's particular vehicle category
(what we might call a vendor's "group") only, not for a specific vehicle.
Which is to say,
although the various images, model numbers and vehicle specifications presented
throughout the IdeaMerge motorhome rental pages — especially on the
vehicle-specification pages — are carefully selected to accurately
and precisely indicate the vehicle that you will get, the vehicle model
(and layout) you get might not be identical to what is indicated by said
information.
In the very unlikely event that
a vehicle in the reserved category is not available upon the pick-up date, the
rental company reserves the right to substitute a comparable or larger vehicle
with the same equipment and the capacity to accommodate the number persons you have delineated (in terms of, say, adults and children) as being in your party. In this case there will be no additional charge for a larger
vehicle. However, the higher ancillary costs associated with a larger
vehicle — such as ferry charges,
tolls, and fueling costs — are to be borne by the customer.
Of course IdeaMerge will not charge your credit card unless the vendor you select does have availability in the
particular vehicle category you select.
After you place a complete online reservation request with IdeaMerge (i.e. including your credit card details), IdeaMerge will straightaway query the vendor.
If a vehicle in the selected vehicle category of that selected vendor is indeed have available, we will immediately book the rental with that vendor and charge your card —
binding you per the cancellation policy noted below. Either way, we will then inform you as soon as possible,
often within an hour but most certainly within 24 hours
(or perhaps 48 hours if you enter the reservation request on a Friday or Saturday,
since the booking facilities of some vendors are closed on weekends).
cancellation fees
We require the aforementioned downpayment and prepaid balance because the vendor
imposes a schedule of considerable cancellations fees. Necessarily reflecting that schedule of fees,
our cancellation policy is as follows:
Cancellation 31 days or more prior to pick-up date: 15 percent* of rental amount.
Cancellation 30 to 16 days prior to pick-up date: 30 percent of rental amount.
Cancellation 15 days to 1 day prior to pick-up date: 100 percent of rental amount.
No-shows or cancellation on the pick-up date: 100 percent of rental amount.
changes
A. Authorization required. Once a rental is booked, any request to change any part of the booking,
such as adding or eliminating accessories or changing the dates, must be authorized by the rental company in advance.
Do not expect to make changes when you pick up the vehicle.
B. Cost. The vendor may charge a EUR30 change fee, EUR60 if the vendor has already mailed the invoice.
C. Cancellation Fee for Shortening. If you request to shorten your rental duration, you must pay a cancellation fee
on the days that you eliminate. For example, if you reduce the number of rental days by moving the pick-up date closer
to the return date, or the return date closer to the pick-up date, or both closer to each other, you must pay a
cancellation fee on the days you eliminate. The general cancellation fee schedule for this vendor applies.
D. Cancellation Fee for Shift of Rental. If a change involves a shift of both the pick-up date and return
date away from of their original dates, or of pick-up or return location away from the original location, it may be
considered by the vendor a full or partial cancellation rather than a mere change. The general cancellation fee
schedule for this vendor applies.
E. Early Return. There is no refund for early return of the vehicle.
rental duration
The minimum effective rental durations are:
5 days for rentals commencing in the low season
(unless the rental involves Easter weekend, in which case a minimum
7 nights will be charged at mid-season rate),
5 days for rentals commencing in the mid season without unlimited km
(unless the rental involves Easter weekend, in which case the minimum
is 7 nights),
7 days for rentals commencing in the mid season with unlimited km,
15 days for rentals commencing in the high season.
See the "Rates & Reservations" page for the season dates. The
IdeaMerge online reservation software checks against said minimums.
age and license
The minimum age limit for renters and other drivers
is only 21 years, and there is no maximum
age limit.
However, said drivers must have possessed their valid, non-provisional drivers
license for at least one year prior to the pick-up date.
Drivers must of course possess a valid drivers license
relative to the weight of the vehicle.
Most domestic licenses suffice for operation of the vehicles presented on
the IdeaMerge Website, for most of the vehicles are rated at 3500 kg or less.
Relative to vehicles exceeding this threshold, our online software will usually elaborate.
Regardless, you the driver or drivers are obliged to check your licenses and the vehicle's
specs page in this important respect (the latter by clicking on the vehicle
image during the online reservation process).
Many Singapore drivers licenses, for instance, limit the license holder to vehicles rated only 3000 kg or less.
Generally see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver's_license and, say,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Driving_Licence_codes.
Regarding the vehicles rated at over 3500 kg
(i.e. 3.50 metric tons):
Almost all typical (i.e. class C) USA drivers licenses, for example,
suffice in this respect.
(In fact such licenses usually cover vehicles up to 13,000 kg.)
The same is true of, say, typical "old" British licenses
(i.e. class B issued prior to 1 January 1997).
But the typical new "European Union drivers license"
(i.e. class B) limits its holder to vehicles of 3500 kg or less; and as such,
a holder of an EU license must possess a class C license to operate in Europe
one of the European motorhomes which are rated at over 3500 kg.
On the pick-up occasion the vendor will not release a rental vehicle
to a party unless a driver among them is licensed to operate such vehicle.
IdeaMerge is not responsible if such licensed driver is not present
to operate the vehicle upon the pick-up occasion and throughout the duration
of the rental. No refunds will be extended to the client if such absence precludes
the actual use of the rental.
See our "Resources" page for a discussion of the international driving
permit. Our Italy vendor does not require this document but they do
recommend it.
The vehicle may be driven only by the renter or by the additional,
qualified drivers specified on the rental contract. There is no charge for these
additional drivers. The additional drivers do not need to be present
upon the pick-up occasion.
Regardless of who is driving the vehicle,
the renter is liable for the operation of the vehicle.
breakdown cover, and insurance
For starters, the fleet of vehicles is modern, and they are upgraded every two years.
Clients are supported by the vendor's
helpline. The client should obtain the vendor's permission with respect to
any repairs (whether to the vehicular operation or to the operation of the
living facilities) costing more than EUR100. In many cases the vendor will pay for the
repair directly. Any repair expenses that do happen to
be incurred by the client and which are not the client's responsibility
will be refunded to the client by the vendor when the client returns the
vehicle along with the relevant invoices — which invoices should delineate
the parts replaced and be "made out" to the vendor.
See our "Insurance, etc."
page for details concerning the included insurance.
The motorhome rental agreement is a contract between the customer
and the vendor and of course involves the customer in certain
responsibilities relative to the vehicle. These responsibilities
are analogous but far from identical to those typically associated
with a car rental. Motorhome rental customers typically bear more
such responsibilities than do car rental customers. The nature of
the motorhome rental industry is such that replacement motorhomes
are usually not guaranteed (although in many cases such may be
effected), as is the case with this vendor and
virtually every motorhome rental company. Instead timely service of
the rental motorhome is guaranteed and in certain cases limited
hotel stays and replacement car rentals will be covered.
The customer remains responsible for returning the motorhome to the
rental depot, as contracted, unless relieved of this responsibility
by the rental company (i.e. the vendor).
geographic limitations
The included insurance is effective in the following countries:
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzigovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, Netherlands (i.e. Holland), Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland).
However, special permission must be obtained from the vendor for travel
into those of these countries — other than Switzerland —
which are not members of the
European
Union.
You are welcome to transport your
rented vehicle by ferry and/or the Channel Tunnel.
The vehicles are not allowed into Albania
and "Yugoslavia" (i.e. Montenegro and Serbia, including
Kosovo and Vojvodina). Nor are the vehicles allowed into Iraq
and Morocco.
Regardless of itinerary, clients must agree to park the vehicle in supervised areas
only (such areas are common in Europe) or to stay in/with the vehicle.
If the vehicle is stolen, the vendor is not obligated to procure
another for the client. … Generally speaking, a replacement vehicle cannot
be guaranteed; yet in all cases where a replacement vehicle would
benefit the client the vendor will do its best to procure one for the
client.
Again, see our "Insurance, etc."
page for more details concerning the included insurance.
pick-up and return
When you pick-up the vehicle, and regardless of which IdeaMerge pre-payment option you choose,
the vendor will authorize an
EUR1500
security deposit on the Visa or MasterCard credit card you present.
That authorization only blocks that amount of credit; it is not an actual charge.
The person whose name is on that card must be present upon said pick-up occasion and be one of the persons
signing the vendor's rental contract on that occasion.
(However, the credit card can be different than the card that was used to pay us for the rental.)
Debit cards, cash or travelers checks are not accepted for the
security deposit; only Visa and MasterCard credit cards are accepted,
and the amount cannot be split between credit cards.
This blocked amount — minus the cost of
any damages (up to the relevant insurance deductible or deductibles) and traffic or parking tickets — will be
returned to the customer's credit within a month after the customer returns the vehicle.
Although clients can reduce the collision-damage deductible to EUR350 by
purchasing collision-damage waver (CDW) for EUR12 per day, the value
of the security deposit remains unaffected.
The vendor provides storage of clients' luggage at their depot free of charge (but at the
clients' risk). Likewise for the duration of the rental clients may park
a car or two at the depot free of charge.
A thorough explanation and demonstration of the rental vehicle will be provided
upon pick-up. This orientation, together with completion of the relevant
paperwork, requires approximately one hour.
The vehicle will be delivered with an ample amount of motor fuel in the tank;
you should try to return it with this same amount.
The water tank, propane tanks,
and toilet chemical repository will be full; but you will not be
charged if they are returned less than full.
The interior and exterior
will be clean, and the toilet tank will be empty of waste. Likewise the vehicle
should be returned clean inside.
(The rental company will clean the outside.)
Vehicles returned in an unclean condition will be
subject to the cleaning fees of EUR50 for the interior,
EUR15 per un-emptied waste-water tank.
Dogs are allowed in the vehicles, but
the client should return the vehicle thoroughly cleaned of dog hair and odors
lest the vendor levy a special cleaning fee.
If return occurs after the reserved return time, a charge
of EUR30 (up to the daily rate) will be levied for each extra such hour; and the customer will assume
responsibility for claims made against the rental company by subsequent renters
due to delay. Again, any extension of the rental duration requires prior
authorization by the rental company; and no refunds are offered for early return of the rental vehicle.
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