Car rental net wholesale rates saga – nobody wants to talk
While The Mole is used to rejection, yesterday was a classic journos day with either virtually every call made to wholesalers, retailer groups, car rental companies and others who The Mole thought might have something to say about this issue, going to voice mail and the call not returned or if The Mole managed to speak with someone, everyone very reticent indeed to make any comment!
Perhaps it is Mole paranoia, but it appears that within this great industry rather a lot of people are afraid make any comment because they might upset others and in particular their business relationships.
While this is understandable to an extent, it does make it rather difficult to get to the bottom of issues of this nature and it is an interesting contrast to when operators have a product to sell or an announcement to make and want free publicity!
So, from the very few unattributable comments made, the core of the issue is pretty simple in that it appears that Driveaway/Auto Europe/Kemwel in one form or another have issued wholesale net rates to consumers, via www.kemwel.com.au.
Whether that is through Driveaway or Auto Europe/Kemwel really at the end of the day being rather irellevant, with Driveaway in Aus abdicating any reponsibility claiming it was all driven by the US company, Auto Europe which owns both Drievaway and Kemwel.
The bare facts are that whoelsale net rates provide to them and others on good faith as net wholesale rates appear to have been released by Driveaway or Auto Europe/Kemwel into the Australian market place and offered to Australian consumers, when they were never intended to be.
While neither of the major car rental companies would make any comment or return my calls, this appears also to be the reason why they have instructed Driveaway, Auto Europe/Kemwell to remove their rates from www.kemwel.com.au and it appears they have been.
Comments placed on The Mole this week have been interesting and thank you to those that made them.
I suggest that you check them out at:
https://www.travelmole.com/stories/1120325.php
https://www.travelmole.com/stories/1120191.php
https://www.travelmole.com/stories/1120392.php
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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