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Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#111

Post by kodah »

megafauna wrote: post #2

Last week I went through the tedium of providing all of the requisite information when trying to book a 2014 Toyota Prius for 1 day @ $50.40 through Turo. On the final step of the reservation flow, Turo revealed an additional $50.40 service fee. Seeing the total price double didn't sit well. I promptly exited the reservation flow and deleted my account. I agree with your sentiment - if the app shared the service fee…

This is basically Uber Eats' business model. They sell you on the price of food as you would get it from the store, then they tack on a service fee, the driver tip, a driver fee, etc... The cost of the meal from selection to checkout doubles.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#112

Post by rootusrootus »

sandworm101 wrote: post #98
systemvoltage wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one area America needs to legislate which I am usually against. There is no excuse but sleezy marketing to not show what something costs. I'd go far even to make sure every price sticker is regulated and should include final sales price . That means, all taxes, all tips, everything. There is only one problem I see – sales taxes are state dependent so it puts a lot of burden on ecommerce/online stores to 1) De…

>> Tips should be made illegal That's about as dystopian as possible. Telling people that they cannot just hand money to other people might be the end of the entire concept of charity.

OTOH, it does seem a bit out of control. Now, when I go to Burgerville (a regional fast food chain in the PNW), the POS system asks me to enter a tip. Makes me say "No tip" if I don't want to. This is for a transaction that involves no service -- I stand there, they hand me a bag with food in it, I leave.

It's a bit of a dark pattern. First it makes you actively say "No I don't want to tip for this" and then I gurantee plenty of people have that nagging thought in the back of their head that the food they get may be different depending on if they tip. After all, the tip is before you get anything.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#113

Post by theodorton »

Apocryphon wrote: post #61

How does Getaround compare?

I’m not sure about the US, but their European service is very transparent on pricing (they offer two different products between the two markets). Some edge cases are generally hard to cover though, especially for unauthenticated users browsing: young driver fees and increased insurance premiums if you’d like a lower deductible.

Disclaimer: co-founded a P2P car sharing service in Norway that was acquired by Getaround in 2019.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#114

Post by jazzyjackson »

tehwebguy wrote: post #78
crooked-v wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same happens with hotels and "resort fees", especially in places like Las Vegas.

Marriott was sued and agreed to start showing mandatory “resort fees” (a made up term for “the hidden part of the price”). In reality they settled the suit and then told the Pennsylvania AG to eat shit, they still hide the fees but now there is at least a checkbox to show the fees included. One of the funnier things about scammy pricing schemes and American misunderstanding of laws. Ask anyone in the country if they…

its not just hidden price, I've stayed at many hotels that are transparent about their resort fee. IIRC it's a bit of a tax dodge, they're moving the taxable price of the room over to a fee that's not technically for the lodging.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#115

Post by jopperdoop »

xeromal wrote: post #106
gunapologist99 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But, you can decline the extra insurances through a traditional car rental company, even if the salespeople hassle you to buy them or insist on seeing your actual liability (!) card (which is not proof of rental coverage anyway.) It doesn't sound like you can decline these coverages through Turo, which (if truly mandatory) would make them deceptive, especially if they are generating profit through them.

You can completely decline coverage on Turo for a car. They give you a big fat warning to be careful as your insurance may not cover a Turo car (which is true for some providers), and you're SOL if something happens. Depending on the price of the car, they may take a 2k deposit for an accident, but that's pretty normal. It's returned to you once the car is returned.

In what world is a $2,000 deposit to rent a car normal? I’ve never deposited north of $300. Ever. In any country in the world. Including when I decline coverage. Including when I present local identification to the branch (which flags theft risk).

What a weird thing to normalize given how exclusionary it is to the vast majority of the world’s population. Though I guess we are talking about car rental via a smartphone, so we’re already somewhere on the exclusionary spectrum.

Rental companies figured out the actuarial model for what they do some time ago. If Turo is hitting you with $2,000 to take the vehicle, they have no clue how to model risk and are probably arrogant about their approach compared to the staid, boring incumbents. Either that or they just don’t have enough volume to spread the risk. Or are you renting a $250k vehicle every time?

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#116

Post by throwawayboise »

systemvoltage wrote: post #55
crooked-v wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same happens with hotels and "resort fees", especially in places like Las Vegas.

This is one area America needs to legislate which I am usually against. There is no excuse but sleezy marketing to not show what something costs. I'd go far even to make sure every price sticker is regulated and should include final sales price . That means, all taxes, all tips, everything. There is only one problem I see – sales taxes are state dependent so it puts a lot of burden on ecommerce/online stores to 1) De…

> it puts a lot of burden on ecommerce/online stores to 1) Determine where the customer is from 2) Have a database of sales taxes for all states. But it can be done, I am sure.

Of course it can be done, because they are already doing it in the final checkout. They just need to reveal the number earlier in the process. If they have to ask for a location to do that, just say so --- e.g. "We need your zip code to show you the final price including tax"

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#117

Post by throwawayboise »

rootusrootus wrote: post #112
sandworm101 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Tips should be made illegal That's about as dystopian as possible. Telling people that they cannot just hand money to other people might be the end of the entire concept of charity.

OTOH, it does seem a bit out of control. Now, when I go to Burgerville (a regional fast food chain in the PNW), the POS system asks me to enter a tip. Makes me say "No tip" if I don't want to. This is for a transaction that involves no service -- I stand there, they hand me a bag with food in it, I leave. It's a bit of a dark pattern. First it makes you actively say "No I don't want to tip for this" and then I gurant…

Yeah I get that when I pick up a pizza at the store (rather than having it delivered). The system asks for a tip amount, which I decline. It's there because the system also handles tips for the delivery orders, and there is no separate flow for paying for a carry-out order.

I always tip, generously, for delivered food or table service. But I don't tip for an employee to simply hand me a carry-out order.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#118

Post by thehappypm »

30367286 wrote: post #95
paxys wrote: post #85

Airlines were notorious for these practices (super low advertised price followed by a dozen surcharges at checkout), then a single law made them declare the full final ticket price up front for all reservations. The result – airlines are happy because all their competitors have to abide by the law as well and so everyone is on a level playing field, and customers are happy because their experience is infinitely bette…

Agreed, and it should include the prices in brick and mortar stores. There is no reason not to print the price and the price+tax together.

Tax is predictable and consistent, at least.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#119

Post by xeromal »

jopperdoop wrote: post #115
xeromal wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can completely decline coverage on Turo for a car. They give you a big fat warning to be careful as your insurance may not cover a Turo car (which is true for some providers), and you're SOL if something happens. Depending on the price of the car, they may take a 2k deposit for an accident, but that's pretty normal. It's returned to you once the car is returned.

In what world is a $2,000 deposit to rent a car normal? I’ve never deposited north of $300. Ever. In any country in the world. Including when I decline coverage. Including when I present local identification to the branch (which flags theft risk). What a weird thing to normalize given how exclusionary it is to the vast majority of the world’s population. Though I guess we are talking about car rental via a smartphone…

It's an owner enabled option. The car owner requests to Turo that they would like Turo to hold a X$ deposit in lieu of accident coverage. I believe the X$ pays for the driver's / Turo's insurance deductible in the event you crash it and refuse to run it through your insurance. I've rented about 10 cars on Turo over the years including when it was called RelayRides and I've been asked to do it once, but it was for an older Porsche.

Also, if you want to see that deposit, go to any car rental place in america and offer to pay with debit card or cash and see what they'll hassle you with. Hertz requires requires a credit card. Enterprise requires proof of a returning flight. Dollar requires a credit check.

Re: Turo Requires a Driver's License Number and Credit Card to Show Full Price

#120

Post by dzhiurgis »

standyro wrote: post #3
megafauna wrote: post #2

Last week I went through the tedium of providing all of the requisite information when trying to book a 2014 Toyota Prius for 1 day @ $50.40 through Turo. On the final step of the reservation flow, Turo revealed an additional $50.40 service fee. Seeing the total price double didn't sit well. I promptly exited the reservation flow and deleted my account. I agree with your sentiment - if the app shared the service fee…

My trick with their system is to just look at every car, click through to the final receipt screen and then go back to find the cheapest one. It's a bit tedious and deceptive to the customer to present variable fee at the last part of the checkout process. Probably the worst modern "dark pattern" that I hope regulators take a look at.

Ryanair has been dicked a decade ago by this in EU
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