British Family Hit with £1,600 Bill After Italian Car Rental Slams Them as 'F**king English' for Being Late

SHOCKED Brit tourists were called “f**king English” and told to go home by an Italian car rental desk employee as she ripped up their pre-paid deal – costing them over £1,400.

The outburst from the local supplier for Booking.com left a family-of-four stranded 40 miles from their accommodation with a crying child after they had paid for a 17-day rental in Sardinia.

Booking.com asked if the office manager of Olbia airport rental firm Autosystem could help, but he grabbed the Brit dad and bundled him out of their Portakabin.

Their website is littered with woeful reviews.

Previous customers also complained they’d been thrown out of the office and had contracts ripped up before their eyes.

The dispute at Olbia started after the British family were unable to locate Autosystem’s car park Portakabin – a problem highlighted by dozens of previous customers.

They were slightly delayed and arrived after their stated car pick-up time, but still well within the hour’s grace period allowed in Booking.com’s terms and conditions.

The Autosystem employee told the family she wanted to go home as it was 8pm.

At first she said the family could still have their car straight away if they paid her a €61 surcharge, or alternatively they could return in the morning to collect their car.

The woman then launched into a swearing tirade in front of the children – calling the family “f***ing English”.

Dad Morris Kaniuk called Booking.com – who had taken £752 in March from his credit card for the car reservation – but they could not persuade their suppliers to hand over the vehicle.

They could not find an alternative vehicle from one of their other Olbia suppliers.

Morris said: “As I was pleading on the phone with Booking.com, the local Autosystem manager turned up in his car, and we thought he would speak to us and Booking.com and sort things out amicably.

“But rather than listen to anything anyone had to say, he just began physically trying to throw me from his Portakabin.

“He then gave his female colleague a lift home, with her screaming, ‘Go back to England’ as she got in his car.”

The family had to pay a further £1,426 for another last-minute rental.

Booking.com eventually agreed to waive their charge.

Morris, 63, of London, said: “The day after the airport dispute with Autosystem, Booking.com came up with a totally different excuse to their suppliers as to why we’d not been given our car.

“Booking.com said they have a clause that says if you miss a grace period of 30 minutes after your pick-up time without warning them, you can lose your car booking and your money if they’ve re-sold your car.

“But in the documentation we were sent, there was no mention of 30minutese, and Autosystem never mentioned that as the reason they weren’t giving us our car.

In fact, Autosystem’s staff even admitted our car had not been given to anyone else yet, so that clause seemed irrelevant.

“We were only held up because we couldn’t easily find the Autosystem Portakabin, which we’hadndtanticipated in advance.

“Reviews later revealed other customers had had the same difficulty, but you can be delayed for a host of unforeseen events like lost luggage, passport control, a pilot circling for a landing spot, or a shuttle bus.

“Equally at some small airports you can sail through arrivals in minutes.

“I gave the earliest time we might be at the car desk because on all my past holidays, no company has ever had an issue about giving the car after my stated likely arrival time.

“The only problem I had was when I was too early, and they often keep you waiting if there are long queues.

“But it seems Booking.com expects you to precisely predict your arrival to the exact minute.

“You can’t notify them of any hold-up if you’re in the air, and passport control often bans using mobile phones.

“Booking.com also said we could have paid the €61 surcharge, which also wasn’t in any terms, but we were offering to pay it anyway.”

A Booking.com spokesperson said: “On the conduct allegations, we take these complaints seriously, and have formally raised them with the rental company.”

An Autosystem spokesperson said: “The main issue is that the office closes at 8pm.

“Purely by chance, our colleagues were still at the branch finishing up with another customer and were able to assist.”

The spokesperson claimed the customers arrived after 8pm but did not comment about their employee’s swearing.