Business Owners Report Damage to Rental Cars Across Funchal
In an interview on RTP Madeira, entrepreneur Joaquim António, a local rental car operator in Madeira has reported repeated acts of vehicle damage, including slashed tires and scratched cars. The entrepreneur said:
Many people are attacking the rental cars, many people are attacking the rental cars. Rental cars are being blamed for the problems that exist here around Madeira right now. And it creates problems for us, especially for business owners.
Joaquim António, RTP Madeira
Rival Companies Suspected of Causing Vandalism in Key Areas
The business owner claims that other transport professionals, likely meaning from competing rental operators, are responsible for some of the vandalism.
Certain areas are being hit quite hard. Our clients have already detected that it’s other transport professionals who are vandalizing the cars. We’re talking about slashed tires, scratched vehicles. (…) I don’t think this is the kind of ethics we should be sharing among ourselves. We’re all here to serve our clients. There has to be some common sense among all of us, and an understanding that we’re all just trying to do our jobs.
Theft Inside Vehicles May Motivate Some Attacks, Mainly Outside Funchal
While many cases involve visible vehicle damage, some acts appear to target valuables inside the cars. Outside Funchal, rental operators report incidents where theft seems to be the main goal. “Outside Funchal it also happens, but I believe that this vandalism has another intention. Namely, to steal what is inside the cars”, Joaquim António said.
Crowded Market and Low Prices Create Tensions
The oversaturated rental market in Funchal has led to fierce competition. Joaquim António further saying that renting a car for 10 euros per day is unsustainable compared with taxi transfers from the airport to Funchal, which cost 30 to 40 euros.
I believe some companies will have to close or change their approach to pricing. It’s unsustainable for us to rent out a car for half the price of a transfer from the airport to Funchal by taxi. That makes absolutely no sense.
If the claims that rental car companies are cannibalizing each other’s fleets are true, it highlights the urgent traffic and infrastructure problems in Madeira. With too many cars on too little road space, the market cannot sustain further growth, and these acts appear to be driven by desperation. At the same time, it casts the entire rental sector - already criticized for poor service and for routinely charging customers for arbitrary expenses on their vehicles - in an even more negative light.
Source: RTP Madeira
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