The British on holiday are on a frantic race to get a rental car as the two-hour queues form at the branches and desperate consumers flood the helplines.
Britons are this year heading for staycation spots with campsites, B&Bs and holiday cottages booking up fast as tens of thousands of foreign stays were put on hold amid fears over a second wave of coronavirus.
Tourists want rental cars to reach idyllic locations like Cornwall or Kent, but have encountered frustrating two-hour queues in offices and significant delays in visitor service helplines, resulting in a deluge of complaints.
Europcar, a French company operating in 140 countries around the world, has been hit with consumers on social media with court cases over long queues at its offices in Kennington, London and Edinburgh.
Lately, the company uses a reduced schedule in some offices or helps keep them closed due to the pandemic, leaving consumers dissatisfied with the lack of communication.
Andrea Tolley on Twitter said, ”Bad service, two hours of waiting in The Kennington’s workplace on Friday: car we booked unavailable, I got a refund today for the upgrade differential, no communication and no refund, I was charged the privilege. The children’s car service offended, I questioned it. NEVER AGAIN.’
And Marcus Chaloner said, ”At his Kennington branch, after learning at 4 p.m. that I couldn’t return my car to Lewisham, after having to travel an hour to get here, it’s absolute chaos here, their own workers couldn’t. know what’s going on people have places to be, robberies to catch.
Meanwhile, a user named Miles said, ”No vehicle this morning, a solution has not yet been booked in January, a circle of relatives crying over a missed vacation, no one in Europe guilty even told 1five that it showed reservations for five cars. It turns out to be taking advantage of the relaxation of the lock.
A complete motor park in Salcombe, Devon, after the coronavirus calmed down yesterday. Devon is a popular position for other people who need to stay
Other consumers said they had been “in crisis” because of the company’s lack of response.
A corporate spokesman said: “Europcar is disappointed that some consumers do not feel that they are reaping benefits from our very point of service.”
“The company strives to respond as well as is imaginable to recent increases in demand and expects all consumers who revel in the delays to perceive that we are making our most productive in difficult conditions.”
Nearly 20 million Britons are making plans to spend their holidays to the UK this year, a poll found amid fears of a new wave of revelers to pass through places where the country is about to be roasted in a 10-day heat wave.
Tourists are expected to gather on beaches across the country as temperatures succeed at 99F (37C) from Central Europe to the end of the week amid a point two heat precaution, after today’s highs of 71F (22C).
A YouGov vote found that 28% of Britons plan to take a holiday in the UK this year, the equivalent of around 19 million other people, while only 9% will pass and 49% do not plan to spend the holidays.
And the warm weather will worry the local government in spaces such as Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Sussex, which can expect some other large influx of tourists as the British avoid traveling to spend a stay.
The besieged citizens of Cornwall reported over the weekend how the popular county had become Benidorm on steroids, while the flood of visitors had frightened them too much to leave their homes.
Meanwhile, Thanet District Council in Kent begged others to 4 of the area’s beaches, adding the popular Margate Main Arenas, due to the number of visitors.
Tourists flock to the seaside town of Salcombe in Devon after the coronavirus lockdown was eased
Over the weekend, street marshals were deployed to Cornwall as tourists entered narrow streets and mocked social estrangement regulations, despite transparent precautionary symptoms.
Cornwall Council slammed the ‘ignorant’ visitors who descended on beauty spots without their face masks, as Britons elsewhere appeared to ignore social distancing rules while gathering at bars.
Deputy Director Adam Paynter admitted that there was fear in the coastal county of a build-up in coronavirus cases when others went to the domain for their vacation.
Speaking of tourists flocking to the country, where a man in his 40s died after being taken out of the sea, he told LBC: “It feels quite busy, it’s hard to know exactly where the numbers are.”
Many hotels and, in fact, rooms have not opened or seen fewer visitors, however, our campsites and caravans see many other people in those places, so there are many other people when you are in some of our cities. ».
Councilman Paynter also criticized “ignorant” tourists who refuse to use masking their scale in the Southwest.
Crowds of holidaymakers and sun prospectors flock to the bustling beach of Lyme Regis beach hotel in Dorset this morning.
He said: “It is transparent that we still have a very small number of cases of coronavirus, although it is clear that citizens remain so.
I’ve heard two other incidents where other people have been heard saying, ‘Well, I’m not going to wear a mask. I came here to get away from all this.
I think it’s pretty ignorant to think that coronavirus doesn’t exist here. We had 20 positive cases this week, 14 more than last week.
He added: “So this is what local citizens consider because they made sense, they behaved.”
But county citizens are among those preparing for the weekend of distress as mercury is expected to increase to at least 91F (33C).
The Meteorological Bureau reported that an “African heat eruption” came from Thursday to mid-August, bringing drier, brighter and very warmer weather towards the end of the week and “very hot” situations in the southeast.
Tourists and hikers make the most of the summer sun for a day at Lyme Regis Beach this morning
Thanet District Council in Kent begged others to 4 of the area’s beaches, adding Main Sands of Margate, due to the number of visitors.
Council leader Rick Everitt said: “From the beginning, it’s transparent that they were going to succeed in the degrees we were involved in.”
The government is involved in protecting tourists in the water, the possible spread of Covid-19 and continuous social distance. Everitt said: “The RNLI has a safe capability.
They are on seven beaches in Thanet this summer, which is a little less than usual, and are doing a wonderful task where they are, however, they do not have unlimited resources to look at other people in the water. ”
The councilman added: ‘If you have too many people on the beach, it is unmanageable from this point of view. ”
The British are struggling to keep campsites, guesthouses and holiday homes that they are booking temporarily, while tens of thousands of trips have been suspended for fear of a wave of coronavirus.
This is not a single location, a motorhome or a hostel in one of the 20 most sensitive campsites in Cornwall or in the 15 most sensitive Dorset for a week for two adults, while tourists tired of settling in the spaces for a summer break.
Parks and campsites across Britain have seen a boom in bookings recently, with Haven, Butlin’s, Center Parcs and Hoseasons being inundated – and cottage bookings swept up.
Those for sunny day trips have already begun to enjoy the attractive sites of the country, with massive crowds flocking to the beach resorts of Cornwall and Devon on Thursday, leaving the car parks crowded.
Some opted for a day at Westgate Gardens in Canterbury, while others enjoyed a beach in Brighton.
MailOnline found cornwall’s 20 most sensitive campsites according to camping.co.uk and discovered that Little Trevothan Camping and Caravan Park in Helston and Polruan Holidays in Fowey are complete until the end of August.
Others, such as Trethem Mill Touring Park in Truro, are complete until the end of September, but will have to operate at a reduced capacity of approximately 50% to ensure they meet the social estrangement requirements.
Other sites such as Newquay, St Austell, Par, Looe, St Columb Major, Padstow, Whitecross, Mevagissey, Redruth, Bude, Perranporth, Camelford, Marazion and Bude are complete for at least next week.
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Edited through Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and Metro Media Group