Rental Cars.

[straitman]

Has anyone else had problems with car rental companies claiming damage to vehicles after they have been returned :?:

I recently hired a car in Perth (from one of the major companies) who rang back several days later and claimed I had damaged the vehicle. They then charged my credit card an excess and sent me an insurance claim form. There were no procedures to check the vehicle on return and it's just my word against theirs. I was the only driver of the vehicle during the hire period.

Probably my best argument is that I went back to them about 30 min after I'd dropped off the vehicle to reclaim my phone charger. The vehicle had been checked, the charger recovered and there was no mention of any damage.

:shock: :x :evil: :twisted: :roll:

 

[arun]

Recently I hired a Hertz car through NRMA (as a replacement for my car which was with panel beaters after a small accident). When I returned the vehicle it was raining. But still one guy went to inspect the car, opened the door and checked inside etc, and then came out and said everything is okay.
As it was being covered by NRMA, I did not use my Hertz#1 Gold.

 

[straitman]

Has anyone else had problems with car rental companies claiming damage to vehicles after they have been returned icon_question.gif

A little more information has come to light on this one. I reported this incident to the appropriate people in my company and the response was "Not another one of these :!: "

All the details have now been forwarded to the appropriate departments within our company, a dispute notification made to the credit card company and our company legal department are preparing a composite presentation for the rental company.

I'm also led to believe that we will be using a different rental company in the near future :!:

 

[arun]

Bill,
What was the rental car company that you used? I am sure we all can be a bit more careful.
Arun

 

[straitman]

Bill,
What was the rental car company that you used? I am sure we all can be a bit more careful.
Arun

Europcar.

 

[arun]

Thanks Bill. I will certainly be extra cautious, if I rent from them.
Regards
Arun

 

[clifford]

Hi Guys,

(Oh no, not clifford again!)... please bear with me.

I haven't had this problem myself (I'm a frequent renter with Hertz and Avis, but I do always take before and after rental photos of the vehicle with my digital camera every time I rent.

You never know...

Europcar eh? They're now off my rental car company list.

All the best.

 

[bravoecho1]

I had a situation with AVIS back in September where a truck decided he wanted my lane.

AVIS hit my card with a excess charge of $3083 and said that it will be refunded once they recovered the funds from the truck company.

Two weeks after the incident AVIS called to say that the truck company had admitted fault and that the charge will be refunded.

Bonus of the event was that I picked up 3083 points for the original charge, though I can think of less stressful ways to accrue these points - I'm off to test drive an Audi on the weekend for 4000 .

 

[straitman]

Europcar eh? They're now off my rental car company list.

I'll post the final outcome once the lawyers have finished their arguments.

 

[arun]

I'm off to test drive an Audi on the weekend for 4000

Pls let me know how you went - the process. I am planning to try it as well. I hope we both are referring to CBA Platinum offer.

 

[bravoecho1]

Pls let me know how you went - the process. I am planning to try it as well. I hope we both are referring to CBA Platinum offer.

I was rained out last weekend so i'll give it a try this weekend.

You are correct, I am referring to the CBA Platinum offer

 

[jhharris]

Rental Cars

What price integrity?

I rented a small car from Europcar on a recent trip to Perth. As usual, I was asked to bring the car back with a full tank of fuel. I have rented cars in the USA, in New Zealand, in most states of Australia and in the UK.

Always, I return the car with a full tank and have never before been questioned.

This time I received an additional account for $13.63 for refuelling a week after I returned to Adelaide.

I phoned Europcar in Perth and was put through to the Customer Service Manager who informed me I had brought the car back requiring 8.4 litres of fuel. He also noted the car had been driven 280 Km and that the particular car had a fuel economy rating of 11 km per litre.

I had refuelled the car at the BP service station closest to the Airport entrance and had recorded 19.35 litres of fuel used at a cost of $21.26

As my accountant would testify, I keep accurate records. I had logged some 210 Km of driving in Perth and the 19 litres used seemed reasonable to me at the time.

In my discussion with the Customer Service Manager, I mentioned that no person met me at the airport when I returned the car. In good faith, and on trust, I left the keys with the Europcar service desk attendant.

However, it would appear, based on the manager’s calculations, the car did an extra 70 Km after it was returned by me.

The Customer Service Manager accused me of lying and commented “anyway, it’s only the cost of a couple of beers!”

My comment is: My integrity and honour is worth far more than $13.00

I suggest all hirers of rental cars take careful note of the starting and ending mileage recorded and they get someone to verify the actual fuel gauge position when they return their vehicle.

I have to admit the Europcar rental was an excellent deal. However, customer service managers need to remember that;

People don't remember what you did for them.

They only remember how they felt when you were last with them.

John Harris
Lecturer
Flinders University, Adelaide
Subscriber: frequentflyer.com.au
Qantas Club member

 

[serfty]

I have had to deal with this sort of thing over the last 10 years more times than should be the case. There is a process that I follow and the funds ALWAYS have been fully re-credited. They should never have been taken in the first place.

I fill out a statutary declaration stating I was not responsible for the damage and sign in front of an accredited person. (policeman, JP etc)

Then I send it to the hire car company HEAD Office. Included is a covering letter stating the rental agreement number, date and other pertinant information. A photocopy of the agreement is good. I state that I object to the charge being made and require it to be reversed as I did not cause the damage.

The truth is, the onus is on the hire car company to prove you were responsible for the damage.

That's why they take first and advise later. The philosophy being that many will simply wear the cost rather than argue. Of course, if the customer does do this, he or she "obviously was responsible for the damage" and the company is vindicated.

The companies are simply "playing the odds"; if a customer does go to the trouble of sending a stat dec, it is very probable they were not responsible for the damage.

 

[sambo]

Fortunately, I have never had any negative experiences with car rental. I've used Hertz exclusively, and after leaving some of the paint from my rented Camry on a concrete pillar on the Gold Coast, I reported it to the Hertz agent on my return. She looked at me disapprovingly, looked over her shoulder, turned back to me and said " Well I could get you to fill out an incident report, then I'd have to go and inspect the damage and fill out another report, or, I could just forget that you ever said anything about it". Needless to say, I opted for the latter, and never heard another thing about it. Hertz is great.

Sam

 

[serfty]

That fills us all with confidence :!:

Or maybe there was some other Karma active.... :shock:

 

[AlwaysUpThere]

Fortunately, I have never had any negative experiences with car rental. I've used Hertz exclusively, and after leaving some of the paint from my rented Camry on a concrete pillar on the Gold Coast, I reported it to the Hertz agent on my return. She looked at me disapprovingly, looked over her shoulder, turned back to me and said " Well I could get you to fill out an incident report, then I'd have to go and inspect the damage and fill out another report, or, I could just forget that you ever said anything about it". Needless to say, I opted for the latter, and never heard another thing about it. Hertz is great.

Sam

Your benefit. Yet the employee and the rental company's integirty is then questionable...and yours for accepting this offer. I'd have the person sacked!

 

[Budley]

Hi,

Sounds like some shonky person (company?) has got hold of the Europcar franchise in Oz.

I should check this out and complain to HO in Europe.

As for me, I'll stick to Hertz and Avis (where I'm a frequent renter and known commodity).

I did have a similar experience with Thrifty a few years back, and won't touch them ever again!

All the best,
Bud

 

[AlwaysUpThere]

Hi,

Sounds like some shonky person (company?) has got hold of the Europcar franchise in Oz.

I should check this out and complain to HO in Europe.

As for me, I'll stick to Hertz and Avis (where I'm a frequent renter and known commodity).

I did have a similar experience with Thrifty a few years back, and won't touch them ever again!

All the best,
Bud

Long long history to this organisation. Story goes:

Delta car rental operated "off" most major Australian airports. Owned and operated by a Melbourne family.

Commonwealth Government owned DASFleet (exclusive lessor and rental provider to government) under the Dept. Administrative Services. It was sold off in ’97 to a consortium only interested in the leasing business who then on-sold the car rental business and all existing government contracts to National Car Rental (US company). They couldn't make a go of it in Australia and sold out to Delta who at the same time took on the Europecar franchise for Australia... So they have 3 legacy computer systems and with it, a lot of strife. In my opinion, they've never had the systems and service to match it with Avis and Hertz.

Europcar meanwhile is owned by Volkswagen and until recently, Accor (yes, the hoteliers).

 

[JohnK]

Europcar eh? They're now off my rental car company list.

I'll post the final outcome once the lawyers have finished their arguments.

Any news on the final outcome? Or is still going through the court system?

Sorry to revive an old thread!

 

[straitman]

Europcar eh? They're now off my rental car company list.

I'll post the final outcome once the lawyers have finished their arguments.

Any news on the final outcome? Or is still going through the court system?

Sorry to revive an old thread!

The short version of a very long story is that whilst our company (technically) still has an agreement with Europcar they choose not to use them and will let the agreement expire with time.

The full amount was refunded to my CC and nother else was heard from them. I tend to think our company will normally win due being many times the larger. 8) :roll: