Van hire company taking money from credit card 2 months later

toastiest

Hello,

I'm in need of a little bit of advice about a van hire company that I used and to have a bit of a rant :mad:.
I don't know if I am allowed to name the place but I will not just in case.

We rented a van for 2 days, Saturday and Sunday 15th and 16th Nov 2009. The cost was 50 pounds per day and 19.99 for insurance cover (no excess charges to be paid).

They took 369.98 off my credit card on 13th Nov (rather than holding it like I've had over van hire companies do) and when we returned the van, we were instructed to park it across the road and hand the keys in as he did not have time to check the van then - which in hindsight was very dodgy and we should never have agreed.
We thought there would be no problems as silly old us we trust that people will be honest.

Being a patient person I waited for my deposit to be returned to my card but still nothing until the 25th when I decided to give them a call.
The secretary took a while to find my details only to find it in some tray on the desk and said that she did not know why my deposit was not given back as normally they would do it straight away and that she would have to ask her boss what was happening.

The boss gave me a call back later that day to inform me that it had not been processed as he had to file some insurance papers to claim for the dents he found on the van (there were none! We checked before returning the van, it was nearly brand new!), and that because we paid the insurance we will not be charged, but they will be taking an extra £10 as the tank was not filled to what it was before.
We filled the tank up to higher than what it was before but as I just wanted it to be over and get my money back I let it go. The amount of £240 was promptly credited to my card on the day.

I wrote them an email to express that I was unhappy and they wrote back and concluded "We are happy that our services was satisfactory." and not a sorry in sight. Nevermind I thought... it's over and done with I will just never use them again.


Now, on the 12th of Jan 2010 I find that they have taken £50 out of the blue!

I do not know why or what it's for as I have had zero contact from them via telephone or email.

Is there anything I can do to get them to not store my credit card details? Is it legal for them to do this? I am so frustrated and will be calling them tomorrow... Is there anything I can say to give me a bit of clout?

Any help would be great, thank you.

smcaul

This is the biggest scam that goes on in the rental industry. Tell them you left the van on their instructions at the place designated by them, it was their responsibility to check the van in for damage, they failed to do this, as a result you would not have the chance to confirm/deny any damage on the van on return.

Inform them you require a full refund of all the monies outstanding - including the £10 for fuel within 7 days or you will start a claim in the small claims court.

They do not have a leg to stand on and they know it.

And for the future, always go round a rental vehicle with a fine tooth comb, and that includes making sure the aircon etc all works, I have seen people charged for supposed damage to aircon systems when it was nothing to do with them. Make a note of every single defect, no matter how small. Also check the tyres, I have had to refuse vans before that have had below legal tread (from a national chain as well).

Then always make sure vehicle is booked back in, or they sign to take full responsibility for vehicle with no new damage.

Edit: I always make them check the oil and water in their presence as well, most rental companies make you responsible for this as a daily check, and if it was low before you got the vehicle then there could be damage that results that you are liable for!!!!

toastiest

Hi there smcaul

Thanks for your advice - I wish I'd heard your advice sooner about having to be very careful the the van hire places!

I sent them a letter last Friday and received a reply today. Same again no apologies for the fact that I had to chase them for the return of my deposit. Along with their reply are the original documents that I signed including sections about the fuel charge and it is correct that there was a £50 excess fee.

What I still do not agree with is the fact that there was any damage at all and that the fuel was below the original level.
Also on one of the T&C documents that we signed it states that "In signing this document you (the hirer) are agreeing to have any additional costs debited from your credit/debit card provided. You (the hirer) will be informed of any monies that are taken." They did not inform me and broke their own terms and conditions?

Do I have a leg to stand on here or do you guys think it's not worth it?

If the did put in a claim to their insurance company and received compensation, but did not use the money to repair the fake damage would they be in trouble?

toastiest

Looking through the rest of the documents what I find most amusing is the fact that they faked my signature on Damage Check In page. Signature of Hirer................

The signature on that dotted line was not done by me and does not really look like my signature either. I know 100% now that these lot are frauds.

smcaul

You have more then a leg to stand on. They do not have a hope in hells chance of winning if you took this further, the faking of your signature coupled with them breaking their own T&C's is just adding fuel to your fire.

Have you told them in the letter that you will start Small Claims Court proceedings? If you have then go to moneyclaimonline and start the action against them, if not write to them giving them a time frame to repay before you start action.

Don't get into long protracted arguments with them, you say there was no new damage and that fuel was at least the same level, they say different, but they did not book van back in with you present, their fault not yours.

pinkshoes

I would send them 1 more letter (sent recorded delivery) entitled "LETTER BEFORE ACTION", and state that unless they refund you <£amount> by <date in 7 days from receipt of letter>, then you will be stating a small claims court procedure against them.

Don't let them intimidate you, as they really don't have a leg to stand on, and you can quite clearly prove the signature is fake.

The_Goatreich

Hi,
sorry to bump and hijack this thread but I have a similar issue.

At the end of April I hired a van for a week, and had a small knock in it whilst parking in London. Details were exchanged with the 3rd party and the damage noted upon the van being checked in. The damage was not much in my opinion, basically two bumpers got interlocked and needed to be twisted apart with some small scraping to the paintwork on both vehicles. I have photos of the damage, although they're not great quality.

The van hire company took the excess off my card (£550) without any notification, which prompted a phonecall from me to them where they explained the situation with the excess; they take the full excess, assess the damage and refund the difference. They then assessed the damage to their van at an unbelievable £300 saying they would have to replace panels, and get signage replaced, which I find hard to believe seeing as the majority of vans I've hired over the years have had bumps and scrapes all over them.

Anyway this still leaves £250 left to come back to me...I left it a while and when I'd heard nothing halfway through July I called and they told me that the 3rd party had also claimed and "these things take a while" so I might not be due anything back. It's now nearly September and I've heard nothing at all.

While I understand all this in principle, I wondered whether people on here may have some pointers on my rights before I call them back.

Am I supposed to see something in writing from their insurance companies regarding the damage assessment reports for their van and also the 3rd party vehicle damage? I do find it hard to believe that an collision while I was travelling under 5mph could result in over £550 damage.

What if they are just taking the money for the damage rather than using it to repair the van? Like I said, most vans I've hired have been scratched, dented and scraped to high heaven, suggesting that they never get the bodywork repaired.

Anyone have any helpful advice with this? I will be taking out the excess waiver when hiring in future!!!!

toastiest

As the money they took from me was on a credit card and my back and forth via letters did not result in even a basic apology, I sent in copies of the letters to my credit card company and left it with them to claim the money back. In the mean time, no interest will be taken for that amount.

As your amount is bigger than my 50 pounds, it would be worth taking them to the small claims court also - or at least send a recorded letter to them saying that you will unless they refund you x amount within the next 7 or 14 days.

I always take out the excess waiver but even 50 is not worth it. I just had to move house again recently and I paid for excess to be 0. It was with Europcar in Romford. ]
Once you take that out, they don't care about the state of the van at all (did not want to check it when we brought it back) but also, the people who hire the van do not care for the van either - it was very battered! But I'd rather a battered van with a tough clutch than having money taken out without consent!

Best of luck x

ps> I never heard from the insurance company themselves.

The_Goatreich

Thanks for the response, I'm glad you got yours sorted in the end, even if it was just through the credit card company. My problem is that I can see myself getting scammed here, and not sure if there's anything I can do about it.

smcaul

They need to provide you with proof of the repair and cost if you ask for it. So I would just ask for it, i will also lay money on the fact that the repair has never, and will never take place - as for the 3rd party claiming, again would be worth asking to see the documents on this - a high possibility these don't exist either!!!

The_Goatreich

My thoughts exactly, I will be making a phonecall to them tomorrow, probably just to get fobbed off again. Cheers for the reply