Rip off car/van hire penalty charges

nurquhar

I have an issue with Europcar for van rental last year.

Basically I rented a van in Aug 2009 and I had a puncture. 4 Months later I got two invoices, one for £170 for a new tire and another for £100 for the AA's callout. They just took the money from my credit card straight away.

Now in the T&C's of the rental agreement it states "1. Any damage sustained during the rental, irrespective of fault will incur reasonable charges to restore the vehicle to its pre-rental condition"

So by chargeing me £170, which includes admin fees, they charged me new for old, ie the existing tyre had thousands of miles of wear on it. Also I got a verbal quote from a local garge who told me that a simple nail puncture in the centre of the tread could be fixed for £15.

Eurocrap refused to dicuss the charges with me on the phone so I sent registerd letter of complaint which they also ignored.

I then complained to the Credit Card company (Bank of Scotland) siting the 2006 Goods and Services act that the charges were unreasonable.

Utlimatly the Card company rejected my complaint and I then telephoned the Financial Ombudsman Service.

They declined to take my case on because the said Van Rental period was for less than 3 months.

Can they refuse to take my complaint ?:mad:

Regrads
Neil

kwaks

Hmm, surely Europcar have a contract with a breakdown provider?

I would be looking for proof from europcar that the nail was not already in the tyre when you picked up the van, and if they manage to do this I would be asking for the return to me of the tyre which I had effectively bought.

Does seem to be an excessively high charge.

Hintza

Take them to court. These companies try it on all the time. Better price up a tyre as well before you decide but even if they argue the tyre was damaged beyond repair then you want to know how much a replacement would be.

Next time you will get the puncture repaired. Call out fee is probably reasonable though.

nurquhar

I have already made the point to them that nail was already in the tyre as from where the van was parked as the ground was rough with broken pallets and other rubble and rubbish strewn around. They just say I signed for the van and therefore its my problem. Even though I had sign the form before being given sight of the Van or possesion of the keys. Also when I did get sight of the VAn I noticed there was a lot of dings and dents not noted on the annotated diagram. I got the rep to come and inspect the van before I took it. She walked around it in about 20 seconds and certainly did not grovel in the mud and puddles to inspect the tyres, yet they claim the vehicals are all checked before being given to customers. Given that there is reasonable reason to belive the nail was already in the tyre I think they should be reducing the AA call out charge as well.

I already have a quote from a garge on a new tyre fitted would be £65 and a nail repair in the tread would be £15. I also have a witness as to the condition and position of the nail in the tyre. I also have photographic evidence as to the rough condition of the storage yard with vans surrounded by rubble and rubbish.

Trouble is having contacted trading standards they tell my only choice is to take them to small claims court which will expose me to the risk of not only paying my court fees but thier costs also should fail to prove the charges are unreasnable under the 2006 Supply of goods and services act.

kwaks

Small claims costs what? £25

Chances of them being awarded costs against you should you lose, highly unlikely:rotfl:



File the claim online, I would expect them to not even make representations.

vikingaero

One of my friends rented a van from Europcar years ago. When he returned it they insisted that the black bumper was scuffed. They told him that they were going to charge his card with the excess, so figuring that he had to pay £250 anyway, he said he still had 3 hours to return the van and drove off in it, only to "accidentally" stuff the van into a brick wall.

Kilty_2

vikingaero wrote: »

One of my friends rented a van from Europcar years ago. When he returned it they insisted that the black bumper was scuffed. They told him that they were going to charge his card with the excess, so figuring that he had to pay £250 anyway, he said he still had 3 hours to return the van and drove off in it, only to "accidentally" stuff the van into a brick wall.

:rotfl:.

I've stuffed a Europcar hire car before, no idea what was charged though because it was through the company and was probably self-insured.