Can a vehicle hire shop charge my card without my permission, signature or pin?

hackeron

I rented out a motorcycle for a week and returned it to the hire shop and paid off the balance due - they inspected the motorcycle, said everything is OK and gave me the signed £500 insurance excess clause to tear up.

Today, 3 days later, I just received a customer copy and a hand written note saying, charge of £161 for cluch lever and h/k unit and "damage to hire motorcycle - unreported!!".

The customer copy receipt says: "keyed - customer not present - signature verified" and it appears my card was charged this amount!

Now I didn't inspect the motorcycle and it is possible there was a scuff or two when I was parking it through a narrow gate but the charge seems excessive and is this even legal for them to do after accepting the bike and giving me the insurance clause to tear up?

Also, can they really charge my card like this without informing me or getting neither my permission or keyed pin number?

All this seems dodgy to me.

dealer_wins

They can charge your card, ive had it in the past. Thats the whole point of them taking your card details.

Its like hotels charge if you raid the minibar without telling them or nick stuff from the room etc

hackeron

dealer_wins wrote: »

They can charge your card, ive had it in the past. Thats the whole point of them taking your card details.

Its like hotels charge if you raid the minibar without telling them or nick stuff from the room etc

They didn't take my card details far as I am aware, I used a chip and pin reader to pay.

Also, this was the end of my engagement with them, I returned the bike and they gave me the insurance excess voucher to tear up and a receipt.

hoyles10

Have you taken this up with them? What did they say?

I wouldn't have thought they would be able to take your card details from the chip and pin machine and just charge you willy-nilly without informing you of how much it is and why you're being charged.

Torby

have you "torn up" the agreement yet, did you receive any written acceptance when you returned the bike?

How good a rider are you? how did you ride without a clutch lever (yes it can be done) but it sounds like a complete replacement incl master cylinder damage (unless it was an old cable clutch)...so for that amount of "damage" I would expect you to notice there was a problem with the clutch lever...more to the point I would expect them to notice it upon return....

just out of curiosity...what do you think H/K unit is???

Kite2010

hackeron wrote: »

They didn't take my card details far as I am aware, I used a chip and pin reader to pay.

Also, this was the end of my engagement with them, I returned the bike and they gave me the insurance excess voucher to tear up and a receipt.

They probably would have gotten the details from their receipt from the Chip and Pin machine

WhiteHorse

They inspected the machine on its return and were apparently satisfied. A wrecked clutch lever is something that would be obvious on even a casual inspection.

They would appear to be trying it on. Take it up with them directly and also report them to the card company.

peter_the_piper

As far as I recollect they can continue a charge if the ticket is open but I cannot see how it is allowed to take the customers number off the merchants copy, key in the numbers and charge for any amount they wish. That is not the reason for being able to use "customer not present", this implies you authorised them to take an amount when you did not. Contact your bank about this.

fluffnutter

Kite2010 wrote: »

They probably would have gotten the details from their receipt from the Chip and Pin machine

I don't think you can do that. The 16 digit number won't appear in full on a receipt from a chip and pin machine. It will be XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-1234. This sounds really dodgy quite frankly. If the OP didn't give the full number (and possibly the security code as well) then this transaction theoretically shouldn't have been possible.

LittleTinker

There must have been a copy or a record of your card details for you to hire a vehicle......I havent come across any hire company who doesnt want a card print or card details as security.

The company's copy of credit card details has the full number and sec code on it in full..........its the customers copy that says XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-1234

The company must have charged your card saying that the bike was damaged............but, if you dispute this then get in touch with your card people and tell them that you require a charge back as money has been obtained without permission.........and then take it from there.

biscit

I'm fairly sure hire companies usually keep credit card details in case there is a problem. I've never hired a car without handing over my details as security at any point.

I've known of hire companies charge for damages after they've had a chance to properly inspect a car. I've also been given a hire car by my insurance company, and been given a receipt with every tiny ding marked on it for both my car and the hire car- needless to say on that occasion they didn't claim any damage to their vehicle.