Car Rental Damage Claim - Help!

jackllanberis

We recently returned our rental car to Budget in Bergen, Norway after an incident free week of hire. A month later we received a letter claiming that damage had been made to the front bumper, asking for further details of the 'damage incident'. We told them, truthfully, that the car was returned in the same condition as it was received.

A month later again we had response to our email which included a photo of the claimed damage and a scan of our damage check at the start of the rental, which we signed off as undamaged, having not spotted anything.

The photo shows a small scuff to the underside of the body coloured bumper; the photo was taken from ground level. As such, it isn’t reasonable for us to have spotted this when checking the vehicle, as it can’t be seen unless you get down on your hands and knees.

Another two weeks on and they have sent us a letter stating charges of £800 for this! (the maximum they can charge! i.e. the excess of the rental agreement). I wish I could upload the photo to here to show you just how minor this was – a bit of turtle wax would rub it out in 20 mins.

We have cancelled the credit card so they can't take the money directly, but we are rather concerned that they will involve debt collectors.

Budget are clearly acting unreasonably and quite probably fraudulently here, but we are unsure of what our rights are, how we should respond and what the consequences of inaction could be.

We really would appreciate some informed advice about this.

Many Thanks

Jack

patchman

unfortunately cancelling your credit card won't make any difference- they will still be able to charge it

arrowsmith

Car hire companies have more tricks than virtually any other business.

Firstly you should check the loan car very carefully, ever single minor blemish you should point out to them before hire, not just the outside but inside, wheels and the windows. If you do this properly and the cars several months old the diagram will look like it's got achnie.
Doesn't matter how small, mark it and make sure they have the same same details as you. Don't take there word for anything, make sure it's written on paper.

I suspect they didn't didn't inspect the car after it was returned to them while you were waiting? What evidence have you got of the return?

They can't blame you for something that happened after you returned it and I suspect that's what they're trying to do.

Honeydog

I found 30ish small marks on the car I was given after a bloke hit my rear bumper a few years back. Drove the bloke with the clipboard mad - just when he thought I'd found them all I found another one lol!

maninthestreet

Was the car checked by their representative when you returned the car? They've had the car for 4 weeks since you returned it - the 'damage', such as it is, may have been caused AFTER you returned the car. £800 to repair minor cosmetic damage to the underside of a bumper is taking the p*ss, even if you did cause the damage.

Sgt_Pepper_2

maninthestreet wrote: »

Was the car checked by their representative when you returned the car? They've had the car for 4 weeks since you returned it - the 'damage', such as it is, may have been caused AFTER you returned the car. £800 to repair minor cosmetic damage to the underside of a bumper is taking the p*ss, even if you did cause the damage.

Any price is taking the p*ss when they don't repair it.

benjus

patchman wrote: »

unfortunately cancelling your credit card won't make any difference- they will still be able to charge it

Really? I would have thought that that the initial amount they preauthorized on the card would have dropped off after a month. Can they still draw money from a cancelled card?


If they do take the money from the card I would start by disputing it with the credit card issuer. And in future take out car hire excess insurance (you don't have to accept the car hire firm's own policy - you can get it much cheaper from a 3rd party firm).

EdGasket

Yes seems like they can. I had a cancelled credit card which was charged nearly a year later ! The credit card company said it was for me to sort out with the company concerned that had charged my card; I think it was an automated renewal of some sort. Still I find it disconcerting that a cancelled card can be charged in this way. Maybe there is a way of ensuring you are not still liable for a cancelled card and if so I would like to hear it?

benjus

EdGasket wrote: »

Yes seems like they can. I had a cancelled credit card which was charged nearly a year later ! The credit card company said it was for me to sort out with the company concerned that had charged my card; I think it was an automated renewal of some sort. Still I find it disconcerting that a cancelled card can be charged in this way. Maybe there is a way of ensuring you are not still liable for a cancelled card and if so I would like to hear it?

That sounds like a recurring payment authorization - which can be a real pain to revoke. I may be wrong here, but I don't think you give a recurring payment authorization when you hire a car.

EdGasket

No but that wasn't my point; which was that although my cc was cancelled, or so I thought, it could still be charged. The card provider told me I would never cease to be liable for it even thought it was cancelled !!!

benjus

EdGasket wrote: »

No but that wasn't my point; which was that although my cc was cancelled, or so I thought, it could still be charged. The card provider told me I would never cease to be liable for it even thought it was cancelled !!!

I see your point, but I believe that recurring authorizations are a special case, and that if a firm doesn't have a recurring authorization and the pre-authorization has expired, they would have to claim the money as a completely new transaction using the card details they have on record. I'm happy to be corrected though.