Help with UK Car Hire Please

The_Edge

Hi Guys,
Always received good help here before - apologies if this is posted in the wrong place the 'Car Hire' section appears to relate to foreign holiday hires?!?

Anyway, my car is off the road so I have been hiring for a while.

I recently rented a car from Thrifty at Heathrow Airport for a period of 19 days in total.

After I returned it a charge appeared on my credit card - and even though they ignored my emails, I eventually have been told that this is for 'Roadside Assistance'.

Basically, the first night I had the car I was driving up from Heathrow & stopped for a rest. I turned off the engine, but when I woke up maybe 90 minutes later the car would not start. So, I called the Breakdown service - as I have done with numerous other companies (Avis, Enterprise etc.) without problem.

The AA guy shows up & fixes it. At no point was I told of any charge or even that it was my fault (you will see the relevance shortly!). With a battery running out that quickly, I just imagined that is wasn't fully charged in the first place. If I thought for one minute that I would have to pay 69.50 GBP for the privilege of someone coming to fix it, I would have called a friend. You can get an AA annual policy for much less than this!!

Reading the small print I found this: Any call out for a customer induced fault, (e.g. a call out to change a punctured tyre) could lead to additional charges being applied to the rental agreement.

'Could lead'?!!? Very wishy washy - plus as I said in this instance there is no proof it was my fault.

Basically, I have argued my case, they continue to ignore emails - I just wanted some advice as to my legal position & how I should best proceed.

Many Thanks!